I need your help. No, I was not robbed while on vacation and am not trapped in some foreign city – I just need your vote. That’s right, your VOTE.

Kevin Sablan of the Orange County Register and Bill Adee of the Chicago Tribune and myself (representing Philadelphia Media Network) are trying to get our panel “Survivalist News: How Far WIll You Go for Readers” accepted for SXSW 2012.

Organized by Sheigh Crabtree of Perfect Market, this is one of a bunch of panels attempting to focus on the news industry, but in my unbiased estimation, the very best. Here’s a description of what we’ll attempt to do:

The Survivalist Newsroom: How Far Will You Go to Get Readers? In today’s frenetic media world, it’s never been more difficult for media companies to attract readers. They’ve used sophisticated search technologies, content seeding, social media, promotions, and splashy homepages to try to lure the most eyeballs possible to their sites. But how far would you go to get readers? In this session, hear from one newspaper that decided to sell Android tablets with its content pre-loaded at a massive discount, juts to get readers in the door. Hear how they also used games, giveaways, and sophisticated data-mining content management techniques to successfully increase readership.

Not bad, right?

Well here is where you come in. This year, with nearly 4,000 sessions submitted for the week (March 9-18), your votes and comments will account for about 30% of the decision-making process. The balance of the decision comes from the SXSW Advisory Board, which is a group of industry professionals from across the US and around the world and finally, the input of the SXSW staff. So please, vote. You can learn more about how to vote here. You can see the full description of our panel here.

So do Kevin, Bill and me a favor and show your support and vote and, while you’re at it, feel free to express your enthusiasm about the session on the comments portion of the page

I’m excited to be able to share that I have been invited to represent Philadelphia Media Network and speak at Digital Content Monetization East 2011 taking place from October 11-14 in New York City.

For those of you not familiar with DCM East, it is “a multi-stream summit incorporating only the most senior strategists and decision-makers in Film, Sports, TV, Publishing, Games and Music” … “DCM East helps you to sort out the best short and medium terms strategies for delivering revenue through digital content.”

While I don’t yet have all the details (such as the when and where), I can tell you that it’s not a panel, but my own session. More details to follow, but if you’re thinking of attending, here is a link to register. And let me know if you’re going to be there!

If you think that surviving your state’s primary or caucus now means you can chill, I would urge you to think again. While covering the political machinations leading up to the party conventions or Nov. 3 might not be glamorous or exciting, to your readers it’s just as important.

For many newspapers, covering the caucus or primary meant the creation of landing pages or a micro-site, blog(s) and possibly experimenting with sites/services such as Twitter or Facebook. Days of planning, reporting and writing went into your coverage, not to mention the involvement of staff from probably throughout your organization. So why let all that work go stale with only the occasional local or AP story to perk it up? And why allow all that new traffic that you garnered to just wander away?

Here are some ideas to keep your political engine chugging and your readers coming back for more:

• Identify and profile local convention delegates and super delegates. While your states selection process may not have begun yet, you can speak with people who have previously attended and identify those who are planning to apply. You can also provide an primer on the application process as it does differ from state to state.
• If you haven’t already, identify local political bloggers and create your own blog network. Consider aggregating all their feeds on your site, you can even divide it by party affiliation.
• Join the Publish2 Election News Network. As Scott Karp (Publish 2 founder) explains it, this would allow you to “post links to coverage in states that still have primaries upcoming and of course national coverage. This could be a great editorial supplement in states where there’s not much to report locally with the primary past.” And I couldn’t agree more.
• Keep an eye on the money. With candidates still vying for the Democratic and Republican party nominations, fund raising will continue in earnest. Use these sources to track who is donating in your coverage area:
  • Follow The Money
  • Open Secrets
  • Fundrace 2008
• Look at how the campaigns are spending money locally? Are they still running any ads, still planting political signs? What are they doing to keep supporters engaged?
• Invite local campaign coordinators to blog about their efforts. (Think you have a problem staying motivated!)
• Have any locals running as Third party candidates?
• Check out this widget set from MSNBC. Might be an easy way to dress-up your page and keep the data current.
• Offer a Google Maps mashup showing where the candidates are on a given day. Here’s one effort via Slate.

So those are a few from me, what are your thoughts? What stories and/or features are you thinking of doing? I think this is one of those areas where their is no reason to reinvent the wheel, so share your thoughts and ideas, by helping someone else you might just help yourself.

I want to wish all you Editor on the Verge readers a very happy New Year.

And since the year is just getting started, here’s was you can expect from me in 2008:

• I will continue writing at least 5 days a week.
• I will not use my blog simply for the dissemination of my del.icio.us feed.
• I will speak my mind and shed light on new ideas and issues, regardless of their popularity.
• I will attempt to outreach and connect with other bloggers who can inspire and motivate me.
• I will continue to embrace and evangelize on technologies that I feel can help the news industry.
• I will use Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and dozens of other sites.
• I will experiment with new online technologies.
• I will keep exploring ways to disseminate my posts.
• I will have fun.

So what will you do in 2008?

It’s the time of the year when seemingly every newspaper, news magazine and online news outlet is putting together their Year in Review and Best or Most Important Stories of the Year packages. I honestly don’t know who likes these more, readers or the people that work at the newspapers.

For those of you who do like these types of features, I’ve compiled a list of those who have already published their packages for your pleasure and enjoyment:

24-hour news networks:
CNN – Year in Review 2007
MSNBC – 2007 Year in Review

Wire Services:
Reuters – The Year in Review 2007 (In addition, Reuters also has a great News Aptitude Test for the year.)
Associated Press – Top News Story

Magazines:
Time Magazine – 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007

Top 25 Newspapers
USATODAY – 2007 Year in Pictures
Wall Street Journal – 2007: The Year in Business
Los Angeles Times – Best of 2007: Most popular stories
Washington Post – Best of the Post 2007
Chicago Tribune – ‘Year in Review’ Quiz
Houston Chronicle – Modern History: What was the top local story of 2007
Newsday – Vote for the best Newsday 2007 Cover
Arizona Republic – Photos of the Year
Dallas Morning News – 2007 Year in Review
San Francisco Chronicle – Help us pick the top 10 Bay Area stories
Orange County Register – Best and worst of entertainment in 2007

Others worth checking out:
The Buffalo News – Cast your vote for the top local news story of 2007
Providence Journal – 2007 Photographer’s Picks
Stockton Record – Vote for your favorite stories of the year

I was a bit surprised that fewer then half of the top 25 newspapers in the country had published their year in review or best of packages. If you’re one of those papers and have published your package and are not on the list, are you sure your pimping it on your home page?

If you have a year in review or best of package you’re happy with or enjoyed reading, why not share it below?

Happy holidays to all my readers, site visitors and colleagues. For those of you who were visited by Santa last night, I hope you got everything you wanted. As for all my Jewish colleagues, I hope you at least are getting holiday pay.

On the same day that it was reported that “government’s estimate of annual new HIV infections is likely to rise as much as 50 percent,” news that coincided with the world-wide observance of World AIDS Day, I was shocked to see that only two of the more then two dozen daily newspapers in New York and New Jersey, recognized World AIDS Day on their front pages.

This treatment by media organizations, at least in my area, seems to signal a complacency with AIDS that is dangerous because of the message that action can send. I can recall a time, not that long ago, when World AIDS Day was treated less like a live event (with coverage relegated to the day after) and more as an urgent, almost dire, opportunity. Newspapers used their position in the community to write about the risks of HIV/AIDS, current research and the need for funding to cover drug costs and/or research. Editorial page writers authored moving and passionate pieces about need for action and support.

If it seems like I’m wagging my finger while writing this post, I am. Shame, shame, shame on your newspaper editors and reporters. Even with declines in revenue and advertising, newspapers continue to play an important role in society. They are still a trusted and respected source and they still have a role to play in shaping public opinion and political will. AIDS and all the people it impacts remain an issue that needs the full attention of our industry. AIDS has not become an issue that can be, nor does it deserve to be, relegated to past tense or to an inside page.

Black Friday as covered by a variety of newspapers from around the web:

The New York Times package included two stories and a slide show.

For coverage from across the Hudson River, check out the The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), who also included a photo gallery.

The Philadelphia Inquirer chose to wrap an Associated Press story into their local coverage.

Over at SouthCoastToday.com, they’re chose to add video coverage to their package.

Down in South Jersey, The Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ) chose to limit their coverage to an Associated Press story.

The Arizona Republic’s team coverage included video, photo gallery, a blog and a links to local businesses.

Did you see any coverage that was innovative or different?