Extracurriculars

Welcome to the gateway for all the places I write online, and for more information on my background.

I’m a veteran sports and Web journalist pursuing various freelance, contract and entrepreneurial endeavors, as well as full-time opportunities. After 25 years in newspapers, primarily for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I am energized about mastering the craft of journalism in the digital age.

My work as a Web editor, producer and project manager involves embracing new ways of doing the news. I write about and track trends in my profession and related topics at Ink-Drained Kvetch, which has been included in the “Journalism Blogs and Sites You Will Love” by Journalistics.

My reporting expertise is centered on college and women’s athletics, soccer and sports business. I write for Blue Star Basketball and Basketball Times and also round up great sports links and provide commentary on Extracurriculars.

I am currently at work on a startup sports site that plans to launch in the spring of 2010. I have been responsible for content strategy and creation as well as the integration of social media and multimedia features, short- and long-range planning, e-mail marketing and business model development.

These are new elements of the trade that many of us trained for print journalism could never have imagined having to master until recently. Along those lines, I recently was appointed New Media Coordinator of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as I work with my colleagues during this period of major professional transformation.

I have received multimedia training at the Poynter Institute, a well-respected school and think tank for journalists, have attended WordCamp Atlanta and am an avid student of how media, journalism and technology are coming together. I consider continuing education an imperative for anyone working in the media industries, as well as many others.

Here’s my full résumé. I’ve also been called a blogging “madwoman” by Creative Loafing magazine, but in a good way . . . I think!

You can also find me on Delicious, Twitter and LinkedIn and via email: wendy@wendyparker.org.