A really cool idea, or two

"Do you know what would be really cool?"
These words from Mercury reporter Brandie Kessler were usually followed by:
"I know you probably don't want to do this, and you can say this is a dumb idea -- you're the boss, you do what you want, but I was just thinking wouldn't it be cool if ..."
A soliloquy along those lines preceded a number of really cool ideas that we have embraced at The Mercury and turned to successes for this newspaper and the community of the Pottstown area.
We collected more than 16,000 food items for area food pantries and nearly 1,000 containers of laundry detergent by joining efforts with TownSquare bloggers to spread the word about dwindling food supplies last winter.
Cool idea.
We created a Pinterest board of Most Wanted criminals in area police departments, getting pictures out to the public on a platform they use. Tips have led to arrests, which make police happy and make us proud.
Cool idea.
We are posting cards with donors' names to Operation Holiday on the window of The Mercury Community Media Lab as a colorful display and a thank you to the readers who send us thousands of dollars for our holiday giving program.
Another cool idea.
Brandie's coolest idea, at least in her mind, was raising money for the Pottstown Relay for Life by taking donations to pie a Mercury employee in the face at the Bark for Life event. The 2008 collection raised $2,700 and gave Brandie the opportunity to throw a banana cream pie in my face.

 I have had some cool ideas for Brandie, as well. One of them was sending her on the river with the Schuylkill River Sojourn last summer to live-blog four days of the river journey, traveling in her kayak, tweeting and taking video along the way.

Dedicated police reporter that she is, she fought me on leaving the office for a week to enjoy the outdoors.
I prevailed, and the blog was a gem.
Another idea I recently had was that she apply for a reporting job at our larger sister paper, the York Daily Record/Sunday News. I had learned about the job from colleagues at York, and I told her it was an opportunity she should not pass up. At least go for the interview, I insisted.
Again, the retorts that there are too many stories in Pottstown still to write, too much work still to be done.
But she went, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sunday was her last official day at The Mercury. She stopped in Monday though and I expect to see her again this week.
Brandie is one of a kind.
Her passion for reporting, her dedication to this craft, her persistence for excellence and her fearsome loyalty to her colleagues and others around her is unmatched.
That's why we already miss her.

There's a warning here, too, for our friends at YDR: Get ready for cool ideas.
And watch out.
You could end up with banana cream on your face. 

Join us for literacy project

Our Community Media Lab went to the dogs last week.
The Pottstown Bark for Life planning committee became the first community group to take us up on the offer to use our space in The Mercury for a meeting. The meeting involved about 20 people, but the talk was all about the dogs -- and the plans for next spring's Bark for Life event that raises money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
The group took advantage of our central location in town, our welcoming space, and free Wi-Fi for an organized committee meeting.
Their meeting was the first example of uses we hope to see in our newly created space at 24 N. Hanover St. in Pottstown.
Other news from our lab is that we're changing our hours to promote after-school use by students as a quiet study spot.  Currently, the lab has been attracting area residents who use the computers to look for jobs or learn about blogging from community engagement editor Diane Hoffman.

A recent field trip visit from Pottstown High School students reminded us that the mid-day hours are not as practical now that school has started. The local students told us our room looks like a good study spot if open after school.
As a result, we'll be changing in the next two weeks to open the room from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and keep our mid-day hours on Mondays and Tuesdays.
There's more ...

This Tuesday, Oct. 9, The Mercury is hosting a Community Media Lab meeting for our Town Square bloggers and anyone else who wants to come out and learn about blogging, the media or just view our exhibit of Mercury news photos.
The goal of the meeting is to embark on a literacy project.
What form will that project take?
Well, that's up to you and those attending the meeting.
Our goal is to help people embrace reading and help those struggling with illiteracy learn how to read.
We might sponsor tutoring sessions in our lab, or conduct a book drive for children's books, or build a lending shelf of books for adult new readers.
We've invited the literacy volunteers from the Pottstown YWCA Adult Literacy Center as guests Tuesday night and are hoping to brainstorm ideas and come up with a project and plan to get Pottstown reading.
Promoting literacy promotes education, helps people find jobs, helps employers fulfill workforce needs, and thus, combats homelessness, poverty and hunger.
Promoting literacy helps people and helps our towns.
Come out Tuesday night to visit our Community Media Lab, learn what our community engagement outreach is all about, learn about blogging and join the conversation to build literacy.
We're meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Media Lab entrance of The Mercury on Hanover Street.  See you there.