Soapbox Publisher Dacia Snider is unabashedly proud to call Cincinnati home. This northeastern Ohio native's passion for the city was cultivated during her four years 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, both internally and externally. With that in mind, she 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, co-chairs the Agenda 360 Communications Team and is a member of the Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. On a never-ending quest to achieve that delicate work/life balance (what's that?!), Dacia and her husband are raising their two children to appreciate all this great city has to offer and can usually be found at Findlay Market on Saturday mornings enjoying waffles and coffee (usually at her son's early morning request).
Soapbox's Chief Instigator, Eric Avner, oversees economic 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. Now, when he's not occupying a barstool at JeanRo Bistro downtown, Eric keeps busy in board leadership roles for the
Cincinnati Development Fund and
Enjoy-the-Arts, and is co-chairing the Next Decade Capital Campaign for the
Know Theatre. 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 now reside in bucolic Walnut Hills after several years in a downtown loft.
Soapblog: Eric Avner
Posted By: Dacia Snider & Eric Avner, 2/10/2010
When we launched this experiment two years ago on another snowy day, I'll admit I wasn't sure it would work.
Don't get me wrong. I knew - heck, we all knew - Soapbox was needed. How much more coverage did we need of car wrecks, racial distrust, and losing teams? I was sure that if Soapbox could shine a bright light on the achievements and aspirations of our region's talented, innovative, and diverse residents and businesses, people would take notice. You certainly have responded.
Elsewhere in this issue you can find the statistics. More and more Soapbox readers every month. More and more Soapbox stories finding their way into other media. More and more people mentioning Soapbox as their preferred source of learning about our region’s successes. Thank you for your support so far, but we know our work is not done…
I spent the last week up in Canada dealing with the death of a parent. My dad was a modest, self-effacing guy who nonetheless touched a lot of lives, and by extension, changed the world around him. Without getting melodramatic, I will say that this past week has strengthened my resolve to continue our progress in changing the perception of our region. Don't underestimate the reach of Cincinnati and Cincinnatians. Even in London, Ontario, people are watching us, learning from us, modeling their programs after ours, eating our ice cream. Which Cincinnati stories do you want people in Canada - or in West Chester, Chicago, or Beijing - to read and repeat?
This past week - and the past two years - has confirmed for me the imperative of continually telling the world about the Cincinnati that Soapbox sees. Instead of focusing on deficits (that all cities have), let's continue to point out our unique opportunities. Instead of lamenting about a business closing, let's continue to celebrate our newest entrepreneurs. Instead of being preoccupied with the effects of historic disinvestment, let's tell the stories of urban neighborhoods being rediscovered. This is what Soapbox was created to do, and I have no doubt that Soapbox will continue to lead down this path.
On the occasion of Soapbox’s 100th issue and 2nd birthday, I encourage you to celebrate our success. However, I also hope that you'll continue to help us help the region by sending us story ideas, by encouraging your friends and co-workers to subscribe, or by forwarding a particularly compelling story to your social network. Soapbox hasn't become a valued part of this region’s media ecosystem by accident. It's happened because of you - our dedicated, connected, inspirational Soapbox readers. I only started the fire. It's up to you -and all of us - to fan the flames.
Soapblog: Dacia Snider
Posted By: Dacia Snider & Eric Avner, 2/9/2010
As publisher of Soapbox, I hear it time and again about how much our readers look forward to their weekly reminder about where Cincinnati is headed - not where it's been. Where we've been is well covered. When we launched Soapbox two years ago, we wanted to speak about what the future holds for our region – what's next for Cincinnati, who is driving change, creating jobs and investing in our neighborhoods. As is hopefully evident in our past 100 issues, Soapbox believes that place matters. Cincinnati matters.
So it's no surprise we focus on those people and innovations that will not only make our region better today, but lay the groundwork for a better tomorrow.
It's easy for most to assume we're just a weekly, online publication about Cincinnati. But what we do each week goes beyond that. What we do is changing the conversation people are having about Cincinnati.
In our first 100 issues, our talented staff of writers, reporters, filmmakers and photographers have created over 2,000 pieces of fresh, original content that tells the new Cincinnati story. They have captured the story of entrepreneurs and innovators, tastemakers and trendsetters, the new economy workforce and neighborhood pioneers. We know you're inspired by these stories each week and we're proud to give Cincinnati a soapbox to stand on to tell them.
So what were your favorites? Where did we hit the mark and where did we fall short? What are we missing? What would you like to read more about?
Drop us a line and let us know - directly at
feedback@soapboxmedia.com, on Twitter
@SoapboxCincy or join the discussion on our Facebook
fanpage.
And to our loyal fans, Soapbox has some exciting changes in store for 2010 - not only will we be unveiling a new layout in the coming weeks, but we’ll also be adding new content features and site enhancements. But not to worry, we’ll still be on the leading edge of shaping Cincinnati’s narrative, one issue at a time. On behalf of all of us here at Soapbox - thank you for your continued support and readership. Here’s to the next 100 issues!
Dacia Snider, Publisher
Soapbox