Jim Konrad, editor of the Norwich Bulletin, sent along this note regarding the launch of a new ASF feature that will centerpiece the local section once a week.. Jim explains how it came together:

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From egg hunts to bunnies to parades, Easter is almost here. Ask your readers for their Easter photos with an Easter reader callout on GateHouse News Service.

Be sure to run the ad daily in a prominent place. And make sure you run readers' choices online and in print.

We hope you find reader callouts a great way to interact with your readers and get them involved in your newspaper and Web site.

At the end of each week, we highlight good work in WebCube by newsrooms across GateHouse in WebCube Moments of the Week.

When you have a good day for consistent homepage updates, a new photo gallery or a poll running, send me a link or a 'screen grab.'

The most popular pages and sections on GateHouse News Service in February:

1. Valentine’s Day page: Love is in the air

2. Healthy Heart page: Cardio care

There's a new news service and niche editor at the GateHouse Media News and Interactive department. Her name is Lisa Glowinski, and she's got some big plans for the division. I sat down with her for a few minutes to see what she's all about.

Here is the March 11 GateHouse front page gallery. Want your front page featured here? Send it to frontpages@gatehousemedia.com every day.

Seeing how a book cover design comes together is a great way to learn new techniques. But who has the time or the opportunity to shadow someone while working? Well, check out this time-lapse video of the making of a book cover.

Newspaper designers and graphic artists often must develop a centerpiece or section front illustration that captures the essence of a story. The same is done here, only with a much longer story. From what I can tell, an amazing amount of Photoshop work went into the final cover. 

We are excited to announce the 12 class members selected for the 2010 Leadership Series program, LEDE (Leadership, Education, Development and Enterprise). Over the next eight months, the group will participate in two training sessions at News & Interactive offices in Downers Grove, Ill., and spend time with some of the top editors in our company. The goal is to teach editors of small newsrooms and section editors of larger newsrooms the skills to lead in the next decade.

Here is the schedule for News Cube 2010 training by week. News Cube is the content strategy for this year. It includes both Web and print strategies as outlined in the Newsroom Handbook.

You'll be contacted about a month before your training with a specific date for your newspaper. We look forward to working with you.