Experiences at The Gazette (Goodlettsville, Tenn.)

I was the founder, editor, sales and business manager, and the production manager for the Gazette. If you perceive that I did nearly everything, then you'd be sharp. I essentially had my hands, not always gladly but willingly, in every facet of the operation. It was a small paper, printed twice monthly, for a city next to Nashville. It started because the city and chamber of commerce wanted a newspaper. What I, and those who were able and capable of helping me, did, was create a very good local paper, with current and feature news, a custom crossword, custom display ads, national ads, agency ads, classified ads, a community calendar, and more.

I learned much about working under stress, always innovating even under the least desirable circumstances, pleasing customers, doing page design, color correction, ad sales, community relations, and business administration, that I cannot even guess how it appfected my work skills in total. It was a consuming and far-reaching effort for me, done out of love for communicating, media, and all the creative aspects: writing, design, photography, illustration, and more. It developed further my willingness to do anything any try anything to improve a business (with or) without front-end capital.

Did it burn me out? Absolutely! Did I enjoy it in some sicko workaholic learn-by-doing way? You can bet your iPhone on that! I am very secure in the thought that I did everything to make The Gazette a viable news and marketing resource for a community and its businesses. I could not do it alone forever and several attempts to sell/merge the product didn't pan out despite my efforts.

It closed in June 2000. One school of thought would say I failed since it closed (this is right, in its obviousness, but wrong in practical terms); another school would say that I succeeded in doing many things and being a valid representative of a community, but there was only so far I could manage it without the proper backing (this would be practical and looking at -- not the long-run impact of the business, but -- the long-term results of the periodical). I agree with the second school: sometimes good things go away, but not without leaving something relevant behind. I really cultivated a community for a larger company to move in behind me (with a product that was far less impressive, sadly). The city got what the market demanded: PR stories and 70% ads.

You will always bring your experience with you, so always do the best work and challenge yourself to do more than you think you can. That's something I learned along the way at The Gazette. The rewards may not be obvious, but they will prove their worth in you, despite even a vulture-like behavior of some who are waiting for you to fail, rather than support you, or even work with you....