Lurene's List

Lurene’s List is a database of experts which is designed for the fast information needs of major media companies. The software functionality mimics the work functions of researchers, reporters, producers and editors in newsrooms and magazines. Two major national broadcast networks have requested a trial.

Lurene’s List solves a few major pain-points for media. Media has trouble quickly finding experts quickly. Whereas now it takes many minutes and in some cases up to an hour. Lurene’s List solves this problem by locating experts in seconds.

Because of the demands from customers, viewers and regulatory agencies media companies have to demonstrate true diversity in the people they interview for stories and the people they put on the air in broadcast. Lurene’s List is dedicated to giving media staffers a database of experts, which includes women, white males, South Asians, Chinese, Hispanics, African-Americans and Native Americans. We research for experts in all ethnicities.

Media company staffers have been conned or tricked by some people who claim to be experts, so Lurene’s List gives them the ability to confirm a person’s claim of expertise.

Lurene’s List is one of two major expert databases that is built for mobile devices such as Iphones and Ipads. Nearly all media organizations provide staffers with mobile devices to complete their jobs.

It provides staffers the ability to find experts in seconds as opposed to many minutes. Lurene’s List provides quick looks at photos of experts. It let’s users see video clips of the experts and provides all of their bio and contact information and their media contacts. Experts can also upload images and descriptions of up to two of their books. Experts are required to provide a link to a Web page which is another way to confirm their identity.

A major challenge for media companies is insuring that they have access to demographically and ethnically diverse experts. Lurene’s List is the first experts database devoted to providing a multicultural database of experts in addition to providing an upload for the experts books to be reviewed by users. The video component is important, especially for broadcast media because it gives the user a sense of what the expert will looks and sounds like on television and radio.

Media users must register using their corporate email account. They must create a password and provide information on what areas of expertise they are most interested in. Lurene’s List also will customize a special template for media companies that allows them to insert, update and rate their experts.

Experts must register as well. In addition to their names they must provide the name of their organization or university, their telephone numbers and the best number for media staffers to reach them. Experts must provide zip codes because many media staffers, especially at local broadcast, will seek to find experts in a certain area. They must submit the city, state and country they reside and submit a few keywords for the search function.

Nearly all experts have some type of Web site either through their organization or university. A link to their Web page is required in registration.
Experts can upload videos from Youtube or Vine. Other video formats will be incorporated into the registration template later. The expert can choose from the 50 categories, which category fits their expertise or they can write in a category for their expertise.

The expert will also submit a 50 word bio which will appear on their page. In addition to the photo being uploaded, registration allows experts to upload up to two photos of the book cover page and to provide a 25 word description of each book. Nearly 100 percent of experts have written books in their areas of expertise.