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Blog Entry 44 of 81 Travis Henry

Travis Henry discusses life at Examiner.com and other current events.

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Contributed by: Travis Henry on 1/3/2007

1.) Just what the heck is YourHub.com?

That's a question we often get asked by people who are discovering the Web site for the very first time.

2.) Is it journalism?

That's a question often asked and discussed ad nauseam by others in the industry, primarily by struggling screenwriters or Web masters trying to make an extra buck by freelancing for online publications.

The answer to the first question is easy. YourHub.com is a Web site where you (and by you, I mean you) can post your own photos, stories, columns, blog entries or events whenever you want.

We take the best postings from the Web and publish them in our Thursday print section delivered to home subscribers of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post. We aren't trying to replace the daily newspaper or weekly publications. We are a forum for residents, schools, town officials, little league teams and (gasp!) politicians and businesses.

If you want to tell people in your community about something, we hope you will use us to do it.

So is it journalism?

Well, it's been coined citizen journalism and we are pretty much stuck with that term. But I like to think we are more of an online community with a fun little newspaper section that highlights what your neighbors are saying each week.

Come up with a term for that.

We have found that what is important to people is people. And that can mean allowing you to announce that a young man has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. We can also help tell the story of how a young woman became the face of a controversial rally.

For every public relations story the screenwriter wants to criticize, we have entertaining blog entries by our man from Brighton Bill Boucher.

Go ahead and criticize Bill Boucher. See where that gets you.

Bill and a whole bunch of people we call friends have created a pretty neat little community here on YourHub.com.

The rules are few here at YourHub.com. And if you are a plumber who wants to start a blog, more power to you.

Do we allow people to post press releases and "handouts promoting some product, service or fight against a disease"?

You betcha.

Users who don't get good responses stop posting. But if they do get a good response, it means people are actually interested in what they are writing, or perhaps, selling. Readers actually may even be interested in helping fight a disease or helping people in need. (Gasp!)

While it's easy for screenwriters to find postings on YourHub.com to criticize, I'd like to take a minute to point out some of the better parts of YourHub.com.

HubCap
Everybody on Brendan's List
Featured profiles
Staff meetings
Lone Tree City Council reports
Love columnists
Band geeks
Fat moms

Some of my favorite postings and blogs this year?

In remembrance of my mother
Letter from Iraq
So long, Southglenn
The sweet smell of agua
Northglenn Revealed
Land Swap
Mountain lion in the house
Spirit at Standley Lake
College in Germany
Exposing the Golden Years
Hole in the wall bar tour
Anything by Gladys
Woodstream Falls
Pretty much everything by Barbara
High school contributors
Smoky Hill's best kept secret
Of light, love and loss
The fox and the cat
The Godfather of the YourHub.com citizen community

These are local people stories that might not mean much to the tanned and testy, but they mean an awful lot to us.

The above is just a small sampling of some of the content that came to mind as I was writing this. Perhaps I'll have to do a part two on this subject some time soon. We had amazing content this year and I would like to thank all those who contributed.

We probably aren't in any danger of winning a Pulitzer and we aren't breaking hard news too often. But we've captured the community and created a community at the same time.

For any California critics who really want to find out what YourHub.com is all about I offer you an invitation. Start a blog on YourHub.com and stick with it for a month. Get on Brendan's List. Say hi to a fellow user. Then you might understand.

Or maybe you won't.

I'll end with some words from Brendan of Brendan's List (who also ends by quoting someone else) :

I think we've realized by now that we're not going to get Bill Boucher to get the scoop on the Denver voting saga, complete with an interview with John Hickenlooper. And none of us care.

I don't know if there's a smaller group in the world than the handful of people who consider themselves experts on citizen journalism. It's like being an expert on roller hockey ball bearings or something.

You know who's a freaking expert on citizen journalism? Me. I need some new business cards.

"When facts are few, experts are many."

- Donald R. Gannon

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Showing 1-8 of 8 comments

Submitted By: Travis Henry

posted on 1/24/2007 @ 12:41:47 PM

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Thank you Barbara, Gladys, Bill and Kim. You really make this great community what it is.

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Submitted By: Barbara Neff

posted on 1/22/2007 @ 11:48:21 AM

Rated Blog Entry

Slow but sure. I'm just finding this great blog entry, Travis. 2006 was a fabulous year for YourHub.com. Thanks to you and all the staff for the gift of this forum.

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Submitted By: Gladys Mercier

posted on 1/17/2007 @ 11:30:40 AM

Rated Blog Entry

Travis, Yourhub has given me so much pleasure. I love seeing my stories in print and have had a few people recognize me out and about! How nice is that for a senior? Thanks!

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Submitted By: William Boucher

posted on 1/6/2007 @ 5:01:16 PM

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Don't forgot Barbara Neff on NPR! By the way, that is one handsome man in the picture!

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Submitted By: John Zwick

posted on 1/4/2007 @ 11:28:54 PM

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Of course, there were the occasional moments when other news outlets would jack a hard story from us. Jeff's "bridge trolls" thing went worldwide. The sheriff's report about the car that blew up at the Bronco party went worldwide. Barbara Neff's bit on Woodstream Falls got jacked by 9 News. I'm sure they would have done their own work if they'd had time. We know how tough it can be when all your cameras and reporters are busy covering the baby ducks behind the building.

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Submitted By: John Brandstetter

posted on 1/4/2007 @ 12:58:16 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Great blog, Travis. And I'm not just saying that cause you're my boss.

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Submitted By: Kevin Villegas

posted on 1/4/2007 @ 12:25:37 PM

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Don't forget about the Standley Lake High School story about overcoming tragedy - http://denver.yourhub.com/BROOMFIELD/Stories/Family-Friends/General-Family-Friends/Story~151863.aspx

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Submitted By: Kim Price

posted on 1/3/2007 @ 7:51:48 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Its a perfectly good perfectly long definition of yourhub.. I've never gotten quite so much satisfaction as knowing people are reading what I wrote. Thank you

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Showing 1-8 of 8 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Travis Henry

Travis Henry has posted 81 blog entries and 177 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Travis Henry's average blog rating is 4.72.

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