Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento press"

Intro to Photojournalism Workshop Feb. 21

2012-02-07T01:08:27Z

Photographs are an important part of storytelling and can often tell a story on their own. After a brief workshop hiatus, our first Sacramento Press workshop for 2012 will be on photojournalism. (The Journalism Open workshop wasn't a typical workshop for us.)

John Hernandez will teach an introductory photojournalism workshop from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Sacramento Press office called "Introduction to Photojournalism."

Hernandez is a Sacramento-based photographer. He has professional experience in wedding, portrait and social documentary photography as well as various multimedia platforms, including audio slideshows. He has freelanced for ABS-CBN, a Filipino American news channel, and interned at The Sacramento Press. He has a journalism degree and Asian American studies minor from San Francisco State University.

He will discuss photojournalism – what it is and what it isn’t. Hernandez will also talk about equipment, tips for shooting and demonstrate how to make an audio slideshow.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Sacramento Valley Station station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges, and we cannot cover the cost of parking.

To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Reporter interns

2012-02-06T20:24:20Z

We are currently seeking highly motivated reporter interns to cover local stories in our community.

Your Role:
As an intern at the Sacramento Press, you will be a huge part of our day-to-day success. Function as a writer and cover local beats. Explore a variety of story types – profiles, sports and event coverage, reviews, press conferences and more. Meet story deadlines and generate story ideas. Be a resource for our other writers, encourage and recruit. Form and cultivate relationships with local businesses, clubs, and resource providers (PIOs, librarians, ombudsmen, historians). You will be armed with the resources (digital cameras, voice recorders, professional photographers) to do on-the-scene reporting and really fine-tune your journalism skills. Most of all, this is an opportunity to be creative and find new stories to tell and identify the people who can best follow those stories.

In addition to writing and editing, build skills to:

Create videos that tell stories
Learn how journalists use Twitter
Better understand your audience
Dialogue directly with your audience

These are the skills you will need to be successful in a changing media climate.

Hours
This position is 15-20 hours per week for 15 weeks. If you are a CSUS student you can earn 3 units of credit, per the guidelines for approved CSUS internships. UC students can also earn units for completing the internship. This is an unpaid position.

Location:

Downtown Sacramento

How to Apply:
To apply for this position, send your resume, cover letter and up to three relevant writing samples to colleen@sacramentopress.com.

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Sales, Marketing and Advertising intern

2012-02-06T20:22:44Z

We are seeking a highly motivated Sales, Marketing and Advertising Intern. The successful candidate will assist the Department with various projects and tasks that will give them a well-rounded understanding of business operations.

Your Role:

Distribute marketing materials for Sacramento Press and clients
Coordinate advertising efforts and help design email campaigns for prospective clients
Research thoroughly via the internet for information to create effective marketing plans for clients’ businesses
Compile leads from online and other listings and add them in a database
Assist with client management by making sure our clients receive the highest level of sales and operational customer service
Attend local events to build accounts, including weekend and evening events on occasion
Assist with the creation of persuasive sales presentations using market trends, creative ideas and The Sacramento Press analytics
Assist with the development of cutting edge marketing and advertising campaigns for clients
Perform various administrative tasks for the department as needed

Job Requirements:

Strong interpersonal skills, excellent writing skills, ability to prioritize assignments and multi-task, attention to details, and the ability to work independently. Graphic Design skills a huge bonus (Creative Suite Mac).

Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Business Administration and other related majors are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply:

Send a cover letter and resume to: dina.neils@sacramentopress.com

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Social Media intern

2012-02-06T20:22:03Z

We are currently seeking a highly motivated social media intern for Agency M at The Sacramento Press.

About the position:

The Social Media Intern will have a large role in maintaining and updating our clients' social media accounts, gathering data for regular reports, and helping with strategy. You will be expected to understand the in's and out's of every social media platform we use, and be able to think strategically and apply that understanding.

You are the ideal candidate if you can work independently and as a team member, if you have the drive to go above and beyond what you've been asked, you are creative and love to write, you are "social", you are constantly exploring new possibilities, you are an excellent researcher and you are very responsible.

Your responsibilities will include:

Maintaining and updating client social media accounts
Crafting original content for distribution on client's social media platforms
Live streaming video, tweeting and posting photos at local events
Promoting events on all event sites and across all social media platforms
Gathering data and creating monthly reports for each client
Working with clients to meet their expectations
Photo and video editing

This is a 16-week internship. We want to see you in the office 10 hours a week plus occasional events.

Please apply with the materials listed below:

i. A brief cover letter explaining why you would like this position.
ii. Your resume or the link to your LinkedIn profile.
iii. Links to the social media sites you use.
iv. Anything else that's creative and shows a bit about who you are.

Send to chris.brune@sacramentopress.com.

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Graphics intern

2012-02-06T20:20:46Z

We are seeking a highly motivated Graphics Intern for immediate hire. The successful candidate will assist with various projects that will help them gain real world professional graphic design experience in a fast-paced and deadline driven environment.

Job Description:

The successful candidate will assist with various web and print projects from concept to completion. Our Graphics Intern will work on a wide range of projects including, but not limited too, web banners, club cards, posters and pamphlets. Will support various departments at Sacramento Press including Sales, Marketing, Advertising and Operations.

Requirements:

Must be currently studying Graphic Design at an advanced level or have a Graphic Design degree.
Must have an advanced knowledge of current graphic design principles and practices.
Proficiency with CS3 Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) is required.
Strong project management skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Must enjoy collaborating, learning from others and working as part of a team.
Proficiency with Macs is preferred.

Location:
Downtown Sacramento

Hours:
The position is 12 hours a week for 4 months. Flexible schedule available. This position is unpaid but eligible for school credit.

How to Apply:
Send a cover letter, resume and samples of your work to: dina.neils@sacramentopress.com

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Editor-in-Chief

2012-02-06T20:18:34Z

The Sacramento Press is seeking a dynamic editor-in-chief to oversee the day-to-day operations of the newsroom. This position will play a key role in expanding the presence and reach of The Sacramento Press into the surrounding media market.

We’re looking for someone who is ambitious, confident in their ability to learn quickly, and focused on creating compelling content for the local communities. Excellent writing and reporting skills and good editorial judgment are essential.

The ideal candidate will bring lots of ideas for new ways to present stories online, through text, photos, or videos.

Experience in using a content management system is a plus, as is experience in podcasts, editing video, conducting and moderating panels. Experience working with technology teams is also preferred. Ability to edit HTML and other light coding would be outstanding.

Ideal candidates will have:

Passion for journalism and an understanding of how it can transform a community

At least three years previous newspaper and/or other publication experience

A bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university

At least two years editing experience

Experience with online publications

A deep understanding of the demands of 24/7 websites

Experience leading a team

Ability to edit copy quickly and always improve stories

Understanding of how to promote stories via social media

Ability to speak confidently when appearing on TV and radio

Enthusiasm to create and sustain relationships with stakeholders and neighborhood leaders

Excellent news and editorial judgment

Strong diplomatic skills and ability to interact with journalists at all levels of the newsroom

Excellent organizational skills and ability to work under pressure

Proven ability to break news and generate outstanding story ideas

Excellent communication and presentation skills

Enthusiasm for working with a technology team to envision the future of news

Light coding skills and competence at HTML manipulation

Your job responsibilities will include (but are not limited to):

Make Sacramento a better place to live
Maintain engaging and relevant splash pages that are refreshed daily
Seek out ways to incorporate graphics such as surveys, charts, video, etc. in content
Write editorials
Will help maintain site and produce weekly electronic newsletters
Track daily and weekly deadlines
Compile monthly analytics and reports
Adapt to changing organizational forms and help other department heads meet goals
Supervise, train and develop a staff of two reporters, an intern coordinator and up to six unpaid interns
Plan scope and content of all editorial content and assign stories
Ensure content is factually accurate, and does not violate copyright laws or contain libel
Identify and pursue ways the Sacramento Press can increase editorial outreach into local communities
Responsible for quality of online content and layouts
Curates journalism workshops

The Sacramento Press offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including medical, dental and vision plans.

This is a fast-paced role in a high potential growing company. This is a unique opportunity to be a critical piece of our growth. This position is located in Sacramento, CA.

Compensation:
This is a full-time contract-to-hire position.
Upon hire, it is a full-time salaried position.

Ready to apply? Submit your resume, portfolio or clips and any other helpful information to colleen[at]sacramentopress.com.

The Sacramento Press is hiring: Advertising Coordinator

2012-02-06T20:16:29Z

We are currently seeking a highly motivated Advertising Coordinator to join our growing company. This position will be in the the sales department. This role will ensure that our customers receive the highest level of sales and operational service. The Advertising Coordinator will also be responsible for driving new business revenue.

This fast-paced role is a unique opportunity to be a critical piece of our growth. This position is located in Sacramento, CA.

Your Role:

Generate revenue from a broad range of products including online banner advertising, social media engagement, online advertising bundles and daily deal offers.

Create persuasive sales presentations using market trends, creative ideas and company’s analytics; participate on calls and face-to-face meetings to pitch.

Analyze campaign performance statistics and recommend optimized media solutions.

Foster relationships with with decision makers, salespeople and mavens in the Sacramento market.

Attend regular local events to build accounts, including weekend and evening events on occasion.

Serve as internal contact for clients for all Sacramento Press, SacMix and Deal Ticket products.

Phone coverage and various administrative tasks as needed.

Job Requirements:

- At least 2 years of experience in sales and/or customer service.
- Experience with online and/or interactive advertising and media a plus.
- You are a self-starter who is comfortable working in a start-up environment that changes rapidly, and you have a strong desire to learn.
- BA/BS degree preferred with strong computer skills.
- An amazing personality and the ability to close sales.
- Ability to sell multiple products and juggle tasks efficiently.
- An excellent attention to detail.

Compensation:
This is a full-time position with a base salary
Commissions on all sales
Health, Dental, Vision Benefits, 100% covered in 90 days
Travel & Entertainment Account

How to Apply:

Email resume and cover letter to emily.griggs@sacramentopress.com.

Journalism Open Workshop Jan. 17

2012-01-11T01:13:59Z

Need a push getting started on your article for The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2012? We've got a workshop for that.

Bring your story ideas and questions about the writing contest to our Journalism Open workshop Tuesday, Jan. 17.

We will go over how to enter photos: standalone or accompanying, judging criteria, past winners and how to develop your stories by including sources and doing research.

The workshop will be from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at The Sacramento Press office.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Sacramento Valley Station station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges, and we cannot cover the cost of parking.

To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

New 'To Catch an Error' contest starts today!

2012-01-02T00:04:11Z

The Sacramento Press’ “To Catch an Error" contest has ended for the month of December. We are excited to announce our winner, Steven Chea!

Chea received a total of 46 points for catching minor spelling and grammar errors in stories by community contributors and editorial interns.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

If you missed last month’s contest, it’s time to start hunting again. Beginning today, we will wipe the slate clean and start our January contest. January’s winner will receive two tickets to see Paula Deen in the meet and greet section. One runner-up will receive a $15 gift card to Monsoon.

The deadline for entries will be midnight on Jan. 31.

See below for complete rules. If you have any feedback or questions about the contest, please email support@sacramentopress.com.

What is the contest all about?

"To Catch an Error” is a monthly contest that we hope will improve the quality of content on our site. We know mistakes are inevitable, but we want to do our best to eliminate as many as possible.

That’s why we're asking for your help to catch errors in articles on The Sacramento Press! Each month, we want you to submit any spelling, grammar or factual errors you catch to contest@sacramentopress.com.

Errors will be accepted until midnight on the last day of each month (unless stated otherwise). Throughout the month, errors will be evaluated and corrections made to articles at our discretion.

At the beginning of each month, we will announce the winner from the previous round along with the errors he or she caught, wipe the slate clean and start all over!

Errors will be assigned different values, using the following point system:

* Minor grammar and spelling error = 1 point
* Misspelling name of person = 3 points
* Factual error = 5 points
* Error in editorial intern story = 3 bonus points
* Error in staff reporter story = 5 bonus points

Note: The Sacramento Press follows Associated Press style for most spelling and word usage.

Each month, the person with the most points will receive a prize, a merit badge on his or her profile and a little bit of social media love. Prizes will vary from month to month.

Official contest rules

Eligibility: To be eligible, contestants must be registered as a user on The Sacramento Press.

Note: The same person cannot win two months in a row.

Deadline: All errors must be submitted by midnight on the last day of each month, unless otherwise stated.

How to enter: You can enter as many times as you like each month, and multiple entries can be submitted at the same time. Entries must be submitted by e-mail and will not be accepted through social media or as comments on articles.

To submit an error, send an email to contest@sacramentopress.com with the following:

* Your first and last name, along with your Sacramento Press user name
* A link to the story where you found the error
* Copy and paste the entire sentence or paragraph as it appears in the article, along with the error

If clarification is needed, a Sacramento Press staff member will follow up with you. When an error is submitted to us, a reply will be sent, verifying the number of points earned within 24 hours.

Submit errors as soon as you catch them! If an error has already been caught and a correction issued, points will not be given for the error.

Corrections: Errors will be verified by the Editorial and Community Outreach departments, and normal editorial correction policies will be applied. We will edit minor spelling or grammatical errors. More serious errors, such as factual inaccuracies, will be investigated on a case-by-case basis. Please note, we are under no obligation to issue a correction for every error submitted.

Note: The Sacramento Press has the final say in all errors being submitted.

Prizes: Prizes will change every month, and we reserve the right to change a prize at any time without notifying contestants.

Good luck!

A thank you to our talented community contributors

2012-01-01T02:19:45Z

Another year has passed and it’s time for reflection. The Sacramento Press has been lucky to form new relationships with some very talented contributing writers and photographers while strengthening our relationships with contributors who have been with us all along.

Our region had many notable events that will forever ingrain 2011 in Sacramentans’ minds.

When the “99 percent” occupied Cesar Chavez park and when Gus Vina left his post as City Manager, our community contributors were there to report. When the first cars inched their way down K Stree t and when the Sacramento City School Board considered relocating campuses, our community contributors were ready with notepads and cameras.

Our community contributors live and breathe the issues that impact our region and are truly the essence of The Sacramento Press.

This year, we reached a milestone that we are very proud of. In September, the 10,000th article was posted on our site. It would not be possible to reach that accomplishment if it weren’t for our dedicated community contributors.

Earlier in the year, some of our best contributors were recognized in short videos.

As one more small token of appreciation, we have put together digital showcases of articles and photographs posted by our Top Contributors.

Below are the community contributors who have gone above and beyond, working closely with us and submitting high-quality content that we are proud to recognize.

We hope you’ll take a moment to see what they have accomplished throughout the year! Click on the names below to see individual splash pages.

Aaron Davis played a significant role in helping us reach 10,000 articles this year. Aaron briefly worked in the Community Outreach department, supporting our contributors while continuing to contribute himself. He is a man of many talents, writing about everything from Osama Bin Laden’s death and the infamous Kings relocation debacle (yes, in the same article) to playing April Fool’s jokes on our readers. We can’t wait to see what he will write about next.

Alejandra Gonzalez is a woman about town who has embraced the essence of Sacramento. This
year she captured everything from wine-swirling at Grape Escape to tutu-twirling of the Sacramento Ballet. Whether it’s tea parties, fundraisers or concerts, Alejandra is our go-to gal for all things culture.

Amabelle Ocampo delves deep into important issues affecting our region, such as the Occupy movement. She isn’t afraid to explore delicate subjects like foster care or cancer and manages to write about them eloquently.
She balanced the seriousness by perfectly capturing the playful spirit of events like Wanderlust and Fashion’s Night Out.

Barry Wisdom has an eye for theater photography, which is almost guaranteed to come with a list of shooting restrictions. However, given a few minutes or only a dress rehearsal to work with, Barry always manages to capture the heart and emotion of every performances, putting the viewer right in the moment. His photo essays tell stories better than any article can.

Bill Burgua has truly honed his skills as a theater reviewer this year, and his passion for theater is simply contagious. He has a standing invitation to review performances at the many theaters he frequents, where we are proud to send him on our behalf. His reviews are often
boasted proudly on theaters’ websites.

David Alvarez’ talents run the gamut. Whether it’s a somber parade honoring our soldiers, a lively cultural festival or sporting event, David knows how to capture the perfect shot to convey the energy of the moments he shoots. He often serves as both the writer and photographer at the events he covers, which can be a difficult feat, but he manages to do it well.

Elaine Johnson’s feisty MidLife GridLife article series has given us an exclusive and intimate peek into her personal life. This year her readers have been privy to her first date mishaps, her relationship highs and lows and her thoughts on being called a “cougar.” We never know if we’ll laugh or cry while reading Elaine’s work and are always left wanting more.

It is almost impossible to describe the enthusiasm Kati Garner has for photography with just a couple of sentences. Her passion for the subjects she shoots run deeps and her photos speak to our readers. She kicked off the year with a stunning image of the Wells Fargo Center and ended it by lighting up our site with images of local holiday displays. In between, she treated us to the shots of the zoo and Fairytale Town’s newest critters, moving tributes on 9/11 and frame-worthy images of local scenery. Kati is unstoppable!

Much to our delight, Mary Nares has become our go-to writer if there is a choral performance in town; we know we can count on her. She often teams up with Kati Garner to review choral performances and together they make a dynamic duo. A member of a local choir herself, Mary has been welcomed with open arms to local groups’ performances who enjoy her writing as much as we do.

Mark Needham is an expert on all things black and purple. His devotion to the Kings is infectious, and we know we can always rely on Mark to go where the action is happening. This year, he took that enthusiasm to Raley Field, where we proved to be an equally fantastic River Cats writer. We’re grateful that he has chosen The Sacramento Press to express his enthusiasm for local sports.

If you’ve ever driven by the scene of a crime or an accident and wondered what’s happening, it’s almost guaranteed that the Maverick Photography team, made up of Ed Fogle and his team of photographers can tell you. The talented team live and breathe breaking news and are always at the forefront of the action. The Maverick team has filled an important gap on our site.

Patricia Willers’ passion for two topics became apparent this year: She loves beer and music. She reviewed notable concerts like Cake and American Idol Live! and sipped brews at Oktoberfest and the California Brewers Festival. This year, we were lucky enough to have Patricia become a copy editor for our community contributors. Her talents have helped developed the skills of our contributors’ and we’re happy to have her as part of our team.

Randy Miramontez was on fire covering big-name acts this year. While photography is his area of expertise, he collaborated with himself (writing and shooting) on close to 20 concerts at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort and a
handful of others at Power Balance Pavilion. Despite his packed concert schedule, Randy somehow finds the time to operate a local blog, Sac and Beyond (http://sacandbeyond.com/). He has grown his impressive portfolio immensely as both a writer and photog since we first met him.

Rik Keller's photos are a treat for the eyes. He has a knack for turning ordinary shots into exquisite pieces of art that make you stop and stare. Whether it’s a mobile food truck festival or a subdued protest rally, Rik has a knack for finding the beauty in every scene. He has given us a whole new appreciation for local surroundings.

Ron Nabity started out the year by impressing us with his drool-worthy shots of Dine Downtown menu items. Ron spent the rest of 2011 exciting us with his action shots of our local sports teams, the Capital Airshow and the Amgen Tour of California. He conveys the exhilaration of the moments he captures through his still shots, putting our readers right at the sidelines with him.

Rorie Oliver built an impressive archive of articles this year, covering everything from the legendary Beach Boys at Thunder Valley Casino and Resort to the community events like Picnic Day and the Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Rorie gives every story, no mater how small or large, the same amount of dedication and enthusiasm.

Sandy Thomas is new to our pool of Top Contributors and we are lucky that she found us. She often collaborates with writer Trina Drotar and the pair have proved to be a very gifted duo. Together they have tackled powerful stories like poetry readings and a holiday blues concert fundraiser benefiting children in need.

To say Steven Chea’s photos are stunning is an understatement and, in fact, it might be impossible to find an adjective that appropriately describes his work. While he produces top-notch photos every time, his concert photos are the true gems in his portfolio. Steven is on his way up to big things in the photography world.

Trina Drotar’s words have helped delivered the impactful messages of the local poets and artists she has covered. While writing is not her full-time job, she gives every story her all as if it were. We are looking forward to seeing what the pair will collaborate on next year.

Last but certainly not least, we can’t forget about our weekly columnists. They have continued to educate us and give us something to look forward to on a weekly basis.

The “Pet of the Week” series, written by the Sacramento SPCA’s Julianne Byer, has helped place the local animals featured in loving homes.

“Real Relationships” is an article series dreamt up by contributor Janna Haynes, has helped solve readers’ relationship dilemmas and has weighed in on important issues many are dealing with but are hesitant to talk about.

The Sacramento Public Law Library’s weekly article series, “Ask the Law Librarian”, has proven to be a valuable resource for readers facing legal dilemmas.

Officer Michelle Lazark has put a friendly and welcoming face to law enforcement, inviting readers to ask her questions in her weekly “Ask Officer Michelle” series.

We would also like to give a shoutout to Ann Freeman Clement. It didn’t make sense to lay out a page with events that already passed, but we want to thank you for never missing a week of posting your thorough local guide to all things music.

Thanks to every single contributor who has posted an article in 2011. You are the very foundation of The Sacramento Press, and we can’t thank you enough for all that you do.

Happy new year to everyone from all of us at The Sacramento Press!

The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2012 begins Jan. 1

2011-12-05T07:22:58Z

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to publish your first article, consider the rewards of doing it on The Sacramento Press.

Last year we gave out thousands in cash prizes to winners of The Sacramento Press Journalism Open, and we’re ready to do it again.

This is the third year that we’ve hosted The Sacramento Press Journalism Open. The contest is pro-am, meaning writers of all skill levels are welcome to enter.

If you aren’t familiar with The Sacramento Press, we’re a hyperlocal online newspaper that focuses on community news. We aim to be the best source for local news and we would like you to help us achieve that by sharing your stories. No reporter knows more than you when it comes to issues affecting your neighborhood, your stance on why your daughter’s school should stay open, or an event you witnessed firsthand.

More than 1,700 people have written articles on The Sacramento Press since the site launched in October 2008. We look forward to seeing many new bylines – including yours – as the contest heats up.

We awarded prizes to 12 individuals last year, and this year we have $2,000 in prizes to give away.

The winning article for the Journalism Open 2011 was about the state of Sacramento’s bridges and was written by Isaac Gonzalez.

To see the list of last year’s winners, click here.

Before you publish your story, we highly recommend submitting your story for copy editing. We offer free copy editing to catch spelling errors and/or grammatical mistakes in your articles. To submit your story for copy editing, email the story to journalism@sacramentopress.com. Your edited story will be returned to you within 24-48 hours.*

*Depending on the volume of submissions being sent in for copy editing, it might take longer than the normal 24-hour turnaround time.

If you have questions about the copy editing process, email support@sacramentopress.com.

Publishing an article on The Sacramento Press is easier than you might think. To start writing, simply go to the top of this page and click the "Sign Up" button and follow the prompts. You will be asked for information and to accept our terms of use agreement. After you are signed up, click the "Write" button at the top of the page, create a Storyline and start writing.

We suggest that you write your story in a separate writing application (i.e. Word) and then, when you've finished and had it copy edited, cut and paste it into our site.

Important: Every story you enter/post on the site must be tagged "Open2012" in the tag section. Just write those words in the space provided under tags. You should also add tags to you story, especially choosing one of our “section” tags – Culture, Business, Politics and Sports – depending on which ones fits the story best.

Hit "Publish," and you have posted your first story on The Sacramento Press. You've also been entered in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open!

To enter a photo that is accompanying someone else's story, tag the story with the following: open2012yourname (example: open2012JoshRamsey).

Remember, no story is too small. Are you concerned about the safety of your neighborhood park? Do you have insight into the upcoming City Council election? Have a favorite landmark that you’d like to share? Write about it on The Sacramento Press and you could be walking away with the $600 grand prize.

So, what are you waiting for? Commit acts of journalism and be a part of the growing community of citizen journalists.

CATEGORIES & CRITERIA FOR JUDGING

Entries will be judged by our editorial staff, and that judgment will be subjective. But we will be using criteria for what we think good journalism is. Among those criteria are:

Accuracy: Facts, spelling and quotes should be correct. Double-check everything and use your computer’s spell check.
Writing style: Writing should be clear, concise and enjoyable.
Local focus: Stories should be set in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer or El Dorado counties.
Sourcing: Include a minimum of two living, breathing sources in your story. Quotes from people who know what you’re writing about will always enliven and improve your story. Aim to include different perspectives. Wikipedia, About.com, press releases and book or newspaper excerpts are not acceptable sources.
Impact: Your story will also be judged on how readers react in the conversation on The Sacramento Press, as well as how it is received in the real world.
Mostly though, we’ll judge entries based on how interesting they are, if they’re news or a new approach to an old story, how well-researched they are, the quality of the writing and the quotes.

Stories can be any length, but they must be original nonfiction about the Sacramento area.

Stories may not be re-posts from blogs or other publications, print or online.

Finally, we will give extra weight to high-quality photographs, either accompanying stories or standing on their own with explanatory captions.

RULES

To be eligible, stories must be posted on the site, by you (using your real name), between 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2012 and 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2012. We will be able to help you post either over the phone or in our office.*

*Appointments must be made for in-office help. Contact support@sacramentopress.com to arrange an appointment.

You must live or work in one of our four home counties listed above, and be at least 18 years of age. High school students under the age of 18 can enter if they have a parental consent form.*

*Parental consent forms must be signed in person by a parent or legal guardian of the minor entering an article. To arrange for this, please email support@sacramentopress.com.

You may enter as many different stories as you like, but please enter/post each story only once! Make sure to tag it "Open2012" in the tag section or it will not be counted as a submission. There is no charge to enter.

Be sure to reread and double check what you've written; once it is published on the site, it cannot be modified.

PRIZES

First Prize $600
Second Prize $400
Third Prize $200
Three $100 prizes for honorable mentions
$500 in prizes awarded to best photos

Entries will be judged by The Sacramento Press editorial and community outreach departments. All decisions will be final. Limit one prize per entrant. Winners will be announced on the site, Feb. 13, 2012.

Addendum: You must be 14 years of age or older to publish an article on The Sacramento Press and to enter the Journalism Open.

To Catch an Error contest starts Monday!

2011-11-14T05:09:43Z

We are excited to announce "To Catch an Error," a monthly contest that we hope will improve the quality of content on our site. We know mistakes are inevitable, but we want to do our best to eliminate as many as possible.

So, starting Monday, we're asking for your help to catch errors in articles on The Sacramento Press!

Each month, we want you to submit any spelling, grammar or factual errors you catch to contest@sacramentopress.com . Errors will be accepted until midnight on the last day of each month. Throughout the month, errors will be evaluated and corrections made to articles at our discretion.

At the beginning of each month, we will announce the winner from the previous round along with the errors they caught, wipe the slate clean, and start all over!

Errors will be assigned different values, using the following point system:

Note: The Sacramento Press follows Associated Press style for most spelling and word usage.

Each month, the person with the most points will receive a prize, a merit badge on his/her profile and a little bit of social media love. Prizes will vary month to month. For the month of November, we will be giving away a free car wash from Scrub Boys.

Ready to start proofreading? Read the official rules below.

To Catch an Error contest rules

Eligibility: To be eligible, contestants must be registered as a user on The Sacramento Press.

Deadline: All errors must be submitted by midnight on the last day of each month.

How to enter: You can enter as many times as you'd like each month, and multiple entries can be submitted at the same time. Entries must be submitted by email and will not be accepted through social media or as comments on articles.

To submit an error, send an email to contest@sacramentopress.com with the following:

If clarification is needed, a Sacramento Press staff member will follow up with you. When an error is submitted to us, a reply will be sent, verifying the number of points earned within 24 hours.

Submit errors as soon as you catch them! If an error has already been caught and a correction issued, points will not be given for the error.

Note: The Sacramento Press has the final say in all errors being submitted.

Prizes: Prizes will change every month, and we reserve the right to change a prize without notifying contestants at any time.

If you have any questions about the contest, leave a comment below or email support@sacramentopress.com . We will check back often.

Happy hunting!

See what stories we're working on at The Sacramento Press

2011-10-27T20:03:11Z

After seeing that The Guardian newspaper had made its list of stories public to its readership for a two-week trial and invited them to participate by contacting its reporters, we thought it would be a good idea to do the same at The Sacramento Press.

Often, our editorial team learns about important facts and sources after our stories have been published. We value the knowledge and contributions that our readers and commenters add to the conversation thread, and we’d love to incorporate that into our stories as we are reporting.

We would also like to encourage more people to get involved as community contributors. Casey Kirk, director of community outreach, works closely with a group of community writers to coordinate press passes and interviews for concerts, arts events and other shows happening in the Sacramento region.

A live list of stories has been published on The Sacramento Press site. By going to the footer, where it says “Assignment List,” you can view stories our reporters and editorial interns are working on, as well as upcoming assignments that will be covered by our community contributors.

On that same page, there is also a list of assignments that have not been claimed yet. We reserve the privilege of arranging press passes for only our top community contributors. To learn about how to become a top community contributor, please contact support@sacramentopress.com.

Above or beside each story assignment, there will be a name of the reporter/contributor who will be doing that story. If you click on the name of the writer, you can email him or her tips, suggestions for sources or other information you feel is pertinent to that story.

For unclaimed stories that you are interested in covering, please email support@sacramentopress.com.

The lists will appear like this:

With your help, we can further develop stories and report on a broader range of hyperlocal news that is important to our readers.

To access the list of stories, please click here or visit this URL: www.sacramentopress.com/site/assignmentlist

Not all of our stories will be published to the web, as we want to keep some of our breaking stories private until they are posted online. Additionally, some of the assignments on the community contributor list will not be made public, so that our top community contributors are given precedence to the bigger-name events.

Please note that there is a lot of switching around on the reporters’ stories. Sometimes sources don’t get back to us in a timely manner or the story doesn’t turn out how we thought it would, so we assign a different story in its place and either push back the date or abandon the story altogether. We will keep the assignment list as up to date as possible.

We look forward to your input and suggestions in our reporters’ and interns’ stories. It is our hope that more of you will be encouraged to sign up to cover assignments when you see the list published online.

The Sacramento Press wants to help you write!

2011-10-23T22:18:14Z

Here at The Sacramento Press, we want to provide you with the tools you need to confidently deliver your message to readers. To help polish your voice, we provide free copy editing to all of our community contributors. While we don’t require you to have your article edited, we strongly encourage it since articles are permanent once they are published. It’s always helpful to have a second set of eyes review your work!

The best part is, it’s a fast and easy process. Just send a draft of your article to journalism@sacramentopress.com and an edited copy will be returned within 24 hours, ready to copy and paste. We offer copy editing every day except Saturdays.

A couple quick tips about the copy editing process:

* It’s best to send your draft within the body of the e-mail instead of an attachment to be sure our editors can view your article.
* It’s not necessary to send images to copy editing.
* If you have questions about posting on the site, please direct them to our support staff at support@sacramentopress.com.
* Our copy editors typically only edit for spelling and grammar, but if you would like more feedback, just let the editor know when submitting your draft.
* Your article will be returned to you, ready to copy and paste. Please specify if you would like to see the edits that were made.

If you have any questions about copy editing or becoming a community contributor, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. If you're not a contributor yet, we will walk you through the sign up process. Just contact us at support@sacramentopress.com or (916) 596-1963. We're here to help!

News10 reporter shares tips for video storytelling

2011-09-24T01:10:29Z

“The nature of the media is changing,” said KXTV News10 reporter George Warren at Thursday evening’s video storytelling tips and shortcuts workshop, hosted by The Sacramento Press.

Warren is an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist. He recently celebrated his 30th anniversary working with News10. He started started creating videos when he was a senior in college and has shot with primitive videotapes and 16mm film.

“The equipment today has gotten so good that it’s easy for one person to go out and produce really good content in just a short amount of time,” Warren told the audience of about 30 aspiring writers, journalists and community members.

Warren used his own recent videos to demonstrate examples of what a single person can do to produce quality videos and tell memorable stories in as little as an hour and 15 minutes.

“You usually want to start with your strongest element,” Warren said. “But on the other hand you want to build to the big finish.”

Warren showed an example of this through his story about a shoplifter caught on a surveillance camera stealing $300 worth of merchandise. The piece began with the footage of the woman filling her bag multiple times with stolen merchandise. It built up to the final kicker: the shoplifter was only caught because, at the end of her spree, she filled out a raffle ticket with her full name and contact information.

“Think about how you’re going to start the story, think about how you’re going to end, and the rest will fall into place,” he said.

Warren added that when planning the beginning and end of the story, the reporter must choose strong pictures for both.

Prosumer camcorders and microphone kits are available in the $5,000 range, though small handheld cameras, camcorders and video phones work well and get the job done.

If using smaller cameras, it is important to invest in a tripod, he said. Smaller cameras are very sensitive to any type of movement – even simply the pulse in your hand, Warren joked.

For those serious about video journalism, it is not ideal to depend on the camera’s built-in microphone, he added. Investing in external wireless microphone options allows for improved audio, particularly in windy or less ideal situations.

Images should be shot wide and should not be head on. The subject should fall off-center onto the left or right third.

“Shooting people wide allows them to use their hands and guarantees they won’t lean out of your frame,” Warren said.

Other tips included: let people and cars in the background enter and exit shots; let shots linger as you film; allow natural sounds in the background; shoot more video than you think you need; avoid excessive head room; film in tight, medium and wide shots; and avoid panning and zooming in and out. These practices allow for best overall footage and edit points.

To narrate the story behind the footage, Warren emphasized the use of an active voice opposed to a passive voice. “To be” verbs such as “was,” “is” and “were” should generally be avoided. Action verbs provide a direct approach to conveying the message and setting the scene.

Narrations should be kept simple and should reinforce the videos. The audio should not retell what is already seen on the screen.

It’s important to have a specific shot in mind for every piece of narration written. To reiterate this, Warren shared the common saying, “If we didn’t shoot it, it doesn’t exist.”

Jason Silva, an architect who often makes videos about future projects, said he took away a lot of information about composing the pieces.

“It’s not just about taking shots and building it later,” he said. “It’s about building it first in your head, narrating it in your head and then filming to match that.”

“While I don’t shoot video,” said Trina Drotar, who recently started writing articles for The Sacramento Press, “I thought there were a lot of really good tips that he gave us for even taking photographs that accompany our articles as well as (for) writing our articles.”

Every year, the number of people watching local news on television drops. Because of this, Warren said there is a move toward experimenting with unconventional methods to present news in videos outside the traditional package.

“They’re encouraging us to kind of push the envelope, to be uncomfortable, to take chances.” Warren said. “Anything goes.”

Video Storytelling Tips and Shortcuts Workshop Sept. 22

2011-09-07T21:17:19Z

Thank you to everyone who attended Jeffrey Callison's workshop on "The Art and Craft of Interviewing" last month. If you missed the workshop, you can read the recap and watch the video here.

The Sacramento Press has another first-time workshop presenter for September: KXTV News10 Reporter George Warren.

Multimedia journalist Andrew Nixon taught a workshop in July titled "Intro to Video Storytelling;" we'll resume the topic of video storytelling with Warren's workshop: "Video Storytelling Tips and Shortcuts."

The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, at The Sacramento Press office.

Warren will discuss how to produce memorable stories with minimum time and effort. Warren will go over how to do more (interviewing, shooting and editing videos) with less - a staff of one.

Warren just celebrated his 30th anniversary as an Emmy-winning reporter/multimedia journalist with KXTV News10.

He started in the business by shooting his own stories in a small market (on 16mm film!) and in recent years has come full circle - working by himself once again.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

The Art and Craft of Interviewing with Jeffrey Callison Aug. 9

2011-07-25T18:27:39Z

The Sacramento Press is excited to announce that Jeffrey Callison will be teaching a workshop at our office in August.

Interviewing is part of the foundation of journalism. It’s how reporters get a lot of their information, including the personal angles and anecdotes that make stories come alive.

But how do you conduct a successful interview?

There are some simple rules, but you also must know when and how to break them.

Jeffrey Callison has interviewed many thousands of people over the years – both as host of Capital Public Radio’s daily program “Insight” and as a reporter. On Tuesday, Aug. 9, from 6:30 - 8 p.m., he’ll discuss “The Art and Craft of Interviewing” in a workshop at the Sacramento Press.

Callison was born in Scotland. He majored in English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and studied improvisational theater at L'Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.

He moved to California in 1989 and started his radio journalism career at public radio station KUSP in Santa Cruz. He joined Capital Public Radio in 1996 as a classical announcer, but soon returned to radio news as a reporter and local "All Things Considered" host. He became KXJZ's news director in 2000, and he was named the first host of “Insight” in 2004.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

Intro to Video Storytelling Workshop July 27

2011-07-18T22:13:19Z

We had a great turnout for our sports writing workshop earlier this month. Thanks to Sam Amick and those who attended. To read the workshop recap, click here.

Video is an important part of storytelling that can be difficult to incorporate without the right equipment and editing knowledge. Andrew Nixon will teach a video workshop from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 27 at the Sacramento Press office called "Introduction to Video Storytelling."

Nixon is a Sacramento-based multimedia journalist. He has professional experience in photojournalism, as well as various multimedia platforms, including motion graphics, web platforms, and video journalism. He has freelanced for Patch.com and interned at the Sacramento News & Review. He also worked as a staff photographer for Gold Country Media.

He will discuss the capture and editing of footage to create compelling video stories. The workshop will be geared more toward Mac compatible programs, but he can answer questions about other equipment and editing software.

In August, Capital Public Radio's Jeffrey Callison will teach a workshop called "The Art and Craft of Interviewing." A separate email invitation will be sent for that workshop later this month.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

This workshop is filling up fast and will probably have a waiting list. To RSVP, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you here!

Sam Amick to teach Sports Writing Workshop July 12

2011-06-29T08:48:50Z

Thanks to those of you who came to our Bias in Journalism workshop earlier this month. If you missed it, you can read the recap here.

For July, we are excited to announce a new workshop presenter – Sam Amick.

With the Sacramento River Cats season well under way, the Sacramento Capitals tennis team starting in July and the buzz building for the next Sacramento Kings basketball season – there will be plenty of sports stories to be covered on The Sacramento Press and on blogs, etc.

Amick will teach a workshop on sports writing at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. July 12.

Amick is currently an NBA columnist for Sports Illustrated at SI.com.

He received his degree in journalism from Sacramento State in 2000. He began working in The Sacramento Bee's sports department on a part-time basis during his final two years of school, then returned after a short internship at The Record in Stockton during the summer of 2000.

He became a full-time member of the writing staff in 2002 and covered everything from high school sports, college sports, pro baseball and pro football before turning his attention to the NBA in 2004.

He was the beat writer for the Kings from 2005-2010 before taking a national job covering the league at AOL FanHouse and eventually landing at SI.com.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here – one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP for this workshop, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Bias in journalism?

2011-06-15T22:04:08Z

It is every journalist’s duty to provide the facts as they are, but does bias still manage to exist in journalism? This was the question posed by Clare Noonan, editor of 11 East Bay Patch.com sites and speaker at Tuesday’s workshop at The Sacramento Press.

While both Noonan and almost all 14 participants answered yes, Noonan said there were ways to pinpoint personal opinion as a reader and avoid it as a writer.

In order to provide objectivity, Noonan said that writers should make sure that facts are accurate and that the reporting is fair.

Referencing a University of Michigan website, Noonan listed five areas where bias can occur: word choice, omissions, limiting debate, story framing and sources.

Taking a closer look at each of these areas can help a writer to maintain the integrity of an article and a reader to recognize the presence of opinion in what he or she is reading, Noonan said.

The group included a variety of writers, community activists and the general public. Most, if not all, vocally expressed how extremely difficult, if not impossible, it is to find neutral reporting.

Finding unbiased sources is important, said Linda Maher, mother and regional sales director for Extended Day Hotels. She said she is worried about how her children will often take information at face value without considering the background.

“I’m not a writer, but I was just personally interested in the subject matter,” Maher said. “I’m hoping the workshop will teach me how to be an even more cautious reader by showing me how to recognize bias in writing.”

Noonan began the evening by defining bias as prejudice for or against someone or something.

Though characterization or stereotyping were noted as prevalent forms of bias, such as issues of gender, race, religion and country of origin, Noonan said these were very obvious means of bias.

“These are the type of subjects that often tick people off the most when they suspect a bias or prejudice,” Noonan said, “but there are many other ways to influence an article with bias without necessarily addressing any of those issues.”

Structured as an open forum, Noonan created and facilitated discussion around these topics and other areas where bias could be present, including but not limited to frequency of coverage, story layout and advertising. She also provided examples and excerpts from various pieces of writing.

Omissions and sources were community activist Darlene Anderson’s biggest concerns.

“I came to the workshop because I feel that journalism today is very biased and always trying to persuade the reader,” Anderson said. “For example, when it comes to public policy, the stories of the policy makers are provided, but not that of who the policies affect and how that process (is omitted). When forming an opinion, it’s important to hear all the perspectives of a situation.”

By the workshop’s end, it was the group consensus that bias exists and is unavoidable. Noonan pointed out the group’s jaded attitude and in hopes of lightening that, insisted that unbiased journalism and journalists do, in fact, exist. Quoting a co-worker, Noonan said with a laugh, “A journalist without bias is one whom both sides hate equally.”

Art Happens 2011

2011-06-07T19:22:59Z

The 2011 Art Happens, hosted by the Sacramento Artists Council, took place June 4 in Midtown. The venue was held inside the Sacramento Art Complex on 2110 K Street.

This was a benefit event to support art in Sacramento. Sutter Middle School and Nevada Union High School students exhibited works of art by their students. Artwork created by the students also helped their school art programs as ~~one~~ 100 percent of sales was given to the respective school’s art program.

The event was sponsored by Sacramento News and Review, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Sacramento Bee, Sacramento Press and others. A day full of art, music, food, wine tasting and great music contributed to the festivities.

The Sacramento Art Complex was full of guests and they were able to partake in activities at the main gallery where artwork by Nevada Union High School students was exhibited and available for purchase. A stage for performers was also set up here as was a prize table for raffle winners to select prizes. A merchandise table was also set up for musical guests to sell their CDs and other items. The Sacramento Press had also set up a prize wheel and give-away area and provided streamed live media coverage of stage performances.

The back patio had activities for kids and face painting by Christine Conklin and friends. Artwork by Kristen Hoard was being shown and sold. Coconut Al’s Catering cooked some delicious food in the back patio as well. Out in the sculptural Garden, Steve Cook’s artwork was available for viewing and purchase.

Susan Rabinovitz, at one point took the microphone to say, “Once again thank you so much for supporting Art Happens and the students and local artists. Thank you also for watching all of the great bands that have been playing and really hanging out with us today. It’s been awesome.” she then announced some winners from the raffle. In between acts she came up and announced raffle winners who were then able to pick a prize from a table that held all the prizes and winners had to be present.

The event is set up to raise money for art related scholarships and grants. Art Happens assists artists and musicians to exhibit and sell their product. Sponsor support creates most of the generated funds that go toward grants, scholarships and school artwork exhibits.

The event began at 11 in the morning and Julianna Zachariou, a 2010 Jammies winner and a Sacramento Artists Council scholarship 2010 winner, was scheduled to perform. When I arrived at the gallery Parie Wood, 2011 Jammies 3rd place and Judge’s Award Winner as well as Adam Lewis had already performed. I arrived when Alyssa Cox and the Flatland band were already on stage.

When I first arrived Alyssa Cox and her group had already started their set. I walked in and heard the sweet vocals and melody of “Less Than Comforting”. This was the first time I’ve heard them play and their melody was quite captivating.

I walked around the main gallery and looked at the art hanging on the walls created by Nevada Union High School students.

I met with Mark Rabinovitz, Vice President, Sacramento Artists Council and he filled me in on the art being exhibited. The Nevada Union High School of Grass Valley artwork was in exhibit at the Main Gallery and the Sutter Middle School gallery was set up towards the back.

Sutter Middle School’s art instructor Miss O’Neill said the art on exhibit was from the 7th and 8th grade classes and art club. “I’m their art teacher Miss O’Neill, the assignment was that it had to be something colorful, anything they chose had to have a rough draft and for their second coat they had to use all mix colors. They couldn’t use anything straight out of the bottle. That was the only criteria.” she said when asked to say something about their art.

Her enthusiasm was great to witness and her passion for the arts came through as she discussed her student’s work.

O’Neill is the only art teacher at Sutter Middle School. As friends and family members came to see the artwork she was able to direct them straight to where that particular student’s art was. All had a number to help identify each art piece and she seemed to know where each piece of art was situated.

In the back patio Coconut Al’s Catering was serving some delicious dishes. I tried their Pinchos which was skewered chicken with a very tasty Caribbean pineapple sauce. This catering service is available for private parties, corporate events, cocktail receptions and festivals. For more information on their services you can contact Coconut Al’s at 916-549-9517.

Other Coconut Al’s recipes offered were Steakbites, Chilean Empanadas, Spinach and Queso Blanco Empanadas, Tomato/cucumber/cilantro salads, Dan’s Potato Salads, Arroz con Pollo and guava based ribs along with other delicious dishes.

Alex Perez can provide further information on the items mentioned as well as other available dishes. Perez said they had been in business for about a year and a half and concentrate primarily on Latin cuisine. He lived in Puerto Rico for a while and had the chance to taste many of their best dishes. He’s also been to the Dominican Republic, Chile, Peru and was able to draw from dishes he’s been able to enjoy.

The food I tasted was delicious with spices that were quite tasty and not very spicy. Alex indicated that he’s been busy doing some graduation parties and other functions that have kept him busy.

The covered back patio was also used for children’s activities. Music from the front gallery was heard back there as well. As I returned to the front Alyssa Cox and the Flatland Band were finishing up their set.

Alyssa is a singer and songwriter whose vocals are quite pleasing. Her original songs and melodies are well accompanied by her backup vocals and band. I only caught a couple of their songs and wished I had gotten there earlier to catch more of their performance.

As I walked through the gallery I met resident artist Gary Garley who introduced me to Steve Cook (another resident artist). We talked about their current and future projects and each, as always, had something in the works.

Deborah Edward, from Mayor Kevin Johnson’s office came to the stage to say a few words. Edward is involved with the "For Arts’ Sake" initiative in Sacramento and indicated that the work being done at the event was a great example of things that should be going on around Sacramento to promote the arts.

Edward noted that she’s seen the growth of art in Sacramento and was happy to be at the Art Happens event noting the fine work the Sacramento Artists Council has been doing. “What I see when I walk around here today is artists who are established and artists who are new. We all know that art in the schools are really hard to come by today. A lot of schools in the area are not providing or are cutting back on art.” she said and again complemented the Sacramento Artists Council on their work.

After her speech Edward and I talked about the event and indicated Mayor Johnson has had a very busy schedule lately but wanted to show his support and Edward was glad to be at the function. She noted Johnson had participated in the Pride parade earlier in the day. I had also attended the parade but did not get a chance to see the Mayor. The parade and Pride event took place under a cloudy and at times rainy day.

Jaxx the 2011 Jammies winner soon took the stage to start their performance. After a quick sound check they dove into “The Unknown Return”. The talented young band from El Dorado Hills then played “March of the Elephants” a Jaxx composition.

After “Waterfall” they played Led Zeppelin’s “Heartbreaker” showcasing their guitar playing skills. From time to time one of the kids’ dads would go up to help with sound and stage as Jaxx played and enjoyed putting on a great performance. “Vagabond” an original composition came next and that song worked well with each player complementing each other and is one of their smoother and softer harmonic pieces.

“Debbie’s Rejoice” another of their original songs played to a receptive audience. The song started somewhat slow and increased in tempo to end with an energetic note. Another original composition followed as they played “Prisoner 13”. Their last scheduled song was “Tongues” another song showcasing their instrumental abilities.

As they were about to leave the stage they were told they could play some more and proceeded to play “Hey Joe”. They ended their performance by playing Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. After their last song they graciously thanked everyone for the opportunity to perform.

Susan Rabinovitz, Founder and Executive Director, Sacramento Artists Council came to the microphone and thanked Jaxx for their performance and announced other raffle winners and then introduced Fishlips.

Fishlips opened with a cover song by the Rolling Stones “Miss You”. “Crossroads” was another cover performed by Fishlips. They moved from one song to the next and in between encouraged visitors to take a look at the art and purchase something for a good cause.

I enjoyed their interpretation of Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and Should Never Be” as well as the Jimi Hendrix tune “The Wind Cries Mary”. Actually their whole repertoire was quite excellent.

After a couple of more songs that I did not recognize they played The Doors “Roadhouse Blues” and then took a break. During the break more winners were announced.

An appropriate song was performed by Fishlips after their break as they launched into Bill Withers’ “Ain't No Sunshine”. My favorite cover of the night was their rendition of ZZ Top’s “La Grange”. Fishlips ended their set with their rendition of “Feeling Alright”.

Elaine Hunter was a member of last year’s winning Jammies band (One Eyed Rhyno) and was at the event to perform. As was the case with other performers and young artists she was supported by the presence of her parents and friends.

“Hello everyone I’m so happy to be here, my real name is Elaine Hunter, my stage name is Elaine Kate but what I really want to go by is Buttons del Rio.” she said and continued “I will be accompanied by Matt Swartzendruber but I would rather refer to him as Bobo (I did not get the last name).” She renamed the band since James Hunter is in London. Elaine, Matt and her brother James make up One Eyed Rhyno.

Elaine initially went on stage alone and began her performance starting off with an excellent interpretation of “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles. She followed with Anna Nalick’s “Breathe (2AM)”.

This is the first time I’ve really been able to enjoy Elaine’s vocals and is the first time that I can remember not seeing her playing the drums. As part of One Eyed Rhyno she keeps rhythm for the band and it was such a delight seeing her perform and show her vocal range. Her personality and radiance makes the audience feel at ease and helps her voice draw the audience to her musical talent.

Elaine sang an original song she wrote “Some Day” and then followed with an interpretation of a Regina Spektor tune. Soon after she followed with a Corinne Bailey song “Like a Star” both which were very well done. Matt Swartzendruber sitting by her side on some songs switched back and forth between two guitars he had on stage.

In between songs Elaine noted she had walked around the gallery and liked the work and said her mom was an artist. Elaine went on to talk about a great painting her mom, Mary, had made of a cow. The audience enjoyed her description of the cow painting.

One of the first songs I ever heard Elaine sing was “Sea Of Love” by Phil Phillips, she still does a great interpretation of this classic and I was glad she sang it at this event. Matt accompanied Elaine for this last song and she mentioned that Matt was going off to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston after graduating from high school.

Currently there’s a “Sing Like Lady Gaga Competition” where the winner has a chance to meet Lady Gaga, have a sit-down with a representative from Lady Gaga’s record label and receive an autographed synthesizer. Elaine said she has entered the competition and if you log on to www.singlikeladygaga.com under the End Sacramento 107.9 tag you can help her win when you vote for her video. You can vote as many times as you want. Elaine then proceeded to play “Speechless” by Lady Gaga.

The final act was Musical Charis. I’ve seen them play several times and have yet to see the same line up twice. I’m not sure if I was around when they played their first song but I was able to enjoy “Changed” which can be found on their Electra City Church Bells EP.

Blake Abbey spoke to the audience about supporting local music and artists and helping by purchasing art. Abbey indicated they had played a show in San Francisco the previous night and Jessie Brune drove back after the show. She didn’t mind since it was, I believe she said, doughnut day and they stopped to get some coffee and a doughnut before coming back home.

Abbey introduced the next song “Big Ball” followed by “Eye Candy”. “Thank you guys for listening to us this next song is called “The Life” Abbey said introducing another song. Jessie called out “Buy art!” and Abbey emphasized that as well.

Musical Charis talked amongst themselves as to which song they should play next. I guess this type of interaction is what separates them from other bands that may have a set list and perform only the songs on the list. Musical Charis seems to improvise what songs they play. With revolving band members on stage I guess that can happen but at the same time this gives Musical Charis the charm that brings in new followers especially when they involve the audience to participate.

The song decided upon was a song written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore and recorded by Johnny Cash in ’63. That year it was number one on the Country Charts and number 17 on the pop charts. They introduced “Ring of Fire” saying, “This one was written by Johnny Cash’s wife, June.” There’s actually a great story behind the song, its meaning, about who wrote it and why.

Somewhere in the middle of the song someone forgot the lyrics and they stopped for a couple of seconds and continued to perform the song until they finished. They are so much fun to watch them play and interact with each other.

Musical Charis always has a couple of tambourines around so that audience members can join in the fun. They asked if anybody wanted to play and someone onstage pointed out Byron Tobin who usually plays the congas but was not around to join the band when they started. He took up a tambourine and joined his pals on stage for “Jezebel”.

“Tell Me”, another sweet harmony followed and then they took a break giving Shawn King and Bradley Abbey, two members from the Musical Charis School of Music a chance to take the stage and perform. They had played at the Hot Lunch Concert Series with Musical Charis on Thursday and seemed more confident as they performed a couple of songs.

Musical Charis took the stage one more time to finish off the musical entertainment for the day. By this time it almost seemed more like an intimate house party. “Anatomy” preceded a short improvisation of “Hey Jude”. They pointed out Adrian Bourgeois who was in the audience and invited him to come up on stage. Musical Charis ended the evening playing “Forward”. Musical Charis is scheduled to perform at Harlow’s on June 16.

Thus ended the 2011 Art Happens event with a cozy musical ending to a great day of art, food, wine, beer and musical entertainment. Community support allowed the two schools to raise $1000 to save their art programs. A successful event ending to a delightful day of community partnership.

Musical Charis Opens the 2011 Hot Lunch Concert Series

2011-06-04T00:13:13Z

On Thursday, June 2, Sacramento saw the start of another year of the Hot Lunch Concert Series and a new free music event playing at Cesar Chavez Plaza; “Fiesta en la Calle” (Street Party).

The Hot Lunch Concert Series is a collaboration between Hot Italian, Sacramento News and Review and Friends of Fremont Park. Musical guests perform on Thursdays from June 2 to September 1 during the lunch hour (11:30 to 1p.m). Promoter Jerry Perry has put together a great lineup. Fremont Park, located on the corner of 16th and P Streets hosts the event.

Musical Charis was the first band scheduled to perform this year. The weather cooperated and made for a delightful lunch concert. People from around the area brought their lunch or took advantage of being across the street from Hot Italian and ordered their lunch from there.

Musical Charis had already begun their set when I got there and about 100 people or so where sitting in front of the stage. Children were running around enjoying the outdoors on a mostly sunny time of the day.

Locals and others enjoyed the music and company of neighbors and friends. Andrea Lepore, co-owner of Hot Italian took a little time to listen to the band and chatted with Jerry Perry and Tais’ immediate family.

I noticed two outdoor booths from two partners of the concert series; Metro PCS and Sacramento News and Review. Other partners for the concerts include CADA, Yelp, Midtown Business Association and the Sacramento Press.

Blake Abbey from Musical Charis at one point reminded the audience that the Hot Lunch Concerts will be held at Fremont Park. He also mentioned that Concerts in the Park is being held on Fridays at the Cesar Chavez Plaza. Both concert events are free and suited for music fans of all ages.

As they finished playing “Forward”, Abbey said they were going to be playing a few more songs and then a couple of kids from their musical school were going to perform. Musical Charis not only performs but also runs the Musical Charis School for Music. They offer a wide range of music programs including private music lessons, Music 4 Tots (for kids age 5 and below), song writing workshops, vocal boot-camp, recording sessions, recitals and more.

“Anatomy” from their 2009 Electra City Church Bells EP followed as they continued to play in front of the Fremont Park audience.

A harmonica intro started off “Tell Me” from their People People CD. A great mixture of guitar, bass, keyboards, harmonica, tambourines and congas created a great sound as Musical Charis played their set especially when they played their rendition of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

“I Candy” was introduced by Abbey saying, “This song is about the over abundance of bands that moved to L.A. to try to make it but they ran out of make up so they didn’t make it.”

“We’ve been teaching music classes for about two and a half years in Sacramento. We started in Oak Park but we’re now located at the K Street Mall by the food courts. So if anybody has kids or adults that want to learn how to play music, first lesson is always free, and we’re really nice people on the weekends, and on the weekdays too.” said Abbey as he introduced Shawn and Bradley.

Their first song selection included a great acoustic guitar intro as a Sarah Teasdale poem was made into a song. They followed up with “For Sale” and ended their short set.

Musical Charis came back after their short break and played “Passport”, "Catwalk", "Fish" and "Heavy".

Back on the microphone Abbey said, "Promote local music and local art here in Sacramento. It’s a great place for it and encourage the economy to improve by buying some Hot Italian. Thank you again, thank you Jerry Perry, thank you Hot Italian and thanks to all of you."

Musical Charis ended their set with one of their signature songs “The Life”. As people left you could hear a couple of them whistling that same tune. Musical Charis will next perform on June 4th at the Second Annual "Art Happens" benefit event at the Sacramento Arts Complex located at 2110 K Street.

This was a great kick-off to the Hot Lunch Concert Series. If you plan to attend one of the concerts, you can call Hot Italian at 444-3000 and order any pizza and pick it up before going to the park. You can also get the Hot Lunch (a panini or insalata + a drink for only $10, tax included). Below is the schedule for the rest of the season.

2011 HOT LUNCH Line Up
6/2 – Musical Charis
6/9 – The Bell Boys
6/16 - Walking Spanish
6/23 – Richard March
6/30 – Kepi Acoustic with Dog Party Acoustic
7/7 - Shannon Curtis
7/14 – Gerald Pease Combo
7/21 – Island of Black and White
7/28 – Exquisite Corps
8/4 – The Freebadge Serenaders
8/11 – KB & The Slingtones
8/18 – The Nickel Slots
8/25 – Gillian Underwood
9/1 – Larrisa Bryski & Willie Seltzer

Video and audio layouts on The Sacramento Press

2011-06-03T01:21:05Z

We are excited to announce a new feature that you will see on our front page and other section pages.

We now have the ability to display audio clips and videos on our layouts.

Every week, we will include the audio clip from "Insight" on Capitol Public Radio where Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton discusses what's going on in the city and what stories our reporters are working on that week.

Our reporters are beginning to incorporate more videos into their stories and we look forward to highlighting those videos as well as your videos on our front page and in the other sections.

Friday's front page will feature our first featured video, produced by HellaTV on Josh Fernandez's new book, "Spare Parts and Dismemberment." Make sure to check it out and give us your feedback on the new site features.

Indie rock brings a crowd to Cesar Chavez Park

2011-05-23T05:24:26Z

Local indie bands offered up a hearty dose of energy and a touch of theatrics to the 1,000-plus-person crowd at Cesar Chavez Park Friday night for the latest installation of the Concerts in the Park series.

On the sidewalk leading up to the stage area, vendors were selling gyros, drinks, necklaces and earrings. The CHP had a tented booth, as did radio station Radio 94.7 FM and The Sacramento Press.

The night’s diverse crowd included families, neon-haired teens and seniors, all basking in the glow of live music and sunshine. Friends spread out islands of blankets on the grass, and children ran around with balloons attached to their wrists.

Siblings Juli and Tyler Lydell of The Dreaded Diamond got the night started with their impressive mix of keyboard, drums and emotive, soaring vocals in the vein of indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara.

Tyler played his drums with the finesse of a jazz percussionist, hitting the high hat with exacting strokes of the wrist to produce shimmery and drawn out hisses of vibration. Singer and keyboardist Juli gelled effortlessly with her brother’s rhythm, producing waterfalls of notes and singing heartily from the pit of her stomach with a raw-yet-controlled delivery.

Jerry Perry, the event’s host, called the 15- and 19-year- olds “incredible” as he watched their performance from behind the stage.

Next up, Los Angeles-based Golden Ghosts charmed the crowd with their gracious attitude and twangy Southern-inspired brand of rock ’n’ roll.

Drummer Justin Goings and guitarist Riley Bray were dressed like 1960s rock stars in leather vests and skinny jeans. Bray’s chin-length hair and tassel-adorned vest swayed in unison as he delivered lines like, “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone,” head swiveling with sass.

Brave audience members danced in front of the stage as hoots issued from the crowd during heady jam “Heart of Coal.”

“We couldn’t have picked a better day and couldn’t have asked for a better crowd,” Bray said.

Between bands, Kasey Cooper from Radio 94.7 took the stage to hand out guitar picks to eager hands and encourage audience members to enter a radio-sponsored raffle for a chance to win a $100 iTunes gift card.

As The Kelps started tuning up their instruments, a youthful crowd formed in front of the stage. Three teens stood side by side in homemade black Kelps T-shirts.

As their set got under way, it became clear why The Kelps appeal to a younger crowd: The energy of their live performance is unstoppable. Singer Cory Barringer’s howling vocals brought to mind an enlivened preacher describing hellfire, bassist Cameron Betts hopped joyfully from one foot to the other, and drummer Tony Reye’s flailing arms conjured images of another beloved bit of sea life: the octopus.

Before headliners Agent Ribbons took the stage, Perry spoke to the audience briefly about his experience touring with them a few years prior, describing it as “one of the great adventures of [his] life.”

Drummer Lauren Hess assembled her pearlescent kit center stage while guitarist Natalie Gordon bent down to sign an autograph for a pint-sized fan who, in a vibrant paisley top and jeans, appeared nearly as inspired by fashion as the women of Agent Ribbons themselves.

The theatrical duo donned pink masks with cartoonish eyes printed on them for set-opener “The World Is a Cigarette,” proving their skill as fine-tuned tour veterans capable of playing their songs expertly, even without the luxury of sight.

The girls delivered a studio-perfect version of “I Was Born to Write Sad Songs,” with Gordon’s throaty croon sailing to the back of the park as Hess rapped heartily on her toms.

This Friday, Concerts in the Park will host Rick Estrin & The Nightcats. Join the fun from 5 to 9 p.m. at Chavez Park on 10th and J streets.

Friday Night Concert in the Park, watch Agent Ribbons here

2011-05-19T00:35:40Z

The weather forecast is positive for this Friday Night Concert in the Park.

Join The Sacramento Press at Cesar Chavez Plaza for an eclectic evening of indie music with a visit from headliners Agent Ribbons, former Sacramento girls.

This week’s show kicks off at around 5 p.m., runs until 9 p.m. and will also feature sets from Roman Funerals and Golden Ghosts.

Located between Ninth and 10th and I and J streets, this free, all-ages outdoor concert series will run every Friday until Aug. 12. See a full schedule of this season’s lineup here.

Remember, street parking can be a challenge. If you want to avoid hunting for a spot or parking blocks away from the action, parking is available at the City Hall Garage (10th and I) for $5 after 5 p.m.

In it’s 20th year, Friday Night Concerts in the Park remains the best way to start off our warm summer weekends and showcase Sacramento’s vibrant music scene.

Friday Night Concerts in the Park attracts huge crowds of music lovers from all walks of life. Bring the whole family and enjoy an inexpensive summer evening full of fantastic live music, interesting vendors and delicious food stands. The ever-popular beer garden provides some of the best people-watching of the summer season.

To add to the fun, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership has launched a new SCVNGR Trek for the Concerts in the Park. Download the SCVNGR app before you head out to the show so you can play the “Friday Night Concerts” trek. Complete the challenges to earn points all season long for a chance to win prizes each week.

Stop by the Sacramento Press booth and pick up a free balloon for the kids, sign up for our weekly newsletter and weekly events local page Go.See.Do. You can even rent a blanket to sit on while you watch the bands. All blanket rental proceeds will be donated to charity.

If you can’t make the show, The Sacramento Press will also be live-streaming video of each band’s performance, which can be found in this article on the day of the show:

Come by and check out all the fun!

Free live streaming by Ustream Free video chat by Ustream

Sac Press Tools and Tricks workshop May 26

2011-05-13T23:28:51Z

Thanks to those of you who attended our review writing panel Thursday with Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller. Read the workshop recap here.

We will have another workshop this month titled, "Sac Press Tools and Tricks." Geoff Samek, vice president of product for The Sacramento Press, will highlight some of the newer and lesser-known features of the website.

Samek will also give a quick overview of important web technologies that come in handy in the current media world. He will answer any questions you may have about the site and its functionality and features.

The workshop will be from 6:30 - 8 p.m. May 26 at our office.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here – one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Meet our community contributors

2011-05-10T20:59:46Z

The Sacramento Press has close to 2,000 contributors signed up on our site to voluntarily write articles. Without them, our site would fail to exist.

Among this group, there is a small core of writers and photographers whom we work closely with on a weekly basis. These contributors go above and beyond by taking assignments from us, having their articles copy edited and making us very proud as they represent us in the community.

To just tell you how great they are isn’t enough. So we’ll show you a tiny snippet of why we love them in the six videos below. Without further ado, we present to you six of our fabulous top community contributors.

See these videos and "like" The Sacramento Press on Facebook.

Video by Chris Brune of Agency M. Editing by Vanessa Vasquez

Review writing panel May 12 with Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller

2011-05-04T05:45:12Z

With Concerts in the Park kicking off Friday and the California Music Circus season around the corner, there will be lots of opportunities to review shows, both indoors and outdoors.

Looking to share your great or not-so-great experiences with others? The Sacramento Press will hold a panel on review writing at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, May 12. Three panelists will teach you the do’s and don’ts of review writing and share some of their own experiences.

This is a great opportunity to ask the pros how they review concerts, theater, comedy and other performances.

The three panelists are Rachel Leibrock, Carla Meyer and Nick Miller.

Leibrock writes about arts and culture for the Sacramento News & Review. She also teaches journalism at Sacramento City College and previously worked at The Sacramento Bee as an arts and entertainment writer. You can find some of her work at thursdayafternoongirls.wordpress.com and www.writegrrrl.com.

Meyer is an entertainment writer at The Sacramento Bee. She was The Bee's movie critic from 2005-2009. Carla came to The Bee from the San Francisco Chronicle, where she wrote film reviews and features and co-wrote "Stein & Meyer: Movie Insider," a twice-weekly column about film and the film industry. Meyer also once worked as an assignment editor for the datebook and sports sections of The Chronicle.

Miller edits Sacramento News & Review's news and arts sections and writes a weekly column on the local music scene. He got his start as a distribution driver and is now associate editor.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here – one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

The Sacramento Press turns purple for #HereWePurple

2011-04-21T05:57:52Z

Thursday, April 21, The Sacramento Press site will be Sacramento Kings purple instead of its normal green color.

We are changing our site's colors to support the #HereWePurple effort. For more information on the NBA visit to Sacramento and the pledges to keep the Kings in Sacramento, read Sacramento Press staff reporter Suzanne Hurt's article here.

We encourage you to take photos of the purple you see Thursday or share photos from Kings games or events you've been to in the past. We will put together a splash page for Friday with some of the submissions.

If you have any questions about how to post, email support@sacramentopress.com.

Dust off your purple clothes, and be on the lookout for businesses supporting Here We Purple by offering specials to purple patrons and being creative with the color purple.

Tell us about what you see in Sacramento Thursday in the comment section below.

Here We Purple!

Table Talk Sacramento brings together local food community

2011-04-15T05:46:50Z

The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press teamed up Wednesday night to host Table Talk Sacramento inside the Sacramento Bee building at 2100 Q St. The two-panel discussion addressed the need for a variety of local food writers and various trends being seen within the food and dining communiy.

The first panel focused on the state of Sacramento food writing. Moderated by Chris Macias, the Bee's food and wine writer since 2008, the discussion featured local blogger Catherine Enfield of Munchie Musings, Niesha Lofing of The Sacramento Bee and Micah Rousey a member of the Yelp Elite Squad for his bulk of restaraunt reviews on Yelp.

“The purpose of this is to get people into a room, get people talking,” Macias said in his opening comments.

He then opened the panel discussion with a question about the purpose of food writing and what types of stories the food panelists find the most valuable.

“What I enjoy most about food writing are the stories that draw you in, that tell a fantastic tale that you can relate to,” Lofing responded.

The panel went on to address the need in the community for food writers, reviewers and bloggers. Macias made the point that everyone has to eat and that focus has to be put on different audiences and demographics.

“I would like to think I'm writing from an average, everyday person’s perspective,” Enfield said about her blog. She added that bloggers should use their blogs to promote local community involvement, like the SactoMoFo Festival on April 30.

SactoMoFo, which stands for Sacramento Mobile Food Festival, is being organized by Enfield and others to promote reasonable city ordinances for food trucks.

The panel closed with a discussion of coming trends. Lofing noted how sustainability, far from being just a trend, is becoming more practical and there are more people eating within a local radius.

“My impression is that Sacramento has always been a farm to table sort of town,” Macias added.

The second panel focused on food and dining trends. It featured Ella Dining Room and Bar Executive Chef Kelly McCown, Preferred Meats, Inc. corporate chef John Paul Khoury, Corti Bros. Market store director Rick Mindermann and was moderated by Allen Pierleoni, a senior writer at the Bee.

Mindermann addressed the issue of trends in the market being cyclical.

Khoury said that the trend is definitely toward more sustainable food and dining but also that the industry continues to change and expand toward more relationship-based production and consumption. By this, he meant creating a connection with the farmer and the animal.

“The change I see is that I bring something into Sacramento now that wouldn't have sold 10 years ago,” he said. One example he gave was humanely grown and sustainable beef.

This change, he said, more specifically is creating a link from farmer to distributor to restaurant. As distributor, he works directly with the farmer and can then pass on the origin of the product to the restaurant. It creates a trust, he said, and that trust helps create a new experience where people might venture out and try different foods.

McCown said he has noticed a large trend in the market with cocktails. He has noticed a swing toward unique, hand-crafted drinks. Just like food, he said, they are created with a full chef-like experience of presentation.

Most of the panel participants largely discussed the complex network it takes for food, and more specifically meats, to get to the restaurant.

But trust, they all agreed, has to be maintained.

There was a wide variety of attendees. Some operated local blogs on food, recipes and dining, while others were just interested in the topic.

Sacramento locals Abby Fox and Heather Kirkpatrick came to the panel together. They came because they read local food blogs and have also attended other food festivals and events.

“The whole scene is just fascinating from a consumer’s point of view,” Kirkpatrick said.

Fox said she lived near an Almond Orchard in Modesto at one point in her life, and this developed an understanding and interest in agriculture.

“More and more, it’s important to me to know where my food is coming from,” she said.

Also in attendance was Kimberly Morales, author of local food blog Poor Girl Eats Well. She said she came because she likes to see what other members of the local food community are talking about.

Morales said she likes to support those who provide insight into what bloggers have to offer the local community.

“I liked the diversity of panelists they chose,” she added.

Morales added that the second panel’s discussion of trust and quality were very similar to her own delivery of recipes and the relationship she hopes to have with her readership.

After all of the talk about food, attendees were treated to a seafood and chorizo paella from Source Global Tapas, which was prepared and cooked on site.

Interviewing Techniques workshop April 7

2011-04-04T21:48:26Z

Thanks to those of you who came to the "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop in March. Read the recap here.

We have two journalism workshops planned for April.

Clare Noonan will teach a workshop on interviewing techniques at The Sacramento Press office from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, April 7.

Noonan has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky. She currently edits 11 East Bay Patch.com sites. She worked at The Modesto Bee for more than 20 years as a reporter for business, news, feature and sports while also copy editing. She also worked as assistant news editor and assistant city editor in charge of the Crime and Safety beat during her time at The Bee. She has been a copy editor for The Sacramento Press.

Noonan has taught other workshops for The Sacramento Press, including "Research and Fact-checking," and "Improve Your Writing with Self Editing."

The workshop will focus on conducting a successful interview, including how to prepare, techniques for putting people at ease and getting them to talk to you, and how to end the interview on a high note.

"Intro to Journalism" is the title of our second workshop in April. Doug Herndon will teach the workshop which will also be held at The Sacramento Press office from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 19.

Herndon was an English and journalism professor at Sacramento City College and adviser to the college's newspaper, The Express. He has been a professional writer for more than 15 years and has worked for Sacramento Magazine, The Sacramento News & Review and The Sacramento Bee.

A separate invitation will be sent later for the "Intro to Journalism" workshop.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP for this workshop, email workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an email to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

The Bee, Sac Press present 'Table Talk Sacramento' April 13

2011-03-23T19:01:04Z

Do you love talking about food? Do you flip to the food section of the newspaper before even reading the front page? Is a trip to the grocery store an excursion? For all you foodies, bloggers and lovers of Sacramento’s restaurants and food: The Sacramento Bee and The Sacramento Press have teamed up to bring you “Table Talk Sacramento: The region’s food community comes together for an evening of lively discussion.”

There will be two panels addressing different topics, including “What Sacramentans Eat” and the quality of local food writing.

Chris Macias will moderate the food writing panel. Macias has served as the Bee’s food and wine writer since 2008. The panelists include:

Niesha Lofing, who writes food and family stories for the Bee as well as a parenting column, Mom.me.
Catherine Enfield, a state worker by day and a local food blogger by night – or whenever she can sneak away to a computer. She is also a food truck advocate and co-organizer of the SactoMoFo mobile food festival scheduled for April 30.
Micah Rousey, who eats out at least five times per week and shares his experience on Yelp. He has contributed dozens of restaurant reviews and been named a member of the “Yelp Elite Squad.”

Allen Pierleoni will moderate the second panel, “What Sacramentans Eat,” which will cover local food trends. This panel consists of:

Rick Mindermann, an internationally known grocer and wine merchant and store director of Corti Bros. Market. He has 34 years in the food and wine business and acts as a personal assistant to Darrell Corti, who has been called “the man who knows the most about food and wine in the world.”
John Paul Khoury, the corporate chef for Preferred Meats, Inc., a premium meat company in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a focus on sustainable husbandry and smaller farm operations. He is also certified as a chef de cuisine with the American Culinary Federation.
Kelly McCown, the executive chef at Ella restaurant and a 1990 graduate of the California Culinary Academy. He was worked in the kitchens of Martini House, Flying Fish, Fleur de Lys, Hayes Street Grill and others, and he has been named “a rising star” and “top young chef” by several magazines, including Bon Appetit and Japanese GQ.

“Table Talk” will be at The Sacramento Bee, 2100 Q St., at 6 p.m. April 13. Source Global Tapas will provide light snacks.

The event will be live-tweeted by @sacramentopress using the hashtag #SacTableTalk.

The event is free, but registration is required. If you do not register, you will not be allowed to enter. Registration is limited to 160. To sign up for “Table Talk,” click here.

Come join the conversation as we discuss Sacramento’s rich food and restaurant culture.

Writing about Wine and Spirits workshop March 24

2011-03-17T17:56:51Z

The Sacramento Press will be hosting a new workshop for the month of March. We are excited to have our first "Writing about Wine and Spirits" workshop, taught by Rick Kushman.

The workshop will be at the Sacramento Press office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24.

Kushman will discuss techniques for writing about wine and touch on how to write about spirits and beer. The primary focus of the workshop will be wine. He will also discuss terms and phrases to avoid when writing about wine or food.

Kushman is an award-winning journalist and former columnist for The Sacramento Bee, where he spent two decades. For the last five years he wrote about wine, food and life in Northern California. His writing has appeared in publications ranging from Time Magazine to Sommelier Journal and Daily Variety.

He is a founder of the new California Wine Marketing Group, a unique business that teaches wineries, wine groups, restaurants and others how to market and talk about wine in real English sentences, not winespeak. He believes that anyone who makes wine too complicated or too scary should be sentenced to drinking low-carb beer.

Kushman earned his Certified Wine Professional credential from the Culinary Institute of America and teaches culinary journalism at the Art Institute of California.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP for this workshop, e-mail workshops@sacramentopress.com. Space is limited to 20 people. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Cesar Chavez Plaza prepares for St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T01:29:15Z

Crews started setting up Wednesday morning for the 12-hour party at Cesar Chavez Plaza for St. Patrick's Day.

The event is expected to draw thousands of people, according to the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. St. Patrick's Day Party in the Park will start at 10 a.m. and end at 10 p.m.

Cesar Chavez Plaza is located at 910 I St.

Access Sacramento Celebrates 25 years.

2011-03-13T22:17:09Z

Access Sacramento opened its doors and studios to the public to mark its 25th year of offering community media for Sacramento County.

For 25 years, nonprofit organization Access Sacramento has been “making a difference, one voice at a time,” through its commitment to covering local entertainment, high school sports and cultural events. Saturday’s event will showcase what local media has to offer the community and how attendees can play a major role in community reporting.

I was 'the media covering the media' as I roamed around snapping photos for a couple of hours. Here are some shots:

Many special guests including Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, City Councilman Steve Cohn, Supervisor Phil Serna, and Chris Flores representing Congresswoman Doris Matsui dropped by.

Folks had the chance to meet local media organizations like The Sacramento Bee, KCRA, News 10, FOX 40 and others.

The Media Lab showcased the public launch of the new web site AccessLocal.tv with content from our five "Neighborhood News Bureau" partner organizations.The television studio hosted performing groups to demonstrate studio television productions skills.

Students from Luther Burbank High School in above photo: Vanessa Pagan, Jasmine Owens, Mo Lee and Sebastian Nand promoted March12-18 as a Week of Peace, a collaboration among students from Sacramento area schools, churches, Youth Organizations, After School Programs, City Park and Recreation, and all workplaces.

Access Sacramento is putting together a network of news bureaus in the South Sacramento area. The goal is to get youth to report for their communities, producing news stories about South Sacramento. The effort is based around a website that access Sacramento has set up called accesslocal.tv.

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Access Sacramento's 25th Anniversary Celebration March 12

2011-03-10T23:17:04Z

News is no longer designed for idle consumption: It is becoming more and more interactive as bloggers, community journalists, Twitter users and witnesses equipped with smart phones make their mark in distributing news. Access Sacramento will be hosting its 25th anniversary celebration Saturday and invites you to be seen and heard by telling your stories through digital media.

The event also kicks off “Sunshine Week” (March 13 - 19), a national effort promoting the freedom of information and open government. To help celebrate Sunshine Week, Congresswoman Doris Matsui and city, county and state agency representatives will be in attendance.

Access Sacramento is having an open house from noon - 4 p.m., where you’ll have the chance to learn how to make your own TV or radio program, write stories about your neighborhood and meet local media organizations like The Sacramento Bee, KCRA, News 10, The Sacramento Press and others.

Participants can get a taste of streaming radio programs live on the Internet, posing as an anchor in the television studio, recording musical performances and using the new Neighborhood News Bureaus’ website, accesslocal.tv.

Bring your best Ron Burgundy or inner DJ voice while you try out the Access Sacramento equipment and facilities.

Nonprofit organizations are also welcome to attend, as demonstrations will be given on how to create public service announcements using the green studio.

The Sacramento Press will have a booth at the event, encouraging citizen journalism and answering questions about the site and how we operate.

Whether you’re looking to learn more about community journalism, or have been wanting to create your own TV or radio program, or you’d like to meet some of the local news organizations, Access Sacramento is the place to be Saturday, from noon - 4 p.m.

The Coloma Community Center is located at 4623 T St.

For more information, visit www.accesssacramento.org.

Share your Kings memories

2011-03-08T01:13:15Z

Now that the Maloof family has been granted an extension on the deadline to file paperwork to move the Kings – possibly to Anaheim – it seems the professional sports team’s tenure in Sacramento is coming to an end.

The possibility of losing the Kings has been the topic of several press conferences from Mayor Kevin Johnson, and fans are doing all they can to keep the Kings in Sacramento with the “Here We Stay” campaign, but we likely won’t know their fate until mid-April.

We asked some of The Sacramento Press staffers to share their memories of attending Kings games. Their responses are below. Feel free to share some of your Kings memories in the conversation at the bottom of the story.

Denise Coleman, operations manager

At my old job, when I used to be a lumber purchaser, one of my vendors had season tickets for seats on the floor. The Kings were doing fantastic. It was 2003, maybe, or 2004, somewhere around there.

Every seat was selling out, it was really high-energy: We had Peja Stojakovich and Chris Webber and Scot Pollard and Mike Bibby. It was an incredible experience. We would sit two rows off the floor right behind the visitors’ bench. It was really cool because you were right there in it ... you were right there in the action. The place was so incredibly loud. It was like going to a rock concert, and your ears would be ringing afterward. The energy was really positive. It was a really great experience.

Chris Brune, social media lead

My first Kings game must have been in the early ’90s – the Wayman Tisdale, Spudd Webb era, with the old-fashioned jerseys. It was awesome. My dad took me and my sister. I think they were playing the Trail Blazers. I think that was actually the last Kings game I went to.

Randy Balzarano, advertising account manager

My first game was in, I think, ’93. I was going to Chico State, and my girlfriend at the time took me to a Kings game for my birthday. It was the first time I ever went to Arco. We sat up in the nosebleed section. I was pretty impressed. I loved the size of the arena, and the intimate size of the crowd. That was when the fan experience – the Kings at Arco were at the top in the NBA. It was a really cool experience.

Dina Neils, account services representative

I watched the Kings and Warriors two years ago. I’m from the Bay Area. I was rooting for the Warriors. The Kings won, and I was upset. I’m not a Kings fan, but I enjoyed having them here because of the spirit it brings to the city, and the business.

Kathleen Haley, staff reporter

I’ve only been to one game. It was last year, and they lost. The junk food was fun.

Geoff Samek, vice president of product development, co-founder

A memory that sticks out was back in the day when I went to a playoff game early on. This was back when Corliss Williamson was on the team the first time. I think they were playing the Sonics in the first round of the playoffs. I was just a teenager, or maybe 11 or 12. That one stuck out the most. I just remember how loud it was and all the cheering and the fact that we were in the playoffs, and the crowd had all this pent-up energy since they hadn’t been in the playoffs since the first year they were in Sacramento. It was just really exciting being there. I was way up in the nosebleeds in the $10 standing-room-only area. I remember it being crazy loud.

Brandon Darnell, staff reporter

My first Kings game – I don’t remember how old I was, maybe 10 or 12. I went there with my dad and maybe my mom and my sister. The Kings were playing the Detroit Pistons, and I just remember it being really loud, and that was kind of when I got interested in basketball and started playing. I was never any good at it, but I always liked watching the Kings. I think maybe a week later I went to Sportmart in Roseville, and Wayman Tisdale was there signing autographs, and I had that hanging on my wall for several years.

Ben Ilfeld, chief operations officer, co-founder

Celebrate Beer Week at Golden Bear and bring your moustache

2011-03-01T00:00:42Z

Looking to make Beer Week an out-of-body experience? Add a moustache to the mix.

Thursday, The Golden Bear in Midtown is hosting “Moustache Party,” with DJ Shaun Slaughter playing Disco music and drink specials on the Lagunitas Sacramento Fusion, which was made specifically for Beer Week.

They will be serving $3 pints of Sac Fusion, also known as the Paradime Sac, from 9 p.m. until close, or until it runs out. There will also be a surprise whiskey pairing, which will be announced at the event. Read Adam Saake’s article in Submerge for more info on the Paradime Sac.

Bring your own moustache or slap one on – Golden Bear will have plenty of cookie dusters to go around. There will be prizes for best male and best female moustache.

The Sacramento Press will be at Golden Bear helping you photograph your ’stache using LiveShare. All of the photos taken on LiveShare will be posted to this article and also Golden Bear’s Facebook page.

You can install LiveShare on your smart phone before Thursday, or you can sign up Thursday between 8:30 p.m. and midnight. Instructions are below. The Sacramento Press staff will be on hand to walk you through the process so you can share your beer moustaches with everyone.

Hope to see you and your moustache there!

The Golden Bear is located at 2326 K St.

LiveShare instructions

Requirements:

* iPhone with iOS 3 or higher
* Android phone
* Have a Facebook account

iPhone users can simply download the app at the iTunes store. Android users can simply launch the Android Market and then search for "LiveShare" and install it – it’s free.

Once you have the app, you can use your Facebook credentials to log in. Then simply select "Golden Bear Moustache Party" event, which will pop up under March 3 events. You will see a live gallery of pictures that everyone else at the event is taking. Click the camera icon in the upper right corner, and you can add pictures of your own right from your phone.

Do you know how to express your opinion?

2011-02-25T22:46:08Z

Everybody has an opinion. But being able to express your opinion is unique, Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton said during his opinion-writing workshop at the The Sacramento Press Thursday night.

“Your goal should be able to really express what you want to say as clearly as you can, so people understand what your opinion is,” Barton said.

Barton explained that people first respond to your writing tone.

“If you come across as angry or unreasonable, you‘re going to alienate people before you even have a chance to tell them what you think,” Barton said. “Maintain a tone of sweet reasonableness.”

Theater critic Bill Burgua heard about the workshop through e-mail and enjoyed several points that Barton made. “I learned about identifying the nut graph and conciseness,” Burgua said. The nut graph is the paragraph in any story that tells what the story is about.

Barton made another point that although everyone is entitled to an opinion, it doesn’t mean it’s valuable. “What’s valuable is how you back it up,” Barton said.

According to Barton, what people should focus on is making an argument, backing it up through reporting and research, and knowing what the people you disagree with think.

“If you don’t respect other people‘s opinions about things, number one, they’re not going to respect yours, and, number two, your opinion is not going to be very solid because you don’t even know what you’re arguing against,” Barton said.

Another point he made was that when you respond to other people’s opinions, you shouldn’t react to them.

Also, if you tear people’s opinions apart, they won’t listen to you.

“You want people to listen to you–you want to be convincing,” Barton said. “The most powerful people who write opinion pieces are people who acknowledge the other person.”

Paula Lomazzi also learned about the workshop via e-mail. “I think I liked the part about acknowledging what the other side believes,” Lomazzi said.

When you acknowledge what the other person is saying, you open them up to accept what you’re going to say, and you open yourself up a little bit more to what they are saying. Through this process, you might see a change and growth in your opinion, according to Barton.

“It’s not about winning,” Barton said. “It’s about opening yourself as an offering to them in hopes that they’ll open themselves up a little bit, and you can keep talking.”

As you write an actual column, it’s important to figure out what your focus is. Don’t go too broad. Keep your topic small so you can work with it.

The main point in writing a column is to approach it with humility, generosity, and openness, he added.

“Say, ‘I’m approaching this with humility, in that I may not be right. This is what I think right now.’ Say, with generosity, ‘I respect you...you have another point of view that comes (from) your experience that I may not share, but I respect that because you’re another human being,‘ and openness, which is the result of having these two opinions,” Barton said.

Opinion Writing Workshop Feb. 24

2011-02-21T06:17:12Z

The next workshop hosted by The Sacramento Press will be on opinion writing. It will be held at our office from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 24.

Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton will discuss the importance of backing up your opinion, doing reporting and keeping your column focused.

Barton worked at The Sacramento Bee from 1985-2007. He was the pop music critic until 1994 and in addition to writing reviews, he wrote weekly columns called Poplife and The Beat.

As editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, Barton writes editorials on a regular basis.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2.00 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP for this workshop, e-mail workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the Journalism Open winners!

2011-02-14T08:34:20Z

The results are in and we’re very excited to announce the winners of The Sacramento Press 2011 Journalism Open.

More than 50 community contributors accepted the challenge to commit acts of journalism. In January, 134 entries were submitted, many by writers who are new to The Sacramento Press.

Thank you to those of you who participated and those who helped spread the word about the contest.

There were three Sacramento Press judges who reviewed the entries and determined the winners: Casey Kirk, Recruitment Manager, Brandon Darnell, Copy Editor and Reporter, and Colleen Belcher, Managing Editor.

We were looking for stories with a minimum of two sources, stories that incorporated research and stories that kept us reading. Each winner could only win one prize. Click here to read the complete judging criteria.

Without further ado, the winners are:

Isaac Gonzalez, whose story, “A Towering Challenge,” won first place and $700.

Laura O’Brien, who wrote “Fave moms mag stops presses,” won second place and $500.

Corinna Fish, the third place winner of $200, wrote a two-part story titled “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land: Looking Back at 50 Years of the Capitol Area Plan” on the Mandella Garden and the history of the Capitol Area Plan.

There were five $100 prizes, which were awarded to Eileen Wilson, who wrote about domestic violence and its lasting effects on children, Deb Belt, Mary Nares, Ron Nabity, who wrote about the heroes of the Red Cross and Brandy Tuzon. Click on each name to see the winning story by that author.

The $350 in photography prizes was divided into four amounts: three $100 prizes and one $50 prize.

The winners, in no particular order, are David Alvarez for his photo of the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival, Marc McLaughlin for his photo of the Professional Bull Riders show at Arco Arena, and Kati Garner for her photo of the Wells Fargo building in the fog. Steven Chea won an honorable mention for his photo of Deerhoof’s drummer playing a show at Harlow’s.

Click here to see the winning photos laid out side by side.

We asked the winners how they felt about winning the competition. Here are some of their responses.

Mary Nares, who wrote about the Crocker Art Museum’s new Education Center, said in an e-mail, “I'm amazed and honored to be selected. I was really impressed with the caliber of the submissions for the Open. I saw some great writing and photography, and the wide range of intriguing topics was inspiring.”

Marc McLaughlin said in an e-mail, “It is always an honor to be rewarded for the work you do. Being able to document our community through photos is something that I am thankful for.”

We were also curious to find out what each winner thought about citizen journalism.

Deb Belt, who wrote about an alley project in Boulevard Park and the controversy it created, said in an e-mail, “Citizen journalism is a new frontier and gives people the power to bring a story to light. It places responsibility in writers' hands to be accurate, fair and ethical and provides support for them. When citizen journalists meet this challenge, they forge new territory.”

Brandy Tuzon is the publisher of the Natomas Buzz and the author of the story on Natomas Unified School District’s fiscal crisis. She said in an e-mail, “I believe independent, citizen journalists are capable of providing some of the best local news coverage in the Sacramento region. We are not sitting at a desk in an office being assigned a beat to cover, instead we are living in the community and experiencing stories first-hand, as they happen.”

David Alvarez said in an e-mail about citizen journalism, “I think it's great. It's the voice of the people that can inspire, make you laugh, let you see life through other people's eyes, make you think or help get an important story to light. As a sole voice or as a voice for many in our community, citizen journalism has its place if nothing else to read another person's perspective.”

Thank you to everyone who entered. We enjoyed meeting new people, like Mama Cobb, hearing new insights, like what current students think about Sacramento High School, and discovering new places, (Firehouse 5), or history (stone sisters houses), and seeing Sacramento and its surrounding areas through many lenses (written or camera).

Upcoming workshop: Write Smarter Feb. 16

2011-02-07T22:38:42Z

We have two new workshops scheduled for the month of February.

The first is scheduled from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at The Sacramento Press office.

JT Long will teach this workshop, titled "Write Smarter."

Long is an independent journalist and SEO copywriter for publications such as Engineering News-Record, Comstock's Magazine and PublicCEO. She creates communities by telling stories.

Long will discuss how to get the most out of your stories so you can use them in different publications. She will cover how to improve your interviewing skills, so you can gather enough information for multiple stories, how to come up with targeted leads and other tips that will benefit freelancers.

Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton will teach a workshop on opinion writing from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Feb. 24. More information on this workshop will be available later this month.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $2.00 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP for either workshop, e-mail workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

SCC: What's The Reason?

2011-02-01T06:51:12Z

What’s The Reason?
By Shani Lee
Sacramento Press Open 2011

It’s a tale as old as time. The school needs computers, or books right? I can remember that being said time and time again as far back as elementary school. Well in this economy it’s the adults who need some help at school. Students at Sacramento City College are from a wide variety of backgrounds, & races, and create an even more diverse group of professionals. Did you know that a group of SCC’s film students won the 2011 Winterfest Sacramento Film & Music festival? Seeing first hand the passion of these students in every aspect is amazing, and encouraging. In such tough economic times it’s good to see people eager to achieve their professional goals. By doing so each emerging entrepreneur will be resuscitating our economy.

Students taking the MIDI class are composers, songwriters, filmmakers, rappers, singers, producers, or just love music. Professor Knable and his students have been directly hit by continued budget cuts in SCC’s Introduction to MIDI (Reasons) courses are working with an old version of Reasons; Reasons4 which was released in 2007. The newest version, Reasons5 was released in 2010, and will only cost $3500 to purchase for all of the classroom instructional computers. The Final Cut (Film) editing class on the other hand; is working with the newest version of Final Cut, but they seem to be the lucky ones. This is only because their professor “Is the Mac Certified Pro Trainer, and the school has a contract to be a training center, so he automatically gets the newest version to teach” (DonCarlos S., SCC MIDI & Final Cut student). Many students have this benefit and also experience the disappointment of this disadvantage. “In my film class (Final Cut) I’m lucky to be learning the newest version. I wish it were the same story for my Reasons class.” (DonCarlos S., SCC MIDI & Final Cut student).

While learning the old version of Reasons, the students get the overall picture of how the application works and allows creativity using simulated “real” instruments, or a synthesizer. However they are not equipped to compete creatively with those learning the most current version. We have to give our community a fighting chance when vying for jobs creating music, soundtracks, stage plays, musical scores, and even better teaching the art of music to our youth in this technical day in age. So let’s support our Sacramento City Panthers and get them the programs they need to realize their goals and stimulate our local economy.

“I feel like it’s imperative that we learn and have practical experience with the most current version. I mean why would I want a degree and still not be able to compete with all of my counterparts in the industry?” (Fidel C., SCC MIDI & Final Cut student).

Today's the last day to enter the Journalism Open 2011

2011-01-31T21:06:14Z

The procrastination must come to an end. There are only hours left to enter The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011.

Entries must be published by 11:59 p.m. You must tag your article open2011.

There are hundreds of dollars in prizes waiting to be doled out to the winners. First place prize is $700, second place is $500 and there are cash prizes for photos, too!

If you would like to have your article copy edited, it must be sent to journalism@sacramentopress.com by 6 p.m. Any articles sent after 6 p.m. will have to be published without copy editing.

One last thing: there are three judges for this year's contest. One of the judges changed from what we announced at the Journalism Open Workshop. David Watts Barton will no longer be judging. The judges are Managing Editor Colleen Belcher, Copy Editor/Reporter Brandon Darnell and Recruiment Manager Casey Kirk.

Check out the splash page for any last minute questions. Below the page are all of the entries we've received so far for the contest.

The clock is ticking. Entries published after 11:59 p.m. will not be counted as part of the contest.

Winners will be announced Monday, Feb. 14 on our site.

Good luck!

What are you waiting for? Go, See, Do!

2011-01-28T22:46:33Z

It is an understatement to say that there is an overwhelming amount of concerts, art showings, theatre performances and other exciting events taking place in Sacramento every day.

In fact, it’s pretty mind-boggling that anyone can keep track of all of them when planning how and where to spend that rare commodity known as “free time.” That’s where we come in to make your life a little easier.

We are very proud to introduce to our users “Go.See.Do.”, your personal guide to upcoming local events.

Every week, we handpick a few events that we believe are worthy of your valuable time and deliver them straight to your inbox.

Film festivals, fashion shows, poetry readings, food and cocktail weeks, you name it! You will find all of this (and much more) in “Go.See.Do.”

The newsletter is sent out every Thursday morning and features events taking place through the following week. Each event title and photo is clickable and will take you to websites, articles and social media sites where you can check out complete information.

Sneak a peak at last week’s “Go.See.Do” here.

To sign up to receive “Go.See.Do.”, all you have to do is register as a user on our site. Click “sign up” at the top of the home page, fill out some basic information and you’re done! If you have any questions about the sign-up process, feel free to e-mail us at support@sacramentopress.com.

Also, if you have an event that you would like considered for inclusion, please submit the following to goseedo@sacramentopress.com:

- Name of the event
- Date of the event
- Where the event is held (name and address)
- A photo to accompany the listing (that you have permission to use)
- Event website
- When available, links to a Facebook or Twitter account, either for the event or for the venue
- Any additional information you feel is important

When choosing events, we will showcase both big acts that readers might be surprised to see coming through Sacramento and small, but great, events that haven’t received a lot of exposure.

In addition to the e-mail you’re sending from, please be sure to include any additional contact information. Every event will be considered equally.

What are you waiting for? Go.See.Do.

Journalism Open 2011 workshop Q&A

2011-01-14T00:24:00Z

In case you missed the workshop Wednesday night, here are some of the answers to some of the questions asked and some tips shared by Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton and Managing Editor Colleen Belcher with community contributors about Journalism Open 2011 entries.

Q: Are quotes a must?
A: No, but as for some basic guidelines: They make your story stronger. The more you get people into your story, the more it helps – even if you’re doing an opinion piece, because the more sources you can point to, the better.

Q: Is there a limit to how long the story is?
A: The limit is how long it’s interesting. One thing to watch out for is when you talk to people who are good talkers. You can quote them at length, and your story can sometimes get away from you. There are a lot of ways a story can get away from you. Read it over and pick out unnecessary paragraphs.

Q: Is it OK to submit video?
A: We’re not well equipped for video, and the thing about words is that they’re super accessible. If you want to say, “Here’s my video and here’s what’s interesting about it,” then that might work. It also might work if you narrated the video.

Q: People are talking about doing heavy investigative stuff, but what about the lighter stuff? Like going to a concert or covering a butchering class?
A: Everything is fair game.

Q: What if you decide to write about something, but then you realize someone is already covering it?
A: That’s fine. It won’t count against you in any way. Each article will be judged separately. If you want to see if someone else is covering your topic, you can contact Casey (casey@sacramentopress.com), and she might know.

Q: Does it matter if it’s written in first, second or third person?
A: It depends on what you’re writing. First person can work, and people like reading first-person stories because they can identify with the writer. But it’s something you have to get good at, because otherwise it’s easy for every sentence to start with “I.” Use first person sparingly.

Q: Is there a cutoff for the copy editing?
A: Yes. 6 p.m. on Jan. 31 is the deadline for copy editing.

Q: What about tags?
A: The most important tag for you guys is “Open2011.” You will need to add this tag to your story in order to have it recognized as entered in the Journalism Open 2011.

Q: How do you choose a good headline?
A: Headlines need to be short. Try to limit yourself to five words, and use words that are pretty identifiable. If you’re writing about a particular person or business, try to put that in the headline. It may not seem super creative, but just getting the basic information is fine.

Tips for brainstorming, writing, editing and entering your article and/or photos:

No story is too small. You’ll do better and have a better story if you keep it small. Really try to localize it.
Try writing about a topic you’re interested in, and not necessarily one in which you’re already an expert.
If you’re trying too hard to make a story work, maybe you need to reframe it.
One way to find a good story is when you read something and it makes you ask a question.
If you see an article on our site and you want to respond or tell your side, that’s a good way to find a topic, too.
For the basic structure of your article: First, you want to entice the reader. Then it should be apparent why he or she should care about it. You have to give people a reason to keep reading.
Before you send it to us, let a friend or family member read over it. Ask them what they think, what parts they would cut, etc.
A picture is worth a thousand words. But if you have a photo and 200 words underneath the photo, it’s going to explain it a lot better and make it much more interesting.
Take 25 photos and pick three.
You want something visual that’s going to get people’s attention.
Photos of people are generally the most interesting. Getting pictures of people doing things is really good.
If you have a friend who’s a photographer who doesn’t like to write, then he or she can add photos to your article and enter the photos in the competition and that will count for an entry for the photographer as well.

If you’re stumped on a story and need feedback or help with what direction to take it, you can contact Colleen by emailing her at colleen@sacramentopress.com

Sac Press Journalism Open workshop Jan. 12

2011-01-10T20:23:34Z

The Sacramento Press Journalism Open is well underway and we're very pleased to see new bylines popping up on our site because of the contest.

The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 31, so make sure you've posted all of your entries and tagged them open2011 by that deadline.

First place wins $700, second place $500, and there are many other cash prizes, including prizes for best photos.

For those of you who have questions about the contest, we will host a workshop Wednesday, Jan. 12 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at our office. We will be happy to give advice and suggestions on how to develop your story ideas.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $1.50 per half hour, and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

To RSVP, send an e-mail to workshops@sacramentopress.com.

For the complete rules of the contest, click here.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

How to enter photos that accompany someone else's article in the Journalism Open

2011-01-03T23:52:38Z

Many articles posted on our site are a collaborative effort, with one person writing the text and another person taking photos.

This brings up the question of how a photographer can enter his or her photos in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open 2011 if the article has the byline of the writer.

To enter your photos from an article with someone else's byline, use this tag:

photosyournameopen2011

So if your name is Joe Schmoe, the appropriate tag would be: photosjoeschmoeopen2011

E-mail support@sacramentopress.com if you have any other questions.

A thank you to our community contributors

2010-12-24T02:14:13Z

We have a lot to be grateful for at The Sacramento Press. We celebrated our two-year anniversary in October, and we expanded our office over the summer. We are most thankful for our community contributors – you take the cake.

Your comments fill in the blanks of questions unanswered. You keep us honest and accurate by pointing out errors. Your thoughts and opinions spark a stream of community dialogue.

Your stories and photos document Sacramento’s history in the making. Your firsthand accounts often break stories like the evacuation of the Roseville Galleria Mall or give us an up-close at, say, a fire in Midtown.

A lot of what comes in is unexpected: a letter written by Thomas Enterprises addressing the foreclosure, video of political sign stealing, photos of an upside down rainbow or a lunar eclipse. We’ve had stories about rescued animals, commentary on a Second Saturday Art Walk shooting and plenty other unique and extraordinary stories.

There are a dozen or so community contributors who we work with on a regular basis. These all-stars take on multiple assignments, many of them working around their full-time jobs. We’ve been happy to work with them as they prepare for a big interview with a celebrity, or give them feedback on their sports coverage or emphasize the importance of meeting deadlines.

As a way of saying thank you to those who have really gone above and beyond in volunteering their time and energy to The Sacramento Press, we created “splash” pages to highlight some of their articles.

Lindol French, a new Sacramento resident, has entertained us with his musings on just about everything. We’ve been there for his first breakup with a Sacramento bar. We got to share his interview with Anthony Bourdain and experience the Neo-Crocker Party. And who could forget his Lindol-isms like this one from when the San Francisco Giants were in the World Series: “This is the kind of torture doled out by a beautiful woman with hot wax and a feather.”

Ron Nabity, a professional photographer, has really brought his love of sports to The Sacramento Press. He has captured stunning action shots, whether it be at a Sacramento Capitols game or of a running back sprinting down the field at a UFL Mountain Lions game. His engaging perspective, both in writing and behind the lens, are a real treat.

Alejandra Gonzalez first approached us with interest of becoming an intern. Her busy school schedule prevented her from committing fully to an internship, but that didn’t stop her from taking on assignments. She has done a wonderful job of highlighting local charities and fundraisers in the area, as well as writing captivating reviews of performers like Shakira and the Eagles.

Bill Burgua first participated on The Sacramento Press as a resident and neighborhood advocate and has since created his own niche. He has become one of our best-known theater reviewers, frequently quoted next to The Sacramento Bee’s critics in e-mail blasts from local theater companies. Bill has worked diligently, doing research and diving headfirst into his assignments. His appreciation of local theater shines through.

Marc McLaughlin has been contributing since August, and has really wowed us with his photos. Marc first introduced us to the Sacred City Derby Girls, with some great shots of mud wrestling and that captured the intensity of the sport. He has taken on some big performers, from Jay Leno to Justin Bieber, and has done telephone interviews for previews (the Judds, Tony Orlando, etc.)

David Alvarez has contributed 89 articles since May of this year! We’ve been lucky to have his coverage of many of the events in Folsom (Sutter Street construction, Ghost Train and Folsom Live!). David has tackled all sorts of stories, from fashion shows to cultural celebrations and festivals to Concerts in the Park. What sets him apart is his interactions with the people involved in the events he covers. As readers, we learn what he has learned as his curiosity leads to a deeper level of reporting.

Barry Wisdom is another fantastic photographer we’ve been lucky to work with. He has worked a lot with Bill Burgua in covering theater, doing many of the previews and showing up to dress rehearsals to get shots of the actors. He’s been there to indulge the eyes at Ginger Elizabeth’s Cupcake Day and showcase the art at Chalk It Up! Sacramento. Barry has a lot of fun doing his articles, and it shows.

Delgreta Brown has highlighted Sacramento’s music scene with her soulful music writing. She really makes you feel as if you’re right there in the audience.

Steven Chea continues to amaze us. He has blossomed from someone who has dabbled in video and photography to a valuable reporter and photojournalist. Steven is able to snap photos and capture both amusing and intense facial expressions. He is noted for taking his camera into the crowd, where the other action is.

Mark Needham is a true Sacramento Kings fan. As the 2010-11 season ramped up, Mark was there at every practice, interviewing players, sharing his predictions for the season and creating a presence for the Kings on The Sacramento Press.

Aaron Davis has his finger on the pulse of Sacramento’s music scene. He’s shared details of the Smashing Pumpkins coming to Sacramento and kept us in the know with his weekly roundup. His writing is fun to read and a pleasure to have on the site.

Ed Fogle has been with The Sacramento Press from the very beginning, chasing down some courageous shots. He has been there on the scene alongside ambulances, yellow tape and blazing fires, getting the photos and sharing them with the rest of us. Ed seems to be everywhere and anywhere the police scanner alerts say the action is.

Steven Bloom is becoming synonymous with the word “comedy” in Sacramento. He has interviewed the likes of Cedric the Entertainer and shared his reviews of Robin Williams, Howie Mandel and Conan O’Brien for those of us who couldn’t make it out to their shows.

Last but definitely not least is Kati Garner. She has taken her camera and breathed life into local media coverage. Her photos are Sacramento. She is there for major political events, for the installation of the Capitol Christmas tree, at the American Idol auditions, Sacramento’s Pride events and everything in between. She was there taking panoramic shots of the Railyards as construction was beginning, and she’s one of the first people we turn to when we hope to get photography. Kati, who has 313 articles to date, is a living camera, leaving a flurry of visual memories in her path.

Take a look at the contributors’ splash pages if you’d like by clicking on their names.

Thanks to everyone above and to everyone we haven’t mentioned. We would be nothing without you.

Sacramento Press Journalism Open returns in January 2011

2010-12-13T05:19:05Z

The first Sacramento Press Journalism Open was a success, and we’re ready to do it all over again! We will have some exciting prizes for our top submissions, and your stories could be chosen for our section pages or newsletter for thousands to read and enjoy.

Becoming a published writer is easier than you think, and we’re here to walk you through the process and get you committing acts of journalism.

I'm David Watts Barton, editor in chief of The Sacramento Press, our area's top hyper-local news website, where we focus on up-close, in-depth coverage of neighborhoods like yours. We aim to spread the traditional habits of good journalism – accuracy, fairness and a diversity of opinion – across the Web. We do it with a mix of professional and amateur writing from around the community.

We're hosting this contest because we want you to join us. The future of journalism may depend on you. Your ideas, your questions and the answers you find will increase the amount of good, local information you and your fellow citizens need to make informed decisions, whether it's about city government or where to go for entertainment. And once you've asked the questions you want answered, we want you to write for The Sacramento Press – because citizens like you are The Sacramento Press!

This contest is a pro-am, where writers of all skill levels and points of view – writers like you – are welcome to write about what interests you.

No story is too small for The Sacramento Press. Do you have a business you love, a community volunteer you admire, a trend that disturbs you, people who give you hope, city employees who drive you crazy? What don’t you understand about City Hall? What do people need to know about your neighborhood? What’s old and admirable? What’s changing?

Any of those questions could lead you to people you don’t know as well as you’d thought, or introduce you to people you didn’t know. And you can share that new-found knowledge with your fellow citizens.

That’s where The Sacramento Press comes in: In addition to providing the platform to publish, we also offer free copy editing and workshops on various aspects of journalism, from interview techniques to photography to ethics. We will do everything we can to help you create the best journalism you can.

And we have cash prizes!

For more on that and on how to enter your work in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open, read on!

To start writing, simply go to the top of this page and click the "Sign Up" button and follow the prompts. You will be asked for information and to sign off on our terms of use agreement. After you are signed up, click the "Write" button at the top of the page and start writing.

We suggest that you write your story in a separate writing application and then, when you've finished and had it copy edited, cut and paste it into our site.

To utilize our free copy editing, simply e-mail your story to journalism@sacramentopress.com, and we'll send the edited version back to you within 24 hours.

For specific questions, you can contact our customer service expert, Casey Kirk at casey@sacramentopress.com. She can help you along in the process.

Important: Every story you enter/post on the site must be tagged "Open2011" in the tag section. Just write those words in the space provided. You should also feel free to add tags to you story in the space provided, especially choosing one of our “section” tags – Culture, Business, Politics and Sports – depending on which one fits the story best.

Hit "Publish," and you have posted your first story on The Sacramento Press. You've also been entered in The Sacramento Press Journalism Open!

CATEGORIES & CRITERIA FOR JUDGING

Entries will be judged by our editorial staff, and that judgment will be subjective. But we will be using criteria for what we think good journalism is. Among those criteria are:

Accuracy: Facts, spelling and quotes should be correct. Double-check everything and use your computer’s spell check.
Writing style: Writing should be clear, concise and enjoyable.
Local focus: Stories should be set in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer or El Dorado counties.
Sourcing: Include a minimum of two living, breathing sources in your story. Quotes from people who know what you’re writing about will always enliven and improve your story. Aim to include different perspectives. Wikipedia, About.com, press releases and book or newspaper excerpts are not acceptable sources.
Impact: Your story will also be judged on how readers react in the conversation on The Sacramento Press, as well as how it is received in the real world.
Mostly though, we’ll judge entries based on how interesting they are, if they’re news or a new approach to an old story, how well-researched they are, the quality of the writing and the quotes.

Stories can be any length, but they must be original nonfiction about the Sacramento area.

Stories may not be re-posts from blogs or other publications, print or online.

Finally, we will give extra weight to high-quality photographs, either accompanying stories or standing on their own with explanatory captions.

RULES

To be eligible, stories must be posted on the site, by you (using your real name), between 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2011 and 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2011. We will be able to help you post either over the phone or in our office during our normal business hours (10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Monday through Friday).

You may enter as many different stories as you like, but please enter/post each story only once! Make sure to tag it "Open2011" in the tag section or it will not be counted as a submission. There is no charge to enter.

PRIZES

First Prize $700
Second Prize $500
Third Prize $200
Five $100 prizes
$350 in prizes awarded to best photos

Entries will be judged by The Sacramento Press editorial department. Decisions will be final. Limit one prize per applicant. Winners will be announced Feb. 14, 2011.

There will be a workshop from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 12 at The Sacramento Press office to answer your questions. Be careful that you're happy with what you've written; once it is published on the site, it cannot be modified.

You must live or work in one of our four home counties listed above, and be at least 18 years of age. High school students under the age of 18 can enter if they have a parental consent form.*

*Parental consent forms must be signed in person by a parent or legal guardian of the minor entering an article. To arrange for this, please e-mail Casey Kirk, casey@sacramentopress.com.

Editorial Note: The rules have been changed to allow for people who work (not just who live) in one of the four counties we cover (Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado, Placer) to enter the contest.

Man on the Street: What are you thankful for?

2010-11-24T08:13:40Z

During the holidays many people reflect on what they are thankful for in their lives. The Sacramento Press polled people in Sacramento to share some of these sentiments.

Feel free to add what you are thankful for in the comment section.

Vince Hernandez, City Employee

The Sacramento Press caught up with city employee Vince Hernandez at a benefit for Loaves & Fishes on Monday. Hernandez, a tree pruner for the city’s Urban Forestry division, said he knows a few people who are out of work. He said he is thankful he has a job.

He also talked about his pride in his son and daughter-in-law, who both work for the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. “I have a boy, and I’m thankful for him, too,” Hernandez said.

Janet Green, Loaves and Fishes

It didn’t take long for Janet Green to think about what she was thankful for this Thanksgiving.

In response to a question from The Sacramento Press, Green, the outreach development director for Loaves & Fishes, said, “I am definitely thankful for my family, my health and my Loaves & Fishes community.”

Mandy Nguyen Wright, Office Assistant, The Specific Chiropractic Center in Elk Grove
Elk Grove resident, 41

“I’m thankful that I’m breathing and in good health and that (my husband and I) are able to take care of patients. I’m thankful for family and friends to help support us with transitions and events we hold at the office.

“I’m also thankful that I don’t have to cook this Thanksgiving, because I’m going to my family’s house.”

Joseph Phillips, full-time student at Carrington College, part-time cop
Oakland resident, 23

“I’m thankful to be a cop. I had wanted to be a cop since I was 5. My father works for the L.A. County Sheriff’s department. Before that he was a football player, and he had always wanted to be a cop. I’m trying to make him proud up here.”

“I’m thankful for the family – the little bit that I have. Family’s always good when you have it.”

Phillips came to Sacramento to visit his mom in Elk Grove and spend Thanksgiving there.

“I’m thankful for mac and cheese. My Aunt Lisa makes the best mac and cheese.”

Christopher Barry, full-time student at Sacramento State, part-time sales associate at Nordstrom’s, sales intern at The Sacramento Press
Downtown Sacramento resident, 25

“It’s been a busy year for me with school and work. I’m thankful for all of the support I get from my family and friends. I’ve been taking a back seat in hanging out with friends because I’m so busy, but they’ve been supportive. All of their positive motivation keeps me going as I finish my last semester at Sac State.”

Russell Glover, high school student at American Legion, Sacramento resident, 16

“I’m thankful for my family and for the food I’m going to eat on Thanksgiving.”

Glover said his favorite is turkey, and he looks forward to sharing it with loved ones this holiday.

Theresa Fitz, San Francisco resident

Fitz arrived Tuesday by bus from San Francisco, where her brother-in-law picked her up.

“I’m really thankful for my family,” she said.

“Some family is here, so I came up to see them for the holiday,” she added.

Dorothy Malcolm, Sacramento resident, 85

"I'm going to have a bunch of my family here. For the first time in the 30 years I've lived in Sacramento, I have a son and daughter-in-law living nearby. I also have two daughters, a son-in-law and six grandchildren coming. There'll be 12 of us for dinner in my small house. And seven of them are staying overnight."

Elden Bartley, homeless in Sacramento, 50

"I live on the street. I'm thankful that God keeps me alive every day and keeps me safe. And I stay warm with one blanket. I go to church every Sunday. And I've got two good friends out here. So right now, it's working. I'm just very thankful for that. I've been out here four years."

Maritess Oandasan, Granite Bay resident

"[I'm thankful for] family, and that I have a steady job that's possibly promising, and honestly, that's it! Family, because I've had some things happen. And good food."

Matt Minehart, Sacramento resident

"We are thankful for family, great friends, our health, and of course, good music."

Sacramento Press editorial staff Kathleen Haley, Colleen Belcher, Brandon Darnell, Suzanne Hurt and David Watts Barton contributed to this article.

How to use Liveshare to post your RTFTH photos

2010-11-24T01:14:32Z

You’ve taken some great photos from the Run To Feed the Hungry race and now you want to share them. How do you upload them on our site? Below we’ll show you how to do it.

Requirements:

iPhone with iOS 3 or higher
Android phone
Have a Facebook account

For iPhone users you can simply download the app at the iTunes store. For Android users simply launch the Android Market on your device then search for "LiveShare" in the Android Market and install it, it’s free!

Once you have the app you can use your Facebook credentials to login. Then simply select The Run to Feed the Hungry event, which will pop up under Nov. 25 events. You will see a live gallery of pictures that everyone else at the event is taking. Click the camera icon in the upper right corner and you can add pictures of your own right from your phone!

It’s as easy as that.

Although you won’t see much until race day, you can check out the gallery now on SacPress.

Share your Run to Feed the Hungry photos on SacPress

2010-11-24T00:54:07Z

Want to see live pictures of The Run to Feed the Hungry taken by the community in real time? Then look no further than the gallery below.

This gallery will feature live streaming content the day of the race. Check it out below, and if you’d like, you can expand it to full screen by clicking on the icon in the lower right corner.

To add pictures yourself, see the full instructions here and for more about the Cool Iris Liveshare gallery, visit their website.

Have fun!

Research and Fact-Checking Workshop Nov. 16

2010-11-04T21:38:16Z

We're very excited for Max Whittaker's photojournalism talk Tuesday, Nov. 9. The RSVP list is full, and we've set up a waiting list.

The last workshop The Sacramento Press will be holding for this year will be Tuesday, Nov. 16, from 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Clare Noonan will teach a workshop on research and fact-checking at The Sacramento Press office.

The credibility of a writer rests on the research and facts put forth in his or her stories. Journalists are held to the highest accountability when it comes to the accuracy of their information. Fact-checking is a very valuable skill to possess, and Noonan will discuss methods for verifying your research and double-checking the facts in your stories.

Noonan has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Kentucky. She worked at The Modesto Bee for more than 20 years as a reporter for business, news, feature and sports while also copy editing. She also worked as assistant news editor and assistant city editor in charge of the Crime and Safety beat during her time at The Bee. She has been a copy editor for The Sacramento Press.

Badges will be awarded to participants for attending the workshop. To become a verified community contributor, please bring a government-issued ID.

Please RSVP by e-mailing workshops@sacramentopress.com. Space will be limited to 40 people. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count.

Due to the high number of attendees at recent workshops, we will reserve chairs for those who have RSVP'd. Those who show up without RSVP'ing will have to wait until the workshop starts to be seated to make sure that all of those who have RSVP'd are guaranteed a spot.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Sacramento Press hosts Review Writing workshop

2010-10-14T21:03:59Z

Anybody can be a critic, David Watts Barton said at the Sacramento Press Review Writing workshop. What distinguishes a good critic is that they can back their opinion up and express it well, he added.

The Sacramento Press Editor in Chief discussed the art of review writing Wednesday in-house and via live stream from the Sacramento Press office.

Barton has been a pop music critic since he was 16 years old and made a living doing it for The Sacramento Bee for more than 20 years.

He began the workshop by making the audience repeat after him, “It’s just my opinion,” which he gave as the overarching mantra for all review writing.

“You can get wrapped up in your opinion,” he said. “But it’s not science, it’s art. It’s your experience and your response to your experience.”

Barton then shared a handout covering what he considers the four tenets of good review writing: researching, reporting, self-interviewing and writing.

The first principle, research, involves finding out as much as you can about the show beforehand.

“You can get a lot of background on somebody without ever having seen them,” Barton said. “If you do research beforehand, then you have something to fall back on.”

Some of his tips for doing sufficient research were to read other people’s reviews – get insight from other people, get a grip on the context, take advantage of the Internet, do your research ahead of time, and always check your spelling.

“If you can put it in a context for people, then it comes across as more multidimensional,” he said. “And spelling always counts. People will be all over you if you spell a name wrong, because it undermines your credibility. They will announce the names, but you should always double-check, because there’s a big difference between ‘Wormworth’ and ‘Wentworth.’ You’ll be attacked.”

He also made the point that you can’t judge two artists by the same criteria, because they’re not trying to do the same thing.

“They weren’t trying to be Bob Dylan, they were trying to make you dance,” he said. “You have to address the artist on the level the artist is addressing you, and that’s the only way it works.”

The second tenet of good review writing requires taking on the role of a reporter.

You need to recheck the names you think you already know and write things down as they occur to you, because you don’t know what you’re going to write until you sit down to write it.

You also want to look at what people are wearing, write down what the artists say between songs, pay attention to details (for example, how all the musicians work together, and if the sound sounds different than the sound on the record) and make sure not to be the person standing there, singing along, hearing what you want to hear.

“The role of the critic is to be the person that says the emperor has no clothes,” he said.

The self-interview is also an important part of review writing because concerts are about an energy exchange, Barton said.

You have to ask yourself questions about the show such as how did the bass player sound? Why do I feel this empty feeling? Did I believe it? Are these guys really who I thought they were?

”Art is supposed to move you,” Barton said. “There’s got to be a buy-in. Ultimately, it’s about striking a balance. It’s good to have a little bit of distance, but you still want to be caught up in it.”

Daril Helmer, creator of the website Broccoli Cheese and Crackers, found this tip very helpful.

“I came here to learn new things about writing reviews, and I think I did,” Helmer said. “Like the importance of the little things, like taking notes, getting thoughts down after watching a performance and learning to sleep on it.”

Barton then talked about the actual writing of a review.

“As I’m writing it, it forms, and things will pop out,” he said. “The most important thing is to just start writing.”

Alicia Dienst, who has written for Midtown Monthly and practices music review writing on the side, said she liked the approach Barton took to review writing.

“I appreciate the way he broke it down into a plan,” she said. “Do some research, have the experience, analyze your experience, then write it down.”

Bill Burgua, who has written many theater reviews for The Sacramento Press, said he also gained valuable information from the workshop.

“No matter how much we write, I’m a big proponent of longtime learning,” Burgua said. “This gives me just another insight into how to interview a critic. It resonated when he talked about ‘just write,’ because once I start writing, it falls into place. It reinforces what I’m doing and that I’m doing things right and how to do things better. And David has a lot of great experience, and you can always learn from someone with experience.”

Throughout the workshop, Barton answered questions from the audience such as when to take a break from writing, how to prevent from gushing, and the difference between a reviewer and a critic.

“You want people to come out feeling like they’ve learned something,” Barton said. “But remember, it’s just my opinion.”

Photos courtesy of Sacramento Press Staff Reporter Brandon Darnell.

Review Writing workshop will be on Ustream, guest list is full

2010-10-13T21:38:31Z

Tonight's Review Writing workshop will be live streamed, and we encourage you to tune in from 6:45 - 8 p.m.

Sacramento Press Editor in Chief David Watts Barton will teach the basics of reviewing concerts, theater and other performances.

We are not accepting anymore RSVPs at this point. We are at full capacity for attendees.

If you have RSVP'd but it's more convenient for you to watch the live stream, we encourage you to do so.

The Ustream video will be pasted in this article later today. It will go live when the workshop starts.

Free live streaming by Ustream

Writing for Readers

2010-10-07T19:15:40Z

The Sacramento Press office was packed Wednesday night as Dianne Heimer presented the 45 attendees with tips on how to write better leads – the opening sentences in articles.

Before the workshop began, guests enjoyed sandwiches and chips from Dad’s Kitchen.

Heimer has been a professor of journalism at Sacramento City College for 17 years. She has a BA in English and an MA in English/journalism. She is currently a freelance magazine writer.

“I was excited, ’cause this is exactly what I needed help with,” Keilah Woodard said. She has a blog about places to go with kids called Sacramento Side Tracks.

This is the second workshop Sally King has attended at The Sacramento Press. “I really came to see Dianne,” King said. “It never hurts to go over information again.” In May, King got her BA in journalism, and Heimer was one of her professors.

“Make ’em wanna read ... on,” Heimer said. “Hook ’em with a good lead.” She said that you only have three seconds to compel a reader to read an article. “So if there are any photographers in here, you are important, too,” Heimer said.

“Your ideas will be lost if you don't hook ’em,” Heimer said.

Heimer went over the two different types of leads, traditional and nontraditional. A traditional lead would be used in a breaking news story: it gives the who, when and what and tells you the outcome in the first paragraph. An example Heimer gave was, “A little girl was arrested today when she broke into the little bear’s house, police said.”

A nontraditional lead is often creative. It’s also called a delayed lead. “(It) starts to tease you a little bit,” Heimer said.

Heimer gave attendees two handouts. One was about different kinds of feature leads, and the other was from a book written by Tim Harrower, “Inside Reporting: a Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism.”

Heimer said that to write well you have to read good quality journalism. She also recommended that if you are having trouble writing, to walk away. Come back later and look at it with “fresh eyes.”

At the end, Heimer gave the audience an opportunity to ask questions. There was a question about technical writing, and Heimer recommend reading good technical writing. “It sounds dry to me (cough, cough) maybe it’s supposed to be that way,” Heimer said. The last question was about mini-leads when writing a long article, and Heimer said writers should“try to group like items together.”

“I’m impressed that they got someone who is really qualified and entertaining,” Woodard said. “It was wonderful, super-informative. Basically, I got out of it what I had hoped to get out of it,” she added.

The next workshop will teach how to write reviews of concerts, theater and other performances. David Watts Barton, Editor in Chief of The Sacramento Press, will teach the workshop from 6:30-8 p.m. Oct. 13.

Photos courtesy of Sacramento Press Managing Editor Colleen Belcher.

Sacramento Press hosts Food Writing workshop

2010-10-01T21:26:46Z

Food writer Becky Grunewald came to a full house at The Sacramento Press Thursday to share her tips on food writing with attendees, who got the chance to write reviews on food they sampled at the workshop and get professional feedback.

Grunewald showed up to give everyone a little taste of good technique at the second food-writing workshop The Sacramento Press has given.

Grunewald has been writing a food column for Midtown Monthly for four years, but it all started with her modest food blog. Now, she has her work featured in local monthlies and will have a piece in Sunset magazine next month.

The workshop began with a buffet from Selland’s Market, where attendees chose snacks from an assortment of signature cheeses, sandwiches, flatbreads and roasted vegetables. There was also a dessert tray of cookies, cupcakes, brownies, chocolate canolis, truffles, chocolate mousse and other tantalizing goodies.

Grunewald gave the audience 10 minutes to write about their treats, telling them to use all of their senses.

The room was silent while students, foodies, and experienced journalists studied their plates and tried to put their experiences into words.

When everyone was finished writing, Grunewald shared what she considers the five tenants of exceptional food writing : passion; curiosity; voice, tone and style; confidence and experience.

She read a food piece aloud by Pullitzer Prize winner Jonathan Gold, called “Le Cevicheria: Blood and Clams” and discussed what made his writing so powerful.

After listening to Grunewald read the food columns of Gold and other distinguished food writers, audience members took another look at their own pieces and personalized them using the tips she shared during the workshop.

Four people shared their work, including Lindol French, who compared the food elements on his plate to the characters of the TV show “Jersey Shore.”

Travel professional Christy Jourdan also shared her writing, but was more hesitant at first. This was her second workshop this summer.

“In the first thing I wrote, I wasn’t being me,” Jourdan said. “I was trying to judge the cupcake, which I’m not qualified to do. But then when Becky said the thing about being yourself, what came out was natural and good.”

But Jourdan wasn’t the only one who benefit from Grunewald’s insight.

Davis Enterprise Staff Writer John Edwards attended the workshop just to see what it was like and walked away with some useful writing tools.

“Becky was very knowledgeable herself, contextualizing the writing and everything,” Edwards said. “But I also really like the networking aspect of this. I got to meet some really talented people.”

And even the woman in the crowd who came with extensive food writing experience of her own, Human Rights Advocate Colleen Marie-Blanchefluer Whalen, got a lot out of this workshop.

“I’m an eco-gastronomy, eco-literacy educator, and even I learned a lot,” Whalen said. “I highly recommend these workshops. I’ll Yelp it like A++.”

The next workshop will be Oct. 13. David Watts Barton will teach attendees how to review concerts, theater and other performances. To RSVP, e-mail workshops@sacramentopress.com.

Photos courtesy of Sacramento Press Managing Editor Colleen Belcher.

Sports Writing Workshop Aug. 25 6:30 - 8 p.m.

2010-08-18T22:36:42Z

It's not too late to attend the "Journalism Ethics" workshop tonight. It's at our newly remodeled Sacramento Press office, from 6:30-8 p.m.

Molly Dugan, an assistant professor of journalism and communication studies at California State University, Sacramento, will teach the workshop.

Our second workshop for the month will hopefully transform sports fans into sports writers. Jimmy Spencer, founding editor of PublicCEO.com, will lead the "Sports Writing" workshop Aug. 25 from 6:30-8 p.m.

Spencer has a B.A. in journalism from California State University, Sacramento. He has worked for The Sacramento Bee, NBC Sports, and the Sacramento River Cats. Spencer coaches high school basketball in the Sacramento area and writes for NBA.com.

Attendees will learn about professionalism and ethics in sports writing, how to get the best quotes, how to come up with a lede and keys to getting published. All sports writing-related questions are welcome at this interactive workshop.

Badges will be awarded to participants for each workshop they attend. Writers who show up can also become verified community contributors.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107, in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

Please RSVP by e-mailing workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

“Improve your Writing” workshop aids community members

2010-07-22T21:02:15Z

Tuesday night, The Sacramento Press office was the place to be if you wanted to improve your writing.

Clare Noonan—who has more than 20 years’ experience working as a reporter and copy editor for The Modesto Bee and The Sacramento Press—presented to a crowd of roughly 50 people to “Improve Your Writing and Self-Editing.”

The interactive workshop focused on tips for self-editing and common mistakes that Noonan found when reading copy.

“Get rid of the clunk,” she said.

She suggested to “tighten up” writing by getting rid of saying things twice. For example, the phrase “massive aircraft carrier” does not need the word massive, since an aircraft carrier is large enough already.

On the handout passed out to participants for concise writing, Noonan said to make your verbs count, and most importantly, use the active voice instead of the passive. For example: Instead of writing “was able to jump out” write “jumped out.”

She also said to eliminate the obvious. Phrases such as “Graduated college from Chico State” does not need the word college since we know Chico State is a college.

Noonan recommended that writers become familiar with the Associated Press Stylebook — a book she frequently checks for accuracy when editing.

“If you’re a writer, the AP Stylebook is the bomb,” she said.

Participants went through an already-edited article to see how edits are made, and what phrases or words can be eliminated to “tighten up” writing.

“As an editor, my main thing is to do no harm to any of your stories, believe it or not,” she said.

She suggested that all writers read their work out loud before they submit it, even if it means letting your coworkers think you’re crazy talking to yourself.

One question cleared up by Noonan from a workshop participant was the rule of numbers: from one to nine, write it out. Numbers 10 and above should be figures.

Other useful tips included: Don’t use Wikipedia as a source (ever), don’t begin sentences with a clause, avoid slang and alliteration, give full names even if it may seem obvious and use transition between quotes.

“We’re all in love with our writing,” Noonan said. “But what you think is important in a story, sometimes really isn’t.”

Photos by Colleen Belcher

How do I fix an error in my story?

2010-07-19T19:37:51Z

Once you publish your story, it’s final, so we encourage you to save it as a draft or view it as a preview before hitting the publish button to make sure you haven’t overlooked any typos or mistakes.

That said, we all make mistakes, and we want your published work looking its best.

If you ever catch a spelling error, typo or spacing issue, send an e-mail to support@sacramentopress.com and we can fix it.

We also offer free copy editing. Send your story to journalism@sacramentopress.com, and we’ll get it edited and back to you within 24 hours.

How do I become a Sacramento Press editorial intern?

2010-07-16T20:04:47Z

At any given time, The Sacramento Press has six unpaid editorial interns reporting on local events and writing much of our daily content.

Editorial internships last 15 weeks and can earn students college credit. California State University, Sacramento; University of California, Davis; and other colleges have given units for students participating in our internships.

The internships aren’t limited to college students. Anyone interested in gaining more experience in journalism is welcome to apply for an internship.

What does the internship entail?

Our interns participate in weekly editorial meetings and are assigned multiple stories per week. Topics for stories range from previews of events to event coverage to exploring city issues. Most of what we cover falls in the Midtown/downtown area.

Interns are also expected to generate their own story ideas and work closely with the editorial staff to brainstorm ideas and edit their stories.

Many of the story assignments require interns to work in the evenings and on weekends. We provide digital cameras and digital voice recorders for the interns to use when interviewing people and attending events.

The weekly commitment is roughly 20 hours. We are flexible in working with your work and/or school schedules.

There will be no paper pushing or getting coffee for editors in this internship. Our editorial interns arrange for their own press passes, coordinate interviews, take their own photos and publish stories after making edits.

The editorial internship provides a solid foundation for news reporting in an online news medium. Upon completion of the internship, participants will have made valuable connections in the community and have developed a greater awareness of the potential for stories and how to pursue them.

How do you apply?

We accept applications and interns year-round. If you are interested in applying, send your resume and up to three writing samples to journalism@sacramentopress.com.

Writing samples can be clips from other publications, essays from classes or personal writing samples.

July 21 Improve Your Writing with Self Editing Workshop

2010-07-12T23:35:10Z

The Sacramento Press office is almost done with its remodel. Our first workshop in the new space will be Wednesday, July 21, from 6:30 - 8 p.m. It is titled "Improve Your Writing with Self Editing."

The workshop will teach writers how to remove unnecessary words that clutter writing and create more concise writing that is easier for readers to understand.

Clare Noonan will teach the interactive workshop.

Noonan has worked for The Sacramento Press since September, where she edits copy and designs pages.

Attending this workshop will give you the opportunity to become a verified community contributor and receive a badge.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $1.50 per half hour and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take the light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

RSVP by e-mailing workshops@sacramentopress.com. If you RSVP and decide later not to attend, please send us an e-mail to notify us that you will not be coming so we can have an accurate head count

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Local Journalists Lead "Paying for Content" Panel

2010-06-24T06:36:16Z

The Sacramento Press and The Sacramento Bee co-sponsored a panel discussion titled "Paying for Content" on June 22.

The third floor of The Bee housed 37 people who gathered to listen to panelists discuss paywalls, online revenue and the relationship between consumer and organization.

Independent journalist JT Long moderated.

The panelists were Tim Foster, editor of Midtown Monthly; Michael Sanford, KVIE's vice president for content creation; Geoff Samek, co-founder of The Sacramento Press; Tom Negrete, Bee managing editor for the online edition and production; Ron Trujillo, editor of The Sacramento Business Journal; and Mike O'Brien, co-publisher and owner of Sacramento Magazines Corporation.

The panel started with panelists introductions. Each discussed their website and explained how it makes money.

Foster said Midtown Monthly receives revenue from advertising. Sanford said KVIE relies on membership contributions. The Sacramento Press has four forms of revenue, according to Samek: display advertising, social media consulting, events and sponsorship, and digital advertising website Sacramento Local Online Ad Network (SLOAN). The Bee's website accounts for 15 percent of its revenue, Negrete said, mostly through display advertising.

Trujillo showed where advertising is placed on the Journal's website.

"Where we make our money in the newsroom is exclusive subscriber content," he said.

O'Brien said his magazine has 25,000 monthly subscribers and sells about 7,500 copies at newsstands monthly. The corporation publishes both Sacramento Magazine and Our Wedding Magazine.

"We'll extend our core niche in our print product onto the Web," O'Brien said.

Long asked the panel to attempt to predict how their sources of revenue will change in the future.

"We've gone from analog dollars to digital dimes," O'Brien said. "The big change that we see is the tablets and mobile applications. With the iPhone application, people are paying for content and I know that'll be a key issue for all of us. (Sacramento Magazine) will have our mobile application soon."

Users are in control now and have more choices than ever, Negrete said.

"Also, everybody can be a publisher now," he said. "Our marketing research department is a department with few people, and that should probably grow because that information is going to become crucial."

The topic moved into content when Long asked if the panel used freelance or staff writers, and how subjective the stories are.

"We are almost 100 percent freelanced," Foster said. "And I do worry someone is going to come to me and they're going to want to write about something that is not completely subjective objective. As far as the advertising driving the content, I have to rely on my own ethical rules, and so far I think we've done pretty good about that."

Samek said transparency helps balance bias in articles for his website.

"Citizen journalism is at the core of what we do," Samek said "For us, we see it as a mix of us and the community of Sacramento as the region's storytellers. Now when it comes to objectivity, it's a tricky thing. It's something we can't have in the same way. You'll see transparency as a crucial thing in the future."

KVIE stories and programs are submitted by producers, Sanford said.

"(Our programs) met our editorial standards and were objective," he said.

Audience members then asked questions and offered suggestions.

Questions were directed toward the entire panel and occasionally a specific person.

"How does the legacy of (SacPress) play into how aggressively you go out to new types of revenue?" Cody Kitaura of Sacramento asked. "Are you concerned about SacPress being a consulting business rather than a place they go for news?"

"It comes down to what can we do well, and we try to do that," Samek said. "I don't think that takes away from the SacPress and the branding of it. Why wouldn't we just start a business that's social media consulting? It loops back around to the fact that we became good at consulting because we ran a newsroom."

Sue Wilson of Amador County asked the panelists for their opinions on content sharing.

"I'm wondering what kind of interest there is in terms of someone producing for various local papers and for you guys on multiple platforms," she said. "Is there that interest or do you want that kind of cross pollination among your newsrooms?"

"There's many city magazines in California," O'Brien said. "And all of us, generalizing, have done a story on escaping to Carmel. Why is it that we don't collaborate with others?

“Two answers: one is that we want our own spin. We want to deliver the sensibilities of Sacramento whatever that may be. And second is these publications tend to be entrepreneurial and want to do it their own way."

Trujillo asked how the shared content revenue could be divided.

"I think that cooperation is crucial, and the fact that Sacramento Press is here at The Sacramento Bee — instead this is a step in the right direction," Samek said. "Even if you wanted to compete, local media is facing so much pressure.

“The pie is shrinking. Cooperation is very crucial in this environment. Everybody knows what they do best and overlap isn't that bad."

The discussion ended with discussing whether or not the publications intended on using a paywall.

Trujillo said The Business Journal has a hybrid of a paywall. The Journal's website has free online content, but printed content is viewable only by subscribers. Non-subscribers must wait four weeks to read printed content on the website.

Other panelists said no.

We need the traffic and that just would not work, O'Brien said.

“KVIE is focused on being the premiere storyteller about our region,” Sanford said in an e-mail Wednesday. “It’s important to us that we share this content with as wide an audience as possible – not just on television, but through our websites and social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

“Making our content available to everyone in our community regardless of their ability to pay is central to our mission and we have no plans to charge for online content.”

"I don't think a paywall is the answer for us right now," Negrete said.

The discussion was recorded by Access Sacramento. The air date has yet to be determined.

Photos:

1) The Sacramento Bee hosted the panel on the third floor of its headquarters.

2) Panelists (L to R) Foster, Sanford and Samek.

3) Panelists (L to R) Negrete, Trujillo and O'Brien.

4) Panelists (L to R) Negrete and Trujillo.

Photos by Colleen Belcher.

Agnus-Dei Farrant is an intern for The Sacramento Press.

Online journalism survey by Reynolds Journalism Institute

2010-06-03T01:34:15Z

For our readers and users who have an interest in online news sites and community journalism, we have a survey that we would like you to take.

Reynolds Journalism Institute is doing a research project on local news sites and online community. On their website it states their mission as "reconnecting journalists and citizens around the importance of journalism in a democracy, and using technology to enhance methods that help journalists reach citizens in many ways."

The institute is part of the University of Missouri and the Missouri School of Journalism.

RJI reached out to Sacramento Press to participate in their research and created a survey tailored to our site.

The survey has 36 questions, 22 of which directly deal with Sacramento Press. The remaining questions touch on current events and demographic information.

The survey will ask you about how useful Sacramento Press is, how you benefit from it, how often you visit the site, the quality of coverage, your satisfaction with Sacramento Press, and whether or not it is engaging.

It also seeks to get your opinion about online community, users interacting with journalists and commenting on articles.

It is completely voluntary and confidential. You have the option of leaving questions blank or stopping the survey altogether if you don't feel comfortable with it. You will not be contacted after the survey unless you choose to include your e-mail address.

If you can spare 10 minutes of your time to complete the survey, it will help with the research to improve journalism and technology to better serve you and news consumers.

Click on the link below to access the survey:

http://rjisurvey.sacramentopress2.sgizmo.com/s3/

Cappuccino Cruisers Cruise Night

2010-05-27T07:41:05Z

For the past several years the Cappuccino Cruisers Car Club has met at the Red Robin Restaurant parking lot every Wednesday during the summer months. This year they started gathering on April 14 and will continue to meet until October. The Cappuccino Cruisers meet at other places but I catch them once in a while in Folsom on my way home from work.

Today I stopped as classic cars were beginning to assemble for Cruise Night. I didn’t stay very long as I was going to attend the Sacramento Press’ Interviewing Techniques Workshop. The speaker for the workshop was Doug Herndon, an English and Journalism professor at Sacramento City College. I enjoyed the workshop and got some good journalism tips and also got to meet some very interesting people. Next time I go to the car show I hope to use the interviewing techniques I learned.

The Cappuccino Cruisers also have Theme Nights on certain dates. Theme Nights include Wagons, Woodies, Panels and Sedan Deliveries Night (which was tonight). The next scheduled Theme Night will be on June 30th with the Annual 40’s Night and “Tribute America”. The last Wednesday of each month will follow the Theme Night concept until September 29.

This Saturday, May 29, there will also be a Free Family Day at the Folsom Zoo event. This special event will include the usual car displays, a pot luck barbecue, and vendors throughout with proceeds benefiting the zoo.

The Cappucino Cruisers have a web site at www.capcruz.com. Their web site contains much more information about the club, meetings, and special events. If you like classic cars come enjoy next Wednesday’s gathering at 1011 Riley Street in Folsom at the Red Robin Restaurant parking lot.

Big turnout at Sac Press' Interviewing Techniques Workshop

2010-05-27T05:14:22Z

Around twenty-five eager writers gathered at 5th and H Cafe Wednesday night for Sacramento Press' Interviewing Techniques Workshop. The audience included Sacramento Press community contributors and interns as well as career writers looking to strengthen their interviewing skills. Pizza and pasta salad were provided as well as an array of beverages.

The event was taught by Sacramento City College English and journalism professor Doug Herndon. Herndon used a metaphor to emphasize the role of a good interview in the process of writing a story:

"(Writing a story) is like cooking a meal. It's all in the ingredients."

The workshop began with the audience jotting down a few questions which they then used to interview a partner. Herndon went through the interviewing process, from making the first phone call to asking the tough questions. He also discussed general details of interviewing including what to wear and the importance of bringing extra supplies, such as pens or batteries.

While Herndon gave many interviewing tips, he warned against long and leading questions.

"You never want to put words in anybody's mouth," Herndon said.

The night wrapped up with questions from the audience on topics such as appropriate word count and accessibility of public records.

Photos by Colleen Belcher

May 19 Sac Press Tools and Tricks workshop - See Sacramento Press behind the scenes

2010-05-17T18:59:26Z

Have you ever wondered how the Sacramento Press functions technically or editorially? Do you want to know how many views our site gets on a daily, monthly or yearly basis? Our Sac Press Tools and Tricks workshop will answer those questions and any others you might have Wednesday, May 19 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Sacramento Press office.

Geoff Samek, one of the co-founders of The Sacramento Press, will go over many of the newer site features and discuss ways of utilizing these tools to your advantage so you are spending less time trying to figure out how to post articles, comment or other actions.

Samek will share statistics on the number of page views the site gets, when readership peaks, and he will also cover computer basics that will come in handy. Colleen Belcher, managing editor of The Sacramento Press, will be at the workshop to discuss how the editorial side of The Sacramento Press works.

The goal of the workshop is to make using the site easier and give attendees a better idea of all of the tools available and how the newspaper functions from both the technical and editorial sides.

We have a second event this month on May 26. Doug Herndon will teach a workshop titled Interviewing Techniques. Herndon is an English and journalism professor at Sacramento City College and adviser to the college's newspaper, The Express.

He has been a professional writer for more than 15 years and has worked for Sacramento magazine, The Sacramento News & Review and The Sacramento Bee.

Attending either of these events will allow you to become a verified community contributor. You will also receive a workshop badge for attending.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks.

If you are facing Starbucks, go around the building to the left, and you'll see our Sac Press sign out front.

We recommend you find parking on the street, bike or take light rail, as the Amtrak parking lot charges $1.50 per half hour and we cannot cover the cost of parking. If you take light rail, we will give you two passes when you get here - one to cover your trip here and one to cover your trip back.

RSVP by e-mailing workshops@sacramentopress.com.

Freelance writers panel photo essay April 26

2010-04-28T20:04:12Z

Here are some photos of the panel from Monday night at the Sutter Square Galleria. The Sacramento Press and the UC Davis Extension Center collaborated to present "Making it as a Writer: How to Succeed in Challenging Times."

More than 30 people showed up to hear insights from panelists JT Long, Sacramento-based freelance journalist; Peter Grandbois, published author and California State University, Sacramento, creative writing professor; Cinamon Vann, a freelance writer and editor specializing in environmental topics; Kate Washington, contributing writer for Sactown magazine and a freelance food and travel writer; Jennifer Basye Sander, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published and founder of Write By The Lake Retreats.

Janna Marlies Santoro, Sacramento writer, professor and editor, moderated the panel, asking questions about how each panelist defined success as a writer, what strategies they use for accomplishing success and what challenges the panelists have faced recently due to the economic down turn and how they managed them.

The audience was able to ask questions ranging from what a typical day was like to how much money they charge per word or per project.

The Sacramento Press has another panel planned for June so stay tuned for more information.

When in doubt, fact-check it out - Sac Press holds research and fact-checking workshop

2010-03-24T06:16:19Z

Professor Dianne Heimer from the Sacramento City College Journalism Department spoke about the simple steps that can be taken to make sure that you are getting the right information in stories at Tuesday's researching and fact-checking workshop held at The Sacramento Press.

This important topic focused on helping writers learn how to recognize a reliable source and when to second-guess their facts. Heimer stressed the importance of the accuracy of facts and credibility, saying, "Factual inaccuracy in your writing can discredit your reputation and your publication's reputation."

She was able to talk about this further by demonstrating the importance of getting primary sources, such as an interview with someone directly involved, to enhance accuracy. Secondary sources are also good for getting information, but with the Internet so easily accessible, it is necessary to look at where the information is coming from.

"An easy trick is to look at the tail end of a web address' URL," she said. "Sites ending in .edu, .org and .gov are more credible."

Heimer stressed that while secondary sources can be a great asset, it is important to fact-check and still get firsthand accounts when possible.

The workshop went on to focus on the importance of fact-checking. She said the best way to ensure accuracy is to double-check names, phone numbers, addresses, URL's, dates and times, any numbers and your primary and secondary sources against themselves. It is simple mistakes in these areas that can easily discredit your paper.

Her key point of the night was, "When in doubt, fact-check it out."

Audience members, many of whom came to the workshop to improve their writing, actively participated, helping bring many of the more complicated issues with fact accuracy to light.

She also made sure to point out that a great way to find helpful information for articles is through the Internet Public Library 2 at www.ipl.org.

Overall, the night was full of constructive information on how to improve researching techniques.

This workshop is only one of many that The Sacramento Press puts on each month to help local community members who are interested in writing community-based content gain knowledge.

Those interested in attending future workshops should sign up as a user on the site. Users are sent e-mail invitations for upcoming workshops.

Photos by Colleen Belcher

Citizen journalism at work

2010-03-19T19:52:43Z

The Sacramento Press is a hybrid site of professional and community-contributed journalism. One recent event that we could not cover in-house is a perfect example of how citizen journalism works best:

One of our reporters, Kathleen Haley, was unable to attend a debate scheduled for Thursday night.

Our editorial department e-mailed a resident Haley had met at another event who had shown interest in the debate. This resident suggested that a friend of hers, Chris Shannon, who had already planned to go to the debate, write about it for The Sacramento Press.

We asked our interns to see who was available, but none of them were to attend either.

Chris Shannon e-mailed us and called to confirm that he could cover the District 7 debate.

He took pictures and wrote a great story.

We are very lucky to have community members who are willing to write about events and issues that affect all of us. Our staff is very small and it's impossible to cover everything in our area.

Thank you, Chris Shannon, for the great coverage and we hope this example will encourage more writers to share stories on The Sacramento Press.

Photo essay: A look at the St. Patrick's Day Block Party

2010-03-18T18:18:17Z

Sacramento Press witnessed the block party at de Vere's firsthand. We had a booth set up in the middle of the festivities. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Beer Brats

Sonny Mayugba interviews the Kennelly Dance Company.

Sonny sits down with Henry de Vere White.

Sonny interviews Rob Kerth for the Sacramento Press livestream.

The Sacramento Kings dancers at the Sacramento Press booth.

Sonny interviews Simon de Vere White.

News 10's Jennifer Smith and camera man check out The Sacramento Press.

Research and Fact-Checking workshop March 23

2010-03-15T19:54:45Z

We have a free journalism workshop scheduled later this month.

Dianne Heimer will lead our first Research and Fact-Checking workshop on Tuesday, March 23, 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Heimer is a journalism professor at Sac City College and advises the college's newspaper, The Express.

Doing research for articles seems daunting, but we'll show you that it isn't difficult and that the added credibility and depth are worth the time and effort.

Heimer will discuss appropriate sources and will go over how to confirm the accuracy of the facts in your story. She'll also discuss the trustworthiness of the Internet as a source.

Food and drinks will be served at 6:30 p.m., with the workshop at 6:45. Our office is at 431 I Street, Suite 107, in the Amtrak station.
If you are facing Starbucks, go around the building to the left and you'll see our Sac Press sign.

We recommend you park on the street, bike, or take light rail, as parking in the Amtrak lot costs $1.50 per 20 minutes. We do not cover the cost of parking, but if you take light rail, we will provide two passes when you get here, good for the round trip.

RSVP by e-mailing workshops@sacramentopress.com.

For more information, call 916-443-5403.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

"Introduction to Journalism" at Sacramento Press

2010-02-18T07:01:46Z

The Sacramento Press presented its "Introduction to Journalism" workshop Wednesday evening hosted by Sacramento Press' copy editor Brandon Darnell.

The 28 attendees came for advice on a wide spectrum of journalistic problems. Some wanted to alleviate their sarcastic and biased writing voice, others came to discover proper format.

Chelsey Miller, who said she wants to cover articles focusing on culture (music and fashion), came because she felt it was an opportunity to help "people to see me as a professional."

Ira Cohen, who is more interested in covering business and technology, said he always had a hankering for journalism but considered it in his "I'll get around to it pile." His objective was to use the workshop as a way of sharpening his tool set and increase his confidence to get the show on the road.

"The biggest thing in journalism are the facts," Darnell said. "News has to be useful, or at least interesting."

He stressed that if the effort is put into an article, through research, focused interviews, and supportive facts, the result will be a strong article.

Darnell, who wrote for The Lincoln Messenger and The Sacramento State Hornet, presented rules and guidelines to the audience that have proven successful in his years of experience.

Now that the workshop is over, the only one thing left to do is go out there and write. But have thick skin, because there are a lot of critics.

Please visit every section in today's Sacramento Press

2010-02-10T15:24:30Z

For the first time in its barely-one-year history, The Sacramento Press is entirely laid out.

That's right: No matter which of the section headings you click on in the green navigation bar this morning, you will get a fully laid out page: Politics, Business, Sports and Culture now join our Front Page with stories, pictures and comments. This is the first time we will ever have had a Business page front. And the Politics and Culture pages are completely content not even carried on the Front Page.

Thus, click on the Culture page and you will get ideas about where to dine for two on Valentine's Day, or read about a new mosque rising in Sacramento. On the Sports page, you will see staffer Mike Urbani's musings on conflicts between runners and cars. On the politics page, you will see reporter Kathleen Haley's story about the police union's presentation at last night's city council meeting.

We can't promise this will happen every day, but with our increasing content - thanks to burgeoning content from both our editorial department and citizen contributors - it will happen more and more often. Thanks are also due to our tech department, who recently introduced our two-story page fronts, allowing this to happen.

Also, for your reading pleasure, please note that we now have a weekly "Best of the Week" section we're calling Sunday Best, where the most interesting stories of the previous week will be displayed beginning every Sunday, and will remain up until the next Sunday, giving readers more chances to see some of the great work we are doing on Sacramento Press.

We hope that the increased time it takes to do this is more than matched by the number of page hits we get, as people have more and more to look at on Sacramento Press. Please make a point of sending out links to the various "section" fronts, as there are stories on those pages that do NOT appear on the Front Page (Kathleen has unique stories on both the Front Page and the Politics page), giving Sacramento Press an increased depth of content.

Feb. 17 Intro to Journalism workshop

2010-02-09T23:13:05Z

It's very exciting to see the number of our community contributors continue to grow. We now have close to 800. With so many new writers, we want to make sure we offer you the tools and resources to improve your writing and help you feel more confident posting on our site.

We've held many journalism-related workshops in 2009 ranging from Interviewing Techniques, Bias in Media, Journalism Ethics, among others.

We're happy to announce another Intro to Journalism workshop this month, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Brandon Darnell will be teaching the workshop. He is a freelance writer and editor, and he currently copy edits for The Sacramento Press.

Darnell graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2007 with a degree in journalism, where he worked as a reporter, copy editor and Copy Chief of the student newspaper, The State Hornet. Darnell worked as a reporter for the Lincoln News Messenger for a year, covering everything from city government and the economic crisis to feature articles before moving to Paris, France, to research a novel he is currently writing.

This workshop is perfect for those of you without a journalistic background. We encourage you to write on our site, but some basic guidance from a workshop such as this one may help get the pen to paper or in our case, fingers to keyboard.

Attending this workshop will also earn you a badge for "Intro to Journalism workshop" on our site. You will have the opportunity to be verified as a community contributor as well.

Our office is located at 431 I St., Suite 107 in the Amtrak station. We are in the same building complex as Starbucks. If you are facing Starbucks, go around the building to the left and you'll see our Sac Press sign out front.

Please RSVP by emailing workshops@sacramentopress.com.

If you have any trouble finding our office, please call 916-443-5403.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Jan. 25 workshop: Media discussion with co-founders of Sacramento Press

2010-01-20T20:15:30Z

The second workshop we have scheduled for January is a media discussion with the co-founders of Sacramento Press, Ben Ilfeld and Geoff Samek.

This workshop will give you the opportunity to meet the co-founders of Sacramento Press, hear them discuss the future of media in their eyes, and ask them any questions you may have about the site, online news, etc.

The workshop will be at the Sacramento Press office on Monday, Jan. 25 from 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Please RSVP by emailing workshops@sacramentopress.com.

If you have any trouble finding our office, please call 916-443-5403.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Knight news challenge grant

2010-01-18T07:50:16Z

South Sacramento is a diverse community that speaks many languages and practices many traditions. Cultural lines and language barriers prevent news and community stories from being told to those outside a small radius.

Access Sacramento, in collaboration with The Sacramento Press, The Sacramento Bee and other regional media organizations have reached the final round in the Knight News Challenge.

Their grant proposal will focus specifically on South Sacramento and its residents. Access Sacramento has applied for a two-year, $316,500 grant to continually achieve their mission of providing a forum for the thoughts, dreams and opinions of community members who are ignored by mainstream media. The grant will allow five sites to be outfitted with the technology needed to achieve their two goals.

"Our first goal is to challenge the current media to educate and teach new citizens," Access Sacramento Executive Director Ron Cooper said. "This will create hyper-local news straight from the community."

Cooper hopes new citizens who aren't covered by traditional new sources to participate as community reporters who are able to cover events in a language other than English. Spanish, Hmong and Tagalog are a few of the main languages spoken by members of the community. Cooper and others believe this language barrier is a main reason for the disconnect.

"There is a lack of personnel engagement in news sources today," Cooper said. "This grant will help us engage the South Sacramento community like never before. Activists, leaders or concerned citizens will all be able to participate."

The second goal of the challenge is to supply the equipment and education necessary for reporting. Computers and Internet access are just the beginning.

"The skills to be a reporter will also be taught," Cooper said. "We need to teach objectivity and not subjectivity. The media currently runs on sensationalism. This will be different, not just story after story of robberies and crime. This community needs a voice to be heard, and they can't wait to get it."

Stories received from the project will be displayed on AsIsOnline.tv. This new website offers the chance for text, pictures and video to be uploaded and shared with the world. News and stories in all languages will be available to users throughout the region.

Over 2,300 applicants from around the world applied for the Knight News Challenge. Cooper estimates that Access Sacramento is one of only 100 finalists, but the winners will not be announced until June. The entire challenge is public: Grant proposals are displayed on the Internet, and all software developed for the grant must be open-sourced to share with the world. The Knight Foundation wishes winning proposals were copied and repeated all over the world. The Knight Foundation wants to inspire communities around the globe with these proposals.

"To celebrate diversity, we need to start engaging those not participating and find out why," Cooper said. "This grant will allow Access Sacramento to speed up its plans for South Sacramento."

Media Panel video at Urban Hive

2009-12-11T22:00:42Z

Wednesday night, the Urban Hive was packed with people eager to hear what local media outlets had to say about the changes they've made recently in response to the economy, technology and social media.

Jim Jakobs, Assignment Manager of KCRA, Jon Schuller and Anne Shulock, Office Manager and Reporter of Sactown Magazine, Jen Picard, Senior Producer of Insight, David Watts Barton, Editor in Chief of Sacramento Press, and Nick Miller, Arts Editor of Sacramento News and Review, had a lively discussion moderated by Janna Santoro.

Here is the first part of the video from that night. Nick Miller joined the panel a little late. This first segment is before he arrived.

Media Panel video part 1 from Colleen Belcher on Vimeo.

Intermediate Google workshop Dec. 15

2009-12-10T19:10:49Z

Thanks to all of you who came to the Media Panel at the Urban Hive Wednesday night!

We have another engaging event scheduled for next week. Jeff Marmins, who taught our last Facebook workshop, will be leading the Google event titled, "Get Google in your Social Media Mix." Jeff is the creator of Social Media Path and partnership director of Social Media Club Sacramento.

The event will be at the Sacramento Press office Dec. 15 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Jeff will discuss how to condense all of the social media sites you post to into one application on Google, successfully use RSS feeds and answer your specific questions.

This workshop is designed for intermediate Google users. If you'd like a beginner workshop, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com and if there are enough people, we can put together a separate beginner workshop.

Please RSVP by emailing journalism@sacramentopress.com.

If you have any trouble finding our office, you can give us a call at (916) 443-5403.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there.

Media Panel Dec. 9 at The Urban Hive

2009-12-03T19:42:54Z

Many of you have asked about workshops and events being posted on our site in addition to the email invitations. Here is some information about our planned December events.

We've organized a media panel Dec. 9. and a Google workshop Dec. 15.

The media panel is a collaboration between the folks at the Urban Hive and The Sacramento Press. It will be held at the Urban Hive, Dec. 9 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

The panel features representatives from each type of news outlet and will focus on the changes each has had to make over the past few years with technology, the economy and social media. Each panel member will also be asked where they see the future of journalism is headed. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask their own questions during the panel as well.

The panel will consist of:

Jen Picard is the Senior Producer of Insight on Capitol Public Radio. Picard has a degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Humboldt State University. She's worked as a features copy editor and entertainment editor at the Appeal-Democrat newspaper in Marysville. Picard has been with Insight since July 2006 and has served as Senior Producer since January 2007. Picard lives in Sacramento with her photojournalist husband Max and her neurotic cat Smokey.

Nick Miller is arts editor at SN&R, Sacramento's alt-weekly magazine, where he assigns thousands of stories each year--send those pitches, stat! He's been in journalism for eight years. In his spare time, he enjoys sitting around in a Snuggie with his pug, Leroy, and watching NBA.

Anne Shulock is a reporter for Sactown magazine. After interning for Sactown in college, she joined the staff as an editorial assistant in 2008. She graduated from Pomona College in Southern California with a degree in Media Studies, focusing on art and film. In college, she spent a summer interning in the fashion department of CosmoGIRL! in New York City, where she mostly organized piles of earrings and skinny jeans and decided she didn't want to work in fashion.

Jon Schuller helped launch Sactown magazine in 2006 after graduating UC Davis with degrees in Spanish and English. In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of the office, he's also writes, researches, fact-checks and copy edits content for publication. Recently, he's helped research and develop an action plan for the magazine's upcoming digital presence and hopes to expand the brand's presence in social media. He also assists with the advertising team. And orders Post-It notes.

David Watts Barton, editor in chief of The Sacramento Press. Barton has been in local media his entire life. From teenage work in independent publications like Rock 'n' Roll News and Tower Pulse! Through his nearly 25 years at The Sacramento Bee, where he was the paper's first Pop Music Critic, Barton has made his living exploring and reporting on different aspects of his hometown's culture. For the last year, Barton has entered the world of online news, helping to shape and guide The Sacramento Press, first as Managing Editor, and more recently as Editor-in-Chief.

KCRA will also be a part of the panel. The representative is still being decided.

Food and drinks will be served at 6:30 p.m. and the workshop will begin at 7 p.m.

The Urban Hive is located at 1931 H Street in Sacramento.

Please RSVP by emailing journalism@sacramentopress.com, so we know how many people to expect.

We'll post something later this month with more information on the Google workshop.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at the Urban Hive!

Facebook workshop tonight

2009-11-18T19:54:10Z

When: Wednesday, Nov. 18 2009 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Where: The Sacramento Press office, 431 I Street, Suite 107 Sacramento, CA 95814

What: Facebook workshop, taught by Jeff Marmins, creator of Social Media Path. He will go over privacy settings and how to keep your personal and work lives separate on Facebook. He will also be answering any questions you may have.

How: To RSVP for tonight, email journalism@sacramentopress.com. Space is limited, we only have a few spots left.

If you have any questions, you can call us at 916-443-5403.

Writing has never been so rewarding

2009-10-12T03:40:09Z

October is almost half over and we've only gotten16 stories submitted for the Journalism Open.

We have roughly 15 prizes to give out, and we'd love to have a lot more content to judge for our writing contest.

That being said, we don't want you overestimating the time and effort you need to put into writing an article for the Sacramento Press. We offer free copy editing, so don't put off writing for the chance to win $500, a trip to Squaw Valley, and other prizes because you think your article needs to be Pulitzer-Prize worthy.

We're having a workshop Tuesday, Oct. 13 to answer all of your questions about The Sacramento Press Journalism Open.

If you've been hesitant to enter or just heard about the contest from a friend, co-worker or from this article, this is the perfect opportunity to quell your misgivings.

We're here to motivate, encourage and root you on as you write your first, second or thousandth article for this contest.

The Journalism Open only runs through 11:59 p.m. Oct. 31, which leaves a little over two weeks for you to write your story or stories.

To see the complete rules and prizes, visit www.sacramentopress.com/open.

Clear your Tuesday night schedule and come eat and socialize and prepare your A-game for the contest.

What: The Sacramento Press Journalism Open workshop

When: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 6:30 - 8 p.m.

Where: The Sacramento Press office 431 I Street, Suite 107 Sacramento, CA 95814

Why: Because you want to win cash prizes, a portrait by the Wall Street Journal artist, a trip to Squaw Valley and bragging rights.

Make sure you email your RSVP to journalism@sacramentopress.com.

West Sacramento Joins in National Night Out

2009-07-30T16:47:13Z

Streets and neighborhoods in West Sacramento will again be participating in the National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 6 p.m.-10 p.m.

The annual event, which promotes public safety and community partnerships, brings neighbors together for block parties and cookouts.

At 7:30 p.m., in support of the Bryte & Broderick Community Action Group, the Police and Fire Departments, along with other agencies, will converge at Bryte Park at 425 Todhunter Avenue.

For more about National Night Out, contact Community Service Officer Nora McDowell, (916) 617-4837 or noram@cityofwestsacramento.org .

Final Harmony on the River in West Sacramento

2009-07-30T16:32:56Z

On Tuesday, Aug. 4, from 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Harmony on the River, a free summer concert series from the City of West Sacramento, will present the final concert of the season. Enjoy an evening with Hurricane Sam & the Hotshots, featuring boogie, blues, and jazz.

Harmony on the River is a family-friendly event, so please bring the kids, a picnic, and soak up the sounds. Pets on leash are allowed, but the City asks that you refrain from any glass bottles.

Parking is free also, so just see a parking attendant on site for a pass.

For more information, contact Scott Stanley of the City of West Sacramento Parks & Recreation, scottst@cityofwestsacramento.org.

Toward a clearer picture

2009-07-30T08:50:13Z

Have you ever noticed yourself straining to make out someone's profile picture? Perhaps you've had trouble seeing detail in an article photo. If so, you'll be pleased to know that tonight we've rolled out an update to The Sacramento Press that should make your pictures clearer and smoother than they've been before. Initially, you'll only see the difference in pictures uploaded after today, but in a few days we'll go back and fix everything uploaded to the site since day one. In addition, article images now appear in the order in which they were uploaded, and we're now accepting a few more image file types (although we recommend sticking with JPEG or PNG files).

We also added a few new capabilities and crossed some items off our list of known problems. Here are just a few of the 35 fixes and additions we've made:

Improved article pages so the text loads instantly (no more waiting for the whole page to load on your mobile device)
Fixed your personal tag clouds
Made the site work better in Internet Explorer 6 (but please upgrade to IE8!)
Darkened the text throughout the site to make it a little easier on your eyes
Fixed a problem when writing articles with Safari 4
Tweaked our layouts to have Featured Pictures clickable, and added quotes around Featured Comments (see picture above)

As always, let us know if you have any questions or comments.

West Capitol Avenue Streetscape Traffic Advisory

2009-07-29T14:59:07Z

The City of West Sacramento announces a modification underway in the traffic flow parallel to City Hall, 1110 West Capitol Avenue as part of the West Capitol Avenue Streetscape construction project.

All eastbound vehicle and bicycle traffic is shifted to a single south lane on West Capitol Avenue. Westbound vehicles and bicycles will continue using the north side of West Capitol.

All pedestrian access continues on the north side of the street, as West Capitol's south sidewalk remains closed, and the closure of Merkley Avenue from West Capitol Avenue to approximately 600 feet south stays in effect.

The two Yolobus eastbound transfer stations at Merkley Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard have been re-positioned from the median area to the south side of West Capitol Avenue. The westbound transfer stations and bus stops do not change at this time.

This traffic configuration will accommodate the construction within the West Capitol Avenue median areas, a period expected to last approximately four weeks.

All businesses in the vicinity of the construction area remain open and accessible. Please drive cautiously and pay attention to traffic/construction signs in the area.

Observe the construction zone speed limit of 25 MPH for the safety of pedestrians.

West Sacramento Announces Mini-Grant Program for Non-Profit Organizations

2009-07-29T14:38:38Z

The City of West Sacramento has announced their Mimi-Grant Program for community service organizations with a great program idea needing additional funding.

The City's "Community Mini-Grant Program" provides funds annually to help qualifying West Sacramento non-profit organizations with special funding needs.

This year, thirty thousand dollars is available to non-profit organization applicants that can demonstrate a viable need that benefits West Sacramento and its residents.

Applications for the mini-grant program must be submitted by Sept. 25, 2009, to the Parks & Recreation Department, 1110 West Capitol Ave., West Sacramento, CA 95691.

Once all of the applications are in, they will be reviewed by a Parks & Community Services Commission subcommittee, and the chosen recipients will be announced in the spring of 2010. The selected organizations must enter into a signed contract, after which they will receive eighty percent of the funding. The remaining twenty percent will be awarded when all original receipts are submitted and it is determined that the funds were spent as planned.

To apply, visit the City of West Sacramento's website at www.westsacfun.org and look for “Community Mini-Grants” under Department Highlights, or pick up an application at the Parks & Recreation office on the first floor of City Hall.

For more information or questions, please contact West Sacramento Parks & Recreation at (916) 617-4620.

Concerts in the Park season extended five weeks

2009-07-23T05:13:53Z

The season of free Friday evening concerts in Cesar Chavez Plaza at 10th and J streets in downtown Sacramento, a summer tradition, just got a bit longer.

Promoter Jerry Perry, who has been arranging the multi-act shows, all featuring local musicians, since 1997, just got permission from the city to extend the concerts another five weeks.

And this time, Perry will be in charge of the whole event, over the five-week series. Called “End of Summer Fest,” it will begin when the current series of concerts ends on Aug. 14.

“I’ve always felt that the season ends too soon,” he said by phone Tuesday. “But I was never completely in charge before.”

The shows are generally sponsored by the Downtown Partnership, with Perry in charge of booking the acts. Other sponsors chip in, and a popular beer garden underwrites the remainder of the cost.

The new series of five concerts, which begins on Aug. 21 and runs through Sept. 18, will be sponsored by The Sacramento Press. Other sponsors will be coming on board during the next few weeks, Perry said.

Artists already signed by Perry to perform during those five weeks are artists he couldn’t book during the original 15-week season, including Jackpot, Agent Ribbons, Shannon Curtis, Mike Farrell and a reunited Kai Kln. More artists will be announced shortly.

The concerts have proven popular, but producing them is still a huge effort, and a risky one at that. Perry says that the cost of putting on the show, with beer garden, food vendors, police, fire and health department inspectors and other costs total roughly $20,000 per week.

And although the shows are free, audiences wax and wane week to week, depending on weather, competing events, the timing of holidays, Furlough Fridays, and even last year’s wildfires, which led headliner Mumbo Gumbo to cancel.

This year, says Perry, “We got rained out one day and rained on two days. If it’s too cold, you don’t sell enough beer, if it’s too hot, people don’t come out. Last week was our lowest beer garden in a few years, I don’t know why. We got hit harder with the heat than anything. When it’s 105 degrees, people don’t want to come down to the park.”

Still, Perry says, being more in charge, while daunting, is allowing him to make a few changes he’s been wanting to make. One is to create a separate food court with tables, accessible only to those who buy food and want to sit down to eat it. He also says that problems with the beer lines have been eliminated.

With the enthusiastic support of the city – Perry says Tuesday’s approval of permits came in a mere seven minutes – the new End of Summer Fest seems likely to continue a tradition that is one of downtown Sacramento’s most popular.

But that doesn’t stop him from worrying.

“I think about the days getting shorter, is that going to affect turnout?” he says. “But I want to take it further, see where we can go with this. It is one of the things that defines downtown Sacramento in summer.”

Tony's Fine Foods Expanding "Green" Facilities in West Sacramento

2009-07-20T16:54:51Z

In a combined press release, Tony's Fine Foods and the City of West Sacramento have announced a major expansion of Tony's headquarters and food distribution facilities in West Sacramento. The expansion will accommodate an expanding customer base and new product lines, as well as business acquisitions generating significant growth in market share for the 75-year old, family-owned company.

The company will invest about $15 million to construct a new 77,000 square foot building to house a new freezer and automated distribution warehouse, and renovate existing warehouse and office space. The expansion will increase the West Sacramento company's workforce to 365 fulltime employees, an increase of 75 jobs. The expansion will allow the company to serve the entire California market with an expanded product mix that includes more than 12,000 meats, deli and bakery products, domestic and imported chesses, pastas, catering items, and specialty beverages.

The City's Economic Development and Development Services Divisions are assisting Tony's and BTV Development, the construction project manager, to deliver building permits and other city approvals to achieve Tony's operational goals.
Tony's West Sacramento headquarters, a combination of corporate office suites and a perishable food distribution facility, is one of the most modern and efficient in the region.

The 143,000 square foot facility is located on 25 acres. Their fleet of multi-temperature trucks and trailers are carefully designed for hot, valley temperatures. Twenty-three sealed loading bays allow perishables to be kept in a constant 35-degree Fahrenheit climate, whether in storage, on the dock, or in a truck. Tony's plant accurately tracks all products and ensures freshness by using state-of-the-art software for tasks such as radio frequency computers, real-time inventory, and automatic product rotation, voice-activated multiple order picking, and bar code scanning.

In 2007, Tony's sought an innovative technology to hedge against future energy bills, maintain the quality of its perishable food, and provide a clean energy source. Working closely with PG&E, Tony's invested in a 1-megawatt AC photovoltaic system, and applying $3.5 million in PG&E rebates to create the largest, privately owned solar system in Northern California.

"West Sacramento's business climate has allowed us to focus on serving our customers and growing our business," said Scott Berger, Tony's Chief Financial Officer. "We appreciate the City's partnership with us to achieve a phased construction schedule that meets our operational and financial goals."

West Sacramento’s Mayor, Christopher Cabaldon, said, "The City of West Sacramento is proud to be chosen by Tony's for this major business expansion. Like Tony's, The City of West Sacramento prides itself on standing above the competition in providing superior customer service. Tony's success demonstrates that quality, service and integrity, and sustainable building practices are core principles of today's business leaders."

For more information, readers can visit www.tonysfinefoods.com and www.cityofwestsacramento.org/city/depts/redev/ed/.

Kids Don't Float! Loaner Life Jackets Available

2009-07-15T16:54:59Z

The City of West Sacramento Fire Department wants everyone to know to use life jackets during water recreation!

Keep your kids safe. Free, loaner life jackets are available at the following West Sacramento Fire Stations:
• Station 41, 132 15th St.
• Station 42, 3585 Jefferson Blvd.
• Station 43, 1561 Harbor Blvd.
• Station 44, 905 Fremont Blvd.
• Station 45, 2040 Lake Washington Blvd.

Also, the Bridgeway Lakes Boathouse office, 3650 Southport Parkway!

For more information, contact the West Sacramento Fire Department at (916) 617-4600 . The free life jacket rental program is sponsored by both the City’s Fire and Parks & Recreation Departments.

Rice Exports Soar At Port Of West Sacramento

2009-07-15T16:34:56Z

In May of 2009, The Cunningham Report stated that while container volumes are plummeting at West Coast ports, the Port of West Sacramento - which does not have container facilities - is enjoying a bumper year for rice exports.

Port Manager Mike Luken said that the port is enjoying its best year for bagged rice exports in 15 years. This year, the port expects to export some 339,000 metric tons of bagged rice, which is about double what the port usually handles during the fall-to-fall rice export season.

The rice is moving primarily to Japan and Korea, where demand increased significantly this season.

Kirk Messick, vice president of Sacramento-based Farmers Rice, says the Korean demand stems from an agreement with the World Trade Organization that requires Korea to increase its imports of U.S. rice each year.

The increased demand from Japan is attributed to several factors- including a lack of rice available from China and Egypt following a perceived shortage of rice in those countries.

Harbor Boulevard Interchange Improvements

2009-07-15T16:25:27Z

Caltrans and the City of West Sacramento have jointly announced that on July 29, 2009, Caltrans will begin construction on improvements to the Harbor Boulevard interchange that crosses U.S. Highway 50 in West Sacramento.

The scope of the project includes new alignment and realignment of the freeway ramp access, widening of the roadways, removal of pavement, and overcrossing structure work.

The project is designed to accommodate increases in traffic activity on the Harbor Boulevard interchange.

An information open house will be held in room 157 of the West Sacramento City Hall, 1110 West Capitol Ave., on Monday, July 27, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the admission is free.

Caltrans staff and City representatives will be on hand to discuss the potential traffic interference, like lane restrictions, speed controls, access, and how you can plan to avoid congestion during construction.

Weapon wielding transient threatens kind hosts

2009-07-07T00:44:38Z

Sacramento, CA- Shortly before 3 P.M. Monday, in the 1500 block of 19th Street, two apartment occupants were kind enough to allow a transient woman to hang out with them and relax for a bit in their apartment.

Per the occupants (who wish to remain anonymous), as the woman was getting ready to go, she asked to use their home phone. When they declined to allow her to use it she pulled a knife and began to threaten them insiting on using the phone. The two occupants restrained her as an on site worker called for police.

Police responded rapidly, however were initially given the wrong address by the onsite worker, which put officers several blocks away searching for the incident. On dispatch call back, dispatchers were able to obtain the right location and redirected responding officers.

As officers arrived, the woman got loose and led officers on a very brief chase. The fleeing woman was captured in the backyard of the apartment building.

The occupants stated that the woman was also very drunk.

Sac Press June 30 Interviewing Techniques workshop

2009-07-01T03:27:35Z

The Sacramento Press office was buzzing with questions at the Interviewing Techniques workshop on Tuesday, June 30.

Holly Heyser, Faculty Adviser for The State Hornet and Professional Journalist in Residence at Sac State, went over the key steps to a good interview.

About 12 people showed up and learned a lot about one another, firsthand accounts of what it's like to be a historian, what it's like to be a part of a television show and what it was like to offer aide to New Orleans residents as a part of FEMA.

The Sacramento Press holds regular journalism workshops each month on various topics.

To sign up for the e-mail list and receive invitations to future workshops, please e-mail journalism@sacramentopress.com

Port of West Sacramento Channel-Deepening Funding in Obama's 2010 Budget

2009-06-03T00:48:49Z

     Mike Luken, Port of West Sacramento Manager has announced that the Port of West Sacramento has been included in President Obama’s proposed 2010 Civil Works budget for $10 million to re‐launch its ship‐channel deepening project.
Inclusion in the President’s budget proposal is a key step in securing the federal funding needed to move the $80 million channel‐deepening project forward.
     By deepening the 43‐mile ship channel connecting the Port to San Francisco Bay from 30 feet to 35 feet along its entire length, more than 75 percent of fully loaded oceangoing freight ships will be able to serve the Sacramento region, compared to less than 40 percent currently.
     Luken indicates that the project is a partnership between federal, state, and local governments. U.S. Representatives Mike Thompson, Ellen Tauscher, and Dan Lungren, who represent the Port in Congress, along with U.S. Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, championed the deepening project to bring it back online.
     The project also has received strong support from members of the Sacramento region state legislative delegation, including State Senators Lois Wolk, Darrell Steinberg, and Dave Cox, and Assembly members Mariko Yamada, Dave Jones, Roger Niello, and Ted Gaines.
     “This project is a great partnership between the Port, the federal government and the state, which is investing $10 million through the Trade Corridor Improvement Fund created with voter approval of Proposition 1B in 2006,“ said Senator Wolk, who represents the Port and West Sacramento.
     “We’re anxious to get the channel‐deepening project underway and pleased to know we have the President’s support at this critical juncture,” said Mike McGowan, chairman of the Sacramento‐Yolo Port Commission. “We need to get the project launched soon to help the Port remain viable as a key Northern California goods movement facility.”
     “This project is an excellent example of the federal government’s priority on restoring the nation’s infrastructure. It will help to generate tremendous private investment in Northern California and create the family wage jobs that are greatly needed to restore our nation’s economy,” said Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of the City of West Sacramento and member of the Sacramento‐Yolo Port Commission.
     In addition to federal and state funding, the Port is investing up to $10 million in the project. Additional federal funding for the next phases of the deepening project will be requested through future budget processes.
     The channel‐deepening project, which was initially started in 1989 but later stopped due to since‐resolved utility issues, is scheduled to begin in 2010 with completion targeted for 2013. The federal Civil Works funding would support the first phase of construction.
     The channel‐deepening project is led by the US Army Corps of Engineers with the Port of West Sacramento serving as local sponsor. The deepening project is a top regional transportation priority of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), and the California rice industry, the Port’s beneficial cargo owners and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). All of these organizations played a pivotal role in moving the channel‐deepening project into its first phase of construction.
     Mike Luken stated that the project would reduce regional freeway congestion and air emissions; enhance cargo exports, such as rice; facilitate the import of cement, steel, large equipment, biofuels, and bulk fertilizer that support Northern California and Central California agriculture; bulk construction materials for private and public projects; and create habitat areas in the Sacramento River Delta.

Whitey’s Jolly Kone Hosts River City Rodsters

2009-05-29T05:00:46Z

     Like a blast from the past, the parking lot at the oldest burger joint in West Sacramento was packed this evening with classic cars from Model T’s to custom Firebirds. It was “Cruise Night” again at Whitey’s Jolly Kone, a Jefferson Blvd. landmark since 1964.
     Tommy Kale, the empirical master of ceremonies and all around car enthusiast was glad to show me around. Along with his cohort Frank Baschal, I got the grand tour and a little history of the River City Rodsters and “Cruise Night” at Whiteys.
     The late Whitey Boisclair started hosting this local car show several years ago, the last Thursday of every month from April until October. Every year it grew larger until the parking lot today is filled from the burger stand to the street. And even with the passing of Whitey and his dear wife Maxine, they still come out in droves to enjoy Whitey’s burgers and the glistening polished paint jobs of the vintage autos from bygone eras.
     There was one car owner that stood out this evening. His name is Ray Campagna. Ray has been blind and in a wheelchair since childhood, suffering from degenerative cerebral palsy, but it hasn’t seemed to stop him from being the consummate car enthusiast.
     In 1984, Ray bought an old, dilapidated 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air for $450.00. Apparently, it was being used to haul dirt.
     Ray hung onto that car for years, until in March 2009, twenty-two of his friends, led by Ted Pangle, met at So Cal Speed Shop and, in what Pangle calls a “car party,” they stripped the Bel Air to a rolling chassis and body. Once that was done, that very same day they moved the car over to Miracle Auto Body, who did the extensive bodywork needed to prepare it for paint. Next, it went to Artistic Paint and Body, who put on the custom paint, Dusk Rose with an Ivory Roof. Then off to Jim’s Chevy Parts to be assembled.
     So, on May 23, 2009, the new custom Bel Air was delivered back to Ray, who was too excited to talk.
     Tonight was Ray’s third car show this week, and once they pack up here, they’ll be off to Lovelock, Nevada for the next show.
     Ray is a shining example of the fortitude of man. Never deterred, he’s proud that he’s been living on his own all of his adult life. The friends and business owners who put this car together for Ray should be equally proud. Their altruistic efforts to restore Ray’s pride and joy should make us all think that maybe there is good people in the world. That there are people who, for whatever reason, will go out of their way to help their fellow man.

There’s certainly more to come and I’ll be there to get the facts and bring them to you.

Forgot your password?

2009-05-11T09:08:31Z

The Sacramento Press was updated tonight with a grab bag of wish-list items, tweaks, and bug fixes that have been accumulating over the last two months.

Recently, we've been using email as a tool to pass on news and workshop event details to you. Now, with this new release, we've started verifying email addresses on our site. So, for all new signups (or if you're already signed up and you change your email address) you'll get an email that contains a link to visit that lets us know your email address is in good working order. This will help us better communicate with you. We run a lot of free, fun workshops here in our downtown office, and having a working email is really important for us to be able to get the word out.

Here's a few other things we've added:

If you forget your password, you can request an email that shows you how to reset it
You can now log in with your email address
If it takes you a long time to write an article, the site won't kick you off when you eventually try to publish it
You can easily cycle through all an article's images when zoomed in
We've increased the font size in our conversations
There's a new RSS Feed for site-wide comments
If you include a large image in the middle of your article, it won't spill over into other parts of the page anymore

The list of minor fixes and features keeps going, but I won't bore you too much with that. Enjoy!

March 19, 2009 Interviewing Techniques handout

2009-04-19T03:56:22Z

The Art (and Science) of Interviewing

Martin Kuz, Senior Editor for Sactown magazine, March 19, 2009

Pre-Interview

Deciding what your story is about will help you determine what questions to ask. What are the primary points or themes you want to touch on in your story?
Who is your audience? Understanding who reads the publication you’re writing for – and what writing style that publication prefers — will also help you craft your questions.
Research your subject. Read what’s been written about the person. Depending on the story’s complexity, talk to other sources before you interview the main subject.
Prepare a list of questions and bring it to the interview. Ideally, you’ll have your questions memorized so that you can stay in the flow of the conversation, but the list can help if you forget a question or get sidetracked.
Practical matters: Pick a place that isn’t especially noisy (for taperecording purposes). Find out beforehand how much time the person has for the interview – you don’t want the interview to end with your most important questions left unasked. And always, always, always plan to take notes so that you have backup if your recorder malfunctions.

The Interview

Keep an open mind. Don’t assume you know how a subject will answer a question – you want to try to understand how he or she sees the world. But an open mind isn’t an uncritical one – don’t necessarily take everything a person says at face value.
Establish rapport. Some people are more comfortable than others giving an interview. But either way, you want to make the person feel less like they’re doing an interview and more like they’re having a conversation with you. Start with easy, open-ended questions that can’t be answered with “Yes” or “No” so you can draw out your subject.
Ask your questions and then listen. (In other words, don’t pull a Charlie Rose.) Remember: It’s the other person who’s supposed to be doing the majority of the talking.
Be patient – but not overly so. Always give your subject ample opportunity to answer a question because you never know what may
be revealed. At the same time, remember that this is your interview – if the person is ranging far afield on a tangent, don’t be afraid to (politely) interrupt and steer the conversation back to where you want it to go.
Save the toughest questions for last. If you plan to ask questions that might compel your subject to end the interview, wait until you’ve asked everything else first.
Don’t forget to ask for the person’s e-mail address and cell phone number if you don’t already have them so that you’ll have a way to follow-up if necessary.

Post-Interview

Don’t wait to transcribe your tape or go over your notes. It’s best to have the interview fresh in your mind when you review the tape or
notes for several reasons, including a) It will help you to more clearly see what were the most interesting responses, which in the normal flow of conversation can sometimes be missed; and b) You’ll have a better sense of what follow-up questions you may want to ask.
Organize your transcripts/notes into an outline so that you can see what topics and themes are most relevant and engaging.
If necessary, arrange a follow-up interview, making clear to the subject what points you want to delve into more deeply

Bringing Sacramento Press workshops to you

2009-04-19T03:49:13Z

It was suggested by one of the users of and contributors to the site that the Sacramento Press create a section where people can access the materials from the workshops that we hold. Many people who have been unable to attend the workshops have also requested copies of the handouts from the various workshops.

In order to better arm our readers with the tools that will help them write, there will be a section where all of the materials from the past workshops can be found. If you type in "SP workshops" in the search field, all of the articles and handouts dealing with our workshops will come up.

Also, in the future we will upload a video feed of the workshops, if people are interested, so that you can watch the workshops from your own home as if you were really there.

We still encourage people to attend our workshops, as we'd like the chance to meet you in person, however, we understand it's not always possible to make time in your busy lives.

If you have any other suggestions on how we can improve your experience with our site or feedback on how to make our workshops better, please email journalism@sacramentopress.com.