Mike Orren

Session: Starting a Successful Media Company: Lessons Learned [New Media Track, Beginner Level]

Although we built the country's largest pure-play local news site and managed to make it through two sales to sustainability, we made more mistakes than I could possibly cover in a short talk. I'll talk about those, along with ways the media world has changed such that last quarter's best practices are now a road to ruin. I'll talk about the latest ways that people are turning content into money and how to find your site's sweet spots.

About Mike Orren

In his 20-year career, Mike Orren has never held a job that wasn't at a swimming pool or a media company. In 2005, he founded PanLocal Media, which includes The Daily You™ network and its flagship site, Pegasus News. With a small team and angel capital, Pegasus News became Dallas / Fort Worth's top community entertainment and news portal with more than 350,000 unique monthly visitors. In 2007, Mike sold Pegasus News to Fisher Communications (NASDAQ: FSCI). In 2009, Archstream Media, a subsidiary of GAP Broadcasting, bought the company from Fisher. Orren still leads the operations of Pegasus News and a growing list of affiliate sites as publisher. PanLocal sites have won the Katie Award for best news website and an EPpy award for best entertainment website. Mike was the publisher of American Lawyer Media's Texas Lawyer and its affiliated businesses from 2001-2005. That followed a stint as a consultant to several regional publishers, focusing on digital media and ancillary products. In the early nineties, Mike was a key member of the relaunch team at D Magazine, serving in myriad editorial and business roles including Associate Publisher / General Manager. Last year, NBC5 named Mike one of the 25 most interesting people in Dallas. He was named a top business leader under 40 by the Dallas Business Journal and won a North Carolina Press Association award. He is a past president of the Duke University Alumni Club of North Texas and was a founding member of the North Texas Chapter of Young Presidents Organization. When he's not tilting at New Media windmills, you'll find him sailing on Lake Ray Hubbard or performing improvisational comedy.