Celebrations abound in late October around the Oneida region

There were many celebrations in and around the greater Oneida area late last week:

• On Wednesday, the Madison County Historical Society held its well-attended annual dinner at Johnnie's Pier 31 Restaurant on Oneida Lake. Solsville native and guest speaker Jim Ford spoke about his book, "Sweet Cider Days", recounting the story of the world-famous Mott family of Bouckville. Executive director Sydney Loftus also reviewed the organization's highlights from the previous year and new board members were voted into office (including yours truly).
• Oneida Healthcare Center celebrated the completion of the second phase of an $18 million expansion effort on Friday morning with a ribbon-cutting and a breakfast at the Kallet Theater for nearly 250 supporters.
• A crowd of over 260 feted Madison-Cortland ARC Executive Director Ray Lewandowski as he received the 2010 Distinguished Service Award at the Greater Oneida Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, also held at the Kallet.
• And lastly ... and admittedly how you feel about this depends on where you live and/or attend(ed) high school ... Oneida had a thrilling 28-27 overtime gridiron victory Saturday over rival V.V.S. in a Class B semifinal football game in Chittenango. It was quite a transformation from a 33-6 Oneida loss to V.V.S. just two weeks earlier.

November is shaping up to be just as exciting. Among the many events and activities on tap: Oneida football faces Cazenovia in the Class B finals this weekend. And the new Pepi's Pizza on Route 5 opens its doors soon. Keep reading the Oneida Daily Dispatch and oneidadispatch.com for all the news of these happenings and much more.

Congrats to Oneida's Marcia Warham!

When I started my career at the Oneida Daily Dispatch in 1981, Marcia Warham was already one of the most - if not the most - veteran employees in the newsroom with nearly a decade logged in here. A number of reporters, edtiors and publishers have come-and-gone since (including me with a 28-year gap in my time here) but Marcia is still working along side us. She manages our calendars and obits, and is responsible for many of our news briefs.

Today is Marcia's 38th anniversary at the Dispatch. Congrats and thanks Marcia for all your years of hard work and dedication!

Oneida residents say Daily Dispatch is their #1 source of school news

Oneida Superintendent of Schools Ron Spadafora stopped by the Daily Dispatch office today to let us know the results of a community satisfaction survey related to communications from the district.

Respondents of the survey - over 400 total - overwhelming said their number one source of information on Oneida schools was the Daily Dispatch. While 75 percent of those responding cited the newspaper, the number two and three sources of information came from school employees and the district's twice-annual newsletter, respectively.

We discussed how the school district and the newspaper can partner and we agreed to start publishing a district column once a month, beginning in October.

I also offered the district superintendent a blog on our Web site, and would make the same offer to students, faculty and board members interested in writing about local education.

The survey included Oneida residents with and without family members in Oneida schools.

Full results of the satisfaction survey will be announced later this year; look for details of it in the Dispatch and at oneidadispatch.com.

Don't miss The Record's h.s football preview section next Thursday

If you are a fan of local high school football, make sure you pick up a copy of The Record next Thursday, Sept. 2, for our 48-page Kickoff 2010 special section.

The special section is the only area high school football guide that is free (assuming you are subscriber, otherwise 75 cents). Written and photographed by our award-winning sports and photo staffs, the section previews the fortunes of 21 local teams. Schedules and additional articles are also included.

Troy Restaurant Tour is Tuesday; support the Troy Boys & Girls Club

The first Troy Restaurant Tour sponsored by the Troy Boys & Girls Club is 6-9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 31. Ten downtown eateries are serving up samples of signature dishes to benefit the club.

The Record is the media sponsor.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que will serve pulled pork and baked beans in the club's parking lot, located at 1700 Seventh Ave., with local bluegrass band Big Creek providing live entertainment. Other participating restaurants include: Bacchus Wood Fired Pizza, Brown’s Brewing Co., Francesca’s, Holmes and Watson, Gelateria Lisa, Meka’s Lounge, The Red Front, The Ruck, DeFazio's and Wood-Fired Pizza.

Tickets are $20 in advance and $30 the day of the event; call the club at 274-3781. Maps will be available to participants describing the menu options available at each location. 

See troyrecord.com story for more details.

Busy month in August at The Record

Busy month here at The Record. A few highlights:

• Two staffers won awards in the state 2009-2010 New York State Associated Press Association annual contest. Chief photographer Mike McMahon won a second place award for spot news photography in the under 50,000-circulation category, while high school sports reporter Will Montgomery won a third place award for blogging in the under 25,000- circulation category for his blog, "Off The Record." Congrats to both.
• We had some transitions among people some of our readers and advertisers may know: Jessica Pasko, our business/higher education reporter, left to pursue a graduate degree in media management at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill. We are currently working to fill her position. Today is Danielle Sanford's last day in advertising; she is also pursuing a graduate degree (master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).  We wish both of them all of the best.
• Lianne Webster-Kim joined the staff as night copy desk chief. Previously, she was special sections editor for the Hudson-Catskills newspapers. She and her husband Ray reside in Troy.
• We have begun two important construction projects on our physical plant: We are completing a facade repair effort begun in 2009 and we will start working on replacing most of our roof (we're repairing those part that are slate) next week.
• The Record's digital specialist, Tom Caprood, began his journey as one of 15 people selected to participate in our parent company's ideaLab by attending a gathering of his co-conspirators in Pennsylvania. The goal of the group is to develop and field-test ideas that are going to help transform our digital first company, Journal Register Co. Read Tom's blog about it.
• Speaking of Journal Register Co. .... Our CEO John Paton was named to be a board member of the Newspaper Association of America; read the announcement.

Metroland on The Record: 'The most satisfying read of any paper around'

A year ago this week I was in my first 30 days as publisher of The Record when I wrote about a shout out in Metroland's Best of the Region issue; they cited The Record for having the area's best sports department.

Well, Metroland didn't cite any award this year for sports coverage but they did again recognize The Record - this time for "Best Newspaper Turnaround" - in their Best of the Region announcement this week. They said, in part, that we "reimagined" our product, and "now regularly produce the most satisfying read of any paper around".

We're blushing. Seriously, the newspaper - and our corporate parent, the Journal Register Company - has come along way in the last year. I've chronicled some of it here: a digital first focus, more editorial staff, new investments in technology and much more. And Metroland isn't the only one to notice; our home delivery subscriber base has grown over 6 percent so far this year.

I want to use this opportunity to say thanks to the folks at Metroland for the recognition, and particularly to our staff for the hard work and dedication to publishing a worthwhile community newspaper for the greater Troy area.

And finally, I want to say that more positive developments are coming. I can't wait to read what Metroland will recognize us for next year. I am confident the staff there and our readers will still be talking about the progress.

The Record is looking for a few good sales professionals

The Record currently has two openings in its advertising sales department. One is a territory sales rep and a second is an online sales manager.

If you never have considered a sales career ... take five minutes and read "6 Massive Advantages of a Career in Sales". Many people - particularly those from hospitality, customer service and retail fields - find it a rewarding career. And newspaper sales positions are more family-friendly than many jobs in the aforementioned fields with weekday hours - no weekends, evenings or holidays - and the ability to get outdoors and visit with local business owners.

If you or someone you know is looking for a challenging career with a good income and advancement potential, please contact Heather DeForge, our advertising director, for more information.

New tech blog at troyrecord.com; author is receipient of JRC recognition

The Record's digital specialist Tom Caprood launched a technology blog this week at troyrecord.com; it's called Digital Future.

Tom has previously contributed to our Troy Talk and  Campaign Notebook blogs at our Web site.

Tom was named recently as named to our company's Idea Lab by our CEO, John Paton. Tom - and 14 other Idea Lab members from across Journal Record Co. - will devote 10 hours a week for the next year to helping the company "think differently about what we do and how we do it". Experimenting with technology is a big part of the charge.

Record staffer gets national recognition for blog

The Record's own Siobhan Connally has been named a finalist by BlogHer in its 2010 Voices of the Year competition.

She was recognized in the editorial-opinion category for No Babies Are Saved in Killing of Doctor, posted to one of her blogs called Exiled in Toyland. Her Tiny Babel blog appears at troyrecord.com.

She has been an editor and writer with our company for 18 years. She is also an accomplished photographer; see her Flickr site.