York Daily Record’s Managing Editor: ‘We need to be at full speed online all day and all night’
Taste of York was one event from a busy weekend covered lived by York, Pa., Daily Record/Sunday News staff.
Managing Editor Randy Parker sent a note to YDR editors on Friday in which he set the stage for a busy weekend.
In the mobile age, readers are no longer tied to their desktops in offices. Coverage really is 24-7. So a major theme in the newsroom at 1891 Loucks Road is to execute in off-peak hours. Actually, when you think about it, off-peak hours no longer exist.
Every hour is a peak hour.
So notice this theme in Randy’s note:
“Looks like we are in for a particularly busy Saturday. Significant snowfall and icy roads throughout the day. Big high school sports day. FlipSide Happy Hour and Restaurant Week.
“No doubt many other planned and unplanned happenings.
“We need to be at full speed online all day and all night. We do not lighten up on the weekends, or at nights. Because our readers never lighten up.
“Be sure to keep the web site and our social media pages up to the minute for everything. That means that if snow falls, we report that as the flakes are hitting the ground, with links to forecasts, snow cam, 911 log, scanner, etc. that means that when points are scored and games are won, our home pages reflect the “now” moment, not the “preview” moment. And it means that we share the excitement and the news of the downtown entertainment events as they happen.
“Department Heads — please keep an eye on things and sound the alarm if things seem out of sorts. Quite a few of us will be involved in the Happy Hour event, where it will be hard to focus on much else.
“Thanks in advance. It will be a busy day, but we will do a lot to help thousands of people get the most from the day.”
From photographer Jason Plotkin: ‘A brave man walks around the York city streets.’ The YDR liveblog the weekend’s bad weather, as well.
Also of interest:
Here’s one event that didn’t take place over the weekend. Flipside’s Happy HourĀ was postponed to next week because of the weather.