New dining and entertainment section offers quick, smart and fun content

My Suburban Life, a group of weekly GateHouse newspapers in the Chicago area, have launched a new entertainment section called On The Go.

We talked with the editor of On The Go about the new publication. 

1. What is On The Go? On The Go is a dining and entertainment section that focuses on the active lifestyles of residents in our communities — including singles, couples, families and empty-nesters — and aims to help them make the most of their leisure time. We highlight local events, restaurants, activities and attractions across the western suburbs of Chicago.

2. What kind of content used to be in your lifestyle section? The majority of the old lifestyle content was written in the form of traditional narratives. Every week we had two “topicals,” where we would localize a larger trend on topics such as health and fitness, home and garden, dining, etc. We occasionally had other stories on arts and entertainment happenings in our area.

3. What kind of content goes into the new product? All of our content now takes shape through a variety of alternative story formats, which were developed in a planning process involving several editors and designers. These story templates rotate throughout the month and include standing features such as: 

• Taste of the Town, profiling a local restaurant which recently opened, revamped its menu, has a new chef, or is otherwise noteworthy, and highlighting three must-try menu items with photo and price;
• Hidden Gems, letting people know about great hole-in-the-wall restaurants, dive bars, or other off-the-beaten-path places in their community;
  
• Best Bets, providing a calendar break-down of what local events not to miss in the upcoming month;
  
• Hot Spots, taking a topic like hot dogs or margaritas, and rounding up some of the best places in the suburbs to find that item;
  
• Free Time, connecting readers with volunteer opportunities in their community;
  
• Out & About, featuring ways to get active with unique or interesting suburban sports and pastimes;
  
• Chit-Chat, a Q&A pegged around an upcoming concert, art exhibit, play, musical or other event;
  
• Snapshots, a user generated content photo that shows residents or their families on the go in their communities;

4. It is organized by region? We organize what runs in our print product by "superzone," breaking the 60 communities we cover into five regional groupings. Our geographic zoning reflects our readers' scope of interest when it comes to dining and entertainment options. People more often than not are willing to travel outside of their hometown for a good restaurant, play or art exhibit. 

5. What has advertising reception been? Our old content didn't provide a good platform the advertising team needed to sell to the large and previously untapped market of dining and entertainment spots in our area. OTG offers advertising reps relevant content to show to prospective customers that relates closely to their business model and product. 

6. What's the online piece to the product and is it different than what's in print? OTG has an associated blog (otg.mysuburbanlife.com). On the site, we post all of the stories that run in the paper, as well as accompanying multimedia, including video and additional photos beyond what ran in the print product. We also have comment capabilities, and often use the print product to solicit readers to visit our blog to give feedback and share their thoughts on a given topic or story. The reporters also produce an average of two unique blog psts a day. These posts range from a local theater announcing its new season to restaurant freebies we've just learned about, or other news or reflections we have on the dining and entertainment scene in our coverage area. This content is completely unique to the blog.

 7. Who is on the staff? As editor, I oversee the section. We also have two reporters, a calendar editor and a designer devoted to the OTG section. The designer worked with a group of editors from the beginning to help create a dynamic and user-friendly product readers could connect with and find useful in planning their recreation time. 

8. Any advice for someone thinking about doing a similar product? Begin your planning process as far in advance as possible, soliciting input from the full spectrum of people that will be involved with the product (editors, reporters, designers, photographers, etc.). Once the product is developed, don't be afraid to change the section or its features based on what works or what’s flopped. If new and better ideas arise, use them.