Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan O’Connor.
Hi Brendan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I came to Orlando about 16 years ago to work at Le Cellier Steakhouse at EPCOT as an international rep in the Canadian Pavilion, where I served steak to tourists and gave them the authentic Canadian experience they never knew they needed. I was there for a few years as a seasonal employee as I went to night school at Rollins College, earning a degree in Environmental Studies and Growth Management.
I worked through a few weird stints at the City of Winter Park as the Volunteer Coordinator for Keep Winter Park Beautiful before getting let go for reporting my boss for stealing. That’s a long story! Then I worked at Orlando’s first co-working space, Urban ReThink in Thornton Park, before falling in with “Orlando Weekly” as their Calendar Editor.
My boyfriend, Scottie Campbell, was the director of Ivanhoe Village Main Street and had been working with Matt Broffman at Bungalower.com on a number of initiatives in the #Ivanhood before Broffman ended up getting hired by the City of Orlando. Broffman offered the gig of editor to my man who recommended me instead and the rest is history. I’ve been with Bungalower Media for over six years now and I’m loving every hyper-local minute.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Haha, this job is anything but smooth. It’s not even a job, really; it’s a lifestyle. I work from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep with my phone in my hand; running the social media accounts, laying out our monthly print magazine, writing the scripts for our weekly radio show on 104.1 FM, helping with sales and promotions, and writing the news stories every day.
For the first few years, I really struggled with finding my voice as the editor without losing what people had come to love about Bungalower when it was just Matt running the show. I’d get hate mail all the time if I’d deviate from the norm and try to shake things up but I learned that that was just because Bungalower had a really loyal core of readers that didn’t want to see it become something it wasn’t. People were scared about my history at “Orlando Weekly” and didn’t want it to be that. We already have the Weekly; they wanted Bugalower. But we’ve managed to grow every single year and I think we keep getting better and better. And we haven’t messed up yet so people trust us and I just want to keep that momentum going.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m the editor-in-chief at Bungalower Media which is a hyper-local newsgroup that covers the downtown “bungalow neighborhoods” here in Orlando. We put out a monthly print product, a weekly radio show on Real Radio 104.1 FM, we manage award-winning social media accounts, and we host some really fun events.
We cover the headlines that people talk about at their dinner tables, things that they want to know about their neighborhoods that none of the other outlets really cover. We’re known for getting the scoops before the other outlets and we’re known for supporting local businesses. I try to keep it as sass-free as possible but I’m a sassy creature so it comes out every now and then. We try to stick to the facts and keep things quick and easy in our coverage – no editorializing, no manufactured quotes. Just the who, what, where, when, and why of it all.
What’s next?
We just came out of a super-weird year like everyone else, where we were really focused on holding the fort and maintaining while also managing some new initiatives that we launched right before the pandemic rolled in. We have a new buy local-ish program where people make a donation of at least $20 to our newsroom and in return they get a fancy Bungalower Keychain that lets them “unlock” deals at participating businesses around the Central Florida area – like happy hour prices at Ravenous Pig all day, every day. Or $1 off your beers at Persimmon Hollow Brewing downtown and Ten 10 Brewing in Ivanhoe Village. So we’re focused on growing that program through the next few years and adding more Keyholder-exclusive event programming and experiences as well.
I’d love to see us seriously consider launching a newspaper product and get into television as well… something like a late-night Pee Wee’s Playhouse/news night program with puppets on PBS/WUCF would be great. We’re looking to add more public events as well so we’ll be hiring some event staff in the near future as well.
Pricing:
- $20 – Bungalower Buddy Keychain – bungalower.com/support-us/
Contact Info:
- Email: news@bungalower.com, sales@bungalower.com
- Website: Bungalower.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orlandobungalower/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrlandoBungalower
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bungalower
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BungalowerMedia
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bungalower
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/bungalower/_saved/
Image Credits
Macbeth Studio Lee Vandergrift Rob Bartlett Kimberly Jefcoat WUCF TV Grizzlee Martin David Lawrence
