Random quotes from SABEW’s 2010 convention
These quotes were randomly selected during SABEW 2010 (Society of American Business Editors and Writers) which is being held in Phoenix this weekend.
“I’ve developed a control mechanism. I do not open my e-mail until I’ve finished my thinking.”
Carll Tucker, founding partner of Main Street Online
“What we learned from that model is free content can’t last. Usability of paid content trumps the availability of free content. Napster not Apple went bankrupt.”
Rick Vertegaal, director of the Human Media Laboratory at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, on what media can learn from transitions in the music industry.
“Google, schmoogle. I’m sticking with IBM.”
Amit Singhal told friends when they asked about leaving a job at IBM to join the new Web search company. Singhal is now a Google fellow.
“Source development and source management is really job 1 for journalists. We spend way too much time at our desks, way too much time on our computers and way too much time on e-mail. It’s a wonderful tool, but do not confuse it with source development. You’ve got to get out of the office more.”
Diana Henriques, reporter for The New York Times.
“Railing against Google is sort of like railing against oxygen.”
Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times
“Every time you post a story on the Web you are basically opening a conversation with the reader.”
Martin Wolk, msnbc.com’s executive business editor
“The current mess comes back to basic economics. It was a case of trying to create a free lunch. I know a lot of business journalists missed this, but so did almost the entire economics profession.”
Stephen Happel, associate dean and professor in ASU’s College of Business
“There are black boxes in our economy that no one writes about. Here are some – universities, hospitals, health care organizations, insurance companies and private companies…The only reason people get away with things is because people like you aren’t asking questions. Keep asking those questions.”
Ali Malekzadeh, dean of Williams College of Business at Xavier University
“We drill into people’s heads be the first to get it right. When you are wrong it dogs you for so long. It’s not worth it.”
Lex Haris, managing editor of CNNMoney.com (on business writing for the Web)
“We’re not any smarter than them. We’re just good at asking questions.”
Kathy Kristoff, syndicated personal finance columnist
” ‘The Pay Czar’ is an unfortunate term. My grandmother in Lithuania is very confused.”
Kenneth Feinberg, whose official job is President Obama’s special master for executive compensation.
“With business stories especially, it’s all about getting people like me interested. Sometimes, you can start your response, ‘Simply put, here’s what it means…’ ”
Sue Green, ASU broadcast professor teaching a pre-SABEW, Reynolds Center workshop
“Lots of people have expressed interest in emerging markets. We have one right next door; it’s called Mexico.”
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexican businessmen and one of Forbes World’s Richest People
“Going from knowing nothing to producing a video in one day – great experience!”
Brad Allen of the MinnPost.com about a SABEW multimedia-track workshop offered by the Reynolds Center.
“Being interviewed is a matter of performance, memorization, rehearsal and energy.”
Daniel Ray, editor-in-chief of CreditCards.com, after a pre-SABEW, Reynolds Center workshop on how to look natural on air.
“When you see a high current ratio, news will follow.”
Tom Contiliano, head of internal financial operations for Bloomberg News
“You want a different angle on the video story that makes them want to read the print story.”
Brian Snyder, TV-production specialist for the Cronkite School
