Media Entrepreneurship: Creating an Alliance for Innovation

Interlink AllianceVirginia Commonwealth University

November 9, 2015

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Associate Dean for Innovation

• Associate Dean for Innovation | Associate ProfessorScripps College of Communication, Ohio University, OH; ferrierm@ohio.edu; Twitter: @mediaghosts

• Vice President, Journalism That MattersFounder, Create or Die Startup Gatherings

• Founder, LocallyGrownNews.com

• Chief Investigator: Media Deserts Project

• Mother of Google MapsEducatorEntrepreneurMentorScholarNew Media Innovator

Dr. Michelle Ferrier

Dr. Michelle FerrierInnovation Activities What was it?

BBS/Fax on Demand (Intrapreneur) Early technology adoption with members

NEAOnline (Intrapreneur) Developed first web presence for National Education Association on AOL

SimSchool (Intrapreneur) Development of school system simulation at NEA

Education Insider (Entrepreneur) Magazine startup for parents of school-aged children

EHCWired.com (Intrapreneur) First independent online college news site; first online course at the college (2002).

Media Power Lunch (Entrepreneur) Short, online learning for beginning journalists (MediaBistropredecessor)

Highlands Family (Entrepreneur) Hyperlocal, hybrid online/print news for families in Appalachia

CopyWash.com (Entrepreneur) Online copy editing services

Digital Identity/Reputation Management(Entrepreneur)

Patent pending technology on managing identity from one platform

MyTopiaCafe.com (Intrapreneur) Online community for newspaper nonsubscribers

LocallyGrownNews.com (Entrepreneur) Hyperlocal online news franchise

Our Agenda

• Media entrepreneurship: Why now?

• Benefits to students?

• Challenges to institutions/faculty

• Examples of outcomes for students

• Next steps

This isn’t about startups.(but a way of thinking…and startups too.)

“We need to use these new leadership practices in our core business, because we face so much uncertainty and need to continue to reinvent ourselves.”

-- Scott Cook, Co-founder, Intuit.

Design Thinking @ Stanford

The Design Process

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Four strategic questions that frame the new challenges and opportunities for media organizations.

Source: The Big Thaw: Charting a Future for Journalism, Deifell, 2009.

Four Strategic Questions

• New Competitive Landscape: How is the landscape changing?

• New Sources of Value: What needs can be met, problems solved or desires fulfilled?

• New Distinctive Competencies: What new capabilities are needed to succeed?

• New Business Models: How are media organizations structured to capture value?

Digital Media Market Sectors

• Experiential & Immersive Entertainment

• Modeling & Simulation (virtual worlds, augmented/mixed reality)

• Game Development & Publishing

• Motion Picture Creation (webisodes, animation, visual effects, audio/sound design)

• Pre-Vis/Visualization (data, mapping, architectural, bio-medical

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Ohio University, @mediaghosts

Digital Media Market Sectors

• Mobile Media

• eLearning

• Interactive Marketing & Advertising (social media, online ads, in-game ad placement

• Content Aggregation & Distribution (niche portals)

• Internet A/V Content Distribution (streaming media)

• Web Content & Application Development

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Ohio University, @mediaghosts

Student Skills and Knowledge

1. Construct and deliver a pitch.

2. Conduct market research.

3. Conduct audience analysis.

4. Understand the entrepreneurial landscape/startup culture.

5. Conduct a competitive analysis.

6. Create a minimum viable product.

7. Read, understand and create financial statements.

Ferrier, Michelle Barrett. “Media Entrepreneurship: Curriculum Development and Faculty Perceptions of What Students Should Know,” Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, Sept. 2013, Vol 68, Issue 3, p. 222.

Challenges for Higher Education

• Faculty champions: Care and support

• Credibility gap: Who is an entrepreneur?

• Making it real: Experiential learning; consequences

• Professional culture: Editorial vs. financial

• Pace of media evolution: Crazy!

• Curriculum resources: Scarce

• Making it count: Tenure, making it visible

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Ohio University, @mediaghosts

OHIO University Pathways to Innovation

• *Scripps International Innovators Cup: Global competition for student teams on media entrepreneurship.

• *Scripps Innovation Challenge: University-wide student media entrepreneurship competition.

• *Mobile Module: Two-week module taught by industry experts and infused throughout curriculum.

• *Game Research and Immersive Design Lab: Pre-incubation space for game development teams.

• Digital Media Incubator: Early-stage investment in student/graduate companies.

• *Certificate in Entrepreneurship with Business• *Partnerships with Accelerators: Internship opportunities

for students with startup companies.

Dr. Michelle Ferrier, Elon University, @mediaghosts

Business Model Canvas

http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas/bmc

Scripps College: Blend of Academic/Experiential Programs

• Classes: Online Journalism Development, Certificate in Entrepreneurship; class participation in Scripps Innovation Challenge.

• Experiences: Scripps Innovation Challenge, GRID Lab Incubator Program, Digital Media Incubator.

• Hacking the Curriculum: Just-in-time learning modules across many classes

• Engaging Community: Media entrepreneurship accelerator programs; Media Deserts Project.

What is the Scripps Innovation Challenge?

• The challenge is a student competition that asks teams to come up with a startup business/product/service/process based on media and communication challenges.

• Student teams compete for prizes totaling $25,000.

Leah Petrovich: 2013 SIC Winner

"Throughout the interview I kept selling SIC, and I told them it was this really cool thing I was a part of during college where I got to work with a team of people, create and flesh out this business idea, and ultimately win $10,000.”"When you have an experience likethat, in the startup world, that's a Golden Ticket."

Startup Accelerator Fellowships

• Scripps Innovation Challenge participant and president of The Ohio University Entrepreneurship Club, Alexander Harshaw, spent his summer in NYC as a digital media intern at DreamitVentures.

Scripps International Innovators Cup

• Colleges and universities pit their best student team around a new media business idea with other teams from around the world. Only one team per school may enter.

• Teams compete for a $5,000 cash prize.

Scripps International Innovators Cup

• https://www.ohio.edu/scrippscollege/innovationchallenge/2015-16-challenges.cfm

• Exploiting Popular Podcasts

• Tracking Money in State & Local Elections

• Engaging First-Time Voters

• Create a News Outlet to Serve a “Media Desert”

• Incentivize Your Audience to Help Tell Stories

Ohio University | Team Du Monde

2015 Inaugural Competition Winners

Challenge: Addressing Sexual Assault on College Campuses

Sanusi Shehu talks about his second Scripps Innovation Challenge project: Video

Team Du Monde 2015

Business Model Canvas

Ohio University EntrepreneurshipEcosystem

1. University focus on innovation and entrepreneurship through faculty research, student innovation and curricular change.

2. Grow Your Own/ Partnerships with external agencies with roots at OHIO: TechGrowth Ohio; Adena Ventures, Athena Ventures.

The OHIO Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

Next Steps

• What do we need as faculty members to be successful? How do these needs change based on size of institution, instructor experience and relationships, school location and other factors?

Workshop Objectives

1. Expose new and experienced faculty members to the variety of ways students can engage in media entrepreneurship in and outside the classroom;

2. Address the barriers/challenges to development of media entrepreneurship activities: Promotion/tenure; funding; faculty experience, etc.

3. Provide faculty members with the experience of creating a “startup” around a media entrepreneurship idea by working in teams...modeling the structure and behaviors of student teams;

4. Develop a community of faculty around specific ideas that serve institutions with different characteristics -- small/large institutions, undergraduate/graduate, curricular/co-curricular and extracurricular; etc.

5. Create a “compendium” of ways to develop the media entrepreneurship environment within and outside the university.

Building the Media Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

• Awareness: Scripps International Innovators Cup for student-led innovation global competition.

• Exchange: Facebook: Media EntrepreneurshipWiki:http://media-entrepreneurship-course-development.wikispaces.com

• Research: Two calls for special issues on media entrepreneurship (Newspaper Research Journal, Journalism Practice).

• Education: Scripps Howard Journalism Entrepreneurship Institute each January at Arizona State University

Contact Me

• @mediaghosts

• Facebook: DrMichelleFerrier

• LinkedIn: Michelle Ferrier

• ferrierm@ohio.edu

• https://www.ohio.edu/scrippscollege/innovatorscup/