How to organize a Twitter chat without even trying

Attention tweeps, members of the Journal Register Company Idealab (yours included) will be holding a Twitter/CoverItLive chat on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 5 p.m.


We'll be divulging our not-so-secret journalistic tricks, and will be sharing what  new web tools we're using, ideas that didn't work (so you don't have to go through that path) and our visions for 2011 (I'm still waiting for the hovercar).

If you are interested in the future of news, you might want to check it out.  I'll post the feed in this blog as well.

Don't forget to bring your links.

Below is most of the Twittersation that created this beast. It's posted chronologically from newest to oldest, so you might want to start from the bottom.

The Hudson Valley Twittosphere

SOUND OFF: Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010

Today's Sound-off features the $31,000 question, a revolution IN ALL CAPS and candy, man!

19uchvny wrote on "Ulster County trash agency boss getting $31,500 raise"

"I don't even make $31,500 in a year "

ulsterhome wrote on "White House seeks drilling OK before hydrofracking study is complete"

" IF THIS IS TRUE...then its time for the people to take the streets - REVOLUTION. DO NOT ALLOW HYDROFRACKING IN THIS REGION WE WILL DO WHATEVER - WHATEVER - WHATEVER IT TAKE TO STOP IT. YOU destroy our land, our property, our values and you will not believe how hard we fight to protect it. HInchey - You and Obama Administration Are Now Officially On Notice! "

AMORRIS wrote on "The candy man can: Michael’s Candy Corner in Kingston makes 3,000 candy canes daily during the Christmas season"

" Great Story for the Holiday. Great work in keeping a tradition alive[ local town business men are a rare sight to see] "

SOUND OFF: Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010

Today's sound off is brought to you by happy feelings:

Viking1946 wrote on "EDITORIAL: Dutchess darkness"

" Your biased hypocracy is impressive. When will you comment on the gerimanderd district of maurice Hinchey that starts in Woodstock, dips down to pick up SUNY New Paltz, then scoots across the mountains to get SUNY Binghamton, then turns north to get the colleges in the ithica area.

That dilutes the votes of every resident that is your readership with transient students and the known liberal people that make up college environments. "

ulsterhome wrote on "Sex with Hyde Park teen lands man in prison for 12 years"

" What in god's name is WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

We need to re-evaluate 'sex offenders' and NOT EVER RELEASE THEM BACK INTO SOCIETY. The Orange County murder by the un-registered sex offender, the missing girl in VA, this case...We need to get Islamic on these perverts and either 'cut it off' upon prosecution or lock them up on pervert island where they can just clobber each other until none are left. This is disgusting and the problem is worse than ever. "

kingstonian wrote on "Sottile signs 2011 budget into law"

" Once again the Mayor and his band of idiots has failed us. They could find no where to make cuts to get the tax rate to zero like the County did? So every department is running at top efficency and there is no waste anywhere? Hard to believe. "

SOUND OFF: Monday, Dec. 13, 2010

Today's Sound Off, a selection of Daily Freeman comments, is about UFOs, criminals and a guy named "Barrack":

hurleyguy wrote on Area "UFO support group offers place to share questions, experiences"

" Anyone who questions the veracity of this article, who doubts that extraterrestrials walk among us, and that past abductees eschew meat, has merely to visit Woodstock on a Sunday afternoon. Besides, the interviewee has a Doctorate of Metaphysics. You can't get much more authoritative than that! "

geezer wrote on "Four arrested in Woodstock home invasion case"

"These crimes are being committed by locals...I moved here to escape this crap...time to lock doors and keep the old 12 gauge handy...very upsetting!"

Viking1946 wrote on "Federal judge in Virginia strikes down health care law"

"Great news, thankfully it was not heard by the 9th circuit court in San Franscisco. Take that Barrack, the Constitution still has meaning for today."

The production god is dead. Long live the Internet

As you know, it's been a hard but transformative week for the Freeman, having moved print production to Troy. Yes, our mailroom and press employees were let go as a result. I've know many of them for many years and it has been difficult to see them go.

But along with that difficult move comes a ray of inspiration. Our future is looking bright and I'm glad I get to be a part of it.

If you need a refresher, here's Publisher's Ira Fusfeld addressing our future and an illuminating interview by the Watershed Post with Managing Editor Tony Adamis, which addresses "how to make the transition from being a newspaper – which is a good thing to be -- to being a multimedia journalism company."

I'll let Journal Register Company CEO John Patton explain why we are doing what we are doing.

O+ boy! O+Festival donates money to Angel Food East, Queens Galley

From your friends at the O+ Festival

Tonight, towards the conclusion of the Uptown Holiday Open House,  The O+ Festival will present more than $1,000 of their first-year proceeds to two local charities in Kingston. The amount represents a 10% gift that O+ board members agreed to disperse to charities on an annual basis. This year, O+ will recognize Angel Food East, a hot meal program for people living with HIV and AIDS in the Hudson Valley, and Queens Galley, an Uptown-based program that provides awareness, education, relief and prevention of food insecurity in America, for their contributions to wellness in Kingston and the Hudson Valley, and their active commitment to fostering healthier communities. Representatives from all three organizations will be present for a brief, informal ceremony under the Christmas Tree on Maxwell's Patio, commencing at 8:10 p.m. Please join us!

The remaining 90% of O+'s 2010 proceeds are currently going to support the 501-c3 application process for non-profit status, the O+ book project, a music/health event in spring 2011 (more info to come!) and the second annual O+ Festival, Columbus Day Weekend (October 7, 8, 9)  2011. 

Director Maciek Godlewski recently completed a 4.5-minute mini-documentary of the first annual O+ festival 

Keep up with news at O+'s recently relaunched website at www.opositivefestival.org (which touts a great feature on the fest in the current issue of Businessweek magazine) and follow O+ at www.facebook.com/opositivefest.

Thanks for your support in 2010. And please join us tonight in thanking Angel Food East and Queens Galley for making a positive difference, and Uptown for a very great year.

Best,

Alexandra Marvar

O+ Media Coordinator

SOUND OFF!

Stolen Borrowed from your comments at the Daily Freeman

Snarky wrote on "Ulster to reappraise possible changes to senior meals program":

" I guess it's easier for Kingston to find ways to get funding for things like parades and fireworks. Oh, yeah, things the people REALLY need. I'm sure the town won't go without their St. Paddy's Day Parade or 4th of July stuff. But the elderly, poor and disabled go without. "

Winslow40 wrote on "Sottile says he supports budget changes recommended by lawmakers"

" Lets lay of some politicians bet we can save a boat load of money... "

beachgirl wrote on "Kingston heeds call to fix City Hall sidewalk"

" Great job! Now if we can get the lines painted on Broadway in front of the YMCA...St. Patricks Day is just around the corner, maybe the AOH people can do it when they paint the lines green for the Parade!! "

 Care to comment? This blog is open.

What is your favorite Christmas carol?

Daily Freeman rolls off Kingston press for the last time, video

Nice video editing job by WoodstockNick1 means that WoodstockNick1 is really good at video editing. So I would hire him, but he works here already.

The Phlooding of Phoenicia (again)

Black Friday store fights

Attack of the turkey

Soccer Goalie Gets Chased By Turkey @ Yahoo! Video

NYPIRG's 'Trouble in Toyland' 2010

NYPIRG's Trouble in Toyland 2010

A Four Loko experiment in the name of science and/or stupidity

Loco people drinking Four Loko

Belligerence Canned: The Four Loko Experiment - watch more funny videos

And here's New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz:

How to marry print, web with Quick Response codes

Today's print version of the Freeman has a new feature, which is building upon Wednesday's Quick Response code on the front page.

First, a re-cap. The front page's QR code allows you to 'Like' the Freeman on Facebook with your smartphone. So far I've heard a lot of buzz about it, but we haven't gotten many 'Likes' through it - yet. (I'm also pushing social media elsewhere, so our recent increase in 'Likes' has been partially due to that effort).

In today's Life section, left, accompanying a food story about Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville, there is a QR box (which in this section is replacing the On The Web box). This code, I believe, enhances print by allowing smartphone users to seamlessly watch a video related to the story right on their phones.

Let me demonstrate.

Quick response codes, explained

How to make Quick Response codes work for your publication

Starting Tuesday and through November, you'll see this at the bottom of the front page in the print edition of the Daily Freeman:

It's a QR (Quick Response) code. It will run with the following explanation.

"Scan this QR (Quick Response) code to 'Like' the Freeman on Facebook. You will need special software on your camera-equipped smartphone to decode the image. Search for ‘QR code’ in your phone’s app store"

You'll need a smartphone, and it could be any of these:

This is part of the Journal Register Company's Idealab, something that I'm not explaining again.

Anyway, if you are too lazy to search for 'QR code' in your phone's app store, here are some, based on a quick search and categorized by device. I'm only listing free apps:

Open Thread

That's right!

I'm on vacation, so I won't be around until Nov. 15.

So feel free to post whatever you want here to your heart's content.

I trust you'll use this opportunity responsibly.

MUAHAHAHA!