News-Record.com

The biggest lesson was the one I least expected: rather than any stereotypical resistance, our journalists embraced the technology, enjoyed the public interaction with readers, and eagerly enlisted help on podcasts and multimedia. That, with leadership from Lex, Herb, Jerry, Michael, Charlie, Kevin, Stephen and a lot of others, was the key driver of whatever successes we’ve had.

Unlike the presumption that ink-stained wretches rebel at the idea that they "have" to do anything other than write for the print publication, most of our staff understands where the business is headed, and they want to play. During a staff meeting last week, reporters asked for more training with online tools and equipment. We have a waiting list for those who want to blog. (As I've said, we had some technical delays.) Publishing on the web first is spreading as more writers follow wherever the response on a blog post leads them.

A culture of arrogance and defensiveness? No, rather, a culture of experimentation and innovation. At least, that's our hope and goal. Granted, we have some folks who suddenly study the floor when we ask for volunteers for something new, but those numbers are small and shrinking. Instead, more are impatient and worry that we're falling behind. I do, too.

So, we're shifting into second gear.

From the beginning our online content has been integrated into the newsroom, rather than separate. Now it's time to get more organized and focused, which is what the new content team will do. It's not that experimentation will stop -- far from it -- but our experimentation will be more directed and intentional.

The goal: to effectively extend our journalism. To create that place described by Hugh MacLeod via Jeff Jarvis: "a point on the map where wonderful people cluster together to do wonderful things."

What to expect? I'm going to be vague now because we're still piecing the details together. But you'll see much faster expansion and greater dynamic content on the Hometown Hubs. A new Go Triad site that is closer to Lawrence than News-Record.com. More multi-media shows from the newspaper content and independent of it. More citizen journalism, including partnering our reporters with citizen journalists on investigative projects. More video. A much greater sports presence online. Comments on stories.

And that's just on the content side. There are other technological features we hope to initiate, too.

Do newspapers need to embrace online publishing? Does everyone have to participate? Do readers know more than journalists? Should newspaper staffs and online staffs be separate or together? Does the customer/citizen/consumer/reader have the control? Are the walls down? Are bloggers journalists?

These are last year's questions. Asked and answered.

Next year's questions for us are these: How can we move more quickly? How do we achieve the intimacy, the sense of belonging that myspace.com and facebook.com have that will not only keep users coming back but will make them look forward to coming back? In an age of customization, where do we fit most effectively? Mobile? How do we move the print newspaper forward with the same sense of innovation?

There are others -- feel free to ask them here. It will be fun searching for the answers.