Jennifer O'Connell of TheJournal's presentation at Dublin Web Summit

1. TheJournal.ie - The First Year
Dublin Web Summit
June 10, 2011

4. ✤ No way. Absolutely not. Not a chance. Thanks, but
no thanks. I’m flattered but I’ve got a lot on at the
moment. I’m pretty much flat out as it is. It’s kind
of you to think of me, but I really can’t. So no.
Definitely not. It’s certainly intriguing, and thank
you, but no. Yes, I’m absolutely sure. 100%. I’d
love to, but no. I’ve got too many other
commitments. Really, that’s a no. A grateful no,
but a no. No thank you. It’s not for me. Wonderful
opportunity, but terrible timing. So no. No thank
you.

5. But then I
heard more...

6. So I reconsidered.

7. The Big Idea
✤ Ireland’s first fully interactive news website.
✤ We make news a shared experience.
✤ We cover all the latest news from Ireland, the world and the web,
repackaging and linking to the best content from other sites,
embedding video, creating image slideshows, and producing our own
breaking news stories and features.

8. Is news aggregation theft?

9. The Big Fat
Link ™
✤ Aggregation helps our readers
to navigate the vast news
landscape
✤ We find the good stuff in other
news publications and point
our readers to it
✤ Aggregation works for
everyone: the link economy
✤ The Big Fat Link™

10. What is news?
✤ Once, the answer to this used to be
relatively straightforward...

11. It was whatever she said it was.
News was what was reported in newspapers, on radio or on the TV.

12. News is a
conversation
✤ Demise of the single, all-
knowing source
✤ Twitter and Facebook break
news - sometimes make news
too
✤ News consumers are no longer
passive: they want to share and
shape
✤ News is collaborative

13. What makes TheJournal.ie different?
The ability to share...

14. And to shape.

15. The launch
✤ Friends & family Beta trial
Summer 2010
✤ Twitter teaser campaign
✤ Invite-only Beta trial
September
✤ Full Beta trial October 2010
✤ Won readers through social
media; Facebook vs Twitter

16. Who uses
TheJournal.ie?
✤ 1. The morning
commuter

17. 2. The office browser

18. 3. The
smartphone/iPad
leisure user

19. Sometimes, our users shares their own stories and photos

20. Designing products for our users
✤ The morning commuter: The 9 at 9, the daily poll
✤ The officer browser: Take 5
✤ The smartphone/iPad for leisure user: The Daily Fix

21. The first year

22. The first year
◦ Sept 13 2010: Conor Lenihan launches an anti-evolution book launch. 12,981 pv
◦ Nov 5, 2010: Garda speed cameras. 63,824 pv
◦ Dec 8, 2010: Budget Day 106,880 pv
◦ Feb 27, 2011: Election weekend - by now we had an app. 207,163 pv
◦ Mar 11, 2011: Japan 201,147 pv
◦ Apr 25, 2011: Darron Gibson’s Twitter strop 203,042 pv

23. This is what happened after every peak
But each time, a few more readers stayed.

24. Where TheJournal.ie is now
✤ Smashed through our first year traffic targets in four months
✤ Over 50,000 Facebook fans. More than 15,000 followers on Twitter
✤ Turning our attention to the sports and entertainment publications,
TheScore.ie and the Daily Edge
✤ First advertising campaign ran in March

25. What’s next?
✤ Susan Daly, editor of
TheJournal.ie
✤ I’ll still be writing for
TheJournal.ie and The Sunday
Business Post, blogging at
byjenniferoconnell.com;
tweeting from @jenoconnell