Posted on July - 13 - 2011
Tri-State natives take Greek-life newspaper nationwide
Kathleen Tennant / Special to The Courier & Press Odyssey newspaper founders Adrian France, formerly of Evansville, and Evan Burns, formerly of Jasper, Ind.
TRI-STATE REGION — The Odyssey, a Greek newspaper about sorority and fraternity life, debuted two years ago at Indiana University, founded by classmates Adrian France of Evansville and B. Evan Burns of Jasper, Ind.
Today, the staff is preparing to expand to offering individualized newspapers on 45 campuses nationwide in the coming academic school year.
The weekly tabloid-styled, full-color publication will reach more than 300,000 readers in print, France predicted, while its website will be expanded in the future for offering the newspaper online.
The Odyssey’s rapid growth and ability to attract both local and national advertisers appears to make the niche publication a textbook example of smart and gutsy entrepreneurism.
“It’s been phenomenal. It’s very interesting to see what young people can accomplish without much or any experience,” said France.
“I think it’s significant that everyone perceives that technology and our generation are the reasons that print media is shrinking. But one of the fastest growing newspapers in the country, The Odyssey, is focused on, and run by, college students and very recent college graduates,” said Burns.
“Nearly everyone connected with the newspaper still is under 25,” said France.
Burns, 23, is now the founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based Olympia Media Group, The Odyssey’s parent company.
His parents are Carl and Julie Burns of Jasper.
France, 24, is Olympia’s chief creative officer.
She is the daughter of Rita France of Evansville.
Olympia has recruited more than 1,300 students nationwide to aid in the expansion to 45 campuses.
The effort will be guided by 225 team leaders.
In the beginning, France and Burns didn’t think about taking the newspaper nationwide.
“But, after we saw how popular it became we started to think about expanding more,” France said.
Shortly after it debuted in fall 2009, the newspaper expanded to Purdue University, Miami University of Ohio and Michigan State University.
In the 2010-2011 academic year, the newspaper expanded to 18 campuses.
“It’s taken everyone’s hard work in our headquarters and on the campuses; we don’t see a stopping point … We’ve talked about most likely capping out at 55 campuses,” France said.
Burns credited the newspaper’s quick growth to the fine Midwestern work ethic.
“The pride we have in our work, and the get-it-done mentality have been what has allowed our team to grow this quickly.”
According to Burns, the newspaper has been operationally profitable since Day 1, and it has been reinvesting for adding more locations.
Burns described his involvement with The Odyssey as “The best learning experience in my life, and we are just getting started.”
When asked how he rates the quality of the articles vs. focus on selling advertisements, Burns said: “If people are not reading the paper, we can’t sell ads. If we can’t sell ads, people can’t read the paper.
“It’s the age-old chicken-and-egg question.”
The Odyssey staff terms the publication as “a highly targeted niche newspaper.”
So far, over 400 different issues, unique to each campus, have been produced and over 5,000 articles have been written.
The Odyssey is printed at several locations, including Greenfield, Ind., and Galt, Calif.
Similar Posts:
- PBN wins first place for 2010 flood coverage
- Johnston Press in ‘constructive discussions’ with its lenders
- Brown receives grant to increase students’, professors’ global exposure
- URI declares 3-year, $18M energy conservation initiative a success
- Metcalf media diversity awards announced
