Writing Hurts

I’m getting ready to start a new gig at The Gazette, as Social Media Guide.

The name came from Gazette editor Steve Buttry, and is a pretty good description. I’ll be helping move the paper toward becoming more interactive.

The idea is that we need to implement features to get our readers more involved. It’s not the only tool in the tool box, but giving people a place to come together is a way we can start to help foster community.

I’ll be blogging about what we’re trying, what works and what doesn’t, and the long road toward our vision. Should be a fun ride.

And I’ll be posting regularly again. The vacation was wonderful. You can see lots of pictures and read our impressions here.

It’s been a hectic week, so I haven’t posted much. The next two weeks will be shot, as well, as I’m heading to Ireland for a long-planned, much-anticpated vacation.

We’re going in honor of my grandfather, who died last June. You can follow our trip at http://www.thekellysgotoireland.com

We’ll be updating with photos, video and text as often as we can get Internet access.

This blog was originally conceived as a place for me to write about writing. As that hasn’t happened, I’ve decided I should write about something I deal with every day — the intersection of news and technology.

I’ll be writing about the ways newspapers can, do and should use new technology to reach new audiences, along with some criticism of technology-related stories in the mainstream media.

I’m another voice in an already-crowded field, but I hope I can bring a few new ideas to the table.