Thursday, August 31, 2006
Let's share our news
One common complaint in Lakewood is that there is no one place to go to learn about all the many rich cultural and other events going on here. I'm proud to be a member of the board of directors of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce. The chamber heard the feedback and interest from arts groups, and began highlighting local events about a year ago in a seasonal calendar.
The trick now, honestly, has been to convince many of our nonprofits and other groups to go to the trouble to send in information to the chamber. It's sort of funny in a sad way; many of these groups are the first to complain that no one knows about them. But being a volunteer myself, I know how hard it can be to keep track of everything.
So let's make it easy, and cut and paste some info from chamber director Linda Smith. You can use the icon below this message to forward this note to someone who can share calendar information for your group with the chamber:
The chamber is currently compiling community event information for the Fall & Winter Lakewood Area Events Calendar. We anticipate printing 3,000 copies for distribution in our area. Events beginning Oct. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2006, will be listed in this piece. If you wish to be included in the brochure, as well as have your event information listed on the Chamber's web site, please submit all of the following information to Scott Jonson at scottj@lakewood-wa.com no later than Sept. 11.
Event Name
Event Date(s)
Event Time(s)
Event Location & Address
Admission/Fees
20 word (or less) description about event
Contact Phone Number
Forward this post
The trick now, honestly, has been to convince many of our nonprofits and other groups to go to the trouble to send in information to the chamber. It's sort of funny in a sad way; many of these groups are the first to complain that no one knows about them. But being a volunteer myself, I know how hard it can be to keep track of everything.
So let's make it easy, and cut and paste some info from chamber director Linda Smith. You can use the icon below this message to forward this note to someone who can share calendar information for your group with the chamber:
The chamber is currently compiling community event information for the Fall & Winter Lakewood Area Events Calendar. We anticipate printing 3,000 copies for distribution in our area. Events beginning Oct. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2006, will be listed in this piece. If you wish to be included in the brochure, as well as have your event information listed on the Chamber's web site, please submit all of the following information to Scott Jonson at scottj@lakewood-wa.com no later than Sept. 11.
Event Name
Event Date(s)
Event Time(s)
Event Location & Address
Admission/Fees
20 word (or less) description about event
Contact Phone Number
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
To blog or not to blog
It's fun to compare and contrast two cities that are both in my job territory and that are roughly the same size: Tacoma and Spokane. As you might imagine, they have some similarities, and they have a lot of differences.
Having worked in newspapers myself, I naturally check out the newspaper blogs. The readers in Spokane seem very engaged with their newspaper; I can't exactly say that for my neighbors in Tacoma. Take note, for example, of these blogs that are part of the Spokesman-Review's "transparent newsroom" initiative: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/editors/ and http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/briefing/
If you take a look at these pages, and look for reader comments, you will see a lot of interaction between the Spokane paper and its readers.
Now, on the other hand, The News Tribune has a blog that features reports and comments from its editors. If you read this blog, you get the sense that Tacoma is deserted. http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/editors/ Some of the editors' posts even ask direct question of the readers, and you hear only the sound of crickets chirping. Where are the readers?
My guess is that Spokane has been at it a bit longer, because I think the people of Tacoma (and Lakewood, etc...) also want to get involved in their daily newspaper. So if you are techie enough to post information on the Net, I would encourage you to post some comments and ask questions on this page, or at least keep an eye on it and encourage The News Tribune to be interactive. If you are not the kind of person who posts comments, that's fine too. I am going to try to find a couple of places to post myself on that page. If we expect newspapers to survive and thrive, we have to enjoy them as an interactive experience. So consider keeping an eye on The News Tribune's blogs; you can find a full list of them at http://www.thenewstribune.com/blogs/
Forward this post
It's fun to compare and contrast two cities that are both in my job territory and that are roughly the same size: Tacoma and Spokane. As you might imagine, they have some similarities, and they have a lot of differences.
Having worked in newspapers myself, I naturally check out the newspaper blogs. The readers in Spokane seem very engaged with their newspaper; I can't exactly say that for my neighbors in Tacoma. Take note, for example, of these blogs that are part of the Spokesman-Review's "transparent newsroom" initiative: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/editors/ and http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/briefing/
If you take a look at these pages, and look for reader comments, you will see a lot of interaction between the Spokane paper and its readers.
Now, on the other hand, The News Tribune has a blog that features reports and comments from its editors. If you read this blog, you get the sense that Tacoma is deserted. http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/editors/ Some of the editors' posts even ask direct question of the readers, and you hear only the sound of crickets chirping. Where are the readers?
My guess is that Spokane has been at it a bit longer, because I think the people of Tacoma (and Lakewood, etc...) also want to get involved in their daily newspaper. So if you are techie enough to post information on the Net, I would encourage you to post some comments and ask questions on this page, or at least keep an eye on it and encourage The News Tribune to be interactive. If you are not the kind of person who posts comments, that's fine too. I am going to try to find a couple of places to post myself on that page. If we expect newspapers to survive and thrive, we have to enjoy them as an interactive experience. So consider keeping an eye on The News Tribune's blogs; you can find a full list of them at http://www.thenewstribune.com/blogs/
