Columns Archives - Outdoor Writers Association of America

Young women bring new perspectives to outdoor writing

owaa — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:00:53 +0000

By Shawn Perich
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in February 2012 in Minnesota Outdoor News. Republished with permission of the author.
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e often hear young people are losing interest in the Great Outdoors, but plenty of 20-somethings enjoy activities ranging from cross-country skiing to hunting. A few even pursue outdoor-related careers. In the field of outdoor communications, many of today’s young professionals are women. While the ranks of outdoor writers have included women for decades, it appears more females are entering the outdoor communications field than ever before. They are sure to bring new perspectives to what was traditionally a male-dominated profession, because they are anything but typical.

Shelby Gonzalez is a freelance outdoor and adventure writer. Courtesy photo.

Consider Shelby Gonzalez of Duluth, Minn., a freelance outdoor and adventure writer and the managing editor of Northern Wilds magazine. Growing up in the Twin Cities, she had virtually no exposure to outdoor activities. In high school, she overheard a classmate who was preparing for a 49-day Arctic paddling trip led by Camp Menogyn on the Gunflint Trail.
“I had no idea someone my age could do something like that,” she says.
That night, she asked her mother if she could go to summer camp at Menogyn. The camp became part of her life for three summers. Through Menogyn, Gonzalez participated in a 17-day Boundary Waters canoe trip and then a 30-day excursion in Ontario’s Wabikimi Wilderness. She could have paddled the Arctic, but at the ripe old age of 18 she decided to make a solo trip around the world instead. That adventure was cut short when she had an emergency appendectomy in West Java, Indonesia.
Returning home, she enrolled at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where she designed her own major, outdoor adventure writing, with a curriculum that included lots of rock climbing through the school’s outdoor recreation program. She’s gone on to design her own career as a freelance writer.
“Getting into the outdoors completely shifted my life’s path,” she says.

Kate Watson, an avid participant in active sports like cross-country skiing and hiking, shares her outdoor knowledge through freelance stories and gear reviews. Courtesy photo.

By contrast, Kate Watson of Grand Marais grew up along the Yukon River near the tiny village of Eagle, Alaska. The outdoors was her childhood playground.
“We had no TV or running water,” she recalls. “For fun, you either went outside or read a book.”
Her family later moved to the Upper Peninsula, where she went to high school. Her first experience with city life was going to college in the Twin Cities, majoring in journalism. While taking a magazine writing class, she went with her father to the North House Folk School in Grand Marais and wrote a story about an event called the Winterer’s Gathering. Whether coincidence or fate, today she is the school’s communications director.
Watson says she enjoys cities, but a small town is better suited to her outdoor lifestyle. An avid participant in active sports like cross-country skiing and hiking, she shares her outdoor knowledge through freelance stories and gear reviews she writes for Northern Wilds magazine. Although she didn’t specifically seek a career in outdoor communications, she’s happy with the niche she’s found in Grand Marais.
Creating your own niche in the hunting industry isn’t easy, regardless of your gender, says Melissa Bachman. She credits her upbringing with her decision to pursue a career in outdoor television. Growing up in central Minnesota, both of her parents were hunters.
“I developed a passion for hunting,” she says. “I looked forward to my 12th birthday so I could start hunting. I could hardly sleep the night before I went deer hunting for the first time.”

Melissa Bachman took on an internship that included a 150-mile round-trip commute to gain the experience needed for a career in broadcast journalism. Courtesy photo.

In college, she double-majored in Spanish and broadcast journalism. Then she went looking for work. She applied at 74 companies and was told over and over that she couldn’t get hired without experience. Finally, she applied at the North American Hunting Club, where again she was told she needed experience.
She left the interview, thought about it and decided the club was where she wanted to work. So she went back and made the company an offer.
“I asked if I could work for free as an intern so I could learn television production,” Bachman says.
The club took her on as an intern. For months, she worked nights at a bar in St. Cloud and made a 150-mile round-trip commute for her internship. Once she gained some experience, she was hired by the North American Hunting Club and worked as a producer for four years. She occasionally appeared on the club’s hunting show as a personality. To build up a video resume, she began filming her own hunts. A year-and-a-half ago, she left the club and began freelancing as a personality on hunting shows. She signed on as a full-time host for North American Hunter, the club’s television show, just a few weeks ago. It’s where she wants to be.
“I had lots of ambition, knew what I wanted and worked hard to get there,” she says. “As long as someone allows me to hunt all fall and all spring, I’m a happy girl.”

Ada Igoe writes about nature and the outdoors for various magazines. Also, her essays about life in the woods air on WTIP Radio in Grand Marais, Minn. Courtesy photo.

Ada Igoe is also where she wants to be — on the Gunflint Trail. Her essays about life in the woods air on WTIP Radio in Grand Marais. She writes about nature and the outdoors for various magazines. In the summer, she works at Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center on Lake Saganaga. Igoe was introduced to the canoe country at an early age, but didn’t appreciate it until she was a young adult.
“I grew up in Grand Marais,” she says. “When I was little we would take our vacation in the [Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness] and I hated it.”
It wasn’t until she worked summer jobs as a receptionist for the U.S. Forest Service and later for a Gunflint Trail outfitter that she became intrigued with the canoe country. After college, she worked as a temporary for six months in London and did a six-month stint in the Twin Cities. In a recession-ravaged job market, writing jobs were hard to come by.
“I applied multiple times at the Duluth News-Tribune, but instead of hiring, they always eliminated the position,” she says.
Igoe liked cities, but decided she didn’t want to live in one. She moved to the Gunflint Trail in 2009. Pursuing freelance writing allowed her to be where she wanted to be. In addition to WTIP, she writes for various publications and a local tourism blog. Her writing doesn’t earn enough to fully support her yet, so she appreciates her job at the museum.
When asked if they think there is a reason why more women are becoming outdoor communicators, all say it is easier for women to break into fields once dominated by men.
“Women are a growing part of the hunting industry,” says Bachman. “There are more great female role models. My mom hunted, so I knew it wasn’t just a guy thing.”
Igoe, who doesn’t hunt, but is willing to tag along and carry a dead grouse, says today’s 20-something women have more career options than women in previous generations. She thinks women may gravitate more to communications careers than men, noting the blogosphere is mostly female.
One thing is certain. Female outdoor communicators are telling new stories and reaching new audiences. In doing so, they are proving young people haven’t abandoned the Great Outdoors. ◊
Shawn Perich, of Hovland, Minn., has been a member since 1985. In addition to his duties as editor and publisher of Northen Wilds Media, he is a columnist for Minnesota Outdoor News and a book author. Contact him at editor[at]northernwilds.com.

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New membership criteria: Simplifying the application process

owaa — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:00:48 +0000

By Matt Miller
The current OWAA application process is less difficult than filling out tax forms, but it’s still unpleasant and time consuming. Unlike taxes, membership to OWAA is not required by law. As such, many potential members may look at our application and decide (incorrectly) that they don’t qualify, or that it is not worth the time.
To attract new members, we need membership criteria that are easy to understand and easy to fill out. An OWAA board committee came up with a new set of criteria to achieve this. I hope that you support this initiative and vote “yes” on the ballot. You can review the new membership criteria here.
Having professional standards are important. However, by simplifying the standards, we are not lessening the professional reputation of the organization. This is easily illustrated by reviewing the standards of other professional writing and communications organizations.
The National Association of Science Writers requires five stories (in any medium) over a five-year period. Has this made NASW membership less professional? Currently, this growing organization includes some of the most well-known and bestselling non-fiction writers.
One can qualify as a member of the Mystery Writers of America by earning $200 a year from mystery stories. This organization includes writers who have sold millions of books. Their Edgar Award launches careers of promising young novelists.
Almost all writing and communications organizations have simple application procedures and simple qualifications. The fact is, professionals want to be a part of a large, thriving organization, with the potential to learn and share from a diversity of fellow communicators. Accomplishing this clearly does not require difficult paperwork.
Currently, OWAA has a variety of categories for membership, each with an arbitrary standard. A quick look reveals inconsistencies. For communicators who work in a variety of media—as many of us do—mixing and matching categories is confusing at best. A book author who makes millions in income could be turned down because she doesn’t produce a book a year. And it’s hard to imagine anyone who qualified as a lecturer, with the requirement of 36 paid speaking engagements a year.
The new criteria are much easier to understand. You can quickly read them and figure out if you qualify for membership.
The criteria also reflect our changing field, allowing membership for productive “citizen journalists” even if they don’t receive payment. The standards are high to only allow those who frequently write about the outdoors for an audience.
If you have any doubts, we’d love to hear them. First, though, go read through the current membership categories and criteria. Try to imagine seeing them as a new member unfamiliar with the organization. Is this the first impression we want? Do we really want to make it this difficult?
Please feel free to email me or other board members your thoughts and questions about this proposed change. We’d love to hear from you. We also hope you will vote “yes” for these proposed changes on your upcoming ballot. ◊
Matt Miller is senior science writer for The Nature Conservancy. He writes features and blogs about the Conservancy’s research and conservation science work around the globe. Miller has worked for 11 years as communications director for the Conservancy’s Idaho program. Contact him at m_miller[at]tnc.org.

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President's report

owaa — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:50:18 +0000

By John L. Beath
Serving as OWAA president for the past 12 months has been an extreme honor and pleasure. Working with a diverse group of board members, as well as many member volunteers, has renewed my faith in the strength of our organization.
Everyone I worked with this past year was positive and strived to do their best to help OWAA grow and move forward. Your elected board of directors accomplished a great deal and will continue to conquer long-term goals while facing new challenges brought on by the economy and continually changing technology. The biggest challenge we faced this past year was the poor economy and its affect on members. When the economy suffers our members suffer too, which creates a tighter budget for everyone, including nonprofit groups like OWAA and some of OWAA’s supporting groups, agencies and businesses.
One of my goals as president was to help find new, profitable opportunities for our membership and our organization. Each month my I-Tech column has provided information about new technology and ways to save money or profit from the technology. I plan to continue writing this column, in hopes it will help members learn about and benefit from new technology.
Another goal was to help reduce the OWAA budget without reducing member services. Goals of this magnitude aren’t accomplished easily and require cooperation from the board and members alike. At the upcoming board meeting I will outline savings to the OWAA budget that amount to approximately $44,000 per year – without reduction in member services.
Recently, I visited headquarters and met with a commercial Realtor about selling OWAA headquarters. The condo unit we share with two other owners has been for sale for more than a year. Missoula real estate prices have fallen, just like everywhere else in the U.S. This has made it difficult to sell the condo unit. Hopefully everyone has followed the reasons behind selling headquarters. In short, we need to sell because one owner now has controlling interest over the other two owners. This puts the OWAA budget at risk.
The goal of selling the headquarters condo has been difficult and will likely happen during Tony Dolle’s presidency. I’m confident that the Realtor will find a buyer, allowing headquarters to relocate to Fort Missoula. According to the agent, who has a background in commercial real estate financing, the biggest challenge a buyer will face is financing. During our upcoming board meeting, I will give a detailed report about selling the condo, as well as information about what to do if an potential buyer can’t obtain financing. I encourage everyone to sit in on a board meeting and watch your elected board members at work. Hopefully you will be able to attend conference and the annual business meeting, too.
Marketing OWAA has been and will continue to be a goal of mine. We need new members, not just for membership fees, but also for new ideas an too keep the association moving forward instead of standing still or sliding backwards. New members and supporters will provide the energy needed to grow a healthy, strong membership base.
While in Missoula, Robin, Ashley and I discussed some new ways to market OWAA on the Internet with the goal of attracting new members. The possibility of a multi-site marketing will give OWAA a far better reach on the Internet and enable us to hit certain keywords for potential members. Instead of relying on someone searching for “outdoor writers groups” we can target “boating writers groups” or “skiing writers groups,” for example. Our members should also help market OWAA by including links back to www.owaa.org from their sites. OWAA already provides links to its member’s Web pages.
It has been a tremendous pleasure and honor serving as your president. I look forward to volunteering for committees and helping where and when needed in the future. At age 50, there’s still a lot of volunteer left in me, especially after retirement in two short years!
If we all contribute just a little when we can, it adds up to a strong, healthy and relevant organization. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of several websites and online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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Does your website have spiders crawling through it?

owaa — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:45:13 +0000

By John L. Beath
A client recently hired me to optimize their website to get more search engine traffic. When I asked him if and how often search engine spiders crawled his site, he gave me a deer-in-headlights look. Search spiders are sometimes called search robots or bots, Web wanderers or Web crawlers.
My client had no idea where visitors to his website came from, how often they visited or where they went on his site. However, he was very proud of his visitor counter at the bottom of his page that showed a total of 7,547 visitors since 2006.
When asked if he thought that was a good number of visitors he happily said “yes.” In reality, those numbers are extremely low and reflect negatively to visitors coming to his site. Additionally, it shows all of his competitors exactly how few people visit his site – a number that should remain confidential, no matter the number, except to paid advertisers on the site, if any exist.
First, I removed the visitor counter from my client’s site. Next, I optimized his meta tag site title and description to accurately reflect the content of his site. Then I edited the text on his site so that it was more descriptive and blended better with his site title and description. I also renamed his link pages to be more descriptive and search engine friendly. For example, “Photos” is far too generic and will never attract search traffic. Since his site is from a specific area, I named the link “Valdez Alaska Fishing Photos.” This link takes more space, but it accurately describes the origin of the images and helps search engines determine relevancy for search results.
Now the fun part: adding code that enabled the site owner or administrator to see who and where traffic is coming from on the Internet. Lots of companies provide free stat counters. One of the best is www.statcounter.com. It provides a user-friendly interface and comprehensive statistics.
Stat Counter is an invisible Web tracker that lets the user customize and configure the counter specifically for their website. Once the code has been added to the site, it will show real time Web statistics, including where the visitor came from, what search terms were used to find the site, and how long visitors spend visitng on the site. The stat counter also shows when search spiders crawl the site and the search engine or directory from which the spiders originated.
“I love StatCounter.com because it offers a huge range of features to help me determine search engine relevancy for my site and contents,” explained Mary Alice Donahue, owner of glutenfreetravelmagazine.com and LAgrapevine.com. “My stats from StatCounter.com give me a complete understanding of quality and quantity of visits to my Web properties, for free.”
This information is invaluable for learning how to analyze your site and fully optimize it to receive more relevant traffic. Donahue uses StatCounter’s popular page feature to determine quality of content and follow trends. She also says the recent visitor mapping tool helps her sell advertising. When selling ads on her site, she uses this tool to show her clients where traffic is concentrated and the relevancy and benefit of advertising on a particular page.
For more information about this valuable program, visit www.statcounter.com. To see how a search engine spider works, try this simulator: http://www.webconfs.com/search-engine-spider-simulator.php. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of several websites and online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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Websites made easy with Weebly.com

owaa — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:10:09 +0000

By John L. Beath
Everyone needs a website in today’s competitive digital world. Even if you have one or two websites promoting your books, products, ideas or photos, you can’t have too many sites. Currently, I have 35 websites and continue to produce at least one per week – most recently, using Weebly.
Many people don’t have the funds or skills necessary to create a good-looking website, especially one with a decent shopping cart option. Fear not, all you need to know is how to drag and drop, if you use www.weebly.com.
After signing up for a Weebly account, users can create a free website or blog complete with a shopping cart, video, images and much more. Weebly’s unique programming is a drag and drop interface so simple anyone, regardless of skill level, can create great looking websites. The drag-and-drop program also lets you choose between dozens of professional designs with numerous simple-to-use multimedia elements. After dragging and dropping your elements, images and text, you can click between templates at any time during design or after the site is completed. You can change the look of your site as often or as frequent as you want.
If you have a Google account or PayPal account, you can quickly create a revenue generating website with a professional and secure shopping cart. For an example of a Web store site on Weebly, visit www.SuperSquids.com. I built this site quickly, with no design effort, using Weebly templates. The most difficult part of building the Super Squid site was taking pictures of the products and sizing them to 72 dpi in Photoshop. Other than the images, the site required some text and lots of drag and dropping of Weebly elements.
You can use the free option on Weebly or pay $70 for two years of hosting for up to 10 websites. If you own your own domain name just follow the directions and point it to your Weebly account or purchase the domain through Weebly.com. Whatever website solution you choose, follow Weebly’s instructions and you will quickly have the best looking, inexpensive website possible. Don’t forget to create links to and from your other sites too.
In addition to Weebly drag and drop elements, you can use the HTML option for more difficult and complicated features.
A friend of mine created a really great Amazon store through the Amazon Affiliate Program and used the Weebly platform for her new website. To view her site, visit http://www.glutenfreetravelmagazine.com/gluten-free-store.html.
Her Amazon store requires no inventory or shipping. When someone purchases something from her affiliate store, Amazon deposits a percentage of the sale in her account.
If you are interested in dragging and dropping a new Weebly website for your business watch this how-to video.
Profit Tip: Monetizing your efforts
Sign up to be an Amazon affiliate if you frequently interview people who have a product to sell—whether a book author or product representative for an outdoors gear company. Should you mention their product on your broadcast or in your writing, you can post a link on your website to the item’s Amazon listing. If people click your link to order the item, you earn a percentage of the sale.
Not only does this help monetize your efforts, it provides a good customer service to your readers, listeners and viewers. Instead of trying to remember a book title or author’s name, they need only visit your website and click a link to purchase the featured item.
Profit Tip: Targeting niche markets
Create as many websites as you can. The most common question people asked about my website business is: “Why do you have so many sites?”
With numerous sites I can target every niche market that interests me, relates to the products I sell or ideas important to me. My current URL inventory includes 157 unique Web addresses, all of which will be working websites within three years.
Remember, a product does not have to be something you sell. On the Web, a product can also be your ideas or your newspaper column. To market something successfully, you must promote, promote, promote. In the Internet world, links are the way to promote your website. It is also imperative that your site contains relevant content. If you focus on those two aspects, you’ll succeed.
Tailor your content to a niche market and your site stands a better chance of soaring to the top of search engines. High-ranking niche websites can take your business and Internet reach to the next level.
Example: If you love to write about bass fishing, come up with your niche having to do with bass fishing and then purchase a URL with that keyword in the URL address. My SuperSquids site is niche because it is the name of my own brand of squid lures. I also own www.squidlures.com, a site ranked number 1 in Google if you search for “squid lures.” This is the power of niche websites and importance of creating more than one website. Each time I create a new website, I also create links that come from the same category of websites – a strategy that helps with all my site’s rankings. Of my 35 websites, 90 percent of them are ranked No. 1 to No. 3 for the search terms targeted on Google and Bing. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of 14 Web sites and 10 online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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President’s Message

owaa — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:05:14 +0000

By John L. Beath
An OWAA member recently asked me where I thought OWAA would be in five years, with such declines in the magazine and newspaper industries. Many OWAA members are asking the same question. It deserves much thought, debate and overall, direction from the OWAA board of directors.
I think OWAA, as well as every other outdoors media group, MUST make several serious changes to remain viable, important and above all else, healthy. The next five years are critical to our profession and organization. With effort and foresight, those years will be strong and profitable. Without change, OWAA will suffer the fate of declining membership, opportunities and profits.
To remain healthy and meaningful to members, OWAA needs to embrace a new direction that more accurately defines the association and its membership.
As standard print opportunities continue to decline, so does our membership. It only stands to reason that our ranks will swell with increased opportunities and decrease as markets shrink. Digital opportunities continue to increase, but figuring out how to monetize these opportunities is a unique challenge. As businesses and outdoor communicators try to figure out these challenges, we should bring new digital communicators into our ranks even if they haven’t figured out how to earn a living with their online magazine, blog, videos or podcasts.
Creating a new membership classification is one way to bring health to OWAA. This topic has been a subject of discourse among members on several occasions during the past two years. I continue to support a new “digital” or “Internet” membership classification.
Seeking out these potential members will do several things for OWAA.
First of all, it will bring new enthusiastic members into our aging and declining group. Secondly, it will provide an opportunity for OWAA to mentor and educate these digital Daniel Boones, and in turn will increase the quality of outdoors-related communication across the Internet. We can certainly learn from this new breed of communicators, and they can learn from us.
The argument I continue to hear is worth repeating, as it is worth discussion and debate: “Bloggers and online writers don’t have the skill level we (OWAA members) have. We should keep our standards high to be considered professional.”
Yes, we should maintain high professional standards, but how can we impose high standards on someone who does not belong to OWAA? You can’t unless you make them members. More members will help the group stay through professional standards and a strong membership base.
Why not create a new category with fewer qualifications, aimed at the new breed of Internet outdoor communicator?
Some members continue to point out that OWAA has a Student category and Associate category. Yes we do, but do these membership categories bring in new members?

Editor’s note: Info about OWAA’s current individual membership structure—classifications and criteria—available here: https://owaa.org/join/individual#classifications.

Do these membership classifications accurately reflect the current online climate of outdoor communicators?
No, I don’t believe they do.
During the next board meeting in June, this topic of a new membership classification will be discussed. Please let any board member or me know your opinions on this topic, or simply comment below.
While on the topic of change needed for OWAA, I firmly believe we need to form partnerships with other communications groups. We don’t have to merge memberships, but we should consider pooling some resources, as well as host joint conferences that would be less expensive and more diverse for all who attend. We have done this on a limited basis in the recent past, but should now consider actively pursing this endeavor as a standard practice. In February I sent a letter to 20-25 media groups with an offer to exchange craft improvement articles. Actually, I was surprised by several quick, positive responses, but the result has been little benefit for Outdoors Unlimited.
And one last note: If you have not made your reservations for OWAA’s annual conference in Rochester, Minn., please consider coming and participating this year. Program chair Mike Walker has a strong program that will benefit everyone who attends conference. Also, in addition to my president’s duties I will give three important and potentially profitable seminars: “YouTube editing Made Easy,” “How to Profit from YouTube Videos Your Create” and “iTech –Drag and Drop.”
I hope to see you in Rochester. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of several websites and online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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President's Message

owaa — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:10:42 +0000

By John L. Beath
On March 12, Kevin Rhoades submitted his letter of resignation with a 60-day notice.
First of all, I would like to thank Kevin for his hard work, dedication and tireless work as executive director of OWAA. When he resigned for personal reasons, my first instinct was of thanks to Kevin for his years of service to OWAA.
Kevin has spent 11 years at OWAA headquarters, longer than most past employees. For six of those years he was our director and did an outstanding job. I can’t think of one person in OWAA who does not consider Kevin a friend, aside from his role as executive director. OWAA legal council Bill Powell made a comment to me worth repeating: “I did not think it possible to have an executive director that everyone liked.”
I wish Kevin and his family the very best and look forward to him being an OWAA member for years to come. Thanks again Kevin, for your dedication to OWAA over the years. You will always be part of our unique family.
Now we have the job of looking for an executive director and will no doubt use Kevin as a measure when selecting a new executive director. I have appointed a search committee and the work has begun. Rest assured we will find someone to fill this difficult and challenging job. Of all the issues during my presidency, this is the most important challenge yet. Many other presidents have had to search for an executive director and many more in the future will also face this difficult challenge. Rich Patterson, who has been a non-profit executive director for 35 years, says the average length of employment for a non-profit executive director is just three years. Kevin doubled that length and we appreciate it.
High turnover rates in the non-profit sector are due to many of the same factors, including: tight budgets, constantly changing board of directors and officers, declining memberships and better job offers. OWAA is no different than many other groups, and will face the same challenges now and in the future. When selecting a new director, the selection committee will keep these challenges in mind and look for a candidate with experience, vision, managerial skills and a high sense of integrity. The new candidate will have to be able to work with people with BIG egos – that’s right, a few of us admittedly do have big egos, which makes the job of executive director more difficult.
You have my guarantee that we will find an extremely dynamic executive director that will help lead OWAA past some of the difficult challenges facing all non-profits. The selection committee looks forward to finding the perfect person to fill the job and to introducing that person to OWAA membership.
To conquer a challenge is one of life’s greatest accomplishments. ◊
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Tips on Web surfing safety and overcoming Internet censorship

owaa — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 15:05:08 +0000

By John L. Beath
Safety
Do you know how easy it is for someone to link up to your computer and steal your passwords, read your e-mail and install programs to remotely control your computer?
I recently traveled to China, home to many digital pirates, digital terrorists, hackers and Wi-Fi bandits. Getting connected while on the road can be wonderful, but it can also be very dangerous if you don’t protect yourself from digital thieves.
Airports and public Wi-Fi locations are a digital thief’s candy store and you could be the proverbial sucker if you aren’t careful. Hackers can access your laptop through fake free Internet connections that are often mistaken as free Wi-Fi offered by many businesses to lure in customers. You think you are signing on to the Internet through a wireless hotspot but are actually connecting to a look-alike network.
A smart hacker can be sitting within 50 feet of you, waiting for you to connect to his false Wi-Fi hotspot. These are called “man in the middle” attacks. Once you connect to the fake hotspot, the attacker has access to your computer and can see exactly what you see on your screen as you surf the Internet. In some cases, they can access your computer or e-mail even after you exit the airport without you ever knowing the intrusion took place.
To avoid such attacks, use caution before connecting to any free hotspots and make sure your laptop security systems are turned on and working. Also, all Wi-Fi devices support some kind of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Use the strongest form of encryption that works for your network. If possible, use WPA2 encryption, as it is more secure than WEP.
When in airports, never access bank accounts and avoid using your credit card. I carry a pre-paid credit card and use it when forced to pay for Boingo or other Internet connections in airports. If this credit card number is stolen or compromised in any way, it limits my loss of money to whatever is on the pre-paid card. I also use this card when traveling in areas of high pick pocket activity, leaving other credit cards and important wallet contents in the hotel safe.
Make sure your laptop will not automatically connect to wireless Internet hotspots. On a PC, access the Network Connections screen through the Control Panel. Right click “Wireless Network Connection” icon, select “Properties.” Click “Wireless Networks” tab. Go to “Preferred” networks area. Click the “Advanced” link. Choose “Access Point Networks Only.” Remove the check mark next to “Automatically Connect to Non-Preferred Networks.” On a Mac, click on the Airport icon in the top right corner of your screen and choose “Turn Airport Off.”
Censorship
After checking into my hotel room in Beijing, I hooked the Ethernet cable to my laptop and connected to the Net. After checking my e-mail, I tried to access to my Facebook account. Thirty seconds elapsed before a “This connection is not available or might be temporarily unavailable” message appeared. Then I tried to go to a new Web site my design team was building. The same message appeared again. Then it hit me. My Internet connection was censored. But that wasn’t a problem because I use a proxy server to beat the censors.
This was my seventh trip to China, so this exercise was not new to me. Proxy servers act as an intermediary between your computer and the server of the Web site you are trying to access. After trying six proxy servers, the seventh finally worked and I connected to my Facebook account. After a quick status update to let my friends know I had arrived in Beijing, the page disappeared again. The Chinese censors had obviously gotten better. Even if I found a proxy site that worked, it only worked once before being blocked.
Since the free proxy servers would not work to mask and hide my Internet surfing, the next option was a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A quick Google search of “VPN” brought up dozens of hits to VPN services. I chose Surf Bouncer, based in Anchorage, Alaska. The service costs just $4.99 per week. After downloading their VPN program, I was safely surfing with complete freedom to go where I wanted on the Internet. Communist censorship be damned!
How a VPN works
Once connected to the VPN, your data traveling over the Internet becomes invisible via encryption and is encapsulated, or tunneled, from the underlying network. The censors can’t read traffic to or from your computer. To avoid future censorship, the VPN service uses different servers to remain more anonymous.
A VPN is also one of the most secure methods to surf the Internet from airports or other free Wi-Fi hotspots. However, while the VPN service is not free, it is well worth $5 to protect your laptop from intruders. My uncle lives in Beijing six months out of the year and pays $15 dollars per month for his VPN service. So far, he has surfed without any problems or censorship. If you plan to travel to any country that might not be secure or will be censored, install a VPN on your laptop before you begin your trip. You won’t have to use the service, but it will be available if you need it or when surfing the Net at the airport.
More security tips

Use encryption software to protect your files, especially passwords and account numbers. Check www.Cnet.com for the latest software.
Access only legitimate Wi-Fi hotspots and use WAP2 on your computer.
Use updated firewalls on your laptop. Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security and AVG Internet Security all work well.
Use a VPN.
Schedule regular anti-virus scans for your laptop and run a scan if you have any suspicions or have recently accessed unfamiliar Wi-Fi hotspots.
Make sure your virus protection is running when you access the Internet from any connection.

John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of 14 Web sites and 10 online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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Newspapers popular but not profitable on Web

owaa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:06:58 +0000

By John L. Beath
During the last quarter of 2009, an average of 72 million Web surfers—more than one-third (37 percent) of Internet users—visited newspaper sites each month, according to a custom analysis by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America. The Nielsen Online report said online newspaper readers generated more than 3.2 billion page views.
While these numbers look good for online newspapers, the statistics do not bode well for print newspapers. Newspaper publishers find themselves caught between newsprint and the digital divide. Newspaper writers increasingly find themselves between jobs as the size of newspaper staffs shrink due to lack of hard copy sales.
The pay-to-read formula for newspapers has yet to catch on. Among the nation’s larger newspapers, The Wall Street Journal and Newsday are the only publications to charge for access to portions of their Web sites. Regardless, to generate more revenue, the New York Times announced it will begin charging frequent readers for unlimited access to online content. Starting in January 2011, visitors to NYTimes.com will be allowed to read a certain number of articles for free. Newsday, a Long Island New York daily paper, spent $4 million on a Web site redesign and relaunch before putting the paper’s site behind a pay wall. Three months after their massive, very speculative investment, 35 loyal customers paid $5 per week for the service.
In early January, Times Online blocked links to its site from NewsNow.co.uk, a United Kingdom news aggregator. Last December, News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch said some think they have a right to take news content as their own without contributing a penny toward its production. Read more about Murdoch’s opinion on news aggregators here.
As newspapers fight to stay financially afloat and figure out how to profit from their online content, the fight might turn to the courts. As more pressure is placed on lawmakers to pass “no link” laws, the Internet “get it for free or die” crowd will fight to the digital death. Web sites, bloggers, YouTubers and Web site forum users are fighting back. The Right2Link Campaign explains their case at www.right2link.org.
During an interview on Wall Street Journal Radio Network last month, a college professor and independent media expert explained how newspaper investigative reporters are losing their jobs at alarming rates. The commentators even talked about government subsidies to maintain journalist checks and balances between citizens and government. Without investigative journalists, the commentators theorized that government would not be kept in check or monitored as in the past. They also spoke about studies that showed most blog stories originated from print media. Without proper print media, even bloggers would suffer and not be able to properly investigate and uncover difficult stories.
So, what should we do today to prepare for an unknown future?
For starters, every OWAA member should have a blog. Media professionals have a huge edge over non-professional bloggers. If you work for a newspaper or magazine, your blog can add value to your print work and give your readers more value. If you don’t write for a standard newspaper or magazine, a blog with original ideas and good reporting can bring traffic to your site. Turning your traffic into profits will be easier after you achieve an audience. The earlier you get started with your blog the longer you have to build your readership. For ideas on how to profit from your blog, attend the OWAA conference. This year’s conference has craft improvement seminars devoted to blogs and vlogs (video blogs).
Some people host their own blog on their Web site’s server. This works, but it is much easier to create a blog at www.blogger.com. A Blogger account is linked to Google accounts and also gets indexed in the Google search engine. Having your blog indexed in Google equals more traffic. If you have a popular site with high search rankings, Google will index and give you good rankings, even if you use WordPress instead of Blogger.
In other news…
According to an article posted at WebProNews.com, there is talk within the Internet industry that Facebook might become the new, most popular place for people to get their news. [link to article?]
News aggregates track information from select Web sites, allowing you to use a single Web page to track updates to multiple Web sites. Read a previous OU Online article about setting up an RSS feed.
Facebook users would simply set up their own custom news feed list by becoming fans of their favorite news sources. Savvy news aggregators, all of whom fight for traffic, have created Facebook fan pages. After a user joins a fan page, updates from the fan page appear on the user’s Facebook homepage new feed.
The WebProNews.com piece pointed out that if a news source willingly creates a fan page with its stories, it is much like a news aggregator.
With everyone fighting for traffic and ad revenue, and the continued digital technology advancements, only time will tell how this issue will be resolved. Either legislation and laws or marketplace will decide, or perhaps a combination of both. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of 14 Web sites and 10 online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.
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OWAA officers approve new plan for selecting conference sessions, speakers

owaa — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:05:12 +0000

By John L. Beath

When is the last time you attended OWAA’s annual conference?
Why don’t more members go to conference?
What would compel you to attend?

Last year, the board of directors and an ad hoc Conference Coordinating Committee reviewed these questions and agreed OWAA needs a better plan for providing conference attendees with a relevant conference program.
Last month, the Executive Committee re-reviewed the committee charge and put a new procedure in place for brainstorming ideas for conference session topics, selecting speakers and filling slots according to the various OWAA disciplines – writing, photography, technology, newspaper, and other topics, for example.
The Conference Program Committee will continue to be chaired by OWAA’s second vice president, but now will be comprised of all the members of the Executive Committee, a representative of each OWAA Section, and the executive director and conference planner, the last two being non-voting members.
Prior to this meeting, OWAA Section chairs should query Section members and ask for topics and ideas for speakers. If section chairs can’t attend the face-to-face meeting, then they will be required to provide a list of topic ideas with tentative speakers.
The Conference Program Committee, in this new role, will meet a couple days before this June’s conference in Rochester, Minn., with the task of roughing out the conference agenda for OWAA’s 2011 conference in Salt Lake City.
Last summer, OWAA’s board of directors approved a new template for the Conference Program Committee to follow, with the conference agenda looking something like this: 25 percent of the program devoted to writing, 10 percent photography, 20 percent electronic/technology, 20 percent business and 25 percent broadcasting (movies, radio, television, video and Internet).
Of course, during the face-to-face conference planning meeting the Conference Program Committee will take into consideration members’ suggestions, needs and requests.
Membership involvement is the key to a successful conference, so please let your board members, Section chairs or headquarters’ staff know what you would like included in the annual conference program.
Becoming an active member of one of the five OWAA Sections will also enhance your OWAA membership experience as well as helping provide relevant conference topics and ideas for Outdoors Unlimited. Here is a list of OWAA Sections, chairs with contact information:

Newspaper – Terry Tomalin, tomalin@sptimes.com
Photography – Jim Smith, jamestsmith@cox.net
TV/Video – Lisa Densmore, densmore1@aol.com
Magazine – Jeff Williams, jfwilliams@agfc.state.ar.us
Radio/Audio – Ty Stockton, stockyty@gmail.com

The OWAA Web site will also have a conference program survey and suggestion form. This form will let members suggest craft improvement topics, newsmaker issues, speakers and future conference locations.

UPDATE: Use this form to your thoughts about OWAA’s conference!

This new way of bringing about ideas for topics and speakers will enable OWAA headquarters to put the conference program together much more quickly and efficiently. With so many media changes happening now and in the future, this new plan will help OWAA members stay relevant and informed about new technology while providing a “can’t miss” yearly program.
If you have any suggestions for the annual conference, Outdoors Unlimited or any other OWAA issue, please don’t hesitate to contact me, a board member or OWAA staff. ◊
John L. Beath is OWAA president and owner of Pacific Lure Communications. He is a writer/photographer and owner/editor of 14 Web sites and 10 online stores. He is also an Internet marketing consultant for several businesses. Contact him at jbeath@gmail.com.

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