By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor

Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices

Facebook: Ed Stannard-Register, Your Open Newsroom

Wow! Our new news van certainly doesn’t lack for potential names.

So far, 21 of you have suggested more than three dozen names for the mobile news van we’ll be using to improve our news and sports coverage and to make it easier to connect with you, our readers.

Many of you were thinking along the same lines: Reggie (a nickname for Register) was a popular pick. Bill Day pointed out that Reggie harks back to Reggie Jackson, which in turn conjures up the Jackson Newspapers, the company that once owned us. Others who suggested Reggie were Mike Bilischko, who added “the News Van that can,” Julie Corrone, Joyce Bondos

Reggie? Rolling Register? Happenings? What name do you think would be best.

Another popular choice was a play on the word Rover: The Register Rover, the Roving Register, Register’s Roving Reporter. Adam Debernardi, Sheila Spera, Linda Leo and Melanie Petro were among those who wanted us to go roving. They may have gotten the idea from TC Rover, the Pioneer Press’ van that covers the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

There were several that had a casual air about them: "out and about newsvan" by Audrey McClure, Rolling Register and Register on the Move by Sally Hopkins, The Register’s News Cruise by Jane Snaider. Someone who didn’t leave their name offered Cruisin’ Newsroom. That last suggester also offered Special Delivery and Rolling Papers, adding “I’m guessing you're not going to use this one.” Yeah, you’re probably right about that.

The idea of speed and movement inspired Linda Krausz (Register Expressway, Register Bypass, Register on the Move), Ana Nieves-Winn (News on the Go!!) and Pam Landry (Register Dream Ride Express, Register Newsline Express, Register News to Go).

Marcia Kravitt thought Happenings was snappy, and Anita Bennett came up with Now.Here.Reporting, based on our initials, NHR.

We’ve got a lot to ponder, so keep the names coming. Maybe yours will be our choice!

By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor

Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices

Facebook: Ed Stannard-Register, Your Open Newsroom

We’re about to go on a roll at the Register.

Plans are under way for us to outfit a van as a mobile newsroom, which we can bring to breaking news events, football games, town fairs, anywhere. And we need a name for our rolling force of nature.

The van will have wifi, tables and chairs, maybe a coffee pot. Everything a roving journalist needs. You’ll be able to join us under the awning to talk to me or one of our reporters about how the Register is doing in covering your community, to get help setting up your own blog or to share a story idea.

The Register's mobile newsroom will be outfitted with wifi and a generator.

Of course, our reporters and photographers are out in the community every day. Certainly you’ve seen them if you go to a Town Council meeting or a ball game.

But we haven’t had a good way for you to sit down with us, to talk about how you think we’ve done, what you’d like to see us covering.

Once our van gets rolling, we’ll be able to park, put out the awning and set up shop on the go.

They’ve done this at our sister paper, the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn.. They call their van TC Rover. You can see photos of the van and its team at the Minnesota Vikings training camp in Mankato.


We’ll be outfitting the van in the next month, but to really get moving, we need a snappy name. Register on the Road? (Too much like Jack Kerouac.) Register Roadshow? Vincent? Then again, you probably have a better idea. Let us know! Give us a name … or five. Send your nominations—no limit—to voices@nhregister.com, or post them in the comments section below.

And we’ll see you on the road soon.

By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor
estannard@nhregister.com / Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices

It’s time to pay a visit to our Community Media Lab. You might be surprised at who you’ll find.

Do have a loved one with autism? Do you care about increasing literacy among our youth? Are you interested in sustainable farming? Our newest bloggers are passionate about those topics.

Shirley Blaier-Stein has a son with autism. She left her career as a lawyer to care for him, wrote a book called “Autism Mother,” and writes a blog called Autism Parents Community. We’re thrilled to add her blog to our media lab, offering those who love people with autism support and information.

It’s well known that literacy is vital to success in school and the job market. The Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven is a group of volunteers aiming to increase the ability of both children and adults to read. If you’ve considered volunteering to be a tutor, the Literacy Coalition is the place to call. And to stay abreast of what the organization is doing, bookmark Literacy, Every Day.

Melissa Waldron runs the blog Fertile Ground USA, whose motto is “Farming is a Transformative Act.” The site is chock full of information about the sustainable-agriculture movement, including urban farming.

Some of our other bloggers are promoting a cause. Actually, one, Christopher Zurcher promotes several causes in three different blogs he maintains: PeaceNews, the Progress Action Roundtable and Connecticut Environmental Headlines.

And Zurcher is not the only environmental blogger. Others on our site include Green Cities, Blue Waters from the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Yale Environment 360 by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, as well as nature-oriented blogs such as Matthew Houskeeper’s Soundbounder and Nick Bonomo’s Shorebirder.

In politics, our bloggers read from left to right: Aldon Hynes’ Orient Lodge and Andrew Rose’s Political Insomniac, to name two.

Our bloggers’ coverage enhances the news and features the Register’s reporters bring you every day, and we’re always interested in adding local bloggers — or helping you start a blog — who have a passion to share.

Sports. The Arts. Even a blog about Charles Dickens movies. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find at www.nhregister.com/blogs.

Let me or Angi Carter know if you’re interested in joining the Community Media Lab by emailing voices@nhregister.com. You can call me at 203-789-5743 and Angi at 203-789-5752. And check out OUR blog, Your Open Newsroom, and let us know what you think!

On Tuesday, we introduced a new story-commenting system, which we think is much better than the old one. It allows for "threading" of comments in the same conversation, so that if you reply to someone, your comment will appear under theirs, rather than down the list. You can also register by Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google -- or you can stay anonymous.

It also gives us the ability to whitelist commenters who show themselves to be responsible commenters (whether they agree with us or not) and to blacklist abusers who violate our commenting policy. No, we don't want to ban people who disagree with us, but we don't want hateful, abusive comments to lower the tone of the dialogue. (Read our commenting guidelines here.)

For more, read editor Matt DeRienzo's post in his Connecticut Newsroom blog. And see our story today asking for your feedback. Leave a comment there, here or email us at voices@nhregister.com. We want to hear from you!

By Angi Carter, Community Engagement Editoracarter@nhregister.comTwitter: @ReachAngi, @nhrvoicesFacebook: Angi Carter, Community Media Lab

The Association for the Study of African-American Life and History this year is dedicating Black History Month to a celebration of the contributions African-American women have made throughout the annals of the nation's history, from the advent of slavery to 2012.

The association selected "Black Women in American Culture and History" as the 2012 theme.

Harriet Tubman

There have been prominent women on the national scene, such as Harriet Tubman (1820-1913) or our first black First Lady Michelle Obama, (1964-present) but there also have been countless women who made a difference in our own homes, schools, churches, neighborhoods, cities and towns.

We were able to count on you - our readers and neighbors - in selecting a Person of the Year for 2011. So, we're coming back to you again to ask you to nominate African-American women who have made positive contributions to your community for profiles that will run in the Register throughout February.

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) founded "Negro History Week" in February 1926. It was expanded to a month-long observance in 1976.

Carter G. Woodson

Help us honor this time of remembrance, reflection and celebration by honoring women who have touched your life and the lives of others.
Tell us something about them by sending an email to NHRvoices@nhregister.com, posting information on this blog or calling me at 203-789-5752 or my fellow Community Engagement Editor Ed Stannard at 203-789-5743.

Thank you all for your help.

By Angi Carter |Community Engagement Editor

acarter@nhregister.com

Twitter: @ReachAngi

Facebook: Angi Carter or New Haven Register Community Media Lab

Sooo, Ed and I have discovered a great resource for thecommunity, businesses and bloggers – all in one spot.

It’s called The Grove on Orange Street in New Haven. Every2nd Monday of each month, bloggers and folks with social media or marketingexpertise get together there for a “Bloggers and Beer” networking event.

We got turned onto it by Giulia Gouge, a master Twitter useryou should follow: @giuliag.

#thankyou.

Ed and I got a chance to meet other folks who are startingblogs or looking for ways to improve their blogs. We also encouraged them tobecome part of the Register’s online blogging hub the Community Media Lab.

Even though we are full-time journalists, we don’t know itall when it comes to writing or blogging skills and we don’t pretend to.

As Ed and I figure out the offerings of this blog and growthe Community Media Lab, we’ll be offering weekly tidbits that we pick up alongthe way. So here are some tips we lucked out on hearing at The Grove. I hopeyou find this first edition of “Get Your Blog On” as helpful as it was for us:

Know your mission and purpose for blogging:

Start your blog and create each post with a clear sense ofthe message you want to convey, who you are trying to reach and what you aretrying to achieve with the content you provide for that audience.

Content is Queen:

Content is the most important tool we have as bloggers toengage our audiences. Spruce it up with links to previous posts or to websitesthat can help provide context; videos or maps; and photographs.

Give people an idea of what they can expect in a future postand issue a call to action. Ask them to comment or hit your Google+ and Likebuttons.

We will definitely be returning to The Grove – with someother bloggers alongside us.

By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor
estannard@nhregister.com
Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices
Facebook: Ed Stannard-Register, Community Media Lab

It’s a big new digital world we live in, and we’re all at different places on the path. So it’s great to meet up with others and trade ideas.

That’s the idea behind “Bloggers and Beer,” a monthly event at The Grove, a kind of social-entrepreneurial incubator and nice place to hang out. I went there today with Angi to find out what was happening. We had an ulterior motive too—to spread the word about our Community Media Lab of bloggers. We’re always looking for new writers to add to our stable.

I don’t know if it was the blogging or the beer, but more than 15 people were there: everyone from a guy who’s running multiple blogs, to someone getting ready to launch, to a hat designer. Some had no clue how to get a blog going. Most had something they weren’t sure about. (I include myself in the category of “have a clue, but not a big one.”)

The topic of the day was content—how to make a blog interesting to draw traffic. There was talk about having bright, interesting headers, photos, graphics, and how people sharing on social media makes the audience bigger.

Someone said something like, “Once someone tells me how to do something, I feel like I should have known that already.” I’ve felt that many times. Here’s my take on it: This digital medium is like going to a new country. Even when you know what’s going on, it can feel foreign and strange. We should assume we know everything there is to know, even if we knew it when we put out a newspaper or a newsletter. That’s why we need to get together, share ideas. The bottom line: There are no stupid questions, and if anyone asks me something that’s obvious to me, I need to remember that I have asked others things that were obvious to them.

That was the tone at today’s gathering at the Grove: People helping each other, bringing them along. It was exciting and fun. Join us next time!

I had the honor recently of spending time with students from New Haven’s Hyde Leadership Interdistrict Magnet School and their resource counselor, Jane Roth.

The group- about 20 - came to the newsroom for a tour and to observe our morning news meeting. As Managing Editor Mark Brackenbury explained, it was an unusual day, as many of the regular meeting participants were on the road.

While Mark and I were chatting with them about changes in journalism and the challenges we face every day, Joseph Kelley and his schoolmates did exactly what my colleague and fellow blogger Ed Stannard encourage our audience to do: Raise your voices.
As we roll out a reorganization that is focused on community engagement, investigative stories, explainer pieces, fact-checking and breaking news, I am delighted that Joseph told us how we could better serve him.

He wants us to go beyond reporting on-the spot conflict or violence when they arise in our coverage area. Listen in:

We will be continuing our discussion with Joseph and even more Hyde students after the turn of the year. We will listen to them and bring those forums to you via chats on our website. So be sure to follow Your Open Newsroom updates here on the blog, on Twitter @NHRvoices and our Community Media Lab page on Facebook.

You may also send me an email: acarter@nhregister.com or call 203-789-5752.

Ed and I are charged with making the New Haven Register newsroom more open to you. That means engaging you in all steps of the newsgathering process from finding out what’s happening around us, to shaping how your stories are presented online and in print, to sharing with our networks of family, friends and co-workers for even more feedback.

So, chime in and let us know how we’re doing. That’s right, just jump into the comments section and start now!