Bricks & Clicks
The Rockford Register Star is more than a newspaper: the ink on print or the “bricks” in the News Tower. We’re a multimedia news and information company: the “clicks” on our Web site and the TV clips on WREX-13. This blog explains our fast-changing media environment and interacts with our readers to show how and why we do what we do.

Don’t go home after the walk. Come to the after-party.

Add comment October 10th, 2009 02:40pm Jennie Pollock

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Rockford Woman’s third annual Victory Lap Brunch is just one week away. Hopefully it will be warmer than today (it’s supposed to be) so that we don’t freeze beforehand at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Martin Park, Loves Park.

Tickets for the pink champagne reception at Cliffbreakers, Rockford, are $20, with proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society. Buy them at Woodmans, Roxy Carmichael and Clodius & Co.

Last year, we had more than 600 women (and a few men) in attendance. Hope to see even more this year. It’s such a good time, and we have so many great giveaways in a short amount of time, including bracelets from Clodius and earrings from Zavius.

Thanks to Judy Emerson, Bea Ricotta and all the women on the committee who volunteer all year to make this a success.

Win tickets to meet ‘The Pack’

3 comments October 7th, 2009 12:56pm Anna Derocher

We’ve got a promotion on our preps football site, Gridiron. You’ve got a chance to win four tickets to meet the Green Bay Packers this Saturday at Packers Fan Fest at the Eclipse Center in Beloit, Wis. Enter here. Learn more about the event here.

College Stars … do you know any?

Add comment October 1st, 2009 09:05am Anna Derocher

Welcome to College Stars, a new series by the Register Star’s Alex Gary. He’ll identify former college stars he knows about. He starts with former Rockford West, University of Illinois and American Football League player Marshall Starks.

Alex said our lists are uneven. There are 85 names on our football sheet and 41 on men’s basketball. But we have just 13 in women’s basketball, 11 in soccer, eight in golf and only one in softball. He’s looking for your help to round out this list.

Learn more.

If you like HGTV…

Add comment September 22nd, 2009 12:14pm Jennie Pollock

On Wednesday, the Rockford Register Star debuts a new monthly tab section called Living Spaces.

It is your guide to the latest in seasonal and trendy designs and decor, as well as local businesses that provide such products and services.

Coming up (tentative plan):
– October: Furniture, especially retro themes
– February: Hottest tips for 2010 from local designers
– March: Closets, organization and spring cleaning
– April: Kitchen transformations
– May: The three P’s of real estate: price, presentation and promotion
–June: Landscaping, from beginner to advanced
– July: Something for every color
– August: Investing in timeless pieces
– September 2010: In the bedroom
– October 2010: Seasonal preparation

The magazine will not publish in November, December or January but generally will appear in your Register Star the last Wednesday of every other month.

You can find the content online under Rockford Woman, At Home.

If you have questions about the articles in Living Spaces, call Lisa Glowinski at 815-987-1379. If you’d like to advertise, call Advertising Manager Lorie Gallagher at 815-987-1303 or e-mail lagallag@rrstar.com.

You can rate those football videos

Add comment September 16th, 2009 07:49am Jennie Pollock

As we’ve told you before, we’ve bumped up the number of videos we do for prep football.

In addition to the Game of the Week posted each Friday night, our sports staff previews the big games, picks which teams they think will win and interviews players/coaches.

Now you can rate our videos. Instead of stars, you’ll see flames.

College media team goes digital

Add comment September 10th, 2009 03:16pm Anna Derocher

TommieMedia.com launched yesterday at St. Thomas University in Minnesota. The campus ditched its print newspaper, opting to focus on delivering news and information solely online. Jack Burke, former Register Star business editor and St. Thomas grad, sent me the link yesterday. He said The Aquin, the former newspaper, was “always a sharp operation. Good to see they’re trying to stay ahead of the curve.”

It’s Waterfront time

2 comments September 2nd, 2009 09:21am Anna Derocher

At church Sunday, I told an older woman that I would be at Waterfront on Saturday to see the Barenaked Ladies. She raised her eyebrows. I’m sure she was unaware I was referencing the Canadian band famous for “If I Had $1,000,000″ and “One Week.” Oh well.

The downtown Rockford festival kicks off Thursday night with Charlie Daniels. Rockford native Amanda Torp-Pedersen, who fronts the group Amanda Christine, will open for the country singer. Smash Mouth closes Waterfront on Sunday night.

In today’s newspaper, is a Waterfront guide booklet. And, of course, you can get information on our Waterfront site.

The air is crisp. Hello, Friday Night Football!

Add comment August 28th, 2009 04:54pm Jennie Pollock

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Sigh. The weather has felt like fall for two months. And summer is unofficially over as we approach On the Waterfront and watch our first high school football games tonight.

Today’s Gridiron section introduces the season with 18 pages of previews from our Sports staff. What I love the most, creatively, is that our staff re-created famous football photos in history with each of the NIC-10 teams. See our gallery and the video explaining how we did it.

Our Web site is back and better than ever, with a Twitter feed, quarterly scores, team/individual statistics, stories, photos and three video shows a week (Wednesday-Friday), plus a video from the game of the week.

Special report, comment on fatal police shooting

Add comment August 27th, 2009 08:31am Anna Derocher

We’ve gathered all the content related to Monday’s shooting in one place on rrstar.com. The special report has stories, videos, photos and more. You will also find a link to comment on the case.

A familiar voice

Add comment August 26th, 2009 07:43am Jennie Pollock

Jim Killam, adviser for the Northern Star, Northern Illinois University’s daily newspaper, spoke with WNIJ about the future of the journalism and its uncertainty.

At the Register Star, we’ve worked for years with Killam because his recommendations on students carry currency for us in hiring.

Of course, he worries about less investigative journalism and the ability to make money when people expect news to be free. In the end, he makes a good point:

“What our main product is is not paper and ink; it’s news and information.”

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