Hi everyone,
As I watch with great trepidation events unfold at Virginia Tech today, I am of course reminded of the world-class blogging Professor Kim Pearson and Leslie Madsen Brooks did in the wake of the shootings at the Tech in April, 2007:
Kim: Covering Tragedy: Emerging Lessons from the Virgina Tech Killings
Leslie: The Academic Blogosphere Responds to Virigina Tech
In my opinion, the best measure of any site's worth is its community, and the incredible women who contribute their own voices to BlogHer.com represent the most articulate community of women I've found anywhere.
I think that's because, since we launched this labor of love in 2006, the leadership provided by you all -- BlogHer's contributing editors, who have been joined now by section editors -- has been world class. As I wrote in this week's newsletter, I have long pointed to this site and the amazing voices of and elicited by our editors as proof of what was missing for, by, and with women in the print and broadcast newsrooms I left in order to go online in 1997. Brava and thank you.
In the past year, I think this site has only improved in quality and value to those of us who participate -- as demonstrated by the extraordinary doubling in session length alone. That's thanks to Executive Editor Julie Godar, Senior Community Manager Denise Tanton and Assignment Editor Rita Arens, who every day perform staggering acts of editorial and operational excellence. These women are experts, and I am proud to be their colleague.
Now, for the first time, BlogHer is investing in pairing all these extraordinary efforts with an editor in chief. Stacy Morrison (@bklynstacy on Twitter) and I first met when BlogHer Co-founder Jory Des Jardins introduced us. I wanted to meet the audacious Hearst editrix who had a URL on every page of her magazine, who was hiring bloggers for her site, and who had started a blog herself while simultaneously making Redbook look and feel so much more real. Since then, she has distinguished herself in every conversation with us co-founders and as a speaker and blogger in our community here and at BlogHer events. Never let it be said that an award-winning print magazine editor cannot become a successful social media leader and blogger: Stacy gets it and has for years.
I am thrilled to announce that Stacy has accepted my offer to apply her extraordinary expertise as a publisher and creative vision to BlogHer.com -- the site's user experience, editorial content, partners and syndication relationships stand to benefit enormously. She's been working with us for months, and starts officially on Jan. 3.
I hope you'll help me welcome Stacy to her new role -- a role that represents our commitment as a community leader and as a media business to developing and showcasing exceptional voices in our community. Stacy is just the right editor in chief to work with us to develop new media models that work as well for social media audiences as they do for the advertisers that make it possible for BlogHer to be a leader in paying women to create. I'm so proud to take this step. Watch this space for the exciting results!
Congratulations everyone,
Lisa
for Lisa, Jory and Elisa
Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-founder
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