Inside LINK is a weekly column from our CEO, Lacy Starling. If you have questions you’d like Lacy to answer, email her at [email protected].
Two weeks ago in this space, I wrote about our plans for year two of LINK – our beat re-alignment, some new hires, developing core coverage areas, and how we’re going to find our voice.
A big part of developing our core coverage areas and finding our voice is listening to the community, so we’re working hard to find ways to interact more with our readers outside of just doing interviews or attending meetings.
The first thing we’re starting is what we’re calling Office Hours. You may have seen our announcements about Office Hours this week, on social media and in our email newsletter.
The concept is simple – each Wednesday morning, our reporters are going to pick a coffee shop, library, bookstore or restaurant in their beat area, and set up for an hour. There’s no agenda, and no interviews scheduled – they are simply hanging out in the community, making themselves available to have casual conversations with anyone who wants to talk to them.
The locations will rotate each week, and we’d love to hear your suggestions for a great place to sit and work from 10:30-11:30 on Wednesdays.
If you do happen to stop by, you can give us ideas about stories you’d like to see covered, tell us good background information about your community, or just introduce yourself and let us know what you think about our coverage.
Our editors and reporters need to be a part of the communities in which they report, and they need to know the people and communities they are covering. Sitting in the community an hour a week obviously isn’t enough immersion to make that happen by itself, but combined with covering all the meetings, events, business openings, and good news stories they do on a regular basis, it will help them learn more, faster.
Here’s the schedule for the rest of December, in case you want to stop by and visit our editorial staff:
Alecia Ricker, Kenton County Reporter
- Dec. 7 – The Roost, Latonia
- Dec. 14 – Fort Wright Family Restaurant
- Dec. 21 – Anchor Grill
Meghan Goth, Managing Editor
- Dec. 7 – The Hive, Erlanger
- Dec. 14 – Little Spoon Bakery and Cafe, Newport
- Dec. 21 – Velocity Bike and Bean, Florence
Maggy McDonel, Digital Editor
- Dec. 7 – Bakers Table Bakery, Newport
- Dec. 21 – flow, Newport
Mark Payne, Politics and Government Reporter
- Dec. 7 – Y’all Cafe, Covington
- Dec. 14 – The Hive, Erlanger
- Dec. 21 – Roebling Point Books, Newport location
Kenton Hornbeck, Business Reporter
- Dec. 7: Kenton County Public Library, Covington Branch
Dec. 14: Hotel Covington
Dec. 21: Gateway Community and Technical College, Florence Campus
Kaitlin Gebby, Print Editor
- Dec. 7 – Boone County Library, main branch
Dec. 14 – Reality Tuesday, Park Hills
Dec. 21 – Roebling Point Books, Covington
Haley Parnell, Campbell County Reporter
- Dec. 7 – Carabello, Newport
Dec. 14 – Brass Key, Alexandria
Dec. 21 – Unataza, Dayton
Grace Tierney, Boone County Reporter
- Dec. 7th: Biggby Coffee, Florence
Dec. 14th: Boone County Public Library, Scheben Branch
Dec. 21st: Velocity Bike & Bean, Florence
In January, we’ll have a whole new schedule, so send your suggestions for places for us to meet. We LOVE discovering new places in NKY, and helping our readers do the same.