Quin Parker, digital media leader

Torstar

In June 2012, I was appointed the national deputy editor of Metro English Canada, a major chain of newspapers that at the time covered 13 cities. It is owned by Torstar.

Tasked with making sure Metro's digital content had the same weight as print, I devised a strategy that positioned digital content as a separate stream, instead of forcing print stories into a digital space. One important, mind-changing maxim — not everything in print should go online.

I led an extraordinary team of five to create and implement a digital style guide, which included SEO requirements and rules for headline writing and social media. I encouraged and helped authors create video, audio and interactivity in storytelling. I also recruited and mentored several digital specialist writers.

This focus on product quality had a dramatic effect on unique visitors, nearly doubling in the first 18 months. This environment produced exciting digital work such as Sexy Saskatchewan, All-Canadian Superheroes, 100 Most Fascinating Manitobans, and much more.

I organized digital and social media for several projects involving multiple stakeholders, including a novella by Douglas Coupland called TEMP and an exclusive preview of Avatar Secrets. My team was also the winner of the inaugural TechRaking Canada design contest, with WikiWash.

With me in charge, Metro won its first ever content awards in the Canadian Online Publishing Awards, two times for best online column (Matt Elliott's Ford For Toronto), and once for best app.

The Guardian

I am immensely privileged to have worked for one of the greatest newspaper brands in the world as The Guardian site was redeveloped and became one of the world's most popular news and comment sites.

I started as a copy editor on the busy health and education desk, and was promoted to a position where I directed content workflow, freelancers, and front pages. I also trained writers in live blogging, chats, and nascent social media (Twitter had just opened).

The best copy editors are those who crystallize other people's voices, not including their own. That said, I did write a small collection of articles, usually around the subject of healthcare or technology.

This piece about Wi-Fi is still relevant, and one that's a product of its time is on a charity opening an advice centre in the then-popular MMO Second Life.