A couple of weeks ago, I was in Asheville, North Carolina, talking with lots of smart women in publishing about the state of the industry—and where we all might go from here.

I joined a panel moderated by Elissa Yancey, who is a journalism prof at the University of Cincinnati and managing editor of Soapbox Media, that included Susan Mernit, founder of Oakland Local, and Lisa Carricaburu, the assistant managing editor of the Salt Lake Tribune.

First of all, if you don’t know about Journalism and Women Symposium (I didn’t), you should. I don’t think I’ve ever been around a more inspiring, thoughtful, and tuned-in group of journalists—or women—in my life. Check ’em out.

But back to the panel: These women are right in the thick of things, creating and trying out and shaping all the new options publishing offers. At the Salt Lake Tribune, Carricaburu has learned to be fast, adaptable, and strategic: Blogs that don’t draw traffic get dropped quickly, for example, and putting public records in a searchable database has turned out to a gold mine, both for reporters and readers—and therefore for the paper. Mernit and Oakland Local are at the heart of the hyperlocal news movement, supporting street-smart reporting with social media and employing tools like visual storytelling. Yancey teaches her students what she learns on the job.

No one on the panel said the future will be easy, but everyone said it’s sure to be interesting. Read the highlights of our discussion and see if you agree.