The NXT Desk

Temp-one-n-one

I'd like to look into creating a commission to investigate the policy
of hiring temporary employees during the winter - i.e. flu season.

It seems right now around Portland the use of temporary workers is on
the rise. I'm sure companies find the cost of hiring temp workers is
lower, and thus more appealing, than hiring permanent employees with
benefits. Also the week-to-week nature of most temporary gigs would
give added flexibility to these companies.

But I wonder about the downside of hiring temps, especially in Maine
in the winter.

Think about it, temps generally don't have health insurance, nor do
they have sick time, so it seems likely that temps will get ill more
often and for longer periods of time. And with fewer days off to use,
temps would likely come in to the office when they're under the
weather, and spread their sickness to the full-time workers around
them.

Thus is it wise for employers to hire temps? What's the full economic
cost of hiring temporary workers?

Sure, I'm being slightly facetious, but I think there's a glimmer of
truth in there.

So what do you say we hire a few temps to bang out this study?

So how do Social Media and Traditional Media play nice?

That's the question Jeff Parsons of Q97.9 (and Word on the Tweet) will be discussing tomorrow at the Social Media FTW conference.

Jeff's coming at it from radio, I'm coming at it from newspapers. Both of our jobs have changed plenty thanks to Twitter and Facebook and the idea for our session is to break that down.

While we've both got plenty on our minds to talk about (I've got tales from the inauguration, one online bout with a gubernatorial candidate and I seem to recall an interesting incident involving Jeff, Q97.9 and a Maine senator.). This is on top of broader topics like how social media affects news like terrorist attacks and massive natural disasters (Indonisia? India? California wildfires?) and spreads disinformation (Matt Damon, not dead.)

But if you're planning on going to Social Media FTW, and even if you're not, what questions do you have? What would you like to know about how social media is changing traditional media?

Get your questions in the comments. And if you feel like writing something broader and sharing your take why not contribute to the blog? All you have to do is email post@nxt.posterous.com and it'll be posted almost immediately.

Reaching new (and young) readers for the daily paper

Let's see if we can get some conversation started around your local newspaper. In case you missed Wednesday's paper, Portland Press Herald publisher (that would be my boss), Richard L. Connor spoke before business and govrenment leaders at Eggs and Issues. Though the headline and main focus of the story was on Connor's comments on the Press Herald turning a profit (yay!), there was also this tidbit on what the paper could do to attract younger (and new) readers.

Here's what the story says:

"One audience member wanted to know what could be done to get young people to read newspapers. Connor said young people seem more interested in entertainment news and social networking than current events. MaineToday Media is considering ideas to reach that demographic through mobile alerts, for instance, part of a larger plan to take better advantage of the 13 Internet sites the company now owns."

What do you think? Is entertainment news and social networking the way forward for the Press Herald? Are young people not intersted in current events? What do you think can be done at Press Herald Plaza to turn things around and pick up new readers?

Throw your ideas into the comments or give your own take in a new post to the blog. All you have to do to post is email post@nxt.posterous.com

Join the experiment!

"Press Herald profitable, plans more changes, new owner says" | Portland Press Herald 9/16/09

 

Portland’s new “Creative Economy TIF District” snags its first proposal

[This article is cross-posted from GrowSmart Maine's "Charting Maine's Future" blog. Thanks, Justin, for the opportunity to participate in this collaborative experiment!]

The City of Portland recently established a new “Creative Economy TIF district” along Congress Street, the home to dozens of studios, galleries, sole-proprietorship businesses, and entertainment venues. In the past two decades, these businesses have grown into a major cluster and a driving force in the regional economy. The new TIF (or Tax Increment Financing) district seeks to support this cluster by directing a portion of property tax revenues from new projects in the area towards a new “Creative Portland Corporation,” which would invest in economic development projects focused on fostering and growing the city’s creative economy.

Now, the Creative Economy District has received its first major development proposal: a plan to rehabilitate the old Baxter Library (pictured above - until recently, the building was used as classroom and studio space for the Maine College of Art) as offices for the VIA Group, a thriving creative-economy business with offices in Portland and New York City.

Here’s how the TIF would work: when complete, the project would generate an additional $46,000 in new property tax revenue in the city (the building was previously owned by a nonprofit). Under the proposed TIF arrangement, for the next nine years, about $30,000 of that new revenue would be returned to the developer, to help finance the project and its historic preservation elements, and the remaining $16,000 would be invested in the Creative Portland Corporation. In the tenth year, the TIF would expire and all of the building’s property taxes would go into the City’s general fund.

Presumably, the developers will also be taking advantage of state-level historic preservation tax credits, the passage of which was a major focus of GrowSmart Maine’s work in the Legislature two winters ago.

VIA already employs 64 people in Portland, and the new space would give it room to expand, along with the less tangible benefits of collaborating and interacting with other tenants and businesses in the neighborhood.

Critics of TIF districts sometimes complain that they rob tax revenue from other city obligations, like schools or fire departments. But without the TIF investment, it’s hard to imagine a complex historic rehabilitation project like this one happening - the only alternative is to let a beautiful historic building sit empty, which wouldn’t benefit anyone. With the TIF arrangement, City Hall will have to wait ten years to receive the new property tax revenue - but in the meantime, the rest of the city will receive new creative vitality on Congress Street, a beautifully renovated building, new commerce, and new creative economy investments.

Tom Bell has additional details about the possible tax breaks in today's Portland Press Herald.

This is a public investment that will not only benefit Portland’s economy, but will also enhance its “quality of place” by preserving a historic landmark and by bringing more creative workers downtown. Kudos to the developers for taking on this project, to the VIA Group for supporting it, and to the City of Portland’s highly-creative “Creative Economy TIF” policies for letting it happen.

The Great NXT Experiment

For a while I've been trying to wrap my head around ways to make the blog more active. And by active, I mean comments, discussion, posts from contributors, etc.

I've made a habit of having guest posts and trying to keep things active in the comments, but I think there's more that can be done.

While we're planning on making some changes and upgrading PressHerald.com, in the interim the old girl can be a little picky. So instead of toying with things there I'm taking the experiment off site.

Anyone familiar with Posterous (and for those who are not, I'll explain in a moment) knows the service is as easy as finding a Thai restaurant in downtown Portland. All it takes to contribute to a Posterous blog is email, or postings from other sites like Twitter, Facebook and many others.

The idea, I should point out, is not entirely mine. Many are already experimenting with Posterous, including the Austin American Statesman and Mediabistro.com.

So I am throwing the NXT Desk open to the community. Want to spout off about something in your neighborhood or online? Do it here? Want to take a conversation on Twitter or Facebook and expand? This is the place. Want to talk back to the NXT Desk (or me in particular?) Right here.

Think of it as a community blog where we'll talk about all the same things that get covered on the NXT Desk over at Press Herald Plaza: New media, pop culture, technology, movies, local news, activism, politics and plenty more. Also, BACON.

What should you contribute? Whatever you like. Have a great picture you want to share? Send it. Have thoughts on Portland's upcoming social media conferences? Write it. Want to take Jonesy or I to task for a DVD review? Do it.

The bottom line, as I've said to guest bloggers, is if you don't think I could get away with it on PressHerald.com, then don't write it.

So what's going to happen here? I'm not sure. But this can be a place to connect, share photos and videos and have great conversations.

Guidelines to contribute? There aren't many. All you have to do is email post@nxt.posterous.com and include a sentence or two about yourself at the end. The posts will appear almost instantaneously. I still have to push a moderator button to approve posts. But if people begin posting regularly they can be made contributors.

Let the experiment begin.