What's New -- Week of March 1, 2010

RJI Collaboratory provided liveblogging coverage of a March 1-2 Knight Foundation "community information needs" gathering that brought together community foundation leaders with journalism and technology experts. Check out the conference coverage from Collab manager Amy Gahran.
Could a social network like Ning be the basis for a news community in which businesses would also have a service-oriented platform to share its voice? That's a proposal being developed by Collab member Tim Robertson in his blog post, New Way For News Sites to Get Business to Pay? Plus, check out a discussion about finding the right balance between editorial and advertising.
Unexpected tax bills waiting to surprise you news entrepreneurs out there? Here's a tale from the continuing adventures of local site operator Amy Senk
Some fascinating folks have joined the Collaboratory in recent days: Emmy Award-winning writer Scott Schaefer is successfully publishing The B-Town Blog and looking for ways to collaborate. Long-time news experimenter and social media expert Sally Duros has been consulting on the future of news, with an eye on the possibilities of non-profits. Dean Wade is looking for insights while he is "bootstrapping" an online startup, PineBeltTimes.com. Laura Lorek, a veteran biz-tech reporter, is looking to launch a startup covering local tech news in Texas. And journalist and information designer John Hawbaker has been involved in a local news site project since 2008 and is now starting a firm to build web apps for community news organizations.
Our latest numbers -- the network stands at 462 members, as of 3/5. Remember, you can invite new members, join a group or start a group of your own, as well as create a blog and comment on others. Check out our most active groups and bloggers and take part in the Collaboratory's work.