ORBITER magazine, launched less than two years ago, has grown into a thriving website that showcases the work of scientists and scholars giving new insight into the most enduring and essential human questions. Its roster of writers has expanded, its reputation has grown within the scientific community, and its audience has swelled since its early months. In 2018, ORBITER added a well known and highly regarded blog, formerly from NPR, featuring scientists Adam Frank and Marcelo Gleiser. It also refined its user experience and identified more promising long-term paths for marketing and growth.
Given these areas of progress, ORBITER stands at a tipping point. With its strong branding and design, its growing network of relationships, and its unique approach to original content creation, ORBITER has the opportunity to become a central gathering place not only for scientists and specialists, but also enthusiasts and a general audience of those interested in the ways in which science is opening new vistas on who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. As we have done with other sites, we want to deploy a content strategy that creates a community of inquiry and commentary through blogs (among other means). Then, by aggressively marketing our brand and our site, we wish to wrap a community of enthusiasts around the community of inquiry and commentary.
In the project we propose, content curation will remain. Readers appreciate a guide to quality content elsewhere on the web. It will, however, become a smaller proportion of the content stream. Instead, ORBITER will substantially increase its focus on original content and audience development. We will also develop a three-year strategic plan for how ORBITER can continue on the path toward scalability and sustainability. Finally, we will continue to court strategic partnerships with other organizations in the same space.
