Katrina Survivors Share Stories on Yahoo!

Yahoo! published the work of several Contributors on Thursday in a package on the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The contributors, all survivors of the storm, were featured on the front pages of Yahoo! News and Yahoo.com.

(Picture of Hurricane Katrina courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Here's what Yahoo! News wrote in a round-up collection:

If there's a lesson to be drawn from the deluge that laid waste five years ago to much of New Orleans and surrounding areas, it's this:

"You cannot be baptized in the dirty waters of Hurricane Katrina and come out unchanged."

So says Lesa Z. Myrick, one of the Associated Content contributors who provided Yahoo! News with first-person accounts of the catastrophe and its aftermath.

Read the stories to learn more.

The Brand New You

Our new profile pages have rolled out across the site! You can now start uploading new profile photos and choosing your favorite pieces of content to feature at the top of your profile!

The new photo uploading process is easy: from your profile editor, browse to find a high-res photo on your computer and crop it into a square. Note that existing profile photos that are smaller than 200 pixels in width may have been removed or distorted in the transition. To solve this, simply upload a new photo that's 200x200 pixels or larger.

To feature content on your profile, simply click the +Feature button next to any piece in your library. You can feature up to 15 pieces and update the widget any time!


Other cool things:

> You can now filter any profile by content category using the drop down menu on the right side of the page.

> From your profile editor, you can now list up to 10 affiliations on your AC profile (the previous limit was 3). Add links to all your social media profiles and blogs so that your audience knows where to find you online!

What do you think?

Your Associated Content profile is a showcase of your talent, and we want to make sure it's something that you're proud to share with your friends and followers. Once you've uploaded a new picture, featured some of your favorite content and tested out the other new tools, please take a minute to fill out our survey and leave some feedback. What do you like about the new profile? What should we change? Anything that doesn't work as it should? Let us know!

AC on Yahoo! News Bytes

Check out the new video from Yahoo! News Bytes welcoming AC into the Yahoo! network - featuring our estimable founder and president, Luke Beatty.

Sneak Peek: New Contributor Profiles

We're very excited to bring you the first glimpse at the new face -- or rather, the 400,000 new faces -- of Associated Content!

Click the thumbnail below to preview the brand new Associated Content Contributor profile, rolling out across the site in the near future:


The most exciting enhancements include...

(1) An enlarged profile picture and stats dashboard. Get your high-res photos ready!

(2) A customizable Featured Content widget. Hand select and curate up to 10 pieces of your best content to highlight at the top of your profile!

(3) A category filter. Now you can view and share a filtered view of your own profile or sort other Contributors’ profile pages by category. This is one of the most frequently requested features from the AC community, and we're thrilled to provide it.

Let us know what you think about the preview above and stay tuned for the official launch. We look forward to collecting even more feedback once you've had a chance to test drive all the new features.

Yahoo! Style Guide Contest Winners

After receiving an incredible 150 entries, we've chosen 15 winners in our Yahoo! Style Guide contest. These 15 contributors will receive a free hardbound copy of the Yahoo! Style Guide for their tutorials based on the YSG's lessons for Web writers.

Our winners are:

• Nancy Tracy, "Punctilious About Punctuation?"
• R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen, "Know Your Audience and Avoid Bias in Your Writing."
• Heather Laurendeau, "Guidelines for Writing Numbers on the Web from the Yahoo! Style Guide."
• Tonya Hillukka, "Web Writing: Develop Your Voice."
• Cathy A. Montville, "Build Writer Confidence: Expert Advice from the Yahoo! Style Guide Word List."
• Sylvia Cochran, "Online Reading Format Fundamentals from the Yahoo! Style Guide."
• Joy Smith, "Quick Tips and Tricks for Online Writing."
• Patti Walden, "Quotation Marks (" "): A Writing and Editing Tutorial Inspired by Yahoo! Style Guide."
• Laine Broxton, MBA-HRM, "How to Write for Yahoo! and Associated Content."
• Michele Starkey, "Headlines Should Whet the Appetite of a Hungry Web World."
• Cornelius Fortune, "Writing for the Web."
• Barbara Kellam-Scott, "Yahoo! Style Guide: Writing for the World."
• Marie Anne St. Jean, "Simple Techniques Put the Optimization in SEO."
• Chelsea Baldwin, "To-Be Verbs: An Online Writing Tutorial."
• Linda Ann Nickerson, "Web Writing Wonders- an Easy Tutorial on Titles for People."

Check out the full length announcement for more information, and don't forget to join us in congratulating the winners! Tutorials like these are showing the world what we already knew: There's an enormous amount of wisdom and knowledge about Web writing in our Contributor community.

The Best of AC: July 2010

In July 2010, the Best of AC Award categories were Health & Wellness, Local and Video Games. Three cheers for our talented winners:

R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen - Health & Wellness

R. Elizabeth is a freelance health writer, nursing student and a college tutor in medicine and biology. On AC, she's a Clout 10 page view millionaire, a dedicated and inspiring Community Guide, a Featured Contributor in 3 categories and the author of more than 100 Health & Wellness articles!

Debbie Henthorn - Local
Debbie is a Featured Contributor in three categories in addition to being a member of our flagship Local program. In two years of contributing to AC, she has shared an enormous amount of personal insight about her corner of the world, with nearly 100 reviews, events listings, travel guides and cost-saving tips about the Columbus, Ohio area.

Michael Strauss - Video Games
Michael won a Rising Star award earlier this year and he hasn't stopped climbing. He has already reached Clout 8 with a library of more than 250 pieces of content, half of which are video game, computer game and MMORPG reviews, tips and commentary, written from the perspective of a passionate gamer and technology enthusiast.

All three winners received a $100 bonus and a shiny new badge on their AC profiles. Be sure to stop by to check out their award-winning content and say "congrats"!

Looking ahead...

The categories for the August 2010 Best of AC Awards are Food & Wine, Home Improvement and Real Estate.

If you'd like to draw attention to content you're publishing in any of these fields, or if you know of any other worthy Contributors you'd like to nominate for these awards, please do so here.

July 2010 Rising Stars Announced

Congratulations to our July 2010 Rising Star Award Winners! These Contributors are rapidly climbing the clout ladder, racking up pageviews, and taking on Featured Contributor slots, achieving plenty of success in just a few short weeks.

This month's Rising Stars include Cindy Coulter, already an FC in three categories; gardening guru Denise Jennings; Starcraft and Eve Online expert Kemp Adrian; Chrisopher Berenger, a gifted news writer with an eye for hot topics; and Katy Cross, already recognizable around Associated Content for her "Buy, rent, or pass?" reviews.

All five July 2010 Rising Stars are talented writers and remarkable for their ability to take a totally new publishing platform and rapidly make it their own. Congratulations to all on their success!

Don't forget--five Rising Star awards go out each month. Winners get a cash prize, a profile badge and of course bragging rights for life. Nominate your faves in the Contests and Nominations forum every month!

See You at the Movies

Yahoo! Movies is the world's #1 destination for movie news, featuring trailers, clips, reviews, interviews and photogalleries around the latest & greatest film releases - both independent and mainstream.

Managing Editor Timothy Sean Phillips is excited to bring Associated Content Arts & Entertainment enthusiasts into the mix: "I'm looking forward to working with your editors to figure out the best way to harness everyone's talents and perspectives on the movie world - from analyzing the weekend box office to getting the nitty-gritty on the coolest cinema stories in your town." Check out his open letter to the AC community.

One AC Contributor, Steven Bryan, has already had the opportunity to publish on Yahoo! Movies, with his take on the biggest surprises from the 2010 Comic-Con in San Diego. Many more will soon have the opportunity to add their unqiue insight to this singular destination for all things cinematic.

Entertaining a Global Audience

Associated Content's arts and culture experts are continuing to make cameos across the Yahoo! network!

Featured Arts & Entertainment Contributor Steven Bryan has published on Yahoo! Movies as well as Yahoo! TV. Check out his take on the biggest surprises from this year’s Comic-Con, and the harshest zingers from Comedy Central’s celebrity roast of The Hoff.

More good stuff from the Yahoo! TV blog: Jennifer Sales rounds up the most interesting guest stars on Drop Dead Diva, and Phil Dotree shares his take on the career of comic Louis C.K., with commentary on "Louis," his new show on FX.

The savvy moms of AC have also started appearing on Yahoo!'s omg! – the Web’s number one destination for celebrity gossip and entertainment news. From the omg! blog, check out Aida Ekberg’s round up of kid-friendly recipes from Hollywood moms, and Nancy Tracy’s take on celeb mother Camila Alves’ casual-chic look.


On Yahoo! Games, Katy Cross advises readers to gear up for the most anticipated computer game of the year: Blizzard’s Starcraft 2. Jillian McCoy also tackles one of Blizzard’s runaway gaming hits, providing an overview of slang terminology used in MMPORG World of Warcraft.

There’s also some compelling video game op-ed from Sabrina Young and Millionaire Hoy. Sabrina explains why older women are grooving with Rock Band, and Millionaire demonstrates that in the world of gaming, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

On Yahoo! Sports, our Contributors have been covering the NHL, the UFC and even high school football. Featured Sports Contributors Derek Jenkins lists some second draft picks in the NHL who went on to eclipse their predecessors, and UFC fighters who help bridge the gulf between the sport’s martial arts fan base and mainstream sports culture. Victor Medina profiles the star players of his local high school football team for Yahoo! Sport’s Rivals.com, a national site specializing in college and high school sports coverage.


We’re excited to see our talented Contributors connecting with Yahoo!’s massive global audience! Check our blog again tomorrow for a roundup of recent Associated Content contributions to Yahoo!'s news and lifestyle sites.

Associated Content Contributors Star on Yahoo! News, Finance and Lifestyle Sites

In the two weeks since we first showcased a roundup of articles by Associated Content Contributors on the Yahoo! family of sites, our Contributors have stood out on Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance and more. Check out these great pieces published recently!

Amazing Yahoo! cake by Sabah Karimi

Joseph Lizio, a Featured Business and Finance Contributor, schooled Yahoo! Finance readers on how to gauge the well-being of a small business during an economic downturn. Joseph's experience as founder of Business Money Today and in commercial lending helped him give some excellent tips to entrepreneurs.

On Yahoo! News, Kimberly Eddy touched readers with a first person story of an absent "economic recovery" In Detroit. Her husband's prolonged underemployment has meant budget cuts and difficulty with mortgage payments for Kimberly's family.

Carol Bengle Gilbert also published a poignant first person story about the recession on Yahoo! News, in which she discusses her husband's battle with cancer and her unsuccessful job hunt despite experience as a government attorney.

Also on Yahoo! News, Tommy Acosta sounds off about Arizona's strict new immigration law, SB 1070. As the editor of the Sedona Times, he's seen his neighbors and readers struggle with local impacts of this legislation.

On Shine, Jan Corn shared her frightening discovery of a Vitamin D deficiency that might put her at a heightened risk for Parkinson's Disease and other serious ailments. Jan explains her symptoms and what the doctor ordered in order to reverse the deficiency.

Meanwhile, back on Yahoo! News, Ted Rood is mad as heck and he's not going to take it anymore. As a loan officer with ten years of experience, he sees new lending regulations as an insult to his profession and his customers, as well as an added cost to homebuyers who can least afford it.

Anthony Ventre, on the other hand, fears not for a single profession but for the survival of the American middle class. Anthony's chopping wood and shopping at the dollar store to get by, and a drop in the value of his home made him feel burglarized as the economy crashed.

Audrey Sivasothy lightens the mood--and her hair--on Shine with expert advice on repair for sun-damaged hair. As a Featured Beauty Contributor and a future hair care author, she's got the scoop on how to look your best this summer.

If you're thinking of going back to school for training or a second degree, Meg Grant has some tips on important considerations, including your budget, the length of the program, and more.

Finally, Marie-Luise Blue is watching your back--literally--with a post chock full of exercises less likely to cause bone stress fractures. These painful injuries are common in women who prefer very physically demanding workouts.

We love what Contributors are doing to share their expertise and experiences with the world through Yahoo!'s network! If you've had a piece published on Yahoo!, share your experiences in a comment.