The future is now.

Both for me, as I bid farewell to The News Tribune, and for my colleagues here who are going to do great things after I leave.

My decision to pursue other opportunities should not be confused with the notion that I don't think opportunities still exist at The News Tribune. I’m leaving the best job I’ve ever had, working with the best people I’ve ever worked with. So the decision was not an easy one.

I am indebted to the people of The News Tribune for the opportunities that I have before me now. Their willingness to innovate and experiment has provided me with the experiences that I am now invited to share with others in the industry at conferences and workshops. They encouraged me to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the operation, which in turn led to a entrepreneurial spirit consuming me.

I will miss being a part of the great things the TNT will accomplish in the coming months and years. There are great advantages to having a web site with tremendous brand loyalty and thousands of visitors every day to test a new vision or a new idea. I will miss that, for sure.

Newsrooms will continue to innovate. But I feel that innovation on the business model should be more closely integrated to the content strategy than a traditional newspaper organization can allow. In effect, I’m placing a personal bet that developing new ideas for news and information that are tied to the business model is the best way to move the needle for local publishers.

It’s risky, for sure. But risk is inherent in entrepreneurship and transforming the business of local news and information won’t happen without a healthy dose of it.

I think it's an exciting time. But I just quit a great job to go off and do my own thing during the worst economy in recent memory, so I won't blame you if you think I'm crazy.

Cheers.

Friday is my last day at The News Tribune. And with my transition, this blog will be retired.

Online in the South Sound launched in March 2006. I appreciate those who have visited and contributed to this community and will miss writing here. Honestly, though, it's always grated on me that I wasn't able to give it more time and attention.

I am leaving my position at The News Tribune to pursue other opportunities. I will be focusing my attention on my Journalism 2.0 activities, including more speaking and consulting and also writing an updated version to my book. Next week, for example, I'm traveling to Europe to speak at conferences in Portugal and Denmark.

I am also leading a startup company called Serra Media that is building interactive applications and digital platforms for local publishers. I like to think it's a way for me to do what I've been doing these past nine years running online news sites - specifically the innovation and experimentation - but do it for many web sites instead of just one.

I will continue to blog and Twitter and remain active in the South Sound technology scene. I will also always be a friend to The News Tribune and on Friday will blog here about how I'm leaving the best job I've ever had.

The Melon Online, a local web effort I wrote about previously which started as a news and politics talk radio show, has a new look. And a nice one at that.

With a new look comes an expanded vision for the site, judging by the content and categories on its homepage. In addition to news and politics you can now find health, science, arts and radio and visual content.

Sitecrafting, which developed many of the area's best web sites, is again offering Gear Grants to local nonprofits. The deadline to apply is this Friday, Oct. 24. If you're not ready this time, sit tight. The company accepts application each quarter.

The sometimes tumultuous town of Ruston has a new site called Free Ruston. It's essentially a message board where users can discuss. Not much activity there yet, but it's brand new.

A year ago, I was writing about new web sites for Green Halloween, the Tacoma Gnome, Let's Improve Transportation and Charles Wright's blog. Looks like the Green Halloween and Charles Wright blog are going strong. The other two ... not so much.

Andrew Fry asks about the fate of newspapers in his latest post. And gives me fair warning that he'll be putting me on the spot with this question when I visit his class in a couple weeks.

LostRemote shows us how hyperlocal blogs are building audience and building a sustainable business in Seattle. And makes a key point that I’ve been echoing recently: thousands of out-of-work newspaper journalists could change the game.

Successful local start-up news sites are usually staffed with experience in journalism and online media. Now that thousands more newspaper journalists don’t have a day job, it figures that a number of them will sign up for a Wordpress account and look to fill a niche in their community for local news and information.

What will that mean for the newspaper, especially a mid-sized daily like the TNT? Not much, since hyperlocal blogs that focus on neighborhood-level news will be covering ground the newspaper hasn't focused on in years.

The newspapers' challenge is to ramp up its online business while continuing to produce a print product that brings home most of the bacon. So cuts will continue, until a level is found that is sustainable while maintaining profits. But there will be holes to fill (like the real estate blog Fry referred to) while executives change the oil on this car as it drives down the freeway.

Phil Meyer argued recently that the newspaper of the future should be smaller and targeted to the elite. I'm not sure if that's the right direction for a paper like the Tribune, but the product and service will continue to change as news and information adapt to this new ecosystem called the digital age.

Well, we've had sports-dominated top 10s before, but nothing like this. The list of most popular stories from September is a veritable Seahawks washout.

	HEADLINE	BYLINE
1.	Seahawks already have potential WR	McGrath
2.	Boeing arguments just don't hold up under close scrutiny	Op-ed
3.	It was broke, so Seahawks fixed it – well, some of it	Boling
4.	Two Seahawk players suspended for Bills game	Hughes
5.	Robinson impresses in first Hawks practice	Williams
6.	Jones laying a little groundwork for Seahawks	Hughes
7.	Burleson will be out for season for Seahawks	Boling
8.	Carlson catching on quickly with Hawks	Hughes
9.	Seahawks give boot to Plackemeier	Hughes
10.	Trufant joins banged-up Seahawks	Hughes

MULTIMEDIA

Most Popular Slideshows:

Inside a secret garden

First look at the remodeled Nordstrom

Spore creatures native to the NW

Skagit County shooting rampage

Celebrity Softball Game

Most popular blogs:

1. Seahawks Insider
2. Lights & Sirens
3. Political Buzz
4. Prep Blog
5. Huskies Insider
6. Biz Buzz
7. Mariners Insider
8. TNT Diner
9. Bring the Noise
10. Word on the street
11. FOB Tacoma
12. Inside the Editorial Page
13. Open House
14. Adventure Guys
15. Grit City

Unfortunately we are saying goodbye to The Bus Stops Here, our local blog focusing on transportation news and policy in the region. Andrew Austin, who came to us a year ago and volunteered to write the blog, did a bang-up job covering that topic for us in the margins of his time.

Those margins have grown slimmer over the months, however, and Andrew doesn't have time to keep it going. So we'll close it down and wish him well.

Thanks, Andrew, for contributing to our community.