Soapbox tells the new Cincinnati story - a narrative of creative people and businesses, new development, cool places to live, and the best places to work and play. The website and weekly online magazine are published Tuesdays. Get Soapbox free in your inbox each week by signing up here. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas for Soapbox. Share them via e-mail here.
A brief history of the Soapbox crew:
Publisher:
Dacia Snider is unabashedly proud to call Cincinnati home. This northeastern Ohio native's passion for the city was cultivated during her time at
Downtown Cincinnati Inc. Drawing on her background in economic development, she understood the important role media played in setting the narrative for a community and seized the opportunity to launch a new online publication about the city she loved. In February 2008, Soapbox was born (as was her daughter three days later). Named an Emanuel Community Center 2009 Woman of Over-the-Rhine honoree, Dacia is also proud to be recognized as a 2007 YWCA Rising Star and a member of the 2006 Forty Under 40 class by the Cincinnati Business Courier. In her spare time, Dacia is active on the
Cincinnati Parks Foundation Board and Executive Committee and is a member of the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. On a never-ending quest to achieve that elusive work/life balance, Dacia and her husband are raising their two children to appreciate all this great city has to offer and can frequently be found at
Findlay Market on Saturday mornings (usually per her son's early morning request).
Managing Editor:
Elissa Yancey (Sonnenberg) learned early that telling true stories offers great chances to learn, grow and advocate for change. She teaches in the journalism program at the University of Cincinnati. At UC, many of her classes focus on community partnerships that immerse her students in some of the region's most critical issues, including education and the environment. A native of Norwood, Ohio, Elissa grew up amid her Urban Appalachian kin. After studying English at UC as an undergrad, she moved to Chicago and received her Master's degree from Northwestern University. A veteran of many national and regional publications, including Family Circle and Preservation, Elissa spent six years as an editor at Cincinnati Magazine before taking a teaching post at her alma mater. While she's busy raising two great teens from her home base in Northside, Elissa looks forward to inspiring Soapbox readers and continuing the story of "what's next" for the region she calls home.
{C}
Scott, an award-winning photographer, resides on the rivers' edge just south of the Roebling Bridge in Covington, Ky, in what he describes is his New York style dream loft, minus New York. In 2001, he graduated from Indiana University of Bloomington with a Bachelor's of Arts in Journalism. As a freelance photographer for most of his career, Mr. Beseler considers his photographic influence to be that of the photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and writer Hunter S. Thompson. This style comparable to the Gonzo style of journalism, combines Scott's own captured vision of exaggeration, subjectiveness and heightened perception of reality, while capturing the moment without interrupting it. Pure joy for Scott is any opportunity to photograph friends, music, art, and global culture. Scott is thankful for his humble and notable roots in Cincinnati. Contributors of his professional portfolio include City Beat, The Cincinnati Opera, Jean Robert de Cavel Restaurant Group, The Art Academy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum and The Academy Award Show of 2005. To see more work from the days and nights of Scott, go to TakeTheDay.com.
Soapdish Columnist: Casey Coston
Inveterate Cincinnati kool-aid drinker and resident Soapdish scribbler Casey Coston is a man about town. Prior to moving to Cincinnati, Casey was with the Detroit office of Pepper Hamilton LLP, a Philadelphia based firm, and was also a regular contributor to the Metro Times, a popular weekly newspaper in metropolitan Detroit. During that time, he had the unlikely position of feeding Detroit's desire for nightlife and assorted gossip, covering everything from underground concerts and artsy parties in abandoned buildings to society balls in museums. He also launched the popular Rubble Rouser series, in which he raised the profile of Detroit's architectural gems while addressing issues related to urban renewal and historic preservation, business development and just about anything else that popped into his head at the moment. A native of Michigan, Casey can also be found DJ-ing around town and modeling his vintage fez collection on rare occasions. His primary goal in life is to eliminate the words "Mapplethorpe" and "chili" from the vocabulary of any out-of-town friends who have never been to Cincinnati.
Chief Advocate & Instigator: Eric Avner
During the day, Eric oversees community development grantmaking for the Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation. Prior to that, he was Associate Director of the Cincinnati Business Committee, that venerable group of CEOs representing Cincinnati's 30 largest employers. And prior to that, while guiding Newport's downtown revitalization, he led the effort to create the Purple People Bridge. Most importantly, Eric spent 16 months meeting, discussing, planning, and plotting to get Soapbox launched back in 2008. Now, when he and his bowtie aren't out instigating for some way to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Eric keeps busy serving on boards for the Cincinnati Development Fund, Artworks, and Vision 2015. A boomerang Cincinnatian (he lived here in the late '70s, left, and returned to town in 1996), Eric also takes pride in his dual US/Canadian citizenship...eh. Eric and his wife reside in bucolic Walnut Hills after several years in a downtown loft.
Soapbox is published by Detroit-based Issue Media Group.
Web Site and E-Newsletter Technology: Matt Lehman and Mark Walz, FluentConsulting
{C}{C}{C} {C} {C} Also check out Issue Media Group's other publications: