When we at Omni celebrated our 10th anniversary with a grand party last Saturday, we invited everyone who has ever worked at Omni.

The party was pure magic.

An evening filled with lots of nostalgia and our first ever Omni Awards, featuring prices for…

• “The Omni Tradition That Sparks the Most FOMO”
• “The Most Unexpected Career Move After Omni”
• “The Best Teambuilding Activity with Least Impact on Core Business”
• “The Best Side Hustle While Working at Omni”

Omni is Sweden's best news app. Yet, what you outside Team Omni don't often see is the cornerstone of all this success: the amazing individuals who work at Omni. And this party was dedicated to them.

Here's a summary of what I said to the 120 current and former stars of Omni during the dinner. And sorry, it become a very long speech...

* * *

There are so many incredible Omni stories to tell.

There are numerous little coincidences that have been crucial to Omni’s fate.

And there are so many wonderful Omni memories to share.

There are even a whole series of amazing love stories from Omni to tell you about.

In fact, there was supposed to be an "Omni Biggest Love Award," among all the other awards tonight, but it was scrapped by those with slightly better judgment than myself.

And that was probably for the best.

Instead, I want to take a few minutes to talk seriously about what makes me incredibly proud during the Omni journey that we have done – and are doing – together.

Right here and now, I feel so proud that Omni means so much that you all actually made the journey to come here.

Like Michal and Kuba, who were our developers in Poland and left years ago – but flew in to join our birthday celebration today.

And all of you, no matter how far or short your journey was to be here. You are 120 wonderful people here tonight, for whom Omni means so much that you're attending our 10-year birthday party.

This makes me proud, very proud.

Of course, I'm also proud of how we've changed and improved how the Swedish people consume news.

And I'm not just talking about Omni being present at the breakfast table every morning with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel enjoying their royal breakfast.

Or when the royals are sitting on the royal toilet, doing their business, and reading their favourite news app Omni at the same time.

No, I'm thinking more about how we've genuinely changed and improved news consumption for over half a million Swedes.

No other news service is as sticky and addictive as Omni is today.

No other news service is read as frequently by its users as Omni.

Changing the news habits of the Swedish people the way Omni has done – yes, it’s a huge deal.

We have truly made an impact.

We all here have many reasons to be very, very proud.

Indirectly, we have also changed and improved news consumption for even more people than just our readers.

Other news media have been radically affected and changed by us.

SVT has practically copied our entire app. And that's not just because Jan Helin went there. No, it can probably be better explained by how Omni's innovation has inspired others to improve.

All Sweden’s evening and morning newspapers have stepped up their breaking news game to another level since Omni entered the market.

Not to mention Dagens Industri, which Omni Ekonomi caused to completely change their way of working.

This, how we have influenced and improved other media's products and news coverage, is something to also be very proud of.

Equally proud we should be of how, through Omni, we have also contributed to our own development, all of us here.

And I want to start by talking about all of you who no longer work for Omni, but whom we had the great honor of having on loan.

In some cases, only for a few months, and in others in other cases for the firs eight or ten years of your professional lives.

Being able to follow – and be part of – your development journeys makes me incredibly proud.

In extreme cases, maybe our contribution was helping you to realize that you didn't want to continue as journalists or developers.

Today, you are press secretaries for ministers and party leaders, yoga gurus, ceramists, and tax lawyers. Being part of your journeys is something we are also proud of.

Others of you took the skills from Omni and continued in journalism with fantastic careers as both competitors and colleagues in the industry. We are very proud of you too.

Some of you also inspire in your unique journeys after Omni which we follow with pride.

Take Lubna El-Shanti as an example, who unfortunately isn't here, but who went from Omni to Swedish Radio and has given a voice to the war in Ukraine more than anyone else in Swedish media.

There's also a whole bunch of developers who have advanced in their careers. Every time I see someone write Ex-Omni on LinkedIn, I feel proud. It must be said that quite a few of you ended up at Spotify though, and I don’t understand why.

No matter where you've gone after Omni, we are proud to have been a part of your careers and your development.

Not to mention the former Schibsted directors.

A handful of you here were the high-level executives in Schibsted when the first seeds of Omni were sown.

The fact that Omni means and has meant so much to you that you, years after leaving Schibsted, come here, makes us incredibly proud.

I texted with Raoul on Sunday about some party logistics, to which he replied:

"When it comes to Omni, I'm in for anything."

That makes us proud.

And of course, all of you who are at Omni today. You make me particularly proud.

Omni has grown significantly over these ten years. Today, no fewer than 45 stars work for Omni.

Several have been here the whole way, several of you since before it all began. That's something to be proud of.

But we've also recruited a long line of new stars along the way, in our business team, product team and editorial teams. Being able to attract all of you stars is something we are indeed proud of.

Moreover, we now have a growing number of returnees, in Schibsted-language we call them Boomerang. Yes, I talk about Acke, Jenny, Martin, and David, who were once with Omni and then, years later, came back. What a thing, you actually longed to return and you came back!

Not to diminish the achievements made at Omni or Omni Ekonomi in the beginning, but it must be said that Omni today is on a whole different level.

And that's not surprising. We are 10 years of experiences better and wiser.

Take our two news desks as an example. I dare to say that no other Swedish newsroom today can match ours in terms of competence and experience. And this is reflected every day, as both Omni and Omni Ekonomi lead Sweden’s news coverage.

Yes, you hear me. Proud is just the first word for what I feel for Team Omni of today.

Maybe that's enough for now. You are probably longing to dance or maybe longing for the bar.

But there's one last thing to be proud of, something that really feels here tonight. Let's call it the Omni feeling.

The magic that we experience here tonight.

Or on special occasions like when we're all at Gällnö, when we kayak together, when we're at summer camp on Gotland – or when we every day work together at the news desks.

The always kind, helpful, learning, curious Omni culture.

You know, that very unique Omni feeling, sometimes you can almost touch it.

And this feeling or culture is not the work of one or a few people. It's all of you here who have been part of creating this.

Thank you all for what you have done for Omni.

I hope you all feel as proud as I do.

//Markus

Det snällaste ordet vi i mediebranschen kan använda när vi beskriver år 2023 är ordet utmanande. Utmanande ekonomiskt, utmanande nyhetsmässigt, utmanande i omvärlden och dessutom en hel industri som utmanas av generativ AI.

Många skulle nog kalla 2023 för ett riktigt skitår.

För oss på Omni är det i tider som dessa som vi är som allra bäst.

* * *

”Vi vill utmana människor till nya perspektiv om världen, varandra och sig själva”.

Så lyder Omnis purpose, eller syftet som vi säger på svenska. Det är för att göra detta som vi finns, det är för att vi tror på detta som vi går till jobbet (här finns en liten film om den saken).

Just ordet utmana, som i vårt purpose, är väldigt mycket Omni. Vi brukar beskriva vårt team-DNA som ”att utmana status quo”. Men vi gillar också det motsatta, nämligen att bli utmanade. Det är när vi utmanas som vi utvecklas och blir som allra bäst.

Pandemin är ett bra exempel på det. Den fick oss att på bara en dag ställa om hela Omnis organisation till ett nätverk av satellitredaktioner runt om i Sverige och världen. Det innebar starten för en work-from-anywhere-policy som sedan dess med framgång lever kvar på Omni.

Bara några månader efter pandemins utbrott lanserade vi också det lyckade supporterinitiativet Omni Vän och strax därefter relanserade vi Omni Ekonomi som en premiumtjänst. Det visade sig vara flera avgörande lyckodrag för oss, som vi förmodligen inte hade förmått oss att göra om vi inte hade blivit svårt utmanade där och då.

Lite så brukar det vara med vår nyhetsbevakning också. När det är som allra svårast och som allra mest utmanande, det är då som Omnis och Omni Ekonomis redaktioner är som allra bäst. Det är då vi hittar våra superkrafter. Det är då vårt nyhetsmaskineri blir ostoppbart i snabbhet, i att ge nyhetsöversikt och i att ge flera perspektiv. Och numera också, sedan Omni Mers lansering, i att ge förklaring och fördjupning.

Den senaste veckan har vi på olika sätt firat att Omni fyller 10 år. Den kanske roligaste delen av 10-årsfirandet – och viktigaste – är att vi nu öppnar dörrarna till Omni Mer och Omni Ekonomi för alla under 23 år. Vi gör kort sagt all vår förklarande och fördjupande journalistik tillgänglig för alla er unga läsare.

Är du under 23 år? Ta del av erbjudandet här!

Omni har, på 10 år, blivit ett av Sveriges ledande nyhetsmedier. Vi har idag cirka 650.000 läsare varje vecka. När opinionsinstitutet Novus undersökte svenskarnas nyhetskonsumtion så var en av frågorna vilket digitalt nyhetsmedium svenska folket oftast använder. I åldersgruppen 18-34 år klättrar Omni nu upp till en fin tredje plats, vilket innebär större än såväl Dagens Nyheter som Expressen, Sveriges Radio, TV4 och Svenska Dagbladet. Endast Aftonbladet och SVT är större i den gruppen.

Vi är förstås extra stolta över att vara starka i just den yngre målgruppen. Ni som är våra yngre läsare visar oftare än andra vägen för vilken nyhetsupplevelse som framtidens nyhetskonsumenter vill ha. Så stort tack för att ni väljer oss och därigenom bidrar till att varje dag göra Omni ännu lite bättre.

I undersökningen är Omni faktiskt den enda nyhetsdestinationen som har större andel läsare bland yngre än i genomsnitt. Det finns säkert många förklaringar till det. En avgörande anledning är nog att Omni är skapad både av och för morgondagens nyhetsläsare – helt anpassad för mobilen. Det Novus-undersökningen också visar är att Omni får exceptionellt höga värden jämfört med andra medier när det gäller just trovärdighet, oberoende och att inte vara politiskt färgad på nyhetsplats.

Sedan starten för tio år sedan har Omnis läsare haft en väldigt nära relation till oss som nyhetsförmedlare och produkt.

Här berättar en lång rad både kända och okända personer om vad Omni har betytt för just dem och deras nyhetskonsumtion.

Flera lyfter nyhetsöverblicken, snabbheten och de olika perspektiven som det allra bästa. ”Omni är beroendeframkallande”, säger en användare.

Läsarna hyllar Omni: ”Den enda nyhetsappen som behövs”

På tio år har Omni växt till ett av Sveriges största och ledande nyhetsmedier. Det är en unik prestation, åtminstone sett till de senaste 50 årens svenska mediehistoria.

I en lång text inför vårt 10-årsfirande så skriver jag, som är chefredaktör och en av medgrundarna på Omni, om lite kämpigare dagar. Nämligen om det första avgörande mötet med de norska direktörerna i Schibsted – som gick helt åt skogen.

Varsågod, hela texten hittar du här:

Omnis chefredaktör: Så gick den första Omni-pitchen åt skogen