Civic Playground

A modest but engaging

BANG proposal

What?

Civic Playground is a hub for developing apps that help readers address civic issues while

keeping journalism relevant in the digital age

Why?

To help answer two questions bedeviling us:

• How do we reinvent local community on the web?

• And how do we reinvent the local marketplace online?

A virtuous circle

Civic Playground creates a virtuous cycle of reporting that feeds interest in the app,

followed by the app driving mobile and web traffic, community engagement, brand identity and advertising opportunities

How?

• A pathway to our stories

• Apps that add value to journalism

• Tips about where the best sale is

• Sunday coupons

• Planning the weekend

• Comics and puzzles

• What is on the school menu this week

Journalism expertise, tech and advertising

• Find the right health care provider

• Local nursing homes information

• The college with the best value for the money

• Keep families safe by knowing which products have been recalled

When?

The project began in 2012 as an ideaLabproposal using digital tools to evolve the journalism business model beyond the

paid

vs. unpaid content debate and provide new opportunities in the evolving entrepreneurial

ecosystem

Success?

Three apps are beta so far and more in design:

• SnapMapper

• Recover2Gether

• CreditCalx

• ShopHere

SNAPMapper“The Yelp for food stamp users”

•Search for deals (“Which store has the cheapest milk today?”)

•Search by store or location

•Get AC Transit, driving or walking directions

•Crowdsource store quality (★★★ ratings incentivize stores to do better and let people know it)

•Won several prizes including Alameda County’s Dec. 2012 hackathon (beat out 24 teams)

SNAPMapper“The Yelp for food stamp users”

ShopHereFoursquare your “Shop Local” strategy

• Find what you are looking for in your city

• Earn brownie points for shopping local

• Brings together merchants, business associations, news organizations (includingthe advertising departments!) and City Hall

around local shopping initiatives like “ShopOakland”

• Roll out Sept. 2013 in time for holiday shopping

ShopHere format

Recover2GetherThere before, during and after a disaster to

help the community help itself

• Connects the people who have a need to those who can help: “I have a case of water,” “I need help turning off the gas,” “ I want to volunteer”

• Mobile and SMS ready

• “I’m safe!” alert and community warnings (“Don’t drink the water!”)

• Emergency preparation: How to make an earthquake kit

• Leverages existing resources: Tidepools, SF72, Red Cross, Google Crisis Response and city services =>

Hurricane Sandy: Tidepools in Action

Branding opportunities

SF72

App revenue exceeds advertising

The mobile lab magnifies the community engagement potential

Rich and poor: Smart phone use is pervasive

Room for Growth…despite a glut of mobile apps.

• Globally there are 1.1 billion smart phone subscribers with growth in Q4:12 at 42%

• But penetration was only at 17%

• Civic Playground apps are built for IOS and Android platforms

A new model is imperative

• Social media is no silver bullet • Civic Playground takes journalism as one of the core

functions of a news organization• People want to read what is relevant to them but journalists are often cut off from the communities they

cover especially in shrinking newsrooms • Civic Playground reconnects them but produces

journalism AND solutions on the public and the business side

• Get stories read, increase traffic, value and brand without “writing for clicks”

Journalism has to change “not just tactics, but also self-conception” to survive in the new landscape

“For traditional news organizations, the big question is not whether these types of

journalists will exist. They will, and in fact already do.

The question is whether news organizations will adapt quickly enough to nurture and make

room for them.”