It’s been a year of BIG changes for Associated Content Contributors and the migration to the Yahoo! Contributor Network platform is finally complete. Many writers are already finding their work on some of Yahoo!’s most popular media channels, including OMG!, Yahoo! Movies, Yahoo! Shine and Yahoo! News and the transition has been a smooth one.
I caught up with Senior Community Manager Darnell Witt (formerly known as AC Darnell) for a recap of some of the highlights and improvements from this past year. And there’s even more to come! A brand new Contributor training program and a revamped referral system are a few new projects on the horizon.
Take it away, DW…
SK: What changes have you been most excited about with the AC/Yahoo! transition?
DW: To my mind, the expanded beta of our Performance Payments program, extending it across the Yahoo! network, is the single most exciting aspect of our new platform. Associated Content pioneered this performance-based compensation model, and now we’re rolling it out to some of the most popular sites on the Web!
SK: The Yahoo! partnership was announced over the summer of 2010. Did you anticipate the site migration this early?
DW: Immediately following the acquisition, our game plan was “business as usual.” We wanted everyone to know that Yahoo! didn’t just buy AC for the technology, but was also committed to carrying the torch of “The People’s Media Company” and continuing to provide contributors with as many opportunities as possible. At that point, the timeline for our full integration into the Yahoo! network was still “TBD.”
Over the summer, Luke (AC Founder and current Yahoo! VP) set the ambitious goal of launching a new, integrated publishing platform by the end of the 2010. It sounded crazy at the time, because the process would require us to rethink and rebuild our publishing and page view tracking systems, not to mention redesign each page on our site, and develop an entirely new brand. But the whole team rallied around the plan, and put in lots of extra hours to make Luke’s crazy dream into an awesome reality.
SK: What are some significant changes Contributors can look forward to in 2011?
DW: We will be introducing Performance Payments on additional Yahoo! sites. We’re also working on new badges, a new blog, a revamped referral program, contributor training materials, and various interface enhancements. Of course, we’ll also be ramping up the publishing volume to Yahoo! sites as time goes on, so that means continually increasing opportunities to be published on the sites aligned with your interests and expertise.
SK: Are there any big plans or changes in store for the original AC Community? Read the rest of this entry »
