The consortium of Time Inc., Conde Nast, the Hearst Corporation, Meredith and the News Corporation does not lack for ambition, hoping to design software primarily for devices that do not yet exist – cellphones more advanced than anything now on the market and e-readers far more sophisticated than today’s mostly static, black-and-white devices via Five Magazine and Newspaper Publishers Introduce Their Digital Newsstand.

This is what we’re working on with the Florida Media Co-operative. Making it easy for readers to move among our sites is just the first step.

Over the past two months we’ve discussed how we could increase coverage of our neighborhoods, while not completely lose touch with our families.

We’ll borrow freely from each other’s expertise. Chuck is a sitesmith. He’s been known to force a Wordpress theme or two into submission. Tommy is a passionate observer of society, who is excited about the possibilities of several folks working together.

However, we are both are first, and foremost, writers. We will continue to cover our home areas of Tampa, St. Pete, Lakeland, and Polk County. In the coming weeks we’ll expand from primarily geographical coverage to add a topic site on the nuts and bolts of hyperlocal publishing. We also hope to work with other Central Florida sites to expand news coverage, ideas, and expertise.

For now though, we’re starting slow. We’ve started with a new design for all three sites. Inside you’ll still find the same strong reporting and photography you’ve enjoyed. We’re hoping it’ll be easier to navigate and find some articles you might have missed.

We’ll make tweaks over the next few days as we get reader feedback. So don’t be shy. You can contact Tommy or Chuck or just leave a comment here.

Tamara Sakagawa claims I made the follow points during a workshop on social media. I’ll take her word for it as I don’t remember the workshop at all. I think I was channeling someone else. Anyway, the workshop was for Dixieland Community Redevelopment Area and USFPoly was nice enough to loan a lab. Not that I was there, mind you.

1. You are your brand and you can (and should) control your image on the Web.
2. Keep your website current, the more often you update your site, the better your Google rank.
3. Blogs are currently good ways to get higher up in Google searches- Use www.wordpress.com- you can “play” with a dummy site.
4. However, blogs, comments and forums are old skool- Social Media is new skool – FOR NOW.
5. “Social media is about starting conversations.”
6. Use Social Media (Internet-based tech based on user participation and user-generated content) to see WHAT and WHO people are talking about.
7. Sites like twitter.com and yelp.com are “searchable” for information about people, businesses and topics of interest.
8. As a Social Media user, know your audience- write to your audience. Talk about things you want them to know.
9. Twitter is broadcasting AND narrow-casting. Anyone can see your tweets (public timeline) a select group can see what you tweet immediately (followers).
10. AS A RESULT, keep your business tweets and your personal tweets separate – don’t tweet about things that you wouldn’t pay for in an ad.**
11. Find the hashtag # (keywords) for your industry or location (hashtags.org) and use it in your tweets in order to make sure you can be found in searches.
12. Example: #lkld is used for Lakeland and #corn is used for, well, corn.
13. Use Twitter-management systems like www.Hootsuite.com or www.tweetdeck.com to make this less complicated.
14. Hootsuite saves keyword searches and allows for “timed” tweets (load ‘em all up on the first of the month and then let ‘er rip).
15. Tweetdeck allows followers to be separated by groups, clusters real-time searches and shows direct messages- all on the same screen.
16. Facebook pages and groups are great for sharing information- not for local marketing.
17. Use FB for communicating with friends; FB pages for your business should be for fun.
18. Don’t be afraid to show your personality in your tweets.
19. When you start: follow the people you trust and follow who they follow.
20. Try to use your real name: http://ow.ly/4wCX

** — Unless you are your business, but I still prefer separate accounts for personal and business use.

PS: If you like any of these, note that Tamara improved what I said. If you disagree with any, she quoted those accurately.

Photo by Tom Hagerty

If your Twitter account is sending DM spam, take the following steps:

1) Close Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Hootsuite or any cell apps that check your Twitter account.

2) Log into Twitter directly on the Web at http://twitter.com

3) Open “Settings” (It is on the top menu.)

4) See if you have a tab labeled “Connections.” If so, click it and deauthorize everything you find there. If you want, note and reauthorize later.

5) Go to the “Password” tab and change your password. Make it longer and stronger.

6) Clear your Browser cache and exit.

7) Restart the browser and log back into Twitter. Make sure you no longer have a “Connections” tab under settings. If you do, go back to step 3 and repeat.

8] If you use Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic or other such third-party apps, you will need to give them the new password. I recommend you not do so for 24 hours. The fewer sites that have your password during this problem the better.

If someone you know is sending out Twitter spam, send them to this article.

PS: You can follow me at @chuckwelch for hyperlocal journalism information and get social media tips aimed at not-for-profits and small businesses at @sitesmith

Hyperlocal bloggers must make the process as transparent as possible. The idea that journalists have a completely neutral point of view is a myth. Who and what your cover is guided by your biases and concerns. Let your audience know if you have to answer to anyone. While I don’t have them listed as bullet points, here’s my personal statement:

Pertinent education and true change is accomplished only through intelligent and uncensored discourse. Governments, organizations, and relationships operate best when processes and discussions are transparent. That’s also how I operate Lakeland Local.

If you get to know me, you’ll find I sometimes have opinions and beliefs that are not shared by my family, friends or employers. While they may not agree with what I may publish, they agree that public discourse is important.

Every opinion on Lakeland Local is mine alone. Every story I decide to cover is my choice alone. I ask no friend, family member, or employer for information or opinions on what I choose to feature here. No friends, family members or employers have ever, or could ever, influence my decision to cover or not any topic on Lakeland Local.

Furthermore, I am not a member of any organization that I cover, or one that has any dealing with any organization or topic I may join. If I join something, I’ll post it here.

Finally, every link I place on Lakeland Local either is pertinent to the post or contains information useful to Lakeland residents. I may or may not agree with everything found at that link. If you’re confused which is true, post a comment and I’ll clarify the issue.

In other words, if there is something here you dislike or like, you can blame me alone.

In July 2008, Lakeland Local welcomed additional authors when Billy Townsend, Lorrie Delk Walker, and Darby Critendon brought their popular writing to Lakeland Local.

I promised all three authors I would not censor their articles. Each is willing to stand behind his or her work. In other words, even if the words are not my own, I’m confident they’re valid.

Contributor Bios:

Darby Critendon is a young professional in the community and recently graduated with a Masters of Business Admin from Southeastern University. Her college radio DJ name was “DarbySea”. She enjoys photographing nature and always hopes to catch that one perfect shot. She has a passion for videography and the local arts.

Critendon started her blogging career with the popular site DarbySea.

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This is a creative outlet and soapbox for Lorrie Delk Walker where, at times, she has stuck her foot so far into her mouth, surely she has quashed any hopes of ever being elected to public office.

Lorrie is a writer, avid recycler, small-time chicken farmer, SPCA foster parent and fan of all things Downtown Lakeland.

Posts from Delk Walker’s popular blog, Takes From the Delk Side, were added to the Lakeland Local archives and can be found here.

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Growing up in Detroit, Tom Hagerty dreamed of watching baseball in sunny Lakeland, Florida. That dream came to fruition in 1998 when he moved to Lakeland. Tom has a passion for the Detroit Tigers, the Lakeland Flying Tigers and all things Detroit. His interests include reading, writing and photography. Tom and his wife have two daughters, four cats, one dog and a guinea pig.

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Billy Townsend was a longtime government, political and general assignment reporter in Polk County and the wider I-4 corridor. He wrote extensively about Polk’s unique regional identity and the issues shaping it, including USF Polytechnic, the Heartland Parkway and the CSX rail deal.

Billy recently left professional reporting to take a corporate writing job, but he keeps close tabs on news of all stripes (especially political news) and the changes in modern journalism. Billy’s wife is Julie Townsend, executive director of the Downtown Lakeland Partnership.They live with their three children in the Lake Morton area.

His work at Lakeland Local is his first as an amateur hyperlocal writer.

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Cat Carter first moved to Lakeland in 2001 to attend Florida Southern College. After graduation, she taught Computer Science and Math in a small Virginia town. In 2006, she returned to Lakeland for a two-year stint at the Lakeland Economic Development Council.

A strong supporter of downtown Lakeland, Carter loves the Parker Street Neighborhood where she and her husband work together in the neighborhood revitalization team.

In addition to other duties for the LEDC, Carter spearheaded Y Lakeland, a program aimed at retaining Lakeland’s college graduates. The YLakeland blog quickly grew as one of Lakeland’s most respected Web sites. The experience propelled her into the world of hyperlocal blogging where she will continue to write as one of the contributors to Lakeland Local.

photo credit: Tom Hagerty

The word “Tampa” comes from the Calusa (sometimes spelled Caloosa) Indians. The Calusa Indians lived in West Central Florida until being virtually wiped out by explorers (and their diseases) between 1500 and sometime into the 1800’s. The Calusa called this place Tanpa (with an “N”), which translates to “sticks of fire.” Some have said that this refers to the abundance of kindling and driftwood along the Hillsborough river (sticks to make fire), but I agree with those that say it is a reference to the constant barrage of lightning storms in the area (sticks made of fire). Yes, Tampa Bay is known as the lightning capital of the US. When the white people came and took this land from the Indians, they had a difficult time pronouncing Tanpa, and took it upon themselves to change the N to an M.

Welcome to Sticks of Fire.

Welcome to Tampa.