Posted in Articles, tagged Columbia Missouri, Dianna Borsi O'Brien freelance writer, Houzz, Landscape Management on March 27, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
One of my favorite kinds of business articles to write is the how-to piece. Here’s one I did recently for Landscape Management.
The Ins and Outs of Houzz – Firms in the green industry are finding ways to use Houzz, an up and coming online platform that links homeowners and professionals. Founded in 2009, in 2013, it boasted 12 million unique viewers, 89 percent of whom are homeowners with an average home value of $450,000. This Landscape Management article outlines how to Houzz.
Posted in Articles, Journalism practices, tagged columbia, Columbia Business Times, credit unions, dianna borsi obrien, freelance writer, missouri on January 22, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Credit unions, little known, not-for-profit financial institutes, are taking on the banks, pushing against a limit on the value of commercial loans they can make. This article led me to learn about this unusual financial organization and gave me the opportunity to exercise objective journalism, letting each side have their say. The article was published in the Columbia Business Times.
Posted in Articles, Freelance writer on January 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Hi! Looking for a top-notch writer who delivers fresh, accurate copy and even a few tasty details along the way? You’ve found her. I’m a professional freelance writer and I’ve written about everything from the fight between credit unions and banks, city-wide conventions and how to prevent your employees from dipping into the till.
I’m a former newspaper reporter, so I hit my deadlines, fact check and do it quickly and professionally. Best of all, I love what I do and bring that enthusiasm to each and every story I tackle.
Here’s what Columbia Business Times Managing Editor Sarah Redohl said about me:
“When I assign something to Dianna I know it will get done on time, and there won’t be extensive edits or fact-checks that don’t fare well. Furthermore, she will not cower in the face of a challenging story. Instead she does whatever is needed to get the story done and frequently digs up additional dirt in the process.”
I’m no diva – whew! I am just a writer who loves what I do and I do it well. If you are looking for someone who can write clean, clear, interesting articles and blog posts, give me a call or email me at dobrien387@gmail.com
Posted in Articles, tagged city-wide conventions, Dianna Borsi O'Brien business writer, Dianna Borsi O'Brien freelance writer, Dianna Borsi O'Brien writer Columbia Missouri, Smart Meetings magazine on January 3, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Smart Meetings magazine focuses on how to do meetings well. Here’s an article I just did for Smart Meetings that focuses on tips for how to plan a city-wide event.
Posted in Articles, Freelance writer, tagged Dianna Borsi O'Brien freelance busienss writer Columbia Missouri, Dianna O'Brien freelance writer Columbia Missouri; Dianna Borsi O'Brien freelance writer Columbia Missouri, Dianna O'Brien writer Columbia Missouri, embezzlement Boone County Missouri, embezzlement Columbia Missouri, freelance writer Columbia Missouri on November 15, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Vanishing Act: No company is immune to the occasional sideways employee, siphoning corporate funds. But stories of some of Boone County’s most successful embezzlement schemes shed some light on the situation.
This article includes a look at why employees do it and how employers are caught off guard. A tips box provides law-enforcement guides on how to stay safe and a list of the top 10 Boone County embezzlers show the breadth of the problem.
Posted in Articles, tagged business writer Columbia Missouri, Charlotte Gaddy Columbia Missouri, Dianna Borsi O'Brien freelance writer Columbia Missouri, Ed Rollins Columbia Missouri, feature writer Columbia Missouri, First Baptist Church Columbia Missouri, freelance writer Columbia Missouri, Nene Rwenyaguza Columbia Missouri, Phil Stroessner Columbia Missouri, Refugee and Immigration Services in Columbia on October 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been 10 years since Nene Rwenyaguza last saw his wife and children, but he’s not complaining. He’d thought they’d died after they fled their Congolese village, but three years ago, he learned they were alive. He’s been waiting for them to arrive in Columbia, Missouri, ever since.
Now, that day is almost here and to help him prepare for their arrival, hundreds of Columbians have given him everything he needs — from furniture to a computer — for his family of four children, including one child his wife adopted before she’d learned Rwenyaguza was alive.
Read the story here: “A Community Comes Together.”
Posted in Articles, Journalism practices, tagged Columbia Business Time, Columbia Home, dianna borsi obrien, Jim Fisher, John Schuppan, Pure Audio, Travis Huff, University of Missouri School of Journallism on August 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
One of the things Jim Fisher, a writing teacher at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, taught me is to arrive at an interview at least five minutes early. The person being interviewed is probably nervous and there’s no need to make him or her more nervous by arriving just on time or late.
And so I do make sure I’m there early. But sometimes there’s no way to make someone trust me as a journalist. They may have been burned or misquoted and despite my assurances that I accuracy check all my articles, i.e. let a source review for accuracy the entire article before submitting to my editor, some people still are nervous.
That was the case with Travis Huff of Pure Audio when I interviewed him for this article, Creating sounds of something great, published in the Columbia Business Times on August 19, 2011, reprinted from Columbia Home’s August/September 2011 issue.
After the initial interview and then a change in focus from the editor, Travis asked if I could interview him by email. No problem, I thought, except for follow-up questions. Journalists know that the follow-up question can be the most important one of an interview. There’s no way to know everything we need to know before we arrive, so when a source says something interesting, it is crucial to follow up with a question.
What followed were several days of emails. But then I learned another downside of email interviews. Travis’s answers were great. But they were very formal. We all write in a more formal tone than we talk.
So how to bring a business story to life? Ask the people who are affected — Pure Audio’s customers.
The result is an article that highlights what Pure Audio really does. Sure, Huff explained that the company installs digital sound and video systems for homes and offices. But John Schuppan and others explained what Pure Audio really does — help people enjoy the digital sound and video systems in their homes.
Now that’s something worth writing about.
Here’s a summary of the article:
August 19, 2011, Creating sounds of something great, Columbia Business Times. Columbia firm Pure Audio & Video Specialty installs digital media systems in new and older homes, simplifying the music/video system. Yes, you can have just one remote for the whole house, and no the television does not have to be the focus of a room. A reprint from Columbia Home, August/September 2011 issue.
Posted in Articles, Journalism practices, tagged Centro Latino, columbia, Columbia Business Times, Comedor Popular, dianna borsi obrien, Eduardo Crespi, Hispanic, journalism, missouri, obesity, why is this important on June 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
One of the core missions of journalism, I believe, is to explain why something is important.
This article does exactly that, in concrete and subtle ways. First, it outlines the expansion of the Centro Latino and the role of Eduardo Crespi.
Under Crespi’s direction, the Centro has been serving the growing Hispanic community of Columbia for 11 years. Now, he’s expanding its educational offerings in an effort to stem the tide of obesity in this population and the community as a whole.
The article outlines the obesity rates and the results of the problem. But it also highlights the results of one man’s efforts, multiplied through networking and community effort.
You can read the article at the link below:
June 10, 2011, Centro Latino: Relocating, Expanding Mission, Columbia Business Times. The 11-year-old Centro Latino, is moving to a new location and starting a new operation, Comedor Popular. Guided by Eduardo Crespi, the center, which provides assistance to Columbia’s growing Hispanic population, will now offer meals and education to stem the tide of obesity and related illnesses.
Posted in Articles, Journalism practices, tagged Century 21 Advantage, Columbia Business Times, Dave Denton, dianna borsi obrien, double checking, Freddy Spencer, journalism, Karla Wilcoxson on May 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
As a journalist, I can become jaded. A story too good to be true often is just that.
But not in this case. When I first spoke to Freddy Spencer, it seemed hard to believe that despite being out of the office nearly more than he was in it during 2009, his fledgling real estate office increased sales and number of agents. He credited his positive attitude.
As a journalist, that seemed like a flimsy thing to peg his success on. But when I spoke to his agents, friends and family members, that’s what they kept talking about, along with his faith and support of them. I still checked with the corporate office, to check his numbers. I checked with other sources as well. That’s journalism, double checking and triple checking.
In addition, I spoke to many people, several of whom I didn’t quote in the article. I was looking for the “real” reason Spencer’s company thrived despite his absence. In the end, it seemed that a story too good to be true really was.
You can read all about it in this article about Freddy Spencer, his family and his business via the Columbia Business Times website.
Below is a blurb about the article and a link to it.
April 29, 2011, A Realtor’s Ordeal Birth becomes blessing, business gains perspective, Columbia Business Times. In the last couple of years, Freddy Spencer of Century 21 Advantage, has faced a trifecta of trauma: he launched his real estate office just as the housing market crashed, his mother died suddenly in 2008 and in 2009, his son was born with a rare heart defect. Despite these odds, his company thrived. Spencer — and his agents — credit his positive attitude, faith and his support of his agents.
Posted in Articles on April 2, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve walked by this building countless times, but never knew it was a link to one of Columbia’s oldest businesses, the Parker Funeral Service.
Before Parker’s moved to 22 N. Tenth Street, it occupied 16 N. Tenth Street — as Parker Furniture Store. As was often the case when Parker built the circa 1907 building, furniture stores often made cabinets and caskets.
This building is now in the hands of Atkins Investments, which is planning renovate the building. This article published on April 1, 2011 in the Columbia Business Times, includes information on the four other historic buildings Atkins has renovated in Columbia and the importance of the company’s first project. That project involved the renovation – transformation really – of the Virginia Building, which was then called the Strollway Center. As one source put it, that renovation led the charge in downtown historic renovations.
What I love about journalism is getting to know about things I might never have known. Who knew the former Gold’s Gym was the former Parker Furniture Store? Who knew it would one day face renovation by the same company that renovated the downtown Virginia Building, where the forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce used to meet? As well as the same company that renovated Columbia’s first attempt at luring business to the city, the Hamilton-Brown Shoe Company.
All that and more is in this article.
573.424.5749
dobrien387@gmail.com
Editors say ...
Dianna O’Brien is a delight. She approaches every project with enthusiasm, professionalism, creativity and a sense of humor. Her work is clean, concise and energetic — and she even meets deadlines!
Karen Pojmann
Editor, Mizzou Wire
Web Communications
University of Missouri
