Bob Kronbauer outside the Glacier Media offices on West 5th Avenue. Photograph By Martha Perkins
10 years ago last February I launched Vancouver Is Awesome as a side project off the side of my desk. Never meant to be a business, it was simply supposed to be an outlet to share good news with fellow residents and remind us what keeps us all here, despite all the bad stuff.
A few months in and this "side project" was taking up half of my work day, and I couldn't continue to justify the time put into it while continuing to pay my rent. So with the guidance and help of a few friends we went the non-profit route with the hope that there were municipal and federal grants as well as private donors who could help keep this good news machine revving, and maybe even grow it.
I lived below the poverty line for the first couple of years working full-time for V.I.A., and it didn't take long to realize that the grants we thought we'd be eligible for were out of our reach, or didn't exist. Begging our readers for money also became a major drag. We did an annual donor drive where people generously donated money to help keep us afloat, and I will be forever grateful to all of the people who chipped in during those early years. However it wasn't a sustainable model.
After a couple years it became apparent that running as a non-profit with a single employee who was responsible for ad sales and editing and anything and everything business-related was not going to work. Our board decided we'd go for-profit, allowing me to operate in a way I've worked my entire life; as an entrepreneur, not an executive director.
We implemented an advertising model, selling banner ads and sponsored content. We were pioneers in that space and we still run effective campaigns to this day.
Eventually I was able to hire a sales person and other part-timers for accounting, social media management, and editing duties.
Fast forward a few years and we were competing with the big media players in this city. We begun our transition from a Huffington Post media model where most contributors were volunteers (not journalists) and into paying more and more of our writers. I should take this opportunity to thank all of the contributors who gave us their time over the years. Without them and our early financial supporters, we would not be publishing today.
In September of 2017, I sold my 100% interest in this debt-free, profitable publication to Glacier Media. That's the organization that owns the Vancouver Courier, Business In Vancouver, Burnaby Now, Richmond News, North Shore News and about 100 other community newspapers and websites in Canada. We had basically become a community paper, and I saw this company as the best fit for us.
The plan over the last couple of years previous was to sell the publication to a larger company. Starting from that original decision to turn it into a business at all, I've always been excited about evolving it. And running a company on your own starts to wear on you, even when it's turning a profit.
"Sharing strengths" in order to grow was super appealing, and in the past few months it's been proven to me that I made the right decision. I am so proud of V.I.A. and where we're bringing it, and of being part of Glacier. I now have hundreds of colleagues who are all working towards similar goals at one of the largest news gathering organizations in Western Canada. It's a nice change from working alone in a small office, hunched over a computer tending to every detail mostly on my own.
We've now got 4 full-time staffers in our editorial department: Lindsay William-Ross, Adam Nanji, Melissa Shaw and myself. Along with the articles that we produce we also subscribe to a news service called The Canadian Press which provides us with local, B.C. and some national content. We're also able to cross-post stories that our sister publications at Glacier (including the ones listed above) publish.
We now have an average of 30 articles per day on our website and social channels. Previously we'd do 5 on each weekday and none on the weekends. Eventually we'll do 60.
Now, about that "good news". We begun as a place where you'd only find good news about what keeps you living in this city. We stuck with that for ten years, partly because I personally believed in it but, perhaps more importantly, because we never had the resources to deliver actual news; we were just a lifestyle publication, sharing positive stories.
Now that we’ve got the resources to not only hire reporters but also bring you stories that are relevant to you from other Glacier Media publications, we're able to offer a more holistic approach. We aim to keep you in the know on everything happening in your city. Good and bad.
It's been a transition over the past 8 months. When we publish a story about a crime, or rising gas prices, or something similarly not awesome, we sometimes get comments saying "This is not awesome!", and we entirely agree. Whereas us sharing a story used to be us putting a stamp of "awesome" on it, what's awesome now is keeping you up to speed on what's happening around you. Issues that should matter to you.
You can still come to us to find out about that new all-you-can-eat dim sum spot, what's replacing Nick's Spaghetti House on the Drive, the best local Instagram accounts to follow, and Canuck the Crow's new budding relationship with a mailman. Along with news we're doing more lifestyle and slice-of-life stories than we were ever able to.
Our BC Was Awesome show (just nominated for two Leo awards) shares offbeat and often funny stories about the history of our city and province. You can watch all 22 episodes of it HERE, for free. 5 more are coming in June.
Our weekly podcast is an hour of lively, fun, educational talk where we bring you a few stories as well as a featured guest who is doing awesome things in and for your community. Subscribe to it HERE.
Our Instagram account @VIAwesome is mostly just pretty pictures and stories of awesomeness. Follow it HERE.
If you only want the "awesome" stuff, each week we do a roundup of just good news stories, called Awesome This Week (bookmark that link if you'd like). We also send out a weekly emailer that highlights these stories, which you can sign up for HERE.
We hope to be a trusted source for you to get your news, while also reminding you of all the awesome things that keep you in this city, despite the bad stuff. This city is, and will always be, awesome. We'll be bringing you news and positive stories from it for many years to come.
Thank you for your continued support and readership.
