I just checked back to see how our Gannett Digital Network friends are progressing on that cool new Furlough House Swap website.Answer: H-e-l-l-l-o-o-o, board of directors! Could CEO Craig Dubow & Co. even imagine something as clever as this? Why aren't these people running the company?!
Moonlighting on a special digital project? Tell us, in the comments section, below. Or e-mail gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.
I love it! Great idea, hope people can actually use it. Is Sardakis using it in Europe?
ReplyDeleteI think Digital IS running the company. Saridakis has more street cred than the rest of the Gannett executives.
ReplyDeleteOoh, another digital product that has no revenue behind it, and never will, yet the training, resources and tools to create it come on the backs of that dead industry, newspapering.
ReplyDeleteIf irony was edible, I wouldn't fear the future.
The guy that started this blog is the same guy Gannett hired to redesign all their page fronts. He's young and obviously very talented.
ReplyDelete2:03, um, we've redesigned our newspaper several times, all by our little selves.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of inserting a bit of positivity into this cesspool of snark, there's this:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=125501
Jim refers to Spanky's tallywhacker as Yuri Victor.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it. Aside from a funny URL, what's so great?
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the site is cool and that the people who made it are talented, I question whether it's the future.
ReplyDeleteAs someone else mentioned, it does not seem to be a product that can make money, yet it took resources to develop.
What's more, the response seems rather small considering the amount of time it's been up and the number of people being furloughed. There aren't even houses available in every Gannett market.
I think your blog is the best, Jim. But I don't see this as a groundbreaking, company-saving piece of work.
Rather, it seems to mirror what Gannett is doing with digital. Lots of effort for minimal usefulness and zero profits.
There's a lot of cool, free stuff on the Web, but I wouldn't want to make all the creators CEOs. Just because you're creative doesn't mean you can run a business.
@1:23 PM and @4:00 AM This site isn't actually run by Gannett at all - it's a side project created by some very talented and motivated people who simply happen to work for Gannett. It was built over a weekend.
ReplyDeleteNo "resources" were pulled away from any projects in the making of this website. Stop griping.
There actually still are people who care about doing the best work they can on and off the job, no matter who their current employer is. Go figure, huh?
That's what I was trying to tell people! Yuri is a talented guy who started this for fun. If he can pull this off in a weekend, he sure probably has more up his sleeve. How many out there could pull this off? I can't discredit someone's talent and drive.
ReplyDelete@1:23 PM and @4:00 AM This site isn't actually run by Gannett at all - it's a side project created by some very talented and motivated people who simply happen to work for Gannett. It was built over a weekend.
No "resources" were pulled away from any projects in the making of this website. Stop griping.
There actually still are people who care about doing the best work they can on and off the job, no matter who their current employer is. Go figure, huh?
3:42 and 8:59 -- I'm 4 a.m. and I realize that FurloughHouseSwap isn't a Gannett product.
ReplyDeleteI was simply responding to Jim's post, which asked why these digital folk aren't running the company. My point was that everything about the site seems great but that it doesn't seem to have a lot of profit potential. I therefore don't see why it would be a logical step to have the creator run Gannett.
The Web is filled with cool stuff that doesn't make money. That's the basis of our problem as a company. I don't think the answer is more cool stuff ... I think it's coming up with cool stuff that can actually turn a profit.
Another digital site that cannot be monetized.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo!
The site has a cool design and leads to a funny reaction when hearing its name, but it's a dumb idea that adds nothing.
ReplyDeleteWhy in the world would the person who came up with the site be allowed to run anything for Gannett? Are you kidding me? If you're going that route, get someone with something more than just a gimmick.
I hate to join the negativity, so I stress I'm not ripping the people behind the site, just the over-hyping of it, including by Jim.
I will continue to look for positive things to say about good work by Gannett folks. But comment strings like this leave me very, very discouraged.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great showcase of the work that Gannetteers are doing. We need more experimental stuff - Facebook didn't become a powerhouse overnight. It started small and got popular.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as a note, Facebook currently only 'monetizes' through page ads and investors capital. That's it.
Our big problem is actually that we keep trying to shoe-horn the future into the past. I *wish* Digital would put together more projects like this.
I also wonder what it would take to actually impress the people who read this blog. I'm pretty sure Jesus could come down from heaven, and the readers of GB would yawn and wonder where Moses and Peter were, and if we could sell tickets to "monetize" the second coming. The pessimism and cynicism is really tiring.
THANK YOU, Jim, for this post, and I hope you keep it up. There are those of us that really appreciate it.