DNC apps for iPhone, iPad now available

You can now download iPhone and iPad versions of The Charlotte Observer's mobile app for the Democratic National Convention. Search for "DNC Charlotte Observer" in the Apple store.

An app for Android phones is available under the same search terms in the Android store.

All other smartphone users can get a web-based version by directing their browsers at www.conventioncharlotte.com.

All of these apps are free.

We've loaded them with lots of useful information, including breaking news on the convention, restaurant reviews, delegate profiles, shopping directories and maps to help you find your way around the convention. Also check out dozens of photos depicting life in the Queen City.

You may find the app taking more time than usual to download. Know that we are reducing the app's size to help alleviate this issue and hope to have another version posted soon. If you have trouble downloading now, please use the web-based version, listed above, which contains all of the same content.

How you can follow Charlotte's biggest story

Three weeks from now, the long-awaited 2012 Democratic National Convention rolls into Charlotte. And regardless of your politics, let me suggest that this could be the most significant convention you’ll ever follow.

That’s because long after the last balloon drop, you and I will still be here, living with the legacy of what the world witnessed over five days in September.

Charlotte is about to gain a global audience. The president, half of Congress and a multi-national army of 15,000 journalists will make it so.

That makes this a very big story locally. Dare I say the biggest news story in our city’s history? And yes, I was also here in 1989 for Hurricane Hugo.

For more than a year, The Charlotte Observer has planned how it will provide you comprehensive coverage of this historic moment – in print, online and over your phone.

We’ve built mobile apps, planned for nearly 50 pages of additional news coverage, designed a special convention section on CharlotteObserver.com., and forged partnerships with other major news organizations that will pay off with additional coverage for you.

In addition to reporting the news of the day, we’ll tell you what you personally need to know. If you want to be involved, you’ll learn how you can be. Rather steer clear? There will be advice for you, as well.

As politics goes, you may be more interested in what happens in Tampa the week before the DNC as the Republicans hold their convention. We’ll put you there, too.

The Observer is sending a team of journalists to the RNC, both to cover the political scene and to give you an idea of how that city is faring with its event. We will also bring you stories from that region’s premiere newspaper, The Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times) under a content-sharing arrangement. Similarly, that paper’s readers will see Observer coverage during the DNC.

Watch for more on our plans in the days to come. But for now, I’ll touch on three current features:

-- Beginning Tuesday, we’ll anchor convention developments on page 2A of the printed paper. And, of course, you can expect at least one convention-related story on 1A daily as the city prepares.

-- On CharlotteObserver.com, check out our special web edition of DNC coverage. There you will find all we’ve reported on so far, including full-color maps of road closings, profiles of delegates, the roster of speakers and a list of groups signed up to protest. You’ll also see our 2012 Visitor’s Guide to the city for conventioneers.

--You can carry in your pocket all that, plus breaking news of the convention, when you use our DNC 2012 mobile app. It’s free. Simply direct your smartphone to www.conventioncharlotte.com. You’ll also find a customized version for Android phones (search in the Android app store for “Charlotte DNC 2012”) and, available soon, a customized version for iPhone and iPad (same search terms in the Apple store).

In three weeks, every major media organization in the world will report on the convention in Charlotte. But you can count on the Observer to also report on what it means for Charlotte, now and in the years to come.

Reach Rick Thames at rthames@charlotteobserver.com, twitter.com/rthames and www.facebook.com/rthames.obs. Phone: 704-358-5001.

Check out our smarter Home & Garden section

For most people, the ideal home is more than simply a place to sleep. It’s a sanctuary.

Today, we bring you more help to keep it that way.

We’ve expanded and redesigned our Saturday Home & Garden section. Here, you will find special emphasis on how to make your address your favorite place to hang out.

Our advice will be practical. For instance, today’s cover story tells you how to transform that extra bedroom from a storage closet to real living space. Page 2 is home to DYI, featuring stories and a column for do-it-yourselfers.

Allen Norwood continues as our sage observer of real estate trends. And Nancy Brachey, Charlotte’s most trusted gardener, still dispenses her valued advice.

The section’s centerfold is a special package of great new content called Smarter Living. Every Saturday, you’ll find two full-color pages of tips and advice, drawn from the latest home improvement trends and innovations. And yes, we’ll also tell you where to buy the products featured.

Find Smarter Living online at www.charlotteobserver.com/smarterliving, or click on Home & Garden under the Living Here tab.

Smarter Living is made possible by Electrolux, the Observer’s newest community underwriter. The Observer’s newsroom independently oversees the content. The underwriter supports the costs.

Underwriters have enabled us to grow your newspaper by eight pages of themed content a week. Other underwritten packages are Sci-Tech (Monday), Young Achievers (Tuesday) and Arts Alive (Thursday).

Electrolux moved its North American headquarters to Charlotte’s University City area two years ago and employs 700 people locally.

Jack Truong, president and CEO of Electrolux Major Appliances North America, called the underwriting decision synergistic.

“We are a consumer-driven company that is constantly innovating based on the changing behaviors of the consumers,” he said. “Charlotte is where the vast majority of our home appliances are designed. The changes to the Living section reflect the current trend of consumers’ experience in their homes and their changing lifestyle.”

Here’s to a synergy that helps you design the sanctuary of your dreams.

We're expanding arts coverage

Mention the arts in Charlotte and many people immediately think of events at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center or exhibits at the newly opened museums at the Levine Center for the Arts.

These institutions are cultural gems, and our region is much richer for having them. But they only begin to define a broad and diverse arts scene that also plays out in neighborhood theaters, universities, coffee houses, galleries and churches.

Less familiar with those venues? Well, that begins to change this week.

On Thursday, the Observer debuts Arts Alive, a full-color package in print and online designed to introduce you to the full range of opportunities to experience the arts. That includes emerging art trends, artist profiles and news of upcoming events.

Our first installment introduces you to Charlotte’s own aerial dance troupe, Caroline Calouche & Co. The Observer’s Lawrence Toppman describes its namesake this way: “Like a New York developer, this choreographer owns both the ground she inhabits and all the space above.”

The group rehearses in Charlotte’s NoDa community and will perform Saturday in a production at Central Piedmont Community College.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done a full-blown feature on this troupe,” says the Observer’s features editor, Michael Weinstein. “We can now write about groups like this in addition to those that are already very well known to the community.”

This adds to our Sunday arts coverage and frequent reviews of organizations like the Charlotte Symphony, Opera Carolina and the N.C. Dance Theatre.

How can we expand coverage in an era of media cutbacks? By using a relatively new funding model. It relies on a specific underwriter to support the added cost.

This model is new to newspapers. But it is quite familiar to you through other media, including public radio and public television.

The underwriter for the Observer’s Arts Alive content is Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS). As the region’s largest employer, CHS corporately supports a wide range of arts initiatives. In 2011, its employees contributed more than $600,000 to local arts organizations in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties. CHS also uses art and music therapy in its rehabilitation programs.

“This region is truly exceptional when it comes to artistic and cultural enterprises,” says CHS CEO Michael Tarwater. “(Underwriting) is one means by which we can encourage everyone to enjoy all of the benefits that accrue from a healthy and growing arts community.”

Underwritten content is produced independently through the Observer’s newsroom. Underwriters play no role in the selection of stories or direction of coverage. Carolinas HealthCare joins two other underwriters now working with the Observer in this way:

Duke Energy underwrites SciTech, two pages of news about science and technology from across the Carolinas that appears in Monday’s Observer and on charlotteobserver.com.

Piedmont Natural Gas underwrites Young Achievers, news about the exceptional accomplishments of young people in our region. It appears in Tuesday’s Observer and online at charlotteobserver.com.

Underwriters choose to invest in quality content, recognizing that this helps build stronger communities. We’re pleased that such a moment has now arrived in Charlotte for the arts.

The Observer hopes to shine still more light on the arts, beginning this week, through a new partnership with a variety of other local media.

The Charlotte Arts Journalism Alliance (CAJA) includes the Observer, public radio station WFAE, television station WCNC and two publications that are solely web-based, Qcitymetro.com and CharlotteViewpoint.org.

For its launch, this group is being assisted by a grant it won in the Community Arts Journalism Challenge, a national competition sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Our alliance is one of five groups nationally that submitted winning proposals to reinvigorate coverage of the arts in their communities. Each member of the Charlotte alliance will enlist freelance journalists to cover the arts, and then share that content freely with other member organizations.

UNC Charlotte also is a member of this alliance. Its College of Arts and Architecture will develop seminars and courses that could help equip journalists who are new to covering the arts.

The initial grant of $20,000 is being used to pay journalists in an experiment at content-sharing, as well as to plan curriculum. The grant is being administered locally through the nonprofit Arts & Science Council (which played no role in the selection of the proposal or its details).

Later this month, the alliance will submit a final proposal to the Knight Foundation and the NEA that could lead to another $80,000 in funding.

Our goal is to elevate both the volume and the quality of local arts coverage. By collaborating, we also expect to reach wider audiences, which will only benefit both our community and the arts organizations that aspire to enrich it.


Reach Rick Thames at rthames@charlotteobserver.com, twitter.com/rthames and www.facebook.com/rthames.obs. Phone: 704-358-5001.

On your phone: All Panthers all the time

Carolina Panthers fans, how would you like a channel that's all Panthers, all the time? It's right there, inside your smartphone.

You can now download, at no charge, a special application for Panthers news from the Charlotte Observer. We've created apps for both the iPhone (www.iphonepanthers.com) and the Android (www.droidpanthers.com).

All week long, our sports staff writes, shoots photos and video and compiles stats on the Panthers for use across all of our platforms. That includes the printed paper, CharlotteObserver.com, mobile news, the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad and our digital e-edition of the printed Observer.

So why add apps just for the Panthers? Because this puts everything a fan needs in one convenient place.

Every day, every detail that we pick up about the Panthers will appear here. And on every game day, it gets even more interesting.

Before the opening kickoff, enter the app, hit "more," and click on Panthers Gameday. That page will feature all of the stories and videos we've prepared on the eve of the game, as well as the starting lineup.

As the game unfolds, hit the link labeled "Twitter" for play-by-play observations from our sports writers on the sidelines and in the press box. Go to our Panthers blog for more detailed updates at the end of each quarter.

The apps are easy to install. They are also a lot more fun to look in on than email, whether your time-out is in the stands or in the checkout line.

rthames@charlotteobserver.com, twitter.com/rthames and www.facebook.com/rthames.obs. Phone: 704-358-5001.

New feature: Young people who inspire

If you spend any time with young people, you know that the best among them don't always get the attention they deserve.

This is especially true in the media's coverage of the daily news.

It shouldn't be that way. News, by definition, is what's extraordinary to our readers. And when young people achieve remarkable accomplishments, that is extraordinarily good news.

The Observer has long valued this news. It's why each spring we honor more than 100 of the region's top students as Observer All-Star Scholars. It's also why we've been proud to sponsor the Charlotte Observer Regional Spelling Bee for 57 years.

On Tuesday, we introduce another way to mark the accomplishments of young people with a new feature called Young Achievers.

Each week, we will bring you news and insightful profiles of young people in our region who are excelling in academics, the arts, public service and a variety of other settings that are richer because of their involvement.

On Tuesday, for instance, you will meet Manasvi Koul. Manasvi's personal battle with a potentially fatal illness motivated her to raise more than $500,000 in support of other sick children while she was still a high school student in Union County.

Young Achievers will appear in our printed edition as two full-color pages inside our Carolina Living section. Online, you will find that content, plus videos, photo slideshows, archives and the means to share your own stories about inspiring young people.

Some readers may be surprised to see added community coverage in an era when the trend has been for most news media to cut back.

This is possible through a new funding model the Observer is developing for coverage that you would welcome. Under this approach, we find a company, foundation or individual willing to underwrite the cost of high-quality content as an important investment in the life of its community.

Similar to underwriters of content on NPR and PBS, our underwriters play no role in the selection or editing of the content. But their support is a high-profile commitment to coverage that is good for our region.

This is how we are able to bring you our widely acclaimed Sci-Tech section each Monday. Its exclusive coverage of advances in science and technology across the Carolinas is underwritten by Duke Energy.

For Young Achievers, we found another willing underwriter: Piedmont Natural Gas.

"We see this as a wonderful opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of young people throughout our community and to show appreciation for the contributions they are making, not only in their own lives but in the lives of others," said Thomas Skains, Piedmont's chairman, president, and CEO. "I have no doubt that the talents, energy, and passion represented . . . will be as impressive as they are inspirational to us all."

Of course, there are many more young people deserving of recognition than we can mention in any weekly package. So this coverage is in addition to ongoing schools and youth-oriented features you find now in our community sections and daily news coverage. Many of those features also invite you to submit an idea or an item for publication.

Our goal is that, with your help, we will leave no significant achievement unrecognized.

I think you will be touched and encouraged by what you read. These are remarkable individuals. To know them through their personal experiences is to appreciate all the more how far they have come already in such young lives.


-- Reach Rick Thames at rthames@charlotteobserver.com, twitter.com/rthames and www.facebook.com/rthames.obs. Phone: 704-358-5001.

Android users, your app is here

If you have an Android phone, I hope you will take a moment to download CharlotteObserver.com’s new application (app), designed to give you full advantage of your phone’s features.

The app is free. I have it on my phone and can say from personal experience that it dramatically improves your ability to navigate the site.

You move easily from top breaking news to sports, entertainment, business news, opinion and even movie show times.

Photos look great, too. They have their own place in the navigation bar, making it easy to go straight to slide shows. (To activate a slide show, touch the photo. Then use your finger to slide from frame to frame). I just went through more than 30 photos of the Panthers’ Steve Smith and Cam Newton tossing footballs and horsing around with kids at Smith’s football camp.

To get the app, go the Market on your Android phone and search for Charlotte Observer. Check that the app says McClatchy Newspapers to make sure you are downloading the correct app. View the details.

The phone can also be a great way to keep up with news throughout the day, regardless of where you are. In fact, it’s how I learned Saturday about that nasty line of thunderstorms about to sweep through the region.

A growing number of you also are keeping tabs on CharlotteObserver.com by phone. Compared to January, traffic to the site through phones through the first half of June is up almost 50 percent, with over 700,000 page views.

For those of you with an iPhone or iPod Touch, we also have a free iPhone news app. Just go to the iPhone market and search for Charlotte Observer.
And if you use a Blackberry or other Web-enabled phone, you can view our news updates by directing your smart phone browser to CharlotteObserver.com.