Media Roundtable: Linda O’Bryon by Kristie Wells

Linda is the
Chief Content Office for KQED and believes there is no other place in
the world that places such emphasis on thought leadership as in Silicon
Valley (big ocean, big mountains, big sky…and big thinking). We live in
an area of open spaces and open thinking - what happens in Silicon
Valley does not stay in Silicon Valley.

Sees the online tools creating communities of people who have never
met in person, which is drastically different than 30 years ago where
you [mostly] only associated with the people who lived in your
neighborhood or you worked along side with.

I love the program KQED launched over 5 years ago, called Digital
Storytelling, where they encourage high school students to come in and
share stories of interest.  I love the fact that KQED has positioned
themselves in three various key roles: Enabler (getting kids excited
about creating content and sharing their items of interest), Mentor
(educating kids on how to use the new tools) and Publisher (pushing
content which will help bring traffic back to KQED and show they are
playing an active role in their community). It is a win-win-win.

Key takeaway is the need to provide media when and where people want it - whether online, mobile, print. Media’s role is to help cultivate as well as create.