The Winnipeg Free Press’s cafe has increased reader engagement, helped social media efforts, and apparently made some fine sandwiches.
Not long ago, the Winnipeg Free Press’s social media editor hosted an online chat from her desk at the paper’s downtown news cafe. She had done it many times in recent months but something unexpected happened.
People had taken up the paper’s social media invitation to “join us” in a chat about Google+ with guests including GigaOM’s Mathew Ingram. But audience members started showing up at the cafe in person saying, “I’m here for the chat!”
“I looked at them and thought, ‘Oh…okay. That’s my mistake there. I didn’t promote this the right way,’ said Lindsey Wiebe. “But that’s also a good sign,” she added. “They’re thinking of this cafe as a hub where our events are held. So, it’s been a challenge for all of us in not just integrating the cafe into what we’re doing, but remembering that people come here expecting stuff.”
...Wiebe and two colleagues — multimedia reporter Tania Kohut and multimedia editor Tyler Walsh — are based full-time in the cafe. Their desks sit on a low riser in a bright corner of the coffee shop, situated in the historic building the Free Press took over five months ago. Lights and TV monitors on the stage frequently grab the attention of people walking by.
“Right away you walk in and see this is a live studio,” said John White, deputy editor of online, who got the cafe up and running. “At any given time, you’ll see other journalists working there — columnists and other writers meeting people there or just going there to write. We also encourage our staff to meet our contacts there.”
http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/09/chats-dont-have-to-be-online-a-newspaper-finds-success-with-its-downtown-news-cafe/?utm_source=Daily+Lab+email+list&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=87bf398b4a-DAILY_EMAIL
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