Clancy Tucker's Blog: 18 May 2013 - PAM MARINO

18 May 2013 - PAM MARINO - Guest Blogger

PAM MARINO

- Guest Blogger -

G'day guys

Today I welcome an experienced journalist, writer and blogger from the San Francisco Bay Area - Pam Marino. Pam is an experienced journalist with a strong background in community news reporting; She writes for both web and print, launched her website and is well versed in social media. In addition to her professional journalism background, she has more than 20 years of paid and unpaid experience managing groups in the non-profit sector.

Welcome, Pam ...

TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.

My writing journey begins with reading as a young child. Back then most kids weren’t taught how to read and write until first grade. I was ready to learn much earlier. I would try to make out the letters in the newspaper I saw my parents read every day. I would even try to copy the letters with a paper and pencil. But I had to wait to actually read until the first day of first grade, when I was taught the alphabet. I picked up reading immediately, and soon was reading books and even the daily paper.

In sixth grade my teacher, Mrs. Viera, told me I was a “good writer”. That was all it took. From then on my goal was to become a newspaper reporter, like the ones whose stories I read in the paper. I worked on the school papers in junior high, high school, and at San Diego State University. While at SDSU, I climbed the ladder to become Editor in Chief of The Daily Aztec, and served as an intern at the San Diego Bureau of the Los Angeles Times.

After college I took a job at a weekly newspaper on the city hall beat, but later chose to stay at home with my three children. I jumped in and out of newspapers over the years as my family needed extra income, and worked as a freelance writer for local publications. In 2010, I restarted my career through blogging and freelance writing, mostly for online sites.

In June 2010, I launched the Good Neighbor Stories blog (http://goodneighborstories.com), about people and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area making a difference in the world. The term “good neighbor” in the title is meant in a global sense: I believe we are neighbors to everyone on the planet, through our purchases, our use (or misuse) of resources, our philanthropy, and our interaction with others through communication tools.

I actually acquired my URL in 2009, about eight months before I launched the site. I tried to come up with a really snazzy, URL-friendly title, but everything I came up with was already taken. Finally I decided to go with the obvious: my site was going to be stories about people who were good neighbors, hence, “Good Neighbor Stories”.

The site has grown over the last few years, and is continuing to attract new readers. I really enjoy interacting with all of the interesting and caring people who are working to help their neighbors, whether around the block or around the world.

WHAT TOPICS DO YOU COVER?

As mentioned above, I cover San Francisco Bay Area people making a difference. This includes individual volunteers, small and large nonprofits, companies engaged in community service, and any issues concerning charity, philanthropy, good citizenship, and similar topics. Most of the stories I post there are features I’ve written, accompanied by my photographs.

I also write commentaries, how to articles, book reviews, etc. I like to be a resource to others, so I have pages that list nonprofits people can volunteer with, or donate to, links to articles on how to help others, as well as a nonprofit resources page, with helpful links for nonprofit leaders.

One of my goals with Good Neighbor Stories is to inspire others to find what causes they are passionate about, and give them the tools to pursue working for those causes. Another goal is to help people share their own “good neighbor stories”. I offer my site as a platform for people to share how they are helping others, or were helped themselves.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS/ASPIRATIONS FOR THE FUTURE?

I’m currently working on producing ebooks based on stories from the website. My goal is to publish at least one ebook in 2013. I’m also working toward gaining more freelance writing and editing clients, as well as offering myself as a blog and social media consultant and speaker. I’m currently developing curriculum for a class I’d like to offer about blogging and social media to the public, especially nonprofit leaders.

I’ve learned a lot about blogging and social media over the last several years, and I’m passionate about sharing what I’ve learned with others who are just getting started. I love blogging and believe it is one of the best platforms available for writers, artists, nonprofit leaders, business people, and many others. I was an early adopter of social media and really enjoy utilizing it to spread the word about my work and connect with others.