The Reporter's Innovation Blog

Help us improve Route 73 (Skippack Pike) commute during construction

2012-03-06T12:20:00.010-08:00

Motorists pass by the proposed roadway to be used for the contruction of the new prison along Rt. 73 in Skippack on Friday March 2,2012. Photo by Mark C. Psoras/The Reporter

Beginning at 9 a.m. this coming Monday, March 6, traffic on Route 73 will be reduced to one lane on weekdays for six hours.

The Reporter is looking for readers who take Skippack Pike between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., or during the morning commute and who can report -- via Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus -- what they are seeing on Route 73 in terms of traffic conditions.

We will share the information you have provided to our online network in an effort to pass along information to improve your morning drive.

Leave a comment below if you are interested and we will contact you with further details.

5 comments from Montgomery, Bucks women about Pennsylvania's mandatory ultrasound bill

2012-02-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

View the story "5 comments from Montgomery, Bucks women about Pennsylvania's mandatory ultrasound bill" on Storify

Play The Reporter's Online Oscars Ballot Game

2012-02-26T07:56:00.006-08:00

In celebration of the 84th Academy Awards, The Reporter has created an Oscars game. Choose your pick from each of the 24 categories in the online form below (each worth one point) by 8:35 p.m. Then at the end of the evening, The Reporter will announce who had the highest score. Follow @ReporterGo for live Oscars coverage beginning at 8:25 p.m.Loading...

Help us develop a real Community Media Lab

2012-02-16T10:38:00.001-08:00

A very bare Community Media Lab at The Reporter headquarters in Lansdale. Photo by Andy Stettler

By Andy Stettler

Asst. online editor

Many have asked “What is a Community Media Lab?”

The answer: Whatever you need it to be.

Okay, maybe that’s being a little too broad but the fact is that The Reporter’s Community Media Lab is being developed to suit the needs of a growing physical and digital community.

In many cases, that may mean the lab will be a place to learn about blogging and using social media to increase your presence, your business’ or organization’s web presence.

In today’s digital world, very few organizations can thrive or survive if they are not consistently working to improve — or build from scratch — a presence on the Internet.

We believe, in the beginning, that this is what the lab’s primary use will be, to teach the community about how to build and improve a web presence. But we want the lab to do more.

So you tell us. What can this lab do for you? What do you want to learn? What could a coffee-house-style space be? How would you use it? Please, fill out the form below and help us build this Community Media Lab into something Lansdale, North Penn, the Indian Valley, whomever, will be proud of.

Because even though we use the term, “The Reporter’s Community Media Lab,” we know full well that in order for the lab to really be built for the community, it must be built by the community.

#BucksMont snow falls in Bucks, Montgomery counties

2012-02-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

Readers reply in strong support of same sex marriage in Pennsylvania

2012-02-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

View the story "Readers respond in favor of same sex marriage in Pennsylvania" on Storify

Readers remember JoePa

2012-01-23T16:30:00.001-08:00

How The Reporter crowdsourced breaking news: 'Bomb device' reported at King of Prussia Mall

2012-01-04T12:54:00.001-08:00

YOU TELL US: Readers reflect on Eagles 2011 season, Andy Reid retained as head coach

2012-01-03T15:00:00.001-08:00

YOU TELL US: What do you think of the Eagles' 2011 season?

2012-01-03T10:54:00.000-08:00

This week, we want to know what you thought of the Eagles' 2011 season. Information on how to participate is below:

YOU TELL US: How do you feel about the Eagles' 2011 season? The Reporter is asking readers to call 215-948-2660, leave a voicemail and tell us how you feel about this past season. Should Andy Reid be head coach next year? Should DeSean Jackson, Asante Samuel and other players be traded? Call us and be sure to tell us your first name and where you are from.

PHOTO: Is this Jesus on a tomato?

2011-12-22T14:06:00.001-08:00

In an email, one reader wrote the following:

I might have found a Christmas miracle. Is this Jesus on a tomato? You can see his hair is red, face especially his nose in red. Two dots for his eyes. It's grown up Jesus looking over baby Jesus.

Readers comment on childrens author blocked from speaking at A.M. Kulp because of Muslim faith

2011-12-21T21:56:00.001-08:00

View the story "Parents block childrens author from speaking at A.M. Kulp because she is Muslim" on Storify

New Community Media Lab

2011-12-18T09:05:00.001-08:00

A new and improved Community Media Lab is coming to The Reporter's headquarters in Lansdale. Look for more updates in the coming weeks.

Remembering Trolley Stop owner 'Reds' McGinn

2011-12-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

Bucks, Montgomery readers share the best Christmas movie?

2011-12-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

Area parents discuss proposed Montgomery Flex Charter School

2011-12-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

Montco, Bucksco, Philly area Holiday Lights Map 2011

2011-12-04T08:04:00.001-08:00

Do you decorate your home with outdoor holiday lights? Each year The Reporter maps out the area's neighborhoods light displays. We map everything from the grandest, brightest lights displays to the more casual "wreath and spotlight" displays. We want to see it all!

Most importantly, we want you to register your display so that local families can get an idea of where to find the displays. Many families enjoy a ride around local neighborhoods to see the lights and get into the holiday spirit.

We're hoping our map will add to the holiday cheer.

To register a lights display fill out the form below and we'll add your information to our Holiday Lights Map within 48 hours. Follow @LansReporter on Twitter? Tweet a photo with the geo-tag or typed-out location of your favorite holiday displays using the #LansLights hashtag. We'll see your tweets and add the information to our map.

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Montco, Bucks locals tweet the best holiday songs

2011-11-22T11:05:00.001-08:00

VIDEO REPLAY: Lansdale Mardi Gras parade

2011-11-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

Missed the Mardi Gras parade in Lansdale?

Below is a replay of the entire parade. Accenting the sounds of the season, this year’s theme was “Holiday Sing-A-Long.” The parade was dedicated to the memory of former Mayor Mike DiNunzio, who died recently.

Read full story about the parade

Riots in Happy Valley after Penn State board fires Paterno, Spanier (storify)

2011-11-09T22:08:00.001-08:00

How to get involved in our live coverage of Election Day 2011

2011-11-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

As we cover Election Day 2011 from our live blog, we're looking for readers who can tweet, Facebook or email us photos of or short written accounts of what you are seeing at the polls.

Some interesting tweets can come from what you're seeing at your polling stations. Where are you voting?
Which candidates are at your station? Did you see a big voter turnout?
Before or after you have voted, why not snap a photo of your voting station or even ask for a photo with one of the candidates. Be sure to add the #BucksMont11 hashtag to your photo tweet to share with the local community.

Beyond tweeting to the hashtag, be sure to follow the #BucksMont11 hashtag too. The Reporter will be tweeting the latest news throughout the day as we hear from candidates and confirm election results.

Understanding The Reporter's live coverage of breaking news (Part 1)

2011-10-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

North Penn Fire Company members clean up a diesel fuel spill (from the truck at left) on Main Street in North Wales after an accident involving a vehicle traveling west on Main struck the eastbound truck on Thursday afternoon. Photo by Mark C. Psoras

By Andy Stettler
Asst. Online Editor

Over the past two weeks Reporter staff have covered quite a few breaking news stories including the stabbing in Hatfield along the Liberty Bell Trail and the crash that caused a fuel spill in North Wales.

In both cases, we followed our regular procedure of alerting the public through live tweets and SMS about what was happening on the scene. Those tweets included photos of the scene and the latest updates about what local residents needed to know about each situation.

For instance, during the fuel spill incident in North Wales, our tweets alerted the public to the closure of Main Street, where the closure was and when the street was expected to reopen.

We followed our normal procedure. But this time with an added feature -- we live blogged each developing story.

This is, of course, something we should have done a long time ago and in some cases we have. But in these most recent cases, we provided a form of live coverage that focused on each development minute-by-minute.

That's coverage most won't even find on the Philly news TV stations.

Since we plan to do this more often in the future, we at The Reporter would like to take this opportunity to explain how our live coverage of breaking news works and --in a part two post later this week --- how you can get involved to help us improve our coverage.

Understanding our live coverage format

When we first post a breaking news or developing story to our website, we only post the information that we know is correct. In addition, we post "timestamps" telling readers when we initially reported the incident, plus the Twitter name of the reporter covering developments and a notification that this is a developing story.

The "This is a developing story" notification is always at the very bottom of the story to let readers know that more information is coming.

In the case above, we did not have a clear image of the scene by the time of the first alert and so we used a Google Street View to show where the stabbing had been reported.

How to find our live coverage after a full story is posted

In the example above, we posted a series of updates providing information as soon as we received it leading up to a full story.

The full story is always posted above the live coverage portion of the article. In order to see the live coverage portion, simply scroll down to where we have posted in bold "Scroll down for latest updates." Below, is where readers can look back at the developing situation and see how quickly events occurred.

Most of the live coverage will already be covered in the full story, however, we understand that readers have an interest in seeing the real-time posts even after the incident is no longer in progress.

In weeks ahead, we'll post a part two regarding our live coverage of breaking news. In this upcoming post, we'll explain how readers can get involved in our coverage and help us improve.

Montco, Bucksco residents tweet about Apple, Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Lansdale's Founders Day, Oktoberfest celebration begins at 11 a.m.

2011-10-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

Photo by Mark C. Psoras

Lansdale Borough is throwing a party to mark its 139th birthday and you’re invited.
On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Founders Day hits the streets with hours of entertainment for all. Whether you are 9 years old or in your 90s, the day is filled with activities to display Lansdale’s greatest qualities. The celebration kicks off with an opening ceremony at Borough Hall on Vine Street, beginning at 11 a.m., followed by a day of tours, crafts and food.
Read more at The Reporter.

Round-up of North Penn Transportation Information Session

2011-09-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

North Penn School District officials held an information session Monday evening at the district's Educational Services Center to talk to parents about the changes the district had made so far and to hear about the issues parents were having with the current busing schedule.

LANSDALE – More than 100 irate parents packed a meeting on Monday with North Penn School District officials demanding that the district fix the problems their children have encountered since the school year began.
Private school and special education students bused outside the district have had long rides, late buses or no buses since North Penn partnered with four other districts in a transportation consortium to reduce busing costs. Officials were extremely apologetic and promised to fix the problems but parents remained exasperated. Read Full Story.

During the meeting, Dietrich asked parents to be patient as the district reconfigured the bus routes. Later the district posted Dietrich's opening remarks on its website.North Penn Superintendent Curtis Dietrich's open remarks regarding transportationParents addressed Dietrich, Director of Business Administration Robert Schoch, and members of the school board and the county transportation consortium telling stories of how their child had been late to school or had even taken the wrong bus and gotten lost.

One couple told officials that their child had been lost for over an hour after the student got on the wrong bus after her first day of school in 2009. After the incident, the parents had to buy a cell phone for the 5-year-old.

Parents posted their students' experiences with the district's busing system on The Reporter's Facebook page and website.

Michelle Duffy My youngest (michael) had a mix up his FIRST day of school. Was put on the wrong bus, but bus driver was great, they have RADIOS and we were in touch with them the whole time. Instead of freaking him out, we made fun of it. Believe it or not, he couldn't care less. He was on the school bus and knew eventually they would bring him home. I was more worried than he was!

THIS IS ABOUT SAFETY. In 2009, my daughter did not come home from school on her first day of kindergarten. Apparently there was a bus transfer that was taking place but this transfer was not communicated to any of the parents by North Penn or First Student. My daughter stayed on her originally assigned bus when she should have transferred. She was not found until late in the afternoon, after all of the children were dropped off and she was the last child sitting on the bus. The bus driver asked who she was and where she lived and told her she was on the wrong the bus. Needless to say I was frantic as a parent experiencing this nightmare. My husband and I demanded some answers. - Comment from WtrGrl73

The district is expected to hold a follow up meeting Oct. at 7 p.m. at North Penn Educational Services Center.

Your comments about Facebook's news features

2011-09-22T12:34:00.001-07:00

Facebook to announce major changes during F8 Developers Conference

2011-09-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we heard quite a few comments regarding Facebook's latest changes and most of you weren't very happy. Well, Facebook is about to announce even more, even bigger changes.

UPDATE 9/25: Video stream removed due to autoplay issues.

POLL, DISCUSSION: Facebook's new features - Like or dislike?

2011-09-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

We've seen quite a bit of conversation surrounding Facebook's latest feature update. Some good, some not so good and an overwhelming number of comments comparing Facebook to Google+.

So here's the question. Facebook's new look: Like or dislike?

Be sure to leave a comment and tell us exactly what you think.

SLIDESHOW: Local pup photos in celebration of National Dog Week

2011-09-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

This week, our Entertainment writer Amanda Piccirilli asked local readers on Twitter and Facebook for photos of your pups for this week's edition of Go, our local entertainment magazine which will appear in Thursday's edition of The Reporter.

Well, the community certainly came through.

Gathering over 30 (and growing) photos from across the Delaware region (and even a photo from a former North Penn resident now living in Florida), we've put together a slideshow presentation of your photos along with the stories you sent us about your four-legged friends.

But we aren't finished yet. Everyone and anyone can still send us their pup photos in celebration of National Dog Week but simply sending an email to Amanda Piccirilli at apiccirilli@thereporteronline.com.

At the beginning of each day, we will ad more photos submitted by the community so be sure to tell your (two-legged) friends!

This week's top 5 blog posts for the week ahead - 9/5/2011

2011-09-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

#RLBchat on the most creative ways to market your business online

2011-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Are you marketing your business in a creative way? Could you be doing more?
During today's Reporter Local Business Chat, we'll talk about the most creative ways to market your business. For example, have you created a company branded fantasy league for your clients and co-workers?
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8c4be28933" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;#RLBchat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Perkiomen Creek floods area due to Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Locals watched Sunday as an end to Hurricane Irene brought road closures, power outages and major flooding to Montgomery and Bucks counties. Below are photos submitted to The Reporter. These photos were mostly submitted by adding the #BucksMont hashtag to the end of a tweet.
We are still gathering photo so send yours to citydesk@thereporteronline.com or tweet us using the #BucksMont hashtag.

Locals in Montco and Bucksco tweet about tremors

2011-08-23T13:49:00.000-07:00

Red Cross releases Earthquake Safety Checklist

2011-08-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

Earthquake

This week's top local blog posts

2011-08-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

Join the meet up at The Reporter's Community Media Lab

2011-08-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Geoff Patton, online editor at The Reporter, speaks to local high school athletes about blogging in the Community Media Lab. Photo by Andy Stettler

The Reporter would like to invite all of our community bloggers and would-be bloggers to join us for a casual meet-and-greet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 23 in our Community Media Lab in The Reporter newsroom at 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale.

Over the past few months, we've met many of you on Twitter, Facebook, email and on the phone. We've had great conversation about how to make our blogs better with stronger content. Now we would like to meet you in person to talk about your blogs, what you're working on and how we or other local bloggers can help.Loading...

What's the talk of the town? Follow @LReporterBlogs on Twitter

2011-08-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today, we launch our new local blogs Twitter account - @LReporterBlogs.

From this account, we will tweet the latest local blog items in and around our region, plus news about upcoming events regarding our Community Media Lab, a network of bloggers listed on The Reporter's blogs page.

Of course, we're always looking for new bloggers from around the area. If you would like to join the Community Media Lab, simply fill out the form below.&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

How to be the first to find out about local news - 5 Reporter SMS services

2011-08-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here in The Reporter newsroom, our priority is to be accurate and fast when alerting the public to breaking news.

When a funnel cloud rose over Lansdale a few weeks ago, we sent out a text alert letting subscribers know about which roads to avoid. We've also alerted the public to developing crime stories and more with the priority that our subscribers should be the first to know about what is happening in our region.Below are five of our SMS alert services. To subscribe, simply text the corresponding code to 22700.

Local News
This service provides subscribers with the latest breaking news information as it happens. If you want to know about local school board decisions, national breaking news and crime and traffic alerts text "LANnews" to 22700.

Daily Weather
This service is particularly helpful to readers and we've received a lot of good feedback. Have the day's weather sent to your phone by texting "LANweather" to 22700.

Sports News
Our sports department excels in covering our local teams while keeping up with national sports breaking news. When you text "LANsports" to 22700, subscribers will receive information on breaking game scores and related sports news.

Phillies News
Are you a Phillies fan (do we have to ask)? Text "Phillies" to 22700 to receive scores and breaking news about the Phils.

Eagles News
Eagles fans will enjoy our new Eagles news service. Just text "Eagles" to 22700 to receive the latest news on Eagles training camp and the upcoming season.

Local opinions about President Obama's Monday address on economy, downgrade

2011-08-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Presentations about former Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts

2011-08-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

The Lansdale community had its first look at the nearly 40 code violations inside the building that housed the former Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts until last spring.

The Reporter held a live broadcast of the entire meeting and later included the broadcast in a full story after the meeting. But if you didn't make it to the meeting last night. Here are a few items that will help you catch up on what happened.
Lansdale council votes on several measures

Three official actions were taken by council during the meeting, all of which passed by unanimous votes: Council voted not to proceed with litigation relating to the building, voted to publicize reports on the current code violations and future plans for the building, and voted to establish an official council task force to guide the future development of the building. - The Reporter's Full Story

Council, community hear reports about former arts center

Nearly 40 code violations were found within the current building by consultants, and it could take almost $4 million to fully finish the building as an arts and community center, and West said the turnout of more than 60 borough residents Tuesday night made him optimistic for the project’s progress. - The Reporter's Full Story

Presentations
Below are two PowerPoint presentations that took place during the meeting.Lansdale -- Building Assessment Rev I Performing Arts Center Presentation

Area around Chesco plant evacuated after explosion

2011-08-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

Montgomery and Bucks locals tell experiences of Friday storm

2011-07-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

A visual look at Obama, Boehner addresses

2011-07-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

Last night, we had a live video feed of the President's address about the looming debt crisis. Following both the president's and House Speaker John Boehner's rebuttal, Reporter staff were able to provide a different side of the addresses -- a visual look at the text of each address.

We visited Wordle.net, a free online tool that allows users to paste text from a document or speech to generate a "word cloud." Word clouds are a visual image that displays how often words are used in the text you provide.

In this instance, we used the text of President Barack Obama's address.
President Obama's address

The words that Obama used most often appear larger in the word cloud while words used less often appear smaller.Read full speech at Politico.com

The clouds can say a lot about a speech or text. When "America" is a larger word, one can assume that this was a patriotic speech depending on the context and speaker.

Speaker Boehner's Rebuttal

Read full rebuttal at Politico.com

This week's #RLBchat is Wed. at 1 p.m., Topic: Searchability

2011-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

After hearing several of you suggesting that we move #RLBchat -The Reporter's Local Business Chat - to a day and time other than Thursday at noon, we have decided to move the chat to Wednesday at 1 p.m.

This week, Founder of Catalyst Marketers and blogger at MontcoHappening.com Ryan Taft will host the chat and the topic is "how to make your business more searchable."

Ryan Taft Bio
My name is Ryan Taft. I’m a twenty-something entrepreneur who grew up in Montgomery & Bucks Counties. I graduated from Central Bucks East high school before attending and graduating from Bentley University located just outside Boston, MA. I spent a year working and living in Boston after graduating from college. Like Andrew, I had a good job, but something was missing. I decided to move back to the Montgomery County area so that I could be closer to family and friends. I’ve been here ever since. --- Read more at Montco Happening About page.

We'll discuss which keywords describe your business and whether or not you are integrating those words to your website, which social media tools will help potential customers/clients and Google find you on the Web.

Not sure what these topics or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) means? We'll go over that too.
We'll see you this Wednesday at 1 p.m. but in the meantime, here are some helpful warm-up videos to next week's chat.

Understanding how search engines work in SEO

What is Google Places?

The Reporter's Sunday sports section coming in September

2011-07-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

This September, The Reporter is set to launch a new Sunday sports section. But we want your input so that we can produce a section that will be a "must have" for you.

It will include plenty of local sports like high school football, and college and professional sports. But what else should we include?

Join us here at ReporterInnovation.blogspot.com at 10 a.m. Wednesday for a live chat about this new section.&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=1f1e93ffb2" &amp;amp;amp;gt;Sunday Sports Section&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Here are some of the ideas we will be talking about:
- Fan submitted photos and video to include in our coverage.
- Athlete spotlights and other feature story ideas.

Tell us your thoughts! Would you like to add a discussion topic? Leave a comment below and check back for updates regarding the chat.

Locals react to Netflix and they aren't happy

2011-07-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

This week's #RLBchat topic is "branding," also it's "bring a biz week"

2011-07-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

This week's Reporter Local Business Chat - #RLBchat - is "bring a biz week." We're asking attendees to bring at least one business owner/enthusiast to the chat in an effort to bring more ideas and perspective to the conversation.

This week's topic will be on "branding." How are you marketing your brand? Is your brand pushing customers/clients to your business?

If not, we'll talk about ways to improve your brand to better your business with a focus, once again, on use of digital tools and customer engagement.

The chat starts this Thursday at noon. See you there!

Already know who you're bringing to this week's #RLBchat? Leave a comment and let us know who will be attending.

The Reporter is on Google+, how to add us to your Circles

2011-07-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

First Twitter, then Facebook and now Google+. Most readers will note that we have adapted well to social media. Our newsroom is focused on alerting our community to the latest breaking news and events using our social media outlets. Now we've added another outlet.

Here's a video introduction to Google+

How to create a Circle and add The Reporter

Twitter allows users to create "lists" which can be used to categorize followers. Google+ has something similar titled "Circles."

To optimize the way you follow The Reporter on Google+ (and really any news publication) we recommend that you create a "News" circle and add us to that circle along with any other news sources on Plus.

Google+ allows users to choose which streams you would like to follow. On Facebook, most users follow a general news feed of their friends and followers. On Google+ you can select to watch your "Friends Circle" feed or only your "Co-workers Circle" feed.

Or feel free to just add us to your Friends Circle. :)

Here is a quick video introduction to Circles

Welcome new blogs - Nittany Lions Den, South Sudan Blogger in Lansdale

2011-07-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

We added two exiting new blogs to our blog page earlier this week. Each is authored by a local member of the community and updated regularly.

Nittany Linons Den

TheReporterOnline.com readers might remember Philly sports blogger Kevin McGuire of Second String Blog which shut down earlier this summer. Now McGuire's back and blogging Penn State football news and more. Nittany Lions Den can be found in the sports section of our blog page. Follow on Twitter - @TheNLD - and Facebook.

South Sudan Blogger in Lansdale
We recently wrote about Benjamin Abeny Gai, a Lansdale resident from southern Sudan, and his thoughts on South Sudan becoming a country this Saturday, July 9.

Gai, who attended The Reporter's seminar on increasing blog readership, has decided to start his own blog centered on Sudanese and South Sudanese news and his experiences while living in Lansdale.

Lansdale local follows Atlantis launch from Kennedy Space Center

2011-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

#RLBchat replay of discussion

2011-07-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who took part in The Reporter's Local Business Chat!
This week we discussed how local/small businesses can use social media to engage clients/customers. We also moved into QRcode use and blogging use.

Below is the replay of the chat but we would really like to hear what next week's topic should be. Leave us a comment and offer your ideas. See you next week!

Join us Thursday at noon for The Reporter's Local Business Chat

2011-07-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

Attention local business owners! Join us for The Reporter’s Local Business Chat this Thursday at noon to converse and learn about how other businesses in our area are using social media, websites and other forms of digital business innovation in a conversational setting on Twitter.

How does #RLBchat works?

The Reporter Local Business Chat will follow a few simple rules:

- In order to take part in the chat, add #RLBchat to the end of each of your tweets.

- Five questions will be asked, one every 10 minutes. The questions will be based around how local businesses are using digital tools like Twitter, Facebook, blogging services, etc., to increase business.

- Feel free to tweet in as much as you would like but please be respectful to others and try not to overwhelm the Twitter feed by tweeting too much. Of course, please do not use inappropriate language.

For more information, contact assistant online editor Andy Stettler at astettler@thereporteronline.com

Welcome to The Reporter's Innovation Blog

2011-07-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, The Reporter has been experimenting with new ways to cover the news in our community. This has evolved into readers taking a greater part in the news gathering process and in some cases taking over the process. We would like to show that off here.

Welcome to The Reporter's Innovation Blog.

Here, we will post interesting items that the community has posted to social media outlets, blogs and more including how the community and our newsroom covered the winter snow storms using the #BucksMontSnow hashtag on Twitter.

We'll also post items similar to how The Reporter crowdsourced the communities reactions when West Borough Baptist announced that they would be picketing a local funeral.

This is only the beginning of our Innovation Blog. As we (The Reporter, the community and the Community Media Lab) develop new ways to cover the news, this blog will develop too.

Have something that could be posted here? Leave a comment or email us at CityDesk@TheReporterOnline.com