Some of you may trek out to your Daily Star tube early in the morning and start your day reading your local newspaper cover-to-cover over a cup of coffee.
Some of you may first turn to the sports section, the classified section or start the crossword puzzle. And still others head to their computer and read the news of the day online.
Whatever your preference, there is an avenue for everyone, the young and young at heart.
If you are a faithful reader of my column, you must know my feelings about how important your input is about The Daily Star products. We have recently launched some features that I am excited to introduce, continuing my commitment to have the most interaction possible.
The recently launched Weekly Star is getting rave reviews. If you have not seen a copy, it is available free at most outlets that sell The Daily Star.
One of my favorite features is a two-page center-spread that often includes community-submitted photos. From ribbon-cuttings to Little League games, benefit dinners to family reunions, proms and galas and festivals, all your great photos are wanted.
I invite you to send us your shots for inclusion to dmccaffery@thedailystar.com with the subject: The Weekly Star, or mail it to The Weekly Star, attn: photo spread, P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820. Along with the photo, send a caption along with your contact information.
The opportunity to see your family or friends in print is something special, and we welcome your submissions. We also post photo galleries online under our multimedia section and are constantly looking for great photos to display. Keep them coming!
On Friday, The Daily Star, with partner Sweet Home Productions, will launch the unique local community comic strip, "The Sweet Home Adventures of Scoop," in The Weekly Star.
It is a treasure hunt and jumble all rolled into one, and the contest winner will receive $500. I don't know about you, but an extra handful of cash certainly could come in handy.
The contest rules are on each comic strip, and both of our websites have a video tutorial of how the contest works. Visit www.thedailystar.com or www.sweethomesavings.com to learn more.
Now, I know by the feedback I receive personally, many of you would like the flexibility to comment on our stories other than through letters to the editor, and now you can.
Online, there are no 30-day or length restrictions and virtually no waiting time. By clicking on the "add a comment to this story" at the end of a news story, you will launch a new window asking for a name, e-mail address and your comment along with a box to retype a security code.
You can post your thoughts for the online world to see within seconds, whether it be with your name or anonymously. Either way, I solicit you to leave your thoughts and have your voice be heard.
Another way to have an interactive discussion with other community members is on our online community forum. You can post a topic to spark conversation or comment on someone else's post and debate until your heart's content. I urge you to check it out at www.thedailystar.com/forum.
Now, if you are on the go like me, or your spouse grabs the paper to take to work before you have a chance to look at it, maybe a daily e-mail of the day's headlines would be helpful.
We can also notify you every time a breaking news update is posted to our site. You just have to opt in. We have launched a user-friendly breaking news site, www.oneontanow.com. If you click on the shortcuts on the right-hand side of the page, you can start receiving these informative e-mails immediately.
Now, I would not exactly describe myself as "tech savvy," but I do have a lot of fun experimenting with all the new stuff that pops up in the World Wide Web.
We are on www.myspace.com/thedailystar and www.twitter.com/thedailystar and we will be launching blogs shortly. If anyone is interested in blogging on a specific topic, please e-mail jwhitney@thedailystar.com to learn more.
This weekend, we will announce The Daily Star boys and girls basketball all-stars. We know this is an extremely popular feature and receive many requests for reprints of those pages.
To make it as easy as possible, we are offering selected reprints (and will be adding to them) from the winter sports season. You can purchase them at www.cafepress.com/thedailystar or access the site through a link on www.oneontanow.com. We understand a keepsake is priceless and hope that this service is valuable to commemorate the accomplishments of area high school players.
I may have touched on things you already knew or perhaps highlighted something you didn't know. We constantly look at innovative ways to expand our relationship with our readers and hope you send your photos, post your comments, and use these new tools to customize the way you get your news and information to your needs.
Now for the smoking _ I have a plan to make it over the hump because I have been at my current level for what feels like FOREVER! I am going to be a little secretive but will be able to tell you if it worked by the end of May. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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Tanya Shalor is publisher of The Daily Star and may be reached at (607) 432-1000, ext. 214, or tshalor@thedailystar.com. Her column appears every other week.
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