Inspiration

As I noted in an earlier obscenely off-topic post, my favorite band, The Old 97’s, came out with a live two-disc set yesterday. Although I buy most of my music through Itunes, this was one where I wanted the full package. The liner notes, by lead guitarist Ken Bethea, contained a passage that reminded me why I love this band:

I love being in a high-octane, sweaty, crunchy, offtimes out of tune monster that swings and lurches from gig to gig, even from song to song. I love that we don’t really know how the songs end. I love that we don’t rehearse. I love diving into solos head first with no idea of where I’m going and, it I crash and burn, snickering at the outcome and moving on. I love looking out at first time fans and seeing them gawk at us and scratch their heads and maybe think to themselves, "Oh my… What’s going on here? I didn’t expect this."

Change a few words to reflect news and readers rather than rock and listeners, and you’ve got a description of what I want the Pegasus News user experience to feel like — 24/7/365.

Mike Orren is the Chief Product Officer of The Dallas Morning News; President of Belo Business Intelligence; husband to Crystal Orren; and a Mungarian at Munger Place Church in Dallas, TX. All opinions herein are mine alone.