Readers as resources

Community Calendar

The Community Calendar has become a go-to source for what's happening in the community. I have used that content submitted by our readers for my weekly Odds & Book Ends feature on The Book Club blog, to post animal-related events and activities on Pets Unleashed, and in compiling Health Notes for the print edition and website.

Health Notes

My job duties include designing the weekly Health page and compiling and editing its "Health Notes" for a rail of briefs. Local organizations, health care facilities and readers were sending their relevant events, activities and meetings to several different places because the only submission information for the briefs was the mailing address for the newspaper. Realizing that we would be getting more and more content digitally, I asked that an e-mail address be created strictly for health-related information, and in September I asked readers to submit their briefs to Health@News-Herald.com for the first time. I manage the e-mail account and communicate with readers to ensure consistency in compilation of Health Notes — even editing the rail in advance for my co-workers on the rare occasion that I will not be designing the page.

Twitter

I have used my Twitter account to communicate with readers about news and happenings in the community. A Twitter conversation with Julie D'Alosio led to a story on social media policies at businesses. See more of what I have done with Twitter here.