Bruno Tedeschi's personal web site

The publisher of Red Bank Green, one of New Jersey's premier hyperlocal websites, has launched a new site to focus on arts and entertainment in the northern Monmouth County region.

Red Bank oRBit made its debut on Aug. 1, 2008 and has already been received positively from "both the producers and consumers of food and art," said John T. Ward, the publisher and founder of Red Bank Green.

Ward took the time recently to answer a few questions about the site. Here is our interview: 

Jersey New Media: You say the site will cover "amusements and culture." Can you be more specific? Will restaurant reviews be located on this site or RedBank Green?

Ward: oRBit covers the arts: theater, music, comedy, gallery shows, hard-to-categorize performance. We do a little shopping coverage, too. We don’t do restaurant reviews or any reviews, for that matter; we’re more interested in what’s going on and who’s making things happen. Instead of holding ourselves out as judges, we’d rather do a Q&A with a coffee shop owner about when he lost his coffee virginity or ask the chef who started a sandwich shop offering $15 lobster-and-bacon sandwiches how he expects to survive.

Jersey New Media: Why start a new site with a new domain name rather than a features section on RedBank Green, which has "name recognition?"

Ward: That’s what a newspaper would do, but I think that model needs to be reconsidered. I don’t envision redbankgreen as the mothership to an array of downstream ‘sections.’ Rather, every site should have its own voice and identity while maintaining an obvious relationship to others so that readers can follow their interests. Plus, oRBit is meant to appeal not only to redbankgreen readers, but to out-of-towners who are solely interested in nightlife here. The approach is a bit of a gamble, yes, but forces oRBit to be as hungry as redbankgreen is.

Jersey New Media: I noticed you have several people working for the site. Are all those folks volunteers? If not, how are they compensated?

Ward: Trish Russoniello is my wife; she designed both sites. Tom Chesek, a writer with deep local knowledge, is our partner in oRBit; he busts his butt filling the news hole and keeping the calendar fresh. I edit and contribute stories and photos. Jim Willis is our tech guru; he’s the only one of us getting paid at the moment, but we love him anyway.

Jersey New Media:  Is there enough of an arts community in the Red Bank area to support a site?

Ward: If you include the environs, yes. Red Bank proper is home to the Count Basie Theatre, which drew 194,000 visitors to 200 shows last year, and the highly regarded Two River Theater, as well as about a dozen art galleries and a smattering of music spots. But one reason we call the site oRBit is because it embraces a significantly larger map than redbankgreen does, extending roughly from the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel to Asbury Park.

Jersey New Media: What's the response been so far from your readers, the arts community?

Ward: Strongly positive from both the producers and consumers of food and art. People tell us they like the service aspect of a truly local entertainment and cultural website with custom-built event and restaurant sorters. Plus, they appreciate that the editorial is real journalism, not just reams of press releases. So when Bernard Purdie or Billy Bragg comes to town, we try to get interviews. Readers like that they’re being treated as what they are: small town residents with metropolitan tastes.

Jersey New Media: How many unique hits do you have in the first few months?

Ward: We’re pleased with the traffic, but the marketing plan is still in the works.

Jersey New Media: Was it easier to get advertising for the second site, since you already had Red Bank Green running?

Ward: Absolutely.

Good luck John and thanks for taking the time to speak with Jersey New Media. 

Coming soon on Jersey New Media: A survey of New Jersey's hyperlocal web sites

Comments

Search

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."