Went to an interesting event last night, Pick 20 Web 2.0 Awards, sponsored by my friend Steve Dietrich, Publisher of Backbone Magazine.  There were 3 panelists who were on the roster of the 20 winners who spoke on Web 2.0.  Leonard Brody of Nowpublic was the star as he shared stories of the evolution of news since the advent of the web or as he called it the “bloodbath” for traditional publishers.  More on this cool event later.  One quibble - better audio and videotaping the speakers would enhance it.

One nugget that Leonard shared was that “breaking news” was not a function of timing but rather a function of “search”. He made his point that the “events” of our times will be captured by amateurs by polling the attendees on how many had cell phone cameras - probably 75% +.   He was also a contrarian to the rest of the panel who had said that Web 2.0 was not about “technology” but about conversation and participation.  Bollocks, Leonard said “without the tech there is no enable for “Web 2.0″!”  fundfindr.tv earlier covered Leonard’s book, Everything I know about business I learned from a Canadian.“  Highly recommend considering him as a speaker for your next event.

Got thinking about the point of “breaking news” being a function of search.  So, where you search or your feeds and social networks then become your news publishers.  This was brought home for me when I posted an ad for photographers, videographers and editors on Craiglist on Monday afternoon.  This industry is often served by freelancers so Craigslist makes good sense.  So, by this morning, 55 applications.   Their breaking news was the gig.  Where do your customers search for your services?  Break some news.