POSTS

New Beginnings

I’m excited to announce that I’ve accepted the senior position on the tech team at the Texas Tribune, a policy and politics news outfit based out of Austin, Texas. I’m helping them round out their internal tools and data processing starting next week (the 11th to be precise).

This means some big changes for me and my family. First, I’m moving to Austin. I love Lawrence, the quirky little town that it is, but it’s time for a change. Austin was high on the list of other places to consider (great cycling, big tech community, cool vibe, etc., etc.) so when this opportunity came up I had to take it.

The move is complicated by virtue of owning a house. For the first six months or so we’re going to split the house – me in Austin and Meg in Lawrence. I’ll be spending a week or so a month working from Lawrence so I can help finish up some of the random project on the house that we want to finish before we attempt to sell it. This works perfect with the Lawrence real estate market which peaks in April every year.

What happens to Domain51?

One question I’ve gotten repeatedly is what happens to Domain51? Well, nothing in particular. I’ve spent the last 5 months or so winding it down in preparation for a transition of some sort. Until recently, I didn’t know exactly what that transition was going to be, but I’ve setup all of my former employees on their own adventures and wrapped up the work for existing clients. So it will go back to being my placeholder for any random consulting I do and the legal owner of all of my personal code copyrights.

What about Lawrence?

Lawrence is one of the coolest places I’ve lived. While writing this post I realized that it’s the place I’ve called home more than any other place since I left El Paso years ago.

There are tons of great people here, the culture is great, the weather isn’t half bad (though 2010 hasn’t puts its best foot forward), and it has some of the best food in the world if you’re a vegetarian. I am truly going to miss this town and everyone in it.

Isn’t journalism dead?

Yup, that’s what is so exciting about the Tribune. They’re trying a different model, and helping them make it successful could set the tone for how journalism copes with the seismic forces that are causing it so much change.

The Tribune is adopting what I call the NPR approach to journalism. They’re organized as a non-profit. You don’t subscribe to a paper or some such, you become a supporting member of it. Interested in politics and policy in Texas? Then you need to visit this page for more information about how you can support them.

I am really excited about this move. It’s the meshing of the past year’s work in non-profits and politics into one gig in an industry that is in the mist of a massive shift. How could I not want to be in the middle of that?