Technology is both a blessing and a curse.
No one appreciates this more than an independent online community news publisher. Since by definition an indie publisher runs a tiny operation, you must wear many hats. One of those hats is “IT guy.” Let me say up front, I miss having a real IT guy: someone to call when things go off-rail, as they inevitably periodically do. I even miss the special brand of post-modern English spoken by IT guys. Someone once referred to it as “baffle-gab” and that stuck with me — definitely a great term to describe how they speak.
I never really appreciated the IT guy and his baffle-gab until I had to start figuring this stuff out on my own. Now, after two-and-a-half years of website development and running a web server, I not only appreciate the IT guy, but I’m starting to speak his language. Ask my husband. When I try to explain to him what went wrong and what I’m doing to fix it, or how I plan to roll out a new feature for our site, his eyes glaze over and he looks at me very, very strangely.
(Don McGrath, I owe you an apology for all those glazed-over strange looks I gave you!)
It tickles me that I’ve learned all this stuff after the age of 50. That in itself has inspired me to try to learn a new language — now that I know my brain is capable of grasping new things. I bought a copy of Rosetta Stone this weekend so I can try to learn Spanish. If I can handle baffle-gab, I figure can handle Spanish.
Building RiverheadLOCAL.com was done through a process of trial and error — lots of error. It’s been fun in a twisted sort of way. There have been many sleepless nights. Having something major go awry with the site is a shot of adrenaline like no other.
Problem-solving technical issues is probably one of the biggest time-sucks I’ve ever encountered. You can spend hours and hours working on something without result. But when it clicks, when you’ve nailed it, nothing quite matches the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction (and sometimes amazement) you feel at that moment.
I’ve learned many hard lessons along the way. And I’m sure there are many hard lessons still to come. But I have a confession to make: I LOVE THIS STUFF.
So on days when I publish fewer stories than usual, now you know why. I’ve probably hung my reporter hat on the hook and donned my plastic IT hardhat. The last week has been like that on and off. Ask me what I’m up to and I’ll be happy to explain.
Just be sure you at least try to look interested after the first five minutes or so, OK?
Denise Civiletti, reporter, editor, digital maven and former newspaper editor and publisher, lives and works in Riverhead. She vaguely remembers having a life away from electronic gadgets before being consumed by her role as a digital-hyperlocal-news-entrepreneur-pioneer — lol— publishing RiverheadLocal.com with her husband Peter Blasl.
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