Photo: Gil Asakawa | On Monday, September 21st , COMBO will present guest speaker Gil Asakawa, via Zoom, on “Media Promotion in Today’s World.” Zoom details will be sent later. The meeting will be moderated by Jamie Krutz, who seems to have a real knack for finding questions that will resonate with our musician members! Board member Todd Caron will handle the on-line questions. We’ll be sending more on Mr. Asakawa in the coming weeks. At the present time, Mr. Asakawa is the Manager of Student Media for the University of Colorado’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Boulder. He oversees the university’s student-run news website, the CU Independent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CU_Independent
Put these upcoming COMBO events on your calendar now!
Board Meeting: Sunday, Sept. 13th, 6:30 p.m.
COMBO Information Meet & Greet Booth at the Youth on Record Block Party – 1:00 p.m.
COMBO Pubic Meeting: Monday, Sept. 21st , 7:00 p.m. – Guest Speaker Gil Asakawa
COMBO Information Meet & Greet Booth at the Lafayette Music Fest, Lafayette, CO – 11:00 a.m.
Board Meeting: Sunday, Oct. 4th , 6:30 p.m.
Durango Songwriters Expo: Th, Fr, & Sa, Oct. 7th, 8th, and 9th – at the Broomfield Omni Resort
COMBO Public Meeting: Monday, Oct. 19th , 7:00 p.m. – Guest Speaker Steve Son
Board Meeting: Sunday, Nov. 1st, 6:30 p.m.
COMBO Songwriters Showcase: Monday, Nov. 16th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Bar 404, Denver
COMBO Holiday Dinner: Saturday, Dec. 12th – Details TBD
Mr. Asakawa has an extensive biography. He hasn’t set still for decades! Here is part of his auto-biography which you can find at https://gillers.com/
Hello! My name is Gil Asakawa. I’m a writer, editor and online content expert with over 25 years of experience in a variety of media. I’m the Manager of Student Media for the University of Colorado’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Boulder. I oversee the university’s student-run news website, the CU Independent. Together with the team of J-school editors and volunteer reporting staff, we’ll be testing many of the new technologies and features that news companies will have to adopt as journalism evolves into the digital era. It’s an exciting time to be working with student journalists to develop the cutting-edge skills that will make them leaders in the industry.
I also consult and train newsrooms and organizations in online content strategies, emerging media (e-readers, tablets and mobile), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices and social media.
I’m also a consultant for AARP’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) marketing team. I manage the AARP AAPI Community’s social media (Facebook page and Twitter feed) and produce content for the AAPI audience. The job is an intersection of my three passions: journalism/digital media, my baby boom generation and AAPI issues.
Previously, I was Manager of Audience Development for MediaNews Group Interactive, the online side of the company that owns The Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News, Detroit News and St. Paul Pioneer Press, among many others. I analyzed traffic to MediaNews Group websites and recommended and implemented action based on SEO and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) best practices to increase traffic and interaction. I also trained newsroom staff and interactive content producers on best practices for both editorial SEO and use of Social Media. And, I helped with both the strategic planning and implementation of cutting-edge features, redesigns and new sites.
I first dove into the exciting — and fast-changing — world of the Internet way back in the day, in 1996, when I took my first step in “cyberspace” as Content Editor for Digital City Denver, a new media startup subsidiary of America Online.
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I spoke at the first-ever SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas in 2000. I’ve moderated panels about blogging and digital media for AAJA, WordCamp Denver, and BANANA, a conference of Asian American bloggers, I’ve been a panelist for many organizations, including the Society of Professional Journalists, American Society of Sunday and Feature Editors, Rocky Mountain Internet User Group, South By Southwest Music, MediaNews Group Editors’ Retreat, and Associated Press NewsTrain.
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As a freelance writer and editor, my clients have included The Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Front Range Tech Biz, Boulder Magazine, 5280 Magazine, Gaiam, Colorado Dragon Boat Festival, Empowerful Changes, Japan America Society of Colorado, and the “Orations & Essays” project. I was also asked to write a commentary, “Beneath the Surface of the Japanophile Fad,” for Newsweek Japan, which was a thrill — I wrote it in English and they translated it into Japanese.
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Life is full, always unpredictable and always busy — it’ll be interesting to see where I am and what I’m doing in another 20 years!
— Gil
The meeting will be moderated by Jamie Krutz with Todd Caron moderating the Chat Room!
Read more at https://gillers.com/
Photo: Gil Asakawa | Photo from his Facebook page
