Al's Morning Meeting

After nine and a half years of producing this column five days a week, it is time to try something new.

Since Al's Morning Meeting started in April 2001, I think we produced about 2,500 columns and about 9,000 story ideas. I hope some of them helped you out when you were in a jam, when your beat was running a little dry, or when you just were a little brain strained and needed a jump-start. 

One day I may get around to pulling some of the better thousand or so ideas into a book. In the meantime, when I run across story ideas that you might like, I will post them on my Twitter page. I usually post several things a day there.

We are relaunching Poynter.org later this month, and I plan to come on board with a new column that I have been kicking around for a long time.

I will be deconstructing videos -- broadcast, online, even user-submitted videos -- to try to help you figure out what works and why. I want to share those videos with you and open up the discussion for you to get your 2-cents worth in on the pieces. This idea draws on my 30 years of experience and passion about video storytelling and speaks directly to one of the main challenges that so many of you face: how to tell great video stories in a hurry, on a tight budget and in some cases with little or no training. Send me a link to great videos that you produce or run across.

I need a great title for the column. I want it to include the word "video" but I have few other requirements. If your nomination is the one we choose, I will send you a cheap but meaningful gift with the Poynter logo. Send me your ideas or post them in the comments section of the column. 

Thanks a million for reading Al's Morning Meeting. Here we go on something new. It is going to be great fun. So, join me in a few weeks for the start of a new adventure.