v oci.us

1. voci.us building communities around news

2. Team Members • Dan Berenholtz • Venkat Dinavahi • Evelyn Larrubia • Thomas Kong

3. Initial Idea • Centralized online platform to discuss news events • Smart, informed audience • Use social media identity • Comment on any story • News media as key partners

4. Business Model Canvas # 1 Users -Providing central place for individuals to connect with other readers about news stories News Partners -Taking away burden of policing comments -Enabling communication among their readers -Driving traffic Advertisers -Financial News Sites -Talking to Users and Large News Sites -Finding AI developer -Drafting Mockups -Developing Site Co-creation -Multi-sided platform -The web -Social Networks -News Sites -Partnerships w/ News Sites -Large user base -Human Resources -Fixed Costs -Variable Costs -CPM Ad revenue

5. What We Did • Surveyed users • Interviewed users • Talked to six large newspapers and chains • Executives • Editors • Legal Staff • Started drawing mockups and building the site • What is the MVP? • Drupal vs. Ning. Vs. Wordpress

6. What We Found • News consumers • Want to engage in dialogue • Lack of civility prevents engagement • Want real identities • Large news sites • Fed up with trash talk • Hesitant to drive traffic off their sites • Not legally responsible for readers’ posts • Slow to change

8. Business Model Canvas # 2 Users -Engaging in high-level conversations about news articles with like-minded individuals and friends -Bookmarking articles News Partners -Demographic data -More eyeballs due to viral elements -Shared ad revenue Advertisers -Reaching educated, high-income individuals -Developing site -Talking to small News sites -Testing viral features -Talking to users -News Sites (waiting on Stanford Review’s decision) -Co-creation -Multi-sided platform -The web -Social Networks -Potentially News Sites -Email -Peer-to-peer invitations -Large user base -Human Resources -Potentially news partnerships -Web site programming, design, and maintenance; salaries related to business activities and site monitoring -CPM Ad revenue

9. What We Did • Talked to smaller news sites • Mountain View Voice • The Modesto Bee • The Daily Herald • The Stanford Review • The Stanford Daily • Talked to more users • Ethnographic studies of face-to-face conversations • Tested moderation • Continued building site • MVP completed • Improved UI • Analytics

10. What We Found • Users • Like the mockups • Slow to migrate to new platforms • More likely to share than discuss articles • Moderation created more robust conversations • Small news sites • Interested in leveraging social media • Interested in demographic data • Slow to make decisions • Have deficient IT infrastructures

13. Business Model Canvas # 3 Users -Engaging in high-level conversations about news articles with like-minded individuals and friends -Bookmarking articles News Partners -Demographic data -More eyeballs due to viral elements -Shared ad revenue Advertisers -Reaching educated, high-income individuals -Brainstorming ways to become less reliant on news sites -Continuing site development -Testing viral features -News Sites* (Stanford Review rejects partnership) (Stanford Daily wants to be involved) *We are exploring ways to become less reliant on news partnerships -Co-creation -Multi-sided platform -The web -Social Networks -Potentially News Sites -Email -Peer-to-peer invitations -Large user base -Human Resources -Potentially news partnerships -Web site programming, design, and maintenance; salaries related to business activities and site monitoring -CPM Ad revenue

14. Conclusion • News partnerships are a slow process • Don’t want users to leave their site • Are slow to make decisions • Users are not engaged • Empty room effect • Potential solutions • Focus on a niche community • Recommend active conversations • Technology • Was Drupal necessary? • Focus on testing community, not features

15. The End