Selling sea-shells by the sea shore?

Overall, I learned a lot from the shells: how to work in a group, manage a back-out schedule, how to carry a concept through to (near) completion.

But I really think we were trying to sell our shells by the seashore. Towards the end of the semester, as we were trying to explain this concept to our sources and other interested parties, we began calling it a special section or an in-depth web report. We resorted to standard newsroom language instead of differentiating our concept. In essence, we boiled this down to something newspapers have been doing for a long time, not something new. There are usually shells on a sea shore. There are usually special sections in newspapers.

As we moved forward with the shells projects, we forgot the brainstorming session in the beginning of the semester. We decided shells had depth and focus, community involvement and episodic updates, multimedia and narrative. It was a combination of form and function, all working harmoniously together to add layer upon layer to typical newspaper reporting. It was an ultimate service to the readers who cared about the topics. The old adage SHOW DON'T TELL was supposed to take on a whole new meaning.

But did it? I think both groups kept focus in mind. From my understanding of the growth shell, they were make development visual. The multimedia was interesting, graphics were strong. But I always envisioned shells as participatory, like the moral compass. I thought it was forum for community voices, fostering community conversation, if you will. Discussion boards were a large part of our concept when we first brainstormed the green shell. Getting profiles and people online was a goal. Who would moderate the conversation? Would anyone be assigned to do it? What would happen to this shell after we were gone? No one knows. Because we envisioned the shells as an ongoing enterprise, this question was a killer and lead us back to the safe ground of calling it a special section. A shell is an ongoing project that needs weekly updating, someone to monitor the discussion and ask new questions, a blog or two, someone to develop new and specific content that fit within the diagram concept. The shell needs an employee.

Most of realized the shell wouldn't be exactly what we wanted because of the limits of working within standard newsroom procedures. We have to monitor the message boards in case something is libelous or in bad taste. We can't update it with only news that goes into our standard product because then there's nothing to make it any different than an archive of all stories related to green issues. We need to keep on top of the news, update it, make people want to keep coming back. It's a project that should be affiliated with the newspaper, but not dependent on the newspaper.

You're not likely to make much money selling sea shells on the sea shore because people can go find their own. Similarly, you're not going to attract many dedicated readers if they know they can look at the primary product and get all of the same information. If we were going to make this a successful project, we needed to sell our shells in the desert, in the tundra, in the mountains. It needs to be different enough that it doesn't look like it's just a special section. It needs devotion, nurture and a caretaker.

So would I do it again? Yes, if I was employed to work for the shell and the shell only. If I could monitor and update, blog and report. I'd want my team too. I'd keep our concept and build all of the areas we just could not do this semester. I'd add more maps and numerical information. I'd make it more interactive. I think it's a worthwhile concept for newspaper because I think our passionate readers would love the additional depth and context. You give them a place for their passion and a way to connect with others.

Why would anyone by a shell? Because they associate it with a memory. Why would anyone visit a web shell? Because they are passionate about the topic.