May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 17:

It takes a tremendous amount of skill to write a thoroughly researched, comprehensive news article that readers will understand.

It can take hours of phone tag. It can take hours talking to various sources. It can take hours sitting at a meeting or going to an event. It takes time sorting through notes. It can takes hours to write.

Lake Tahoe News is thankful to have in its posse a group of fantastic writers. While Jessie Marchesseau, Katherine Hill, Linda Fine Conaboy and Joann Eisenbrandt are not frequent contributors, their stories have added to the rich and diverse topics that have been covered by LTN.

Lake Tahoe News is not their only writing outlet, so you may see their bylines elsewhere. That is what the world of freelancing is all about – having multiple bosses with the freedom to say no and not be fired.

Lake Tahoe News is fortunate and thankful for their contributions.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 16:

It’s T-shirt weather in Tahoe. Do you have your Lake Tahoe News T-shirt?

We are giving them away to the first 50 paid subscribers. However, some of those subscribers either already have a shirt or they are not the T-shirt type, which means we have changed things a bit. We are giving away 50 shirts – no matter what subscriber number you are.

If you don’t get one with your paid subscription, they cost $15. Or maybe you want to buy one for someone else. Or maybe you want one for each day of the week. We will accommodate you.

Just mail a check for $15 per shirt made out to Lake Tahoe News, tell us what size you want and give us your mailing address.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 15:

We like to say: If you aren’t reading Lake Tahoe News, you don’t know Lake Tahoe. We say this because we have broken a number of stories in the past couple years. And some stories we have written have only been on LTN.

Lake Tahoe News was the first Tahoe publication to write about South Lake Tahoe City Manager Tony O’Rourke looking for a job and accepting it; we were the first to report the convention center site being out of bankruptcy; the only to report on another lawsuit being filed regarding the old Meyers Landfill; the only to report on the ice rink owners and city at odds over a 20-year contract; we broke the story about the Nevada Fire Safe Council not being able to pay fire departments and private tree contractors; and we are the only ones to write about chamber President B Gorman not paying her TOT taxes – and then reported when she did write the check.

Other things Lake Tahoe News has written about: a 12-part series on the 10-year anniversary of Sept. 11, South Tahoe High grads and their experiences with the Peace Corps, the only publication to cover all the snow surveys this winter, we attend meetings and conferences around the lake, and we have done in-depth stories on budget-salary-pension issues related to various agencies and government entities.

And there’s still more to come.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 14:

Everyone has an opinion. Are you ready to share yours?

Lake Tahoe News calls its opinion section Voices because we want to get as many voices published as possible.

We print letters, thank yous and guest columns. The criteria are your full name must be published and either your hometown or title will be used.

The length does not matter. With it being online, we aren’t confined by space constraints. We suggest writing what it’s worth – short or long.

We reserve the right to edit it or not publish it.

We would like to run a photo or logo with the piece, so please send one as a JPEG.

The only items to date that have not been published are pieces that are really more of an ad.

Send submissions to info@LakeTahoeNews.net. Include your phone number so someone can verify you are the writer. Your number will not be published.

We also print columns, editorials and endorsements from other publications.

By publishing an opinion piece it does not mean anyone at Lake Tahoe News agrees with the words on the screen. We just strongly believe various ideas should be presented.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 13:

Awards are never the reason one should do anything. But we will admit we like the kudos.

Earlier this year Lake Tahoe News won four travel writing awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association. This was our first – and only so far – competition to enter.

Not all entities allow online publications to compete. For example, the California Newspaper Publishers Association is still only for print.

While it’s nice to have our peers recognize our work, ultimately we believe the readers are the best judges of the work we are doing.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 12:

We realize it’s not ski season, but we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge all the hard work Curtis Fong does when it is snowing or should be snowing.

For five months of the year Fong provides the daily ski report for Lake Tahoe News. It’s usually posted between 7 and 8am. During the season it can be accessed from the top of the page under Ski Conditions.

Fong writes about downhill and cross country areas throughout the greater Lake Tahoe area. He also add some events other skier related facts.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 11:

Lake Tahoe News is looking for paid subscribers. This is so we can become an adjudicated publication. That means we will be able to publish the various legal notices online.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber and some of the details about adjudication. And unlike a subscription to a print publication where it’s normal to have one per household, everyone in the household is encouraged to subscribe to LTN.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 10:

How are people finding your business? What is the return on investment with your advertising?

These are two of the basic questions any person in charge of deciding how to spend a company’s advertising dollars must be able to answer.

Lake Tahoe News can help you answer those questions. We can provide advertisers with monthly stats about impressions and clicks. When it comes to clicks, our stats only register one IP address per day so we can’t inflate those numbers by clicking on ads all day.

Charter Advertising in Meyers, which designs ads for Lake Tahoe News for clients who don’t have someone in house or an agency to do so, has the capability of creating a link for your ad that would provide you with your own data so you don’t have to rely on LTN’s stats. (Their ad creation fees are in addition to the posted ad rates on Lake Tahoe News.)

More businesses are turning to the Internet to get the message out about what they have to sell or what their services are. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in 2011 Internet ad revenue was a record $31 billion. This is up 22 percent from the $26 billion in 2010.

People use a search engine to find a business. Gone are phonebooks. Gone is the need for any print mode of advertising.

With ads on Lake Tahoe News, it’s always there – 24/7, no matter where people are reading the news site. LTN is ideal for reaching people in the basin and outside the basin. People are reading LTN in more than 2,000 cities and 100 countries.

Ad rates may be accessed from the top of the page by hitting Advertise. If you have questions, email info@LakeTahoeNews.net with “advertise” in the subject line.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 9:

By the end of May, Lake Tahoe News will have two new capabilities.

The first change is LTN will be a mobile site. This means that when you read the news site on your phone or tablet it will be formatted to that device. (This does not impact people reading it on their computer.) It just makes it easier for people who are reading on the go – which is a growing segment of our readership.

While some people have asked when we are getting a mobile app, well, the answer is we have that on hold for now. We believe by making the website mobile this accomplishes what our main objective in having an app would be – to make the site easy to read on an apparatus other than a computer.

The other change coming by the end of this month is on the Events page. Soon people will be able to upload an event onto their calendar on the device they are reading on. This means no more cutting and pasting.

Carolyn and Dee Phillips, formerly of Kizmetech, the same company that developed Lake Tahoe News, are doing these two additions.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.

May is 31 tidbits about Lake Tahoe News month.

LTN tidbit No. 8:

Anne Knowles is Lake Tahoe News’ Nevada correspondent, though she is well versed on matters in California as well.

She has been a reporter for more than a quarter century. She covered the high-tech industry for 15 years in Boston and San Francisco for various technology publications including PC Week and Electronic Business before moving to Nevada.

For Lake Tahoe News, Knowles also fills in as editor when the publisher is taking a day or two or week off.

Here is information about becoming a paid subscriber.