Nick Ericksen blasts the top off an unassuming wave Monday evening at Steamer Lane. Tyler Fox photo – www.santacruzwaves.com.
We started a partnership yesterday with Santa Cruz Waves. This comes after bumping into great photo after great photo from Tyler Fox’s website on Facebook and Twitter, and then some exchanges about possibilities, and a couple face-to-face meetings. The idea is that we help Santa Cruz Waves promote a uniquely Santa Cruz site, we share some of their work with our audience (more than 5 million visitors in 2011), and help them grow.
The goal of this partnership is to become the world-wide authority on all things surf in Santa Cruz – led by Santa Cruz Waves, supported by us.
It’s exactly the kind of partnership we’re going to pursue in a variety of areas. Photo and content sharing is a start, business and revenue possibilities are part of the discussion. We plan to collaborate in coverage of big events and on breaking news at the beach. We’ll also regularly run Santa Cruz Waves photos in the print edition.
The reason this makes so much sense to us is Tyler Fox. Read his profile. But also, check out the photos and his site.
Link of the day: We enjoyed seeing the pet photos pour in yesterday in the latest photo contest: Pets on Parade
One of the first things I remember starting on the Sentinel website was photo contest for Halloween 2007. After more than 4.6 million photo contest page views, it’s still going strong. Thanks for the shots!
We just added a great photo of Finland’s Seppo Paju to our Photo Blog.
Paju earned $500 by hurling a disc from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf to into a basket on Main Beach on Thursday afternoon. Random thought: Does anyone else think Paju looks a lot like another great pitcher – Little League World Series hero Cody Webster?
We’ve heard from plenty of readers that they were interested in an iPad/iPhone app for the Sentinel and we’re working on various possibilities locally. (Want to help? let us know.) And at the same time, there are a variety of corporate strategies in the works for tablet users.
The coolest out there, and the biggest jump forward in technology is a product called TapIn Bay Area, which was launched this week.
You’ll see more of TapIn on our site, but it’s optimized for the touch screen. It’s hyperlocal and regional at the same time. It integrates news, advertising, deals, events, a business directory and user content, and is easily navigatable and searchable and gamified.
Here are a few links to reviews of the new app. Free trials here. (It will cost $4.99/month in the future).
You’ll find Sentinel written stories and events from our online calendar all over the Santa Cruz map, but most of the links will send you to the Mercury News version of our content. (We’ll see if we can fix that).
We’re checking on the photo and the story, but Tracy said the shark was found Thursday at Hidden Beach Park, alive, and that his dog was curious about the creature. Stay tuned for a few more details.
Here are a few more links to Sentinel shark stories:
If you’re a fan of sharks, you’ve probably already watched Chuck Patterson’s video from San Onofre, ‘Me my shark and I,’ posted last week. (It’s received nearly 2 million views this week):
Our reporting staff is working on several stories about the Lockheed Fire as we approach the 1-year anniversary. My memory from behind this screen was an incredible outpouring and sharing of community information through the Sentinel website.
Early Saturday morning, we had a hard time getting immediate information from officials and from our staff reporters, so we opened a live conversation window, allowing neighbors and officials to share their experiences through the night.
The result was more than 2,000 comments on this message board, with many people staying through the duration of the fire, posting updates at all hours. We asked readers of the conversation to help us with our map, and we got great response, and one reader who collaborated to help us keep it updated with the latest fire boundaries. The map drew more than 800,000 views.
Our stories tomorrow will help share the human story of the neighbors affected by the fire and how they are doing a year later. From a newsroom and online perspective, it showed us ways that the community can help shape and contribute to live coverage of news events.
Our online coverage included stunning photos, video and staff-written stories that were updated round the clock.
Here’s a look back at that live community conversation from a year ago:
If you haven’t checked out the Sentinel’s photos for sale site, it’s worth a look. We set prices at a somewhat ridiculous level, mainly as a service to readers and a possible way to help photographers make a few bucks for equipment.
This year we’ve sold 86 prints, adding some $82 to the Sentinel coffers. The point is, there are great shots, and great prices. If you see shot in the paper you’d like, you can request it. You can have your favorite photos shipped framed, on T-shirts, on coffee mugs, whatever floats your boat.
It’s not too early to start stocking thinking about holiday gifts. (OK, maybe it is, but keep us in mind).
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