COLUMBIA — Craigslist founder Craig Newmark had an overall message on Tuesday for Columbia's journalists and businesspeople: serve your community.
"We (Craigslist) think of ourselves as something that helps a lot of people," Newmark said at the Columbia Chamber of Commerce's Business Showcase on Tuesday.
Silverware clicked constantly against hundreds of plates during the luncheon at the Holiday Inn Select-Executive Center, creating steady background noise for the keynote speaker. He spoke for about 20 minutes on the history and business approach of Craigslist, a Web site for free, local classified advertisements. Since its founding in 1995, it has grown to more than 700 local sites in 70 countries.
Throwing in some self-deprecating humor, Newmark acknowledged that his best work is in customer service rather than day-to-day operations.
“People were kind enough to tell me how much I sucked as a manager,” he said. Jim Buckmaster has been the chief executive officer since 2000.
Newmark also spoke with 2008-2009 Reynolds Fellow Bill Densmore at RJI:
During the introduction, RJI fellow Bill Densmore said Newmark might be considered a demon to newspapers — because the free online classifieds took revenue from print newspapers — but he’s a savior to the community.“We listen to what people in the community want,” Newmark said about Craigslist's free and local emphasis. “We’re very community-driven.”
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