My Oh My! – Saturday night (May 21st) at Safeco Field, The B-Town Blog team hit a major home run when it was named ‘Best Hyperlocal Website’ by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) in their annual awards that covers Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana.

“We received more than 2,500 entries from dozens of media organizations throughout the region which were then reviewed and rated by out-of-state judges,” reads the SPJ website. “Congratulations to all of our 2010 SPJ award winners and to the editorial, design and production teams that helped make their work possible!”

This is a huge honor for everyone involved with The B-Town Blog, which was started as a hobby by Founder/Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer in Dec., 2007, then turned into a full-time business in 2008.

Now, we’ve been awarded the top prize in our category for the entire Pacific Northwest by our journalist peers, and we are humbled by this honor.

Since this is an award for the entire team, some serious shout-outs are required now to everyone who works very hard to make this site the ‘best,’ including:

• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Technical Guru
• *Ralph Nichols, Senior Writer (*also a 3rd place winner in Business Reporting for his series on Burien Town Square!)
• Janet Grella, Sales Diva
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Marketing
• Bart Bryan, Sales Dude/Video Host
• Philip Benais, Intern, Big Picture High School
• Bryan Charles, Intern, Big Picture High School
• Nicholas Johnson, Reporter/Photographer
• Kristen Kerns, Sales
• Lisa Bosques, Sales
• Jack Mayne, Reporter
• Rachel M. Lusby, Writer
• Gina Bourdage, Reporter/Designer
• Francis Zera, Photographer
• Joy Steele (aka “Missed Congeniality”), Humor Columnist
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist
• Theresa Frasch, Sales
• Many others!

Over 200 awards were handed out Saturday night in a ceremony hosted by Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times and Jen Mueller of Root Sports (download a PDF of all winners here).

Here’s a Michael Brunk pic of the big screen at Safeco Field when we were announced as winners:

About the SPJ
Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty. To ensure that the concept of self-government outlined by the U.S. Constitution remains a reality into future centuries, the American people must be well informed in order to make decisions regarding their lives, and their local and national communities. It is the role of journalists to provide this information in an accurate, comprehensive, timely and understandable manner.

Three years ago today (Dec. 11, 2007, to be exact), from a humble dining room table in a home in Burien, The B-Town Blog came unto this planet, chock full of hopes and dreams of informing, entertaining and enlightening a community, and initially only as a part-time hobby.

Today, we take a look into the mirror and shout:

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY TO US!

It’s been an amazing three years too, from humble beginnings as a hobby to now, the #1 source of up-to-date Local News, Reader Comments and more for the area, with numerous Contributors, over 45 great Advertisers, with some months getting over 75,000 Readers (October set a record…so far)!

We’re proud to say we’re built entirely by all local people who live, work, shop and spend their money right here in Burien.

And now, for trivial and archival purposes, are the first two stories we posted on our very first day:

• Welcome to the B-Town (Burien) Blog!
• Video of One of Your Uglier Neighbors

We’ve grown a bit in our short existence, and we currently publish a total of six local blogs, including:

• The Waterland Blog – for our lovely neighbor to the south, the community of Des Moines, WA.
• White Center Blog – the original Blog about White Center, our neighbor to the north.
• Normandy Park Blog – all about (you guessed it) Normandy Park
• Tukwila Blog – “100 Years in the Making” blog about Tukwila
• SeaTac Blog – “Everywhere’s Possible” with this blog about SeaTac

If you haven’t already, please join our growing Social Network:

Of course, as we’ve grown, we’ve gone from just one sole Publisher/Editor (me, Scott) to a staff of 12+ regular (and often irregular) Contributors, including:

• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Code Guru. An amazing Photographer with a great eye for “the shot,” Michael not only brings his artistic talent (what we call “Brunksmanship“) to all our sites, but his technical know-how as well. Need a great shot of something, or some WordPress, PHP, CSS or other code fixed ASAP? “Call Michael!” is our immediate response.
• Janet Grella, Sales Diva, joined the LOL Dudez team in July, 2008. Not only does The Diva sell Ads, she also writes stories, takes pics and much more for all our community blog sites. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both Readers and Advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Ralph Nichols, Reporter/Writer. A former Editor of The Highline Times, Ralph specializes in covering local issues, including political, community, business, news and much more. Ralph has many years’ experience as a reporter for numerous daily newspapers, and has made the transition to this newfangled online world quite well.
• Nicholas Johnson, Photographer/Reporter. Nicholas is a Western Washington University Journalism Major who hails from Burien. We’re lucky to have him helping us out and providing the BTB his multitude of talents.
• Jack Mayne, Reporter. Jack Mayne is an experienced old-world Journalist who has worked with The Seattle P-I, The Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent and many others. He brings not only his vast Writing experience to us, but his deep knowledge of the News Business as well.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Sales: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark sells Ads and Writes for the BTB.
• Bart Bryan, Sales. Another old buddy of Scott and Mark’s from their high school daze, Bart is a happy, friendly, gregarious man who loves to learn, “conversate” (as the kids say), sell Ads and of course, sing killer Karaoke.
• Gina Bourdage, Artist/Reporter/Sales: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She does our Ad artwork, writes stories and much more.
• Rachel M. Lusby, Writer. Specializing in Human Interest stories, Rachel is a longtime resident who works for us on assignment.
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.
• Bryan Charles, Intern. Bryan is a budding Artist and Animator who attends Highline’s Big Picture High School in SeaTac. He brings his twisted sense of humor to us through his cartoons and more.
• Philip Benais, Intern. Philip is an aspiring Writer who also attends Big Picture High School. He is a film buff, and, we think, an excellent movie Reviewer.

In the end, the real reason we’re going and growing stronger after three years is because of YOU, our Readers and Advertisers! Without either of you we wouldn’t exist!

Thanks, and we look forward to an even better fourth year!

Two years ago today (Dec. 11, 2007 to be exact), on a dining room table in a home in Burien, your B-Town Blog came unto this planet, chock full of hopes and dreams of informing, entertaining and enlightening a community, and initially only as a part-time hobby.

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY TO US!

But be warned folks, ‘cuz we’re entering our “Terrible Twos” and we aren’t going to stop until WE GET WHAT WE WANT! (SOUNDFX: WAAAAAA!)

It’s been an amazing two years too, from humble beginnings as a hobby to now, a full-blown full-time job with an office, numerous Contributors, over 40 Advertisers and nearly 50,000 Readers per month (November set a record…so far)!

And now, for trivial and archival purposes, are the two stories we posted on our very first day:

• Welcome to the B-Town (Burien) Blog!
• Video of One of Your Uglier Neighbors

Of course, as we’ve grown, we’ve gone from just one sole Publisher/Editor (me, Scott) to a staff of 12+ regular (and irregular) Contributors, including:

• Janet Grella, Sales Director/Diva joined the LOL Dudez team last July. Not only does The Diva sell Ads, she also writes stories, takes pics and much more to all our community blog sites. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both Readers and Advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Ralph Nichols, Reporter/Writer. A former Editor of The Highline Times, Ralph specializes in covering local issues, including political, community, business, news and much more. Ralph has many years’ experience as a reporter for numerous daily newspapers, and has made the transition to this newfangled online world quite well.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Sales: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark sells Ads and Writes for the BTB.
• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Code Guru. An amazing Photographer with a great eye for “the shot,” Michael not only brings his artistic talent (what we call “Brunksmanship“) to our sites, but his technical know-how as well. Need a great shot of something, or some WordPress, PHP, CSS or other code fixed ASAP? “Call Michael!” is our immediate response.
• Bart Bryan, Sales. Another old buddy of Scott and Mark’s from their high school daze, Bart is a happy, friendly, gregarious man who loves to learn, “conversate” (as the kids say), sell Ads and of course, sing killer Karaoke.
• Gina Bourdage, Artist/Reporter: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She does our Ad artwork, writes stories and much more.
• Amy Bouska, Video Producer. Amy Produces, Shoots, Directs and Edits original video interviews for us, and she does them quite well, especially since she serves as on-air Talent as well.
• Theresa Frasch, Sales. Theresa is an all-around talent, with the ability to sell Ads as well as fix the world in her spare time.
• Jack Mayne, Reporter. Jack Mayne is an experienced old-world Journalist who has worked with The Seattle P-I, The Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent and many others. He brings not only his vast Writing experience to us, but his deep knowledge of the News Business as well.
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.
• Danielle Burton, Artist/Illustrator. Danielle is not only a recent graduate of Western Washington University, but she is an amazingly talented Artist who brings a touch of original, artsy class to our sites.
• Bryan Charles, Intern. Bryan is a budding Artist and Animator who attends Highline’s Big Picture High School in SeaTac. He brings his twisted sense of humor to us through his cartoons and more.

We could go on and on about how great we are, but in the end the real reason we’re posting this is to thank YOU, our Readers and Advertisers, because without either of you we wouldn’t exist!

Thanks, and we look forward to an even better third year!

We love Burien.

And we’re not ashamed to say it.

That’s because we live here.

We work here.

We shop here.

And we believe in this city of 47,605 people (surpassing Olympia as the #21st largest city in WA), where our mission statement is:

To report news from a “location-based” perspective, that is, if it happens in/near Burien, we’ll cover it.

To cover Local News, Events, Arts and more efficiently than any other website, on a fair and ethical basis.

To have as our only agenda the idea of Community Betterment through sharing information, events, entertainment, art and other location-based content.

To inform, engage, entertain and educate our Readers.

To allow a Forum for our Readers to Comment and post their thoughts on the stories we cover.

To be involved in our community, via ongoing memberships in Discover Burien, the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations that involve local businesses.

To remain pro-Burien, pro-business, and to help our fellow businesspeople as best we can.

To actually do more than “just report” local News by holding our own Fundraisers and helping our neighbors.

The B-Town (Burien) Blog is the most-read, daily-updated, totally independent homegrown online news source for all things Burien-related, including:

• News
• Events
• Businesses
• Real Estate
• History
• People
• Artists
• Music
• Mysteries
• Photos
• Videos
• Humor
• Fundraisers
  
• and much more

Founder/Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer is thinking...

The folks behind Burien’s original and first local blog include:

• Scott Schaefer, Founder/Publisher/Editor: With three National Emmy Awards for Writing on “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and over 25 years’ experience in TV/video, multimedia, marketing/advertising, technology and the internet, Scott started The B-Town Blog as a hobby and has since turned it into a full-time business. His other credits include as a Director on “Penn & Teller:Bullsh*t!” (Showtime), “The Arsenio Hall Show” (Paramount), “Sightings” (Paramount), “Totally Hidden Video” (Fox), “America’s Funniest People” (ABC),  Fox On-Air Promotions and KING-TV’s “Almost Live!” where he got his start in 1985.
• Michael Brunk, Photographer/Technical Guru. With a love of photography that spans more than 20 years, Michael has fond memories of film but wouldn’t give up his digital SLR for anything. His checkered past includes stints as a monthly columnist for a nationally published magazine on telecommunications and technology and several years reviewing movies. He’s also been known to dabble in community theater. His main qualifications are a large camera and free time. He also builds and maintains the code that runs our sites.
• Jack Mayne, Senior Reporter. Jack Mayne has done about all there is to do in print journalism. He has been city editor of the Seattle P.I. back in its glory days, edited the Journal American in Bellevue and Valley Daily News in Kent in the 1990s. Before that he was a freelance international journalist and reported from South Africa, China, visited over 80 countries and even covered a colonial war in the 20th century between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the desolate Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. He got his start at the Vancouver Province, thence to The Associated Press, becoming chief of the New England bureau, but a desire of AP to send him to Buffalo, N.Y., drove him back to Seattle. With writing for print becoming quaint and dated, he is now setting his sights on Web journalism and has written several stories for the B-Town Blog and plans many more.
• Ralph Nichols, Senior Reporter. Ralph specializes in public policy and legal issues, medical matters, and business profiles. For several years, he was an editor, reporter, and columnist for the Highline Times. Previously he worked in the Seattle area, Alaska and Idaho as a reporter for daily newspapers, United Press International, and trade publications; as a state capitol bureau chief and columnist; and a public relations writer and project manager.
• Joy Steele, Sales Manager/Columnist. Joy is our new Sales Manager and a Humor Columnist! She writes ”Missed Congeniality,” an observational column in the spirit of Erma Bombeck.
• Mark Neuman, Writer/Marketing: former real-world Journalist, TV Host, Producer and Marketer, Mark is an old friend of Scott’s going back to when they worked on their high school newspaper together (West Seattle High’s “Chinook”). Mark has interviewed two US Presidents, cops, cooks and cartoonists, authors and artists, senators, singers, scholars and senior citizens, along with the first Mayor of Burien and a local man running for State Superior Court.
• Bryan Charles, Intern, Big Picture High School. Bryan, 16, is an Artist/Animator who has created an original ongoing cartoon series called ‘3 Frog Bros.’
• Shawn Underwood, Humor Columnist: Twenty-five years of living in Burien gives this Humorist much fodder for her writings. All of her stories are true, or at least have a grain of truth with no added embellishments. Or something like that.

FORMER TEAM MEMBERS:

• Janet Grella, Sales Director/Diva joined the LOL Dudez team last July. Seems like her retirement as Sales Manager from a local newspaper gave her too much time on her hands. So now she’s busy selling Ads and contributing stories, photos and video to our community blog sites.  She came to us with not only 30+ years of advertising and marketing experience, but a keen understanding of the communities we serve – their people and businesses. With Janet on board, The B-Town Blog has enjoyed incredible growth in both readers and advertisers. Janet knows the future of advertising is online, not in newspapers.
• Bart Bryan, Sales Dude/Video Host/Fundraiser. Another old friend of Scott’s from high school, Bart is a happy, funny, outgoing man who loves his community. He has served as both a Sales Rep as well as On-Camera Video Host (see his hilarious Polar Bear Plunge videos here), and you’ll also see him at any number of fundraising events we support, including as Host.
• Philip Benais, Intern, Big Picture High School. Philip, 17, writes movie reviews for the Blog. His writing style is years beyond his age, and he’s got a lot of passion for a teenager.
• Kristen Kerns, Sales. Kristen is a very active, community-minded local resident who does a ton of volunteer work for fundraisers like Cove to Clover, the Burien Brat Trot and many others.
• Lisa Bosques, Sales. A former Realtor with Prudential Northwest Realty, Lisa is the newest member of our team!
• Josh Hart, (former) Intern: Hailing from Highline School District’s innovative Big Picture High School, 15-year old Josh provides our youth-oriented voice on everything from local football game blowouts to opinion pieces on VP debates.
• Gina Bourdage, Reporter/Designer: graduate of Washington State University with a B.A. in Communications, Gina is a native who currently resides on the cusp of the proposed annexation area. She writes, reports, reviews and even creates our cool Ads.

Aside from striving to be the main (and most timely being that we update several times per day) News Source for the Burien area, the B-Town Blog does something few other local blogs do; we actually strive to serve and help our community!

Over the last two years, we’ve helped raise more than $13,000 for needy area residents ranging from two local food banks to victims of a fatal apartment fire and more.

We’re also active members of both Discover Burien and the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce.

Here’s a informational video worth viewing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is part of a network of blogs produced by Schaefer’s company LOL Dudez, LLC, and includes:

• The Waterland Blog – our latest addition, for our lovely neighbor to the south, the community of Des Moines, WA.
• White Center Blog – Diverse Community + Interesting People = This Blog about White Center, our neighbor to the north
• Tukwila Blog – “100 Years in the Making” blog about Tukwila
• SeaTac Blog – “Everywhere’s Possible” with this blog about SeaTac
• Normandy Park Blog – all about (you guessed it) Normandy Park
• Crapolicio.us – comedy site that “Worships the Worst of the Web”
• Jokestarter – blog devoted to helping writers, comedians, producers, etc. find comedy ideas
• Many others in development!

Remember, a blog is only as good as its contributors and participants, so please email us with any story ideas, event listings, business directory listings or other B-Town-related stuff.

UPDATE 6/6/11: B-Town Blog Founder/Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer was interviewed by ‘Street Fight‘ magazine on ‘Hyperlocal’ journalism and the blog – read it here.

UPDATE 5/21/11: The B-Town (Burien) Blog was award the “Best Hyperlocal Website” by the Society of Professional Journalists for their 2010 regional competition, which includes Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana!

LOL Dudez also produces corporate videos, comedic videos and viral marketing on the internet, including:

• Conceptualize with our Clients
• Write the script (done by a 3-time National Emmy winning Writer)
• Revise the script
• Polish/Finalize the script
• All production from pre to shooting and more
• Editing, including audio sweetening
• Encoding for the internet and Posting/Hosting
• Viral online marketing

Here are two “Viral Videos” we wrote/produced/directed/shot/edited and marketed for Dan The Sausageman:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Want to experience the power of video on the internet that doesn’t just stop when the editing is finished?

Email Scott directly, or give him a call our Burien studio/office: (206) 248-2565

Thanks!

editor@b-townblog.com

TERMS OF USE/PRIVACY POLICY