I'm still reeling from the snap back to reality.  For a full week the toughest decision I faced was whether to go surfing or sit in a hammock and read a book.  Now just deciding which shirt to wear seems monumental.  I'm gettnig back into the swing of things though...

Wow - quite a bit has changed!  I'm excited about all the activity and interaction the new web site is getting.  I told my team I should leave more often... just look how much gets done when I'm out of the way! 

On the news front, I think we have accomplished our goal of making stories more accessible from the homepage and making navigation easier.  Hopefully now you won't have to "hunt" for news. 

On the community side, activity seems to be ramping up.  It's exciting to see our site transforming from the typical one-way conversation of a newspaper to a true community site that takes on a life of its own.  Early in the planning process, one of the members of our team coined the phrase "Local Information Network".  Geeky as that is, I love the concept.  I think the Advocate reporting staff does an incredible job of covering local news, but we have a limited staff and can't be everywhere to cover everything.  This new platform will hopefully allow more coverage of our local community by people like you sharing information with your neighbors and friends. 

Now that we've launched, we're going to largely leave the site as-is for a few weeks while we gather feedback, make assessments, and prioritize our enhancement list.  This is your site folks!  Let us know what you think!  While I can't promise anything, constructive criticism and feedback is always welcome. 

Next blog, I promise to post some pictures of my trip to Panama.