Comments on: Industry Moves: NPR’s Digital Head Maria Thomas Leaving; Joining Etsy As COO

By: Amy Webb

Amy Webb — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:23:34 +0000

Maria was very much involved in on the business side of digital media at NPR, where she landed after a successful run developing new product verticals at Amazon. It doesn't surprise me that she's leaving NPR for a more progressive, forward-planning online retailer. Maria is a visionary, and she's inspired many, many people the past several years with how she's tried to converge NPR's digital and analog efforts.

As someone who has worked in journalism for many years (first as a reporter, now as a consultant and adviser), I'm sad to see Maria go. I know many journalists who really wanted to work under her and to learn from her experience.

On the other hand, there's no reason that publishers can't learn from what online retailers are doing to try and build better business models for the future…

By: chroot

chroot — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:14:29 +0000

@Mover – Thomas was pushing NPR to treat digital media as a P&L;business. In the past three years, staff in digital media division tripled, from 30 to 100. Revenues for sponsorship (advertising) on NPR's site and podcasts were growing every year. You should research what she did at NPR before making such conclusions. She also oversaw NPR's ecommerce efforts and customer-focused shop. Etsy's gain – I predict she will grow that business like she grew NPR's digital side.

By: Chris Mandra

Chris Mandra — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:22:15 +0000

I was acting VP of NPR online when Maria was hired to be VP back in '01.
In fact, I helped decide she was the right person for NPR. Many of the comments being made here are probably similar to sentiments people (on the outside) probably had about her leaping from Amazon to NPR. They were wrong, and I believe you will be proven wrong as well, She is sincere, passionate, dedicated and UNBELIEVABLY focused and diligent. This is an interesting fit, to be sure, but I would put up money that in a few years time ETSY will be a much bigger deal in every positive way.

You people understandably may be skeptical of this move. In knowing her I know she likes nothing more than the biggest challenges for the rightest of reasons. Your invective does her a disservice, but time will prove me right.

By: CinJo

CinJo — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:33:29 +0000

This new hire is a coup for Etsy and a loss for public media. For those who know her, Maria is an incredibly talented, Web savvy executive with a finger on the pulse of the user experience, quality content, and new lines of business.

By: Mover

Mover — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:55:16 +0000

At least someone with commerce experience, customer experience and profit making experience. Scary.

By: Jenkins

Jenkins — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:43:10 +0000

At best she has to be extremely rusty. Her Amazon experience is at some distance. I'm very surprised they didn't go for someone more relevant — perhaps a senior person from eBay, for instance.

By: Rafat Ali

Rafat Ali — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:22:47 +0000

"Mover"
That's unfair..I only quoted her on that one comment..she said nice things about Etsy, but I didn't quote her on that…I wanted to get her perspective on leaving NPR a month after the CEO left.

By: Mover

Mover — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:19:50 +0000

She sounds lovely – "it's all about me". Nothing even remotely nice to say about the place you are going or the wonderful people you are going to work with or, even possibly, the customers you are looking forward to serving?

BTW, her Amazon job was not even small potatoes.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:12:20 +0000

Totally odd and miscast. They must be looking to be a non-profit news source.

By: ErikSchwartz

ErikSchwartz — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:30:21 +0000

Not at all an odd fit. She was at Amazon before NPR.