Goodbye, old press

Add comment November 12th, 2008

Two years ago, we said goodbye to our daily servant, the Hoe press that served the Register Star so solidly for four decades, when we installed the KBA Colora.

This year, we’ll truly say goodbye to the Hoe because work begins soon to remove the press from the old press hall, seen in pictures above. Such a piece of history.

We have a Godiva winner

Add comment November 11th, 2008

Mary Moore of Rockford won the Rockford Woman giveaway of a $100 Godiva chocolate basket from Crimson Ridge. We received 4,875 entries in two weeks — almost twice as much as our 2007 gift guide giveaway.

Mary was thankful, of course, when I spoke with her on the phone. She expects to give away some of the goodies as gifts but keep some of it for herself — the best of both worlds!

Thanks to all who entered and support our magazine.

Missing Heather Pick

1 comment November 10th, 2008

On Friday, WREX-13 had to report on the loss of one of its beloved “family members,” Heather Pick, who died Friday at age 38 of breast cancer.

While she left Rockford for Ohio six years ago, the community still felt strongly connected to her.

We at rrstar.com posted reaction and photos. WREX led the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. broadcasts with moving tributes to Heather. I couldn’t embed them, so click on “5″ or “10.”

In case you missed the coverage, here’s your chance to catch up.

FYI, her Columbus station aired WREX’s tribute, too.

Election coverage boosts site traffic

Add comment November 9th, 2008

We always see an increase in page views on Election Day and the day after, mostly because people come to us for results information. We aggregate vote totals from several sources and put them online and in the newspaper.

Overall site traffic on Tuesday was just shy of 200,000. Election coverage generated approximately 41,500 page views on Election Day. Of that, 31,559 views were of our results page.

On Wednesday, we garnered 21,558 page views on election content. Nearly 16,000 was results.

A piece of history, part two: Get yours

Add comment November 8th, 2008

I, like others, saved a few extra copies of the Wednesday Register Star, which declares “Obama wins” in this historic 2008 presidential election.

I wondered who ended up with the original plate that went on the press (the photo above shows the page on the press’ computer, taken with  my camera phone). I never found out, but now I learned that I can buy my own Obama plate (to put next to the films I saved from the 2000 Bush election newspapers; we used to need film to make a plate back then).

Order your press plate for $19.95 at 815-987-1400.

Or order your full-color page reprint for $27 here. You also can make it into a T-shirt or mousepad. Note: There’s a 15 percent discount in November.

A piece of history

Add comment November 5th, 2008

We have tools beyond the newspaper to report election results these days: radio, TV, the Web, cell phones and so on. But there’s something nostalgic and meaningful about newspaper front pages.

Last night I saw NBC airing Obama front pages, and the Web collects hundreds of them, thanks to the Newseum, which is loading slowly today, darn it.

The Nov. 5 Register Star front page played it straight, like many papers did: “Obama wins.” The photo of the Obama family we chose also was used by other papers.

Now this photo is making the rounds, of people lining up to buy a piece of history.

My apologies

Add comment November 5th, 2008

I didn’t blog as much as I thought I would today. For that, I’m sorry. It’s been a busy, history-making day and I am just getting a chance to collect my thoughts. Barack Obama is our president-elect. That’s something. I’ve been up for 20 hours, so now’s not the time for me to share my reflections on the day that was. I’ll write more later today. After I’ve gotten some sleep.

It’s Election Day and the newsroom is already hopping

Add comment November 4th, 2008

I don’t know about you, but today is one of the most exciting days in my lifetime. I love Election Day, but this one — like a big blockbuster movie — has gotten so much hype. And as a journalist, I get to be part of a team who tells you what’s going on today. We started first thing this morning on rrstar.com and will continue through the day and night. We’re your home for election news and results.

The newsroom may only have three people in it right now, but several staffers are in our communities reporting on voter turnout, taking pictures and talking to voters. By poll close tonight at 7, there’ll be many more in this room. There will be a certain buzz and a lot of eager people trying to produce an up-to-date Web site and get out a newspaper by deadline. It’s a adrenaline boosting experience. I started my day with a latte with an extra shot of espresso so I can make it through the day. I probably didn’t need it. I already had a natural rush when I woke up at 4:30 a.m. today.

Blog feed back up

Add comment November 3rd, 2008

We had some problems today with our blogs not feeding to the rrstar.com home page. It appears all is working again. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Blog feed down

Add comment November 3rd, 2008

You may have noticed on rrstar.com that our blog feed is not working properly. We’re sorry for the inconvenience and hope to have the feed back up soon. Try this page for direct links to your favorite blogs.