I had the pleasure last week of participating in our first two of several upcoming “Meet The Vindicator” events, where many of us who bring you your daily newspaper headed out into the community to meet with our new readers in Mahoning County.

The meetings were informative, not only for the readers (I hope), but also for me and the other Vindicator managers because of the opportunity to hear your thoughts, concerns and ideas. And of course, it challenges us to meet your requests.

One question I heard a few times last week was what is the best way for organizations — particularly nonprofit groups — to get items published in our newspaper.

To help answer this question, here are a few helpful hints.

First, if you have an upcoming event that would be of public interest, by all means send it to us at The Vindicator. We pride ourselves on being a community newspaper, and we really want to help promote your club’s and nonprofit organization’s events. If you don’t tell us, we may not know about it. Send your info about two weeks in advance. That gives us enough time to plan, but not too much time that it will get lost or be forgotten. If you’re not sure where to send it, call the newsroom at 330-841-1738 to find out to whom the information should be addressed.

You can send it to a couple of people, but it’s really not necessary to send it to every single reporter and editor in the newsroom. To help sort that out, here are a few contacts.

Information on upcoming nonprofit events can be sent to society@tribtoday. com. You also may use that email address to submit photos with complete caption information after club meetings or events that you’d like us to publish. That may include things like class reunions, Scouting events, club news, etc.

Religion events or news may be sent to religion@ tribtoday.com.

Business news may be sent to business@tribtoday. com. That may include new business openings, business news and “People on the Move” briefs.

Tom Wills, our Vindicator metro editor, can be reached at twills@tribto day.com. He can field press releases and other requests for news coverage in Mahoning County.

I supervise the newsroom, and while I’m happy to receive emails about your coming events, most likely I will simply forward them to one of the folks above for coverage. We also encourage submitting your information through our “Virtual Newsroom” that can be accessed via The Vindicator website. Simply go to www.vindy.com, click “submit news” and click the correct category on the drop-down menu. It’s best to send the information electronically.

Be sure to include good detail about the event in the subject line, which is helpful as we sort through hundreds of emails each day.

Please don’t be insulted if we respond and ask whether it’s possible for you to take a digital photo and send it to us after the event, in case we can’t get there. Because we have limited resources and very many requests, it is helpful when readers send us photos that we may publish after the fact. If you do send a digital photo, keep these things in mind: Send the photos in a very large file size (200 pixels per inch or larger). Send full identities with correct spellings of each person in the photo, and don’t try to cram dozens of people into one photo.

Also, keep news releases to the point. Make sure to include the five W’s (who, what, where, when and why) in the first paragraph. Make sure to include a contact name and phone number.

There is so much more I can tell you, but these are the main points that help us to help you. If you have other questions, don’t hesitate to call or email.

Remember, we want to share your news, but we need your assistance to do that!

blinert@tribtoday.com