Six weeks to go at Google
My 12-month fellowship at Google ends in 6 weeks — it’s been a blast.
We created a world-first training curriculum focused on the business side of journalism — with a laser-focus on local, regional and start-up publishers.
We trained over 1000 people from 120 publishers in audience development, productivity and leadership, revenue and digital transformation.
We've also delivered 45 one-on-one coaching sessions — everyone from The Conversation, Crikey and Concrete Playground to family-owned businesses like The Fassifern Guardian and Tribune and Galah.
Office Hours was created to answer the complex and unique questions — from how to launch a newsletter to building and diversifying revenue.
The partnership with The Walkleys has gone from strength to strength. The all-in sessions held on Thursdays catered to a wonderfully diverse group of publishers.
We also have shared our research with NewsFarm, International Press Institute and the Public Interest Journalism Initiative among others.
The Australian Newsroom Mapping Project is now the most complete record of contraction in local news, and also a story of growth and resilience:
On a personal note, it's been a quiet ambition of mine to work with The News Lab since they launched in 2015.
They're a dedicated global team of 35 journalists, technologists and marketers that punch well above their weight, doing the difficult work quietly, and with humour, creativity and grace.
Journalism has a great friend in The News Lab, and The Google News Initiative more broadly.
We're not done yet and there's more to do before I move on to my next big challenge.
Register for a 90-minute webinar with The Walkleys on everything I've taught. They'll be held each Thursday at 1pm for the final month.
You can also book a free coaching session now. It takes a few minutes to complete.
Thank you Olivia Ma, Matt Cooke and Nic Hopkins for the extraordinary opportunity, a true highlight of my career.
See you in Google Meet.
Gentleman Farmer & Stud Stock Breeder at Ennerdale Highlands
3yOnwards and upwards Neil.
Google News Partnerships
3yNeil, I can't thank you enough for all the incredible work you've done and the impact you've had. It's been fantastic to work alongside you and watch you train so many journalists and publishers in regional Australia. Congratulations on a brilliant fellowship, thank you again, and good luck with your next step (tread carefully in those paddocks!).
Audience Development, Digital Strategy
3yBest wishes for the future..
GAICD | CMO I ex Google I ex Telstra I AANA Board I CMO50 I Lives and works on Gadigal land.
3yWow can't believe it's been 12 months already. Thanks for all the great work much appreciated 👏🏽👏🏻👏🏿👏🏼👏🏾 so glad we got to overlap in the office for the tail end, see you soon.
Music Publishing Partnerships Asia-Pacific, Meta
3yGreat work Neil! Congratulations to you, Nic and the Google team. What now ... more accidental farming?