Events

Panelist Spotlight: Staci Brown Brooks

Staci Brown Brooks
If you want a career in journalism in Birmingham Staci Brown Brooks is a woman you need to know. 

Brooks is the director of community news in Birmingham for the Alabama Media Group, the state’s largest news gathering organization. Prior to that she worked at The Birmingham News for several years in a variety of writing and editing positions. She has previously worked at The Tuscaloosa News and the Detroit Free Press, and as an instructor at The University of Alabama. 

On Thursday, she’ll step into that teaching role again briefly as she shares media and web wisdom at our upcoming panel discussion Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism. 

Brooks received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UA, and is currently studying there for her master’s in business administration. Brooks also is a graduate of the Alabama Leadership Initiative and the Maynard Media Academy at Harvard University. 

If you want to know more about how you can use blogging and journalism to be a leader in your community, you can do just that on Thursday, Jan. 10 at our next event. Click here to register. 

There are two questions I asked all our panelists after they agreed to be part of this discussion. Check out Brooks’ responses below: 

What must bloggers who want to be considered journalists do to be taken seriously?

Put accuracy and ethics above all else. Know your current audience and the audience you are trying to develop — be able to articulate what you do and who you try to reach if asked. If you are committed to growing your blog’s audience, you must be committed to assuring your vision for it is responsive to their needs, wishes and patterns.What main piece of advice would you give to folks who want to use their blogs to tell important stories in their communities?


Be passionate about the niche you’ve chosen — or the niche that has chosen you. That’s the one thing no one can teach you; everything else you can learn, if you are willing. Passion can’t be taught and it can’t be faked. Always put accuracy and ethics above all else. And write your hearts out.

If you have more questions for Staci Brown Brooks leave them in the comments section and we will add them to our list of questions for our upcoming event. 


Panelist Spotlight: Erin Shaw Street

Erin Shaw Street

This past summer Southern Living magazine launched The Daily South, a blog that the magazine’s editors hope will become the go-to destination for Southern culture, food, home, travel and style. It made sense that the woman at the helm of this new online project would be Erin Shaw Street. 

Street is travel editor at Southern Living and thus it’s her job to canvas the South to discover the latest destinations, tastemakers and trends. Erin has also been blogging for years and is a social media guru in her own right. In fact, Street led the first See Jane Write workshop, which was a seminar on Twitter. We’re excited she’ll be partnering with us again and serving as a panelist for our upcoming event Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism. 


In addition to her role as travel editor at Southern Living and the work she does for The Daily South, Street also manages editorial content for the brand’s social media. She is the recipient of more than 20 writing awards, including the 2012 Gold Lowell Thomas Award for “What Stands In A Storm,” Southern Living’s coverage of the 2011 tornadoes, and a 2012 Folio Award for “Heroes of the New South.”  

If you want to know more about blogging and/or journalism, Street is clearly a great person from whom to learn. And you can do just that on Thursday, Jan. 10 at our next event. Click here to register. 

There are two questions I asked all our panelists after they agreed to be part of this discussion. Check out Street’s responses below: 

What must bloggers who want to be considered journalists do to be taken seriously?

Woo, it’s difficult to become a journalist overnight! It takes a while. Journalists spend  years learning about the practice, which includes ethics, reporting, interview skills, writing, and editing. If a blogger is serious about learning these skills, commit to gaining this knowledge from the best. Read quality journalism. Seek out a journalist from whom you can learn — he or she might need to learn about blogging and/or social; strike up that conversation. Follow reputable journalism sources and watchdogs, like the Poynter Institute (poynter.org).

What main piece of advice would you give to folks who want to use their blogs to tell important stories in their communities?

You don’t need a Pulitzer to tell compelling stories. Tell them from your vantage point — from the carpool line, from the downtown you see growing into something more, from the conversations in which you and your friends dream. Get out and live in your community, then do the reporting. Talk to other people. Share what they and you experience.

If you have more questions for Erin Shaw Street leave them in the comments section and we will add them to our list of questions for our upcoming event. 

Panelist Spotlight: André Natta

Andre Natta will be one of the panelists featured in our
discussion on blogging and community journalism
set for Thursday, Jan. 10. 

Long before I returned to my hometown of Birmimgham, Ala., in 2009 I was hearing talk about The Terminal. André Natta started this critically acclaimed web publication about Birmingham in 2007 and the site has since garnered him plenty of attention and respect in the Magic City and beyond. 


Natta will be one of the panelists featured in next week’s event Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism. The Terminal is just one of the reasons I’m excited to have Natta as part of this discussion. 

In addition to his work with The Terminal, Natta has two blogs — a personal one (Dre’s Ramblings) and another looking at modern communication methods and urbanism (Urban Conversations). He also contributes a monthly column on technology and how it’s affecting the future of Birmingham (The Digital City) for B-Metro Magazine. 


This week over on his blog Urban Conversations, Natta started a series he calls The Four Agreements of Blogging. Inspired by The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz, this series will examine principles we should all keep in mind when it comes to writing and digital strategy. You can begin reading the series here. 

And you can learn even more from Natta about blogging and community journalism on Thursday, Jan. 10 at our next event. Click here to register. 

There are two questions I asked all our panelists after they agreed to be part of this discussion. Check out Natta’s responses below: 

What must bloggers who want to be considered journalists do to be taken seriously?

I’d say they’d want to approach writing their posts with passion. They got to be willing to tell the truth and have the ability to connect dots most folks wouldn’t at first glance. Always be willing to question and to learn as much as possible.


What main piece of advice would you give to folks who want to use their blogs to tell important stories in their communities?


Be willing to do the research necessary to make sure no stone is left unturned. This includes reaching out to all sides of the story; there are normally more than two. Even if folks don’t reciprocate, you know you’ve done all you can to present as complete a piece as possible. Being thorough and transparent matters much more than being balanced and objective.


If you have more questions for Natta leave them in the comments section and we will add them to our list of questions for next week’s event. 

Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism

Can a blogger be a journalist? 
How can you use your blog to cover a topic or community you believe doesn’t get adequate attention from mainstream media? 
Will community news flourish or wan in the age of new media?
We will tackle these questions and many more at the next See Jane Write panel discussion, Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism. 
Our panelists include: 
  • Staci Brown Brooks, Community News Director for the Birmingham Hub of  Alabama Media Group
  • Emily Lowrey, founder of Magic City Post, a web publication that offers a daily posts on the Birmingham metro area and shows off the best the region has to offer.
  • Andre Natta, founder of The Terminal, a critically acclaimed web publication about Birmingham.
  • Erin Shaw Street, travel editor for Southern Living magazine and editorial content manager for the magazine’s social media including its blog, The Daily South 

The panel discussion will be moderated by Edward T. Bowser, community engagement specialist for the Birmingham Hub of Alabama Media Group. 

But you can help determine the questions Edward will ask our panelists. Leave your questions for the panel in the comments section of this post. 
This is a free event, but registration is required. And, yes, men are welcome!
See Jane Write presents Blogging and the Future of Community Journalism
6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013
Innovation Depot, 1500 1st Avenue North #31, Birmingham, AL 35203
Special thanks to our venue sponsor Magic City Post.
We will be a guest of Magic City Post at Innovation Depot for this event. 

Don’t forget to leave your questions for the panel in the comments!

Blogging Is About People, Not Pageviews

A few of the ladies of See Jane Write before our morning walk


I have a confession. 

When I came up with the idea for #bloglikecrazy several months ago I had an ulterior motive. While I, of course, wanted the challenge to get other women motivated to write and blog regularly, I also hoped the project would increase traffic to my blog. And I did see a small boost in traffic, but by the second week of the challenge I didn’t care about my stats. Something much more important and more exciting was happening. Thanks to the number of See Jane Write members participating, women bloggers in the Birmingham area started using #bloglikecrazy to build community. The ladies shared their posts on the See Jane Write Facebook group page and in the process discovered a host of common interests. One thing we quickly learned was that several of us were fitness fanatics. 

So Tanya Sylvan had the great idea of organizing See Jane Move. 

This morning I started my day with a gathering of a few of my favorite women who write at Railroad Park. The weather was absolutely perfect as we did laps around the park for about an hour and then sat down for a potluck brunch. We noshed on fruit, confetti rice and bean salad, and other healthy snacks and talked about nearly everything from personal branding to blog design to DIY manicures. 

Here we are before sitting down for our healthy potluck brunch


And as I sat there I saw a blogging lesson come to life: it’s all about people, not pageviews. No amount of web hits could have created the joy I felt this morning.  

I left the park feeling so inspired by the girl power in the air and very hopeful about the future of See Jane Write. 

See Jane Move was an excellent way to start a Saturday and a perfect way to end #bloglikecrazy.