Santa Barbara Business News – Ray Estrada

In 805conversations by Mark Sylvester

The only constant is change

Ray Estrada has been doing news in Santa Barbara for years. He sat with Mark and Patrick to talk about his new home base, the Impact Hub on State Street. His experience is now being focused on working with young startups and helping them navigate the world of getting attention from the local press.

This wide-ranging conversation covered a lot of ground including:

  • His role at the Impact Hub working with their events – see updated list here
  • His story about working for the BBC in Central America
  • Working for the Santa Barbara News-Press 30 years ago
  • What drives business in Santa Barbara? Tourism. Tech. And Real Estate
  • Oh, yeah, he also recently had open heart surgery. And is looking great.
  • Writing about the regional differences between North County and South County
  • What’s it like working at a Startup Weekend
  • His advice for young entrepreneurs that are pitching a story: Why is this compelling? Is it a local thing? What’s your business and what’s its purpose?
  • Why you don’t want to say in the email subject line that it’s a PRESS RELEASE
  • His take on email subject lines.
Ray is a wealth of information. If you find yourself in downtown Santa Barbara, near the Impact Hub, drop in and let him make you a cup of coffee and pitch him your idea. Tell him you heard about him on 805conversations.