.: KEN ST. ONGE: Journalist :.

I just received a new copy of the just-back-from-the-printer book called Hartford: New England’s Rising Star. It is being published by New England Business Media, the company that also publishes The Hartford Business Journal.

I wrote about a half-dozen of the profiles in the book. It was my first venture into advertorial writing, and I really enjoyed writing it. Plus, the book looks great. Look for it soon. I’m not sure where it will be distributed, but if memory serves me, many of the copies end up in hotels and other high-traffic locations throughout the city. It may be available at bookstores, too; but I’m not sure.

I am also adding the capability to e-mail links to some of my posts. Not sure if this will work, but I definitely want to try it…

Among the changes I am adding to the site is the ability to print a particular post. I am adding this mostly to use with clips, which I plan on displaying here as well. Speaking of printing, let me try it — a “print this” should appear below…

Due to some unanticipated technical difficulties, my blog has been relaunched. It’s what they call a “soft launch,” which generally means I need to get my act together and make sure everything works before I actually say everything is working. So expect a few changes.

Most of the changes you cannot see. I have upgraded, for instance, to WordPress 2.5, which I have grown to deeply appreciate while using it to run another blog with which I have been toying around.

Some changes are very noticeable. First is the name: Nuisancist. A word on that — it’s an idea I had a few years back. I was referring to a troublemaker whose hijinx were benign and well-intentioned but certainly designed to irritate. It’s kind of what a journalist does when a journalist does journalism well. Kind of. Plus it’s such a cool-sounding word…

Other changes: I am still picking a theme. The contenders at the moment are the newer version of the (appropriately titled) “The Journalist,” as well “Cutline” and a theme I am building largely on my own. No name for that yet, although it will probably be called — you got it — nuisancist.

Finally, regarding the technical difficulties, let me say this: If you haven’t already, CEASE using SmartFTP. It sucks, and it destroyed my blog. ‘Nuff said? Good.

A story I wrote for The Hartford Business Journal last November has won a silver award for explanatory journalism from the Alliance of Area Business Publications (AABP). The AABP is the trade group for most biz pubs in the country.

As it turns out, the story was the final piece I wrote for The Hartford Business Journal as a staff writer. It’s called “Tangled Up In Blue: Five design secrets of Blue Back Square.” It’s looks at some of the design strategies of a major — and I think it’s fair to say successful — downtown redevelopment effort in West Hartford, Connecticut.

The story is available on the HBJ Web site. However, it’s not that interesting when it’s just a piece of text. The cool part is the piece is laid over a map of the project, highlighting the different features discussed in the piece. I would check it out as a PDF if I were you…