Farewell and Good Luck!

All good things must come to an end…

This is my final post for The AC Weekly. I want to thank you for reading, participating, and keeping up with the latest news about Associated Content over the years!

As most of you know, I’ve been writing for Associated Content by Yahoo! since 2006 and started this blog about three years ago. I launched this blog because at that time, AC writers didn’t have many places to network and get to know each other. This was before AC was on Twitter, had a Facebook presence, and before the Official Associated Content Blog was created.

My goal was to create a community of writers, provide the latest news about AC, and interview outstanding Contributors and staff members.

My mission has been accomplished 🙂

The AC/Yahoo! Community has evolved so much since 2007, and we now have a dedicated blog on the Yahoo! Contributor Network that will feature Contributors, offer writing tips and inform of us of the latest happenings on the YCN grid.

Thank you again for your loyalty and continued support. It’s been wonderful getting to know you all!

I am still an active Contributor on AC/Yahoo! and you can follow my writing-related (and other) updates on Twitter: @sabahk.

I will be leaving this blog up for anyone interested in reading the archives, and for looking back at the amazing changes at Associated Content over the past few years.

In the words of Garrison Keillor, “be well, do good work, and keep in touch.”

~ Sabah

Who in the World is Ryan Christopher DeVault?

He’s a stay-at-home Dad who enjoys spending time with his family, tuning in to the latest sports news and keeping up with the latest TV shows. He’s turned his hobbies and interests into a career, and Ryan Christopher DeVault continues to be among the top Sports and Arts & Entertainment Contributors on Associated Content by Yahoo!

He’s a full-time freelance writer and happy to have the luxury of working his own schedule. When he’s not busy writing and taking care of the fam, you can find him hiking or spending time exploring new cities. I caught up with this talented writer to find out what his writing goals are, and who has inspired him to continue building his flourishing writing career on AC by Yahoo!…

SK: How did you get started writing for AC?
RD: Originally I started out as just someone posting articles sporadically, and that lasted for more than a year.  When the 2008 Summer Olympics started though, I became extremely active, and really got into the flow of participating on the site.

SK: What inspired you to join?
RD: One of my friends was talking about how fun it was to write on Associated Content, so one day I finally decided to give it a try.  His name is Alex Diaz-Granados.

SK: Your favorite content category to browse at work is:
RD: Definitely Arts & Entertainment.  There is always so much going on in the television and film industry that you can miss a lot by taking a day off.  There are so many great contributors on Associated Content that provide quite a bit of news about what is going on in entertainment.

SK: What are your goals on Associated Content by Yahoo!?

Exclusive Interview: YCN Year in Review with Sr. Community Manager Darnell Witt

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?