1/ Yes, I’m bitter. Rob Curley lied to me outright. Plus I saw a lot of good people hurt and/or removed at Greenspun Media — the “family business.” But that bitterness doesn’t change the other facts I put forward.

2/ Rob Curley isn’t a newspaper person. He’s a web guy with some good ideas and plenty of sales gab. I’ve seen both his work and his song and dance act.

3/ I didn’t knock the Sun website. The kids he sent in worked like dogs and it’s pretty good — although I’ve also heard some valid criticisms from users. And the gentleman who led them (his name escapes me at present) IS a decent person and HE made that site happen. The point is, will the thing make money? Ditto for the LVW site. If the Greenspuns don’t get back a decent chunk of the huge outlay on these sites, things might get interesting. Whenever Michael Carr (Pres. GMG) speaks, he talks about revenue. BIG revenue from all products.

4/ Pat, you really don’t know what you’re talking about with the Weekly site. I knew it was below par; but I had to carry the thing SOLO for nearly a year. I inherited a bad design and a crappy CMS. Usually I come in to a job and work as one of the site designers. In my first few months I worked 90 to 100 hours a week just to keep the thing going. I wasn’t allowed to hire anyone, and there was no intention to change the look or form of the site beyond some very basic cosmetics. Everything was put on hold after my boss was laid off a few months after I was hired (she was not replaced!) and the honchos tried to work out what direction they wanted to take. It is an epic saga, I can assure you. I myself was embarrassed by the site. But I fought for a better site and worked my arse off. Then I was repaid by the Curley recruitment. Now, I’ve never said Curley doesn’t have some good ideas (though I don’t think they’re all going to translate to Vegas the way they worked in Naples, Florida or Lawrence, Kansas) but from the beginning of my tenure I was pointing out things that had to change: both with the site and with personnel. I’d managed major sites like Tower Records and had done for years. I’d seen the same problems before. I also made it my mission to learn Vegas and the key people around town. I knew the image the site needed. I couldn’t get anyone to budge. Curley has come in and done things I suggested a year ago. I was a loyal, dedicated employee who had to look like the village idiot. But anyone at the Weekly will tell you my hands were tied and I was a good worker. Nobody wanted that site to work more than I did.

5/ Pat, your last paragraph, I don’t think you have a clue about Web site revenue streams. And I’ll bet you’ll come to see that Rob Curley is a guy who loves designing sites but doesn’t really want to stick around long and maintain them. It’s common knowledge he has a fetish for site design awards.

Your bitterness is clouding your judgment. I’d say a lot of you are bitter for one reason or another.

Rob Curley is one of the few newspaper people who gets it. We have to completely and utterly rethink how we have been doing things. The Las Vegas Sun all the sudden has a Web site that is relevant. I wonder why?

Adrian let’s be real for a second, the Las Vegas Weekly Web site isn’t very good. Did you think Curley would allow that to continue? Of course not. If you weren’t willing to make serious changes, I’m not surprised you are no longer employed.

The Las Vegas Sun has a kick ass Web site, in no small part due to Curley. And it is incorrect to say that his projects have been money losers. And I don’t really think the old way of doing things at newspapers has exactly been a money winner.

I got laid off from the Greenspun Media Group essentially because there was no way I’d just fall into line as a Curley disciple and not have a say as the editor of the Las Vegas Weekly website. He also lied to me about my job security (while he’s working for the Post!) and thought some Curley “charm” would somehow make me stupid. But bitterness aside, I knew from the first presentation the guy gave to GMG execs and staff that he was a hack showman and not to be trusted. Incidentally, he betrayed the Washington Post months ago and we were all instructed not to leak it).

This guy has signed on for a fortune and already spent a fortune. My guess is that his almost sexual obsession with websites (an inside joke at GMG) will come unstuck on the balance sheet. But what he is really interested in, and talks about a lot, is winning awards. Maybe he can scrape up a few then move on to the next suckers. And the Greenspuns will get exactly what they deserve.

There much more I could say about this dull brat but he’s not worth it. Be very careful if you deal with him. Honesty is not his forte.

(Oh, and his denial in the story above that he doesn’t have a fiefdom: BS. His team of kids have infested Greenspun Media. I counted a lot more than five — and they’re still coming.)

However he has convinced the Greenspuns to import his minions wholesale to the organization. Regardless of his acolytes’ individual abilities, Curley’s new cohort has alienated long-standing Greenspun employees, especially those of talent, with a Curleyite cultism and dismissal of all others. Many look to leave ASAP.

And the results of the Curley Vegas “hyperlocal” multimedia revolution are really slow in coming and not overwhelming in their scope, considering the money behind them. And much is said to have been accomplished via college intern labor.

This Curley is pretty much a bullshit artist. He’s not selling snake oil, but rather an unneeded massaging of existing technology. And the Greenspuns bought the oily pitch.

I think Mr.Curley is a bit out of touch and overzealous in his quote below. Maybe he had a bit too much caffeine that day:)
“You gotta give the company credit for investing heavily in a new-media strategy in 2008. Lots of newspapers were investing (at least a little) back in 1998, but how many are still investing now? From an online perspective, this newspaper seems to be going from zero to 100 miles-per-hour almost overnight. It’s impressive and refreshing to see in this time of doom and gloom in our industry.”
The reality is that spending on web initiatives by newspapers, and the revenue that goes with it, continues to grow, although online ad revenue has slowed from ~34% in ‘06 to ~18% in ‘07 (nationally, NAA figures). Newspapers are starting to grow their marketshare and learn how to play on the web.
It’s all in getting it right, and Rob has definitely been a major influence on a certain market segment. There’s more too success than online, and online only opensource products are not the complete answer, though they certainly have their place.
Whatever Rob decides to do I am sure we all wish him well, and it seems weird this rumor is floating around now when I just heard at the capitol conference that he has been promoted ;)

Perhaps he will stumble upon this.
After all… we don’t just stay in one place :)