I have a background in journalism and producing/packaging online and print content for both teens and a broader consumer audience. You can view my portfolio at Word Geek .
I began my career working in youth media at Teen Voices , a Boston-based non-profit magazine written by and for teen women. It was there that I realized both the power of young people's writing and the ongoing struggle it is to keep a non-profit organization going.
I left to go back to school where I earned a master's degree in journalism with a concentration in new media at Northwestern University.
After graduation I headed to New York where I was an editorial Web producer for several Internet companies during the height of the dot com bubble including About.com and Oxygen Media. At Oxygen, I launched the Web counterpart to the Trackers (Oxygen's now defunct teen television show) TV segment called the POV-J Network (Point of View Journalist). I recruited teens from across the country who produced Web and TV stories from their "point of view" for the network.
I left New York in 2000 to work for Kibu, another now defunct start-up dot.com for teen girls that was located in Silicon Valley. After the bubble began to burst in April of 2000 and Kibu closed its doors in September 2000, I went to work for Netscape Communications where I led the creation of feature programming including seasonal and holiday packages and later ran the TV and Movies channels for all of AOL's Web Properties. I then went on to help launch KeepMedia, a paid content service founded by Louis Borders (Borders Books, WebVan). Most recently, my job was managing viewer created content online at Current TV , an independent media company led by former Vice President Al Gore and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt.I started Ypulse because I missed working in teen media and of all the ideas I constantly have for new teen-centric non-profits or companies, starting a blog seemed like the easiest thing to start (little did I know how much time and dedication would be required!). Since May of 2004, Ypulse has been updated five days a week and grown a dedicated and loyal readership. It has helped me to grow as a writer as well as allowing me to realize my vision of creating a space where non-profit youth media and commercial teen media could connect in a positive way. Most of all, it is a great outlet for my ongoing case of arrested development and obsession with pop culture. I'm just finished a book called "Totally Wired" about teens and technology for St. Martin's Press due out March 20, 2007.
