Hi. I’m Dan Oshinsky, and I’m a reporter, entrepreneur, lover of start-ups, frequent troublemaker and builder of awesome stuff. Not to bury the lede or anything, but I really like stories.
I’m now working at BuzzFeed, helping them build some new stuff for their site. Currently, I’m working on a series of products specifically for email.
I’m the founder of Stry.us [pronounced STOHR-ee], a long-form news project that told stories in places like Biloxi, MS, and Springfield, MO. In 2011-12, I grew Stry.us through my work as a Reynolds Fellow at the University of Missouri.
I’m also the creator of BooksAround, a social literacy experiment; Tools For Reporters, a weekly newsletter for reporters and storytellers; and Very Quotatious, a site for inspiration, thought and other wisdom suitable for quotation.
I’ve survived a TED talk (see above), an Ignite talk and an ESPN Radio appearance.
I’m a contributor to Brazen Careerist and the Agency Post.
I also defeated my father in a $1,000, loser-pays competition called the Belly Challenge.
And on top of all that: I’m the creator of all sorts of stuff that didn’t take off, mostly because I didn’t do enough to make it go. ReadsGood, an essay editing service for college applicants; and @alanmoe, a daily deals character, come to mind. (Meanwhile, my blog about my quasi-unthethered life — Smartphoneless.com — died when I, quite tragically, bought a smartphone.)
It’s also worth mentioning that in a previous life, I just focused on reporting. I’ve had my words published in the Boston Globe and my photography published in the New York Times. I’ve worked for news organizations like KENS-TV in San Antonio and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and I’ve spent time at States News Service, the Nantucket Independent, the Business Gazette of Montgomery County (MD), the Washington Examiner and CBS News Radio. I got my start in reporting as a stringer for The Sports Network, first covering the Washington Redskins, and later, the Washington Nationals.
As for schooling: I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2009.
This is the part of the about me section where I tell you that, yes, I am tall, but no, I do not play basketball. I also do not know what the weather is like up here.
If I was a data set, I would look like this.
