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Birds, Words, Pics + TV

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Roger Simmons
Roger Simmons

Birds, Words, Pics + TV

Roger Simmons Professional Experience

Below are samples of work by Roger Simmons. First, a quick note. I created this page for you on my personal blog, RogerSimmons.com. I blogged about Orlando TV news from 2001 to 2013, and this site was named the “Best Local Website” in Orlando by readers of Orlando Magazine (beating out my employer, the Orlando Sentinel). Because of my work duties, I have not been able to update this site. But feel free to look around at past posts.

Special sections

In addition to leading the Orlando Sentinel Sports and Entertainment staffs in producing content each day for digital and print, here are two examples of semi-recent big projects I led — our coverage of the 2013 Daytona 500 and our annual five-section football preview in 2012. These pages show the print sections for each project, since much of the online content has expired. But all of the material in the print editions was available online and was optimized into web-friendly forms.

  • 2013 Daytona 500 coverage
  • 2012 Football Preview

 

Writing examples

Here are a few examples of different types of sports stories I have written over the years.

  • Live event sidebar – Orlando Magic home opener
  • Feature — history of Orlando’s failed sports teams
  • Something fun — on the day the world was supposed to end, what people were going to miss from sports
  • News story — baseball plans to cut teams
  • Weekly column — on TV sports

 

Digital content

I primarily use my OrlandoSentinel.com blog, “From the Sports Editor,” to aggregate stories of interest to our readers. Based on the material and the use of strong SEO, my blog posts are often the most read text content on OrlandoSentinel.com.

Find what’s popular and maximize traffic to that subject

Former Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow is of great interest to our readers, and there is national interest in his career as well. A few examples of recent blog posts focusing on Tebow that performed very well for us.

  • Glenn Beck says Tim Tebow ‘too controversial’ to get a job with NFL or ESPN
  • Bill Belichick doesn’t hate Tim Tebow, despite report
  • Tim Tebow is ‘taboo,’ unlikely to play in NFL again

Use of enticing headlines can prompt clicks on blog posts

  • ESPN shutting down one of its networks
  • Which TV news anchor is singing the national anthem before the Coke 600 in Charlotte?

Adding supplemental coverage to existing content on OrlandoSentinel.com

  • Following the death of Central Florida football player Deacon Jones, I blogged about his appearance on The Brady Bunch
  • After the Tony Awards were performing well for us, I did a blog post about Mike Tyson dancing in the opening

 

Beyond text

Telling a story is sometimes better in a photo gallery form.

  • Looking back at Orlando sports stars, then and now. This gallery I created has more than 100,000 page views
  • A preseason Top 25 ranking of football teams could be text but it can also be a photo gallery
  • For Mothers Day, gallery of sports stars and their moms

 

Boosting SEO

To boost OrlandoSentinel.com’s SEO authority with Google on “Tim Tebow,” I created a Tim Tebow channel. We post all stories or blog posts about Tebow on the channel. As a result, we see our Tebow stories rank higher than those of other much larger websites. View the Tim Tebow channel here. 

 

Video

Sports Buzz video. I created Sports Buzz for OrlandoSentinel.com. Several times a week, we try to engage our readers on a sports topic. We create a package that includes text and video, and solicit reactions via a poll and comments.

Video talkbacks with Fox 35 News. I appear regularly on Orlando Fox affiliate, WOFL-Channel 35, to talk about issues in sports.

Latest Posts

  • Fun to find new birds to add to my life list
  • Visiting Lake Marian and its birds for first time
  • Florida Snail Kites bouncing back but still in peril
  • Crested Caracara is a beautiful Florida ‘scavenger’
  • Late summer at Orlando Wetlands: Hot but rewarding

Top Locations

Orlando Wetlands

Posts about visits to Orlando Wetlands


UCF Arboretum

Posts about visits to UCF Arboretum


Merritt Island

Posts about visits to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge


Lake Apopka

Posts about visits to Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive


Fort DeSoto

Posts about visits to Fort DeSoto Park


Galleries

Roger's Favorites

An ever-changing collection of my favorite pictures


American Flamingos

Photos of American Flamingos in Indian River


Belted Kingfishers

Photos of Belted Kingfishers across Central Florida.


Oystercatchers

Pictures of American Oystercatchers at Fort DeSoto Park


Spoonbills

Pictures of Roseate Spoonbills in Central Florida


Whooping Crane

Pictures of one of the last Whooping Cranes in Florida


MORE GALLERIES


Topics

American Flamingo American Kestrel Anhinga Bald Eagles Barn Swallow Barred Owl Belted Kingfisher Black-and-White Warbler Black-Crowned Night-Heron Caspian Tern Common Gallinule Common Yellowthroat Digital TV Eastern Bluebird Great Blue Heron Great Egret Green Heron Limpkin Little Blue Heron Northern Cardinal Northern Parula Orlando Wetlands Park Osprey Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Purple Gallinule Red-bellied Woodpecker Red-shouldered Hawk Red-Winged Blackbird Reddish Egret Roseate Spoonbills Sandhill Crane Savannah Sparrow Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Tufted Titmouse WESH-2 WFTV-9 White Ibis WKCF-18 WKMG-6 WMFE-24 WOFL-35 Wood Stork WRDQ-27

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