SeeClickFix is a valuable tool to have at your disposal in general, but for a hyper-local journalist, it's practically gold in your hands.

The Web site allows users to report non-emergency issues (if you have a fire or crime occurring you need to call 911), as well as provide photos of the problem at hand, so that local city, county, or state officials can see them and, hopefully, get them fixed.

This is great for readers to use for issues like potholes (such reports helped produce this article in today's paper) which roads remain unplowed during a heavy snowstorm, and much more.

Another nice fact is that you can embed a little map and list of local problems, narrowed down by a location and keywords of your choosing, quite easily and throw it up on a blog, Web site, or anywhere else even if you're not a media organization.

Long story short: If you don't know what SeeClickFix is, or haven't given it a try, check it out.

It's Oscar time again and The Record is using Journal Register Company's partnership with UPickem - an online engine/service that makes things like photo contests, polls, and other types of submission-based contests a breeze to operate since it does all the leg work - to allow readers to make their selections for who will win big at this Sunday's event.

The Oscars, like the Grammys and most other big award shows, provide a fun chance for fans to fill out brackets and try to guess who will take home the golden statues for their work in film over the last year.

We're glad to be able to add a taste of that experience to The Record's online content. More than 40 users have already make their selections and we hope that many more users will take advantage of this feature before voting closes prior to the start of Sunday night's show at 8 p.m. on the ABC network.


How It Works: Pick the correct winner for the six Oscar categories we selected and have a chance to win dinner and a movie for two in upstate New York's Capital District. If multiple readers guess all answers correctly, a winner will be randomly selected from those individuals

If you haven't already voted, what are you waiting for? Click here to get started!

Above is a video posted online Wednesday with Journal Register Company CEO John Paton talking about how the company has changed in the past year with its digital first, print last model and why he believes JRC will continue to become a talking point when it comes to players in the world of digital news media.

The company's stats have increased all over the board since 2010, including everything from unique web visitors - up to 16 million per month, compared to 13 million last year - to finances -- the company went from bankruptcy to reporting a profit of $40 million. Not too bad for the first year of major changes, with plenty more to come.

It's exciting that we keep moving forward in this manner, and I agree with Paton that we can seriously give AOL a run for its money with the talent and dedication of employees spread across the company.

The challenge is that we will have to continue to improve at every turn. There's no time to stop and be content with our improvements thus far when there's always more work to do.

I think 2011 will be a year you'll hear much more about JRC becoming a game changer when it comes to hyper-local reporting, crowdsourced and diverse content, and audience interaction.

We've got a lot to do, but I'd say we're ready for it.

Game on.

I finished up our flyers/ads for the first two community-driven forums we'll be holding at The Record starting in March.

As I mentioned before, we're hoping to use these programs as a way to engage and interact with our readership in person, while creating great content for our Web site at the same time - all programs will be live-streamed and recorded in HD video.

Again, if you have any suggestions for programs to hold in The Record's Community Media Lab, be sure to leave a comment below!

Tax Forum
Irish Genealogy

I put this short video together a few weeks ago for our Advertising Department and publisher, who needed something to show at a workshop they were involved with.

This only a very brief history but I believe it tied the important parts of our past and the goals of our future in a timely manner.

This is quite simple to do with some large original .JPG photos, interview footage, and the latest iMovie.

I'm gathering up some stuff I've worked on in recent months and came across this presentation I put together for staff members at The Record about our digital goals and practices for 2011.

Feel free to give it a read below and share your thoughts.
Digital Newsroom Practices 2011

I'm happy to announce that our Community Media Lab seminars are set to begin the week of March 7th, with confirmed presentations on tips for preparing your taxes and two nights focused on Irish genealogy just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Here are the initial details:

March 8th - "Tax tips for individuals"

The deadline for filing your 2010 tax returns is fast approaching, and with new tax legislation passed late last year, you might be wondering what has and hasn’t changed. Kevin O’Leary, director with the accounting firm Marvin & Company, P.C. and blogger for The Record, will present a tax seminar for individuals looking for tips filing their 2010 tax returns in The Record’s Community Media Lab on March 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Those who attend the seminar will learn about what has and hasn’t changed since the Dec. 17 tax legislation, get answers to FAQs about filing your return, whether filing your return yourself is beneficial to you, planning tips for the future and more. Rest assured that the seminar won’t get too technical as Kevin explains tips he passes on to his own clients, and questions he’s often asked. Please note that you will not be filing your tax return at this seminar, Kevin will be advising attendees on filing their returns this year. 

Read more »

First off, apologies for the lack of posts over the last month. Every time I wanted to blog about something that I was working on at The Record, 10 new things came up that had to be done yesterday.

This will be a short update for today with more details coming very soon, but I wanted to point out on here that some exciting new programs are coming to The Record for the Troy community and surrounding readers throughout the Capital District this year.

In the next month and a half we will unveil a new community meeting space (our on-site Community Media Lab located on our first floor, which is getting finishing touches soon) and begin holding several audience-driven programs.

We've already started to schedule presentations such as one on Irish genealogy a week before St. Patrick's Day, a bass fishing night at the end of March just before the majority of local anglers get ready to spend their days in area streams, and more coming soon with the arts, business programs, and even musical performances to be held in our building for the community to attend in person as well as online.

All of what we offer will be offered in person at The Record building (501 Broadway, Troy, NY 12180), as well as Live-Streamed on TroyRecord.com and recorded in HD video to be viewed later.

As I said, plenty more details will be on the way soon, but let me just say it will be an exciting, and busy, year at The Record in 2011.