Aloha @GenePark! Welcome to @CivilBeat — Let’s Get #Social
Say hello to a guy who needs little introduction. It turns out that plenty of people, especially online, already know him.
Gene Park is joining Civil Beat as our new engagement editor. With more than 5,000 Twitter followers, nearly 5,000 Facebook friends and plenty more in the real world, Gene is well-positioned to reach out to Hawaii residents. He’ll focus on getting you interested in things you might not be aware of, and on getting you exchanging thoughts and ideas about the issues that are important to our community.
The concept of Civil Beat’s civic square has been with us since we started three years ago. Civil Beat founder Pierre Omidyar described our mission in an April 2010 column:
What does it mean to build a civic square? For us, it’s about building a place where we can all learn about and better understand our home, the challenges we face, and debate and discover ideas and strategies for moving forward. Our greatest asset in successfully doing that is the richness and diversity that Hawaii represents. In my experience, the best solutions come out of discussions that involve a diversity of points of view, conducted in a respectful and good-faith search for common ground and meaningful compromise.
That vision has perhaps gotten a little less care and feeding in the past year or so. We think we can do better and Gene will be taking the lead on this.
He is a veteran Hawaii journalist. Born and raised in Guam, he spent more than six years at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and its predecessors prior to the merger. He was a reporter, columnist and online news producer.
He left journalism a year ago for a public relations job and lately has been the chief spokesman for the state Insurance Division. But Gene’s heart never really left the news business, as those of you who follow him on Twitter and Facebook know. The guy is all about engaging people, whether it’s keeping them up with what’s happening around Hawaii and encouraging them to weigh in on issues that have captured his attention.
We’re asking Gene to be a true 21st-century host for important discussions about our home. He’ll do that with his journalist’s heart, reporter’s curiosity and analytical eye.
You’ll be hearing from Gene soon. He’s already got lots of great ideas. And he’s eager for you to be a part of them.
