After 12 years of focusing strictly on the news, Richmond BizSense wants to give our growing local business audience a different way to share what’s on its mind.
Next week we’ll begin regularly publishing full-length, community-submitted opinion pieces, with a goal of fostering a new sort of conversation fueled by the perspectives of leaders of the Richmond business community.
This isn’t completely new territory for us. A long time ago, when BizSense was in its infancy, we published Guest Opinions on a weekly basis. It was something that was well-received at the time, but we did away with it to focus on growing our news staff.
Now, with a larger crew and with so much going on in Richmond (and the world) we’re excited to revive these as a recurring feature.
Here’s the basic criteria:
- • Submissions must be full-length op-eds of 700-800 words. Authors must include their real, full name, job title and the organization they work for. They must be original submissions for BizSense and not be submitted to or published in other publications.
- • The pieces will be subject to editing and the authors must be willing to work with our editors and meet assigned deadlines. Contact info, including phone number and email of the author, must be included with submissions.
- • We are not looking for how-to columns. What we’re after are well thought out opinions on the issues and current events of importance to businesspeople in the Richmond region.
A few examples of topics on our mind: big economic development projects such as the city’s casino development process; local employers’ takes on the future of work in a post-pandemic Richmond; perspectives on the booming local housing market; how a piece of state and/or federal legislation is trickling down to Richmond businesses; and the challenges faced by startups and small business owners.
There are a few other rules important to mention.
Not all submissions will be published. Each will be reviewed by the BizSense editorial staff and we’ll choose those pieces that we feel are well-written and of a topic pertinent to our audience at that point in time. We also won’t be able to respond to everyone who sends in a piece.
This new forum isn’t for announcements, shout-outs or personal attacks. It’s intended to foster constructive discussion about issues, much like the comments section on our news stories, which has maintained its status as a place of civil, on-topic discourse.
If you have a strong opinion or are critical of something, that’s fine. But it must be expressed civilly and with constructive criticism at its core. These are intended to be fully put-together perspectives on a topic that affects a community, not just you.
The first of these will run Friday, April 16. We’ll publish them monthly starting out and may increase the frequency depending on the quantity and quality of the submissions. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
With that, we look forward to reading more about what’s on the community’s mind and we hope you’ll consider thinking big and sharing your thoughts.
After 12 years of focusing strictly on the news, Richmond BizSense wants to give our growing local business audience a different way to share what’s on its mind.
Next week we’ll begin regularly publishing full-length, community-submitted opinion pieces, with a goal of fostering a new sort of conversation fueled by the perspectives of leaders of the Richmond business community.
This isn’t completely new territory for us. A long time ago, when BizSense was in its infancy, we published Guest Opinions on a weekly basis. It was something that was well-received at the time, but we did away with it to focus on growing our news staff.
Now, with a larger crew and with so much going on in Richmond (and the world) we’re excited to revive these as a recurring feature.
Here’s the basic criteria:
- • Submissions must be full-length op-eds of 700-800 words. Authors must include their real, full name, job title and the organization they work for. They must be original submissions for BizSense and not be submitted to or published in other publications.
- • The pieces will be subject to editing and the authors must be willing to work with our editors and meet assigned deadlines. Contact info, including phone number and email of the author, must be included with submissions.
- • We are not looking for how-to columns. What we’re after are well thought out opinions on the issues and current events of importance to businesspeople in the Richmond region.
A few examples of topics on our mind: big economic development projects such as the city’s casino development process; local employers’ takes on the future of work in a post-pandemic Richmond; perspectives on the booming local housing market; how a piece of state and/or federal legislation is trickling down to Richmond businesses; and the challenges faced by startups and small business owners.
There are a few other rules important to mention.
Not all submissions will be published. Each will be reviewed by the BizSense editorial staff and we’ll choose those pieces that we feel are well-written and of a topic pertinent to our audience at that point in time. We also won’t be able to respond to everyone who sends in a piece.
This new forum isn’t for announcements, shout-outs or personal attacks. It’s intended to foster constructive discussion about issues, much like the comments section on our news stories, which has maintained its status as a place of civil, on-topic discourse.
If you have a strong opinion or are critical of something, that’s fine. But it must be expressed civilly and with constructive criticism at its core. These are intended to be fully put-together perspectives on a topic that affects a community, not just you.
The first of these will run Friday, April 16. We’ll publish them monthly starting out and may increase the frequency depending on the quantity and quality of the submissions. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
With that, we look forward to reading more about what’s on the community’s mind and we hope you’ll consider thinking big and sharing your thoughts.