At this time yesterday, I was enjoying the sights and sounds of Michigan Avenue in Chicago, where Jamie, Emily and I stayed for a night to attend the 2008 Folio Show. After a day and a half of jam-packed sessions covering everything from writing must-read stories to boosting online reader engagement, I'm finally back at my cubicle trying to put to good use all of the helpful tidbits I learned on Monday and Tuesday. Here's an overview of a few helpful sessions I attended this week:

Creating reader engagement
With the transition from magazines to new media, it's important for editors to seek new ways of grabbing (and holding) readers' attention. Here are a few tips offered by Boyce Thompson, editorial director of Hanley Wood, and Daniel Verdon, editor-in-chief of DVM Newsmagazine:
1. Build Community. Give your readers an opportunity to be involved in your magazine by using Internet message boards and letters to the editor, and including readers in your news.
2. Make Navigation Easy. Package your stories with inviting headlines, informative decks and eye-catching photos. Readership drops off with length, so make the lead catchy and keep important information close to the top.
3. Use Visual Storytelling. Use your photos to set a mood and communicate the theme of the article. Make sure your cutlines offer vital details about the photos so you can use images to present information.
4. Try Alternate Story Forms. Instead of using traditional long-form articles, try top 10 lists, timelines, charticles, pro and con lists, how-tos and Q&As. These forms are visually engaging and require tight writing that will hold readers' attention.

How to manage multiple projects
Hammock is more than a publishing company--it's a custom media company. And that means most of us Hammock people have to wear a lot of different hats in order to produce print, Web and video content for our clients. That's why I found this session by Brian Monroe, editor of Ebony and Jet magazines, so useful.

Monroe presented a case study of his company's coverage of the Democratic National Convention, a project that looked similar to Hammock's coverage of the NFIB Small Business Summit. The Ebony/Jet staff formed a team to cover the DNC using video interviews, photography, liveblogging and other forms of writing. Click here to see their work.

Monroe's tips for coordinating a team to complete this kind of project:
1. Be clear about objectives. Have a clear plan in mind for the end result so your staff knows exactly what it's trying to achieve.
2. Assign tasks appropriately. Before you get to blogging, make sure every one has a defined task to carry out so nothing is overlooked.
3. Let each medium do what it does best. There are things you can do with video, like capture the exact mood of a venue, that you just can't do as well in print. Make sure you harness the full potential of each medium.
4. Evaluate success. Once you're back in the office and your project is done, take the time to evaluate your work so you can improve your product the next time around.

Now that we're back to the grind, I'm looking forward to putting all this helpful information to work.

On Sunday I decided to put my mediocre painting skills to good use at a Habitat for Humanity work site in North Nashville. The house I worked on will provide a new home for Margaret and David Adalla-Duku and their six children. By the time my team made it to the site, most of the house was built, but we still had about nine hours of work to put in to get the structure ready for the family. Here's a shot of me painting fascia board atop a 10-foot ladder. (I like to have proof that I'm capable of such things).