What it is

The Student Program is a primary initiative at brass and provides high school teachers with print and multimedia personal finance resources in a package designed for them to easily implement in class. Online, teachers have access to prepared activities, lesson plans and videos, plus every article from every issue of brass Magazine.

We’d been struggling with a low rate of teacher registration despite overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers who’ve used the materials, so we undertook a complete redesign of the site

We found that our existing site’s homepage lacked a clear focus on speaking directly to teachers and multiple information pages slowed them from getting them right into the registration process.

Inside, we reorganized materials to highlight the items available to use with the most recent issue of the magazine (the one teachers likely had in-hand when they visited). Teachers who seek subject-based items now have a simpler path to discovery and multiple options for printing, sharing and downloading.

After the rework (and a concerted effort to echo the design and style of our print materials), teacher registration, return and use of the site has improved.

What it is:

Revamp is a niche vertical aimed at the homebuilding, renovation and repair industry developed with a colleague when I was working for Mid-Valley Newspapers.

The project was focused on distilling the essence of what small local businesses might want from the Web: personal contact with potential customers.

The problem? These are plumbers and designers and landscapers, not writers. So we trimmed down the options to three categories: news, events and offers. We integrated an “Ask a Pro” feature as a way to put experience front-and-center to start the conversation with primed customers. And we always included a way for people to contact our pros to ask in person or schedule a bid.

Critical in this was the ability to seamlessly integrate networks like Facebook, Twitter or existing products like a company Website or blog to be the hub and aggregator for the advertiser’s various work on the Web.

What it is:

In the newsroom, I used my blog to break news and find new sources for stories for my work as city hall and business reporter for the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

My primary goal was to use the medium to foster a conversation around the news and add value beyond typical coverage of issues and individual stories by asking questions of readers, crowdsourcing some early information and liveblogging breaking events.

Examples:

• In May 2008, during the presidential campaign, I was offered the chance to interview Barack Obamaone-on-one during a campaign stop.I used the blog to ask readers what they’d ask the candidate, compiled their responses, and culled the best three questions to put forward. Afterward, I posted a transcript and audio of the interview.

• In the fall of 2008, Corvallis was contemplating charging a license fee for businesses in order to pay for economic development programs. These programs were called for in a plan for attracting targeted industries known as “prosperity that fits,” a name that implies this city’s deep distrust of outside corporate interests.
  At any rate, local business really came together against the fee, so I asked readers if it meant the whole plan was doomed.This sparked discussion by citizens, business owners, committee members and a City Councilor. Eventually, even some people inside the license fee committeesuggested new options, including scrapping the fee altogether.And that’s exactly what happened.

Recommendations:

Noted by beatblogging.org for using the blog to expand government coverage, live blogging and being innovative with the blog.

What it is:

The Morning Minute was planned as a way to present daily video on the Gazette-Times Web site for a few hours in the morning and present stories to viewers that we had or were working on that day.

Example:

Maybe I was missing the thrill of going to the polls on election day (voting in Oregon is all done by mail), so I went out to ballot dropboxes to shoot the minute. Voters coming by seemingly right on cue worked out pretty well.

Note: The Gazette-Times no longer seems to be hosting this video with streaming ability. It is still available on their site, however.

What it is:

OregonFlyfishers is a Web app for flyfishers in Oregon. It is being designed to offer people a place to share trip reports and search for information to plan future trips.

More to come on this… Hit the link to get on the beta mail list.