Unlocking the online potential of print features

Here’s a wild guess: Somewhere in the pages of every daily newspaper is a feature, a column or an occasional gimmick that can make the transition from the printed page to the web and find new life — maybe even thrive.

Here are two examples from our shop that have launched this week:

1. Bracket Boy. For years now, our coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament has been anchored by a … well, by a cartoon character.  His name is Bracket Boy, and his column appears daily in The Star-Ledger (along with entertaining illustrations by the talented artist Mike Scott) throughout the tourney.

Last year, Bracket Boy got a blog, which drew a lot of traffic during March and April. This year, he’s got a full-fledged website offering interactive brackets (with a chance to win a widescreen HD TV), the latest tournament news and photos, a tightly integrated Facebook app and more. (The website was conceived, designed and built by the amazing Hassan Hodges, and the news and photo content is powered by our friends at Daylife.)

The official tournament brackets came out yesterday, and we already have several hundred registered users and lots of fun trash-talking. We also have a marketing campaign underway that includes print ads in college newspapers,  spots on ESPN Radio and local appearances by our very own Bracket Boy mascot. And if you doubt the popularity of Bracket Boy in New Jersey, check out this photo taken Saturday at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Morristown:

(Let me tell you, it gets warm inside that suit.)

2. Helping Hands. Another longtime feature in our paper is Helping Hands, which puts a weekly spotlight on individuals and organizations engaged in good works. It’s an umbrella that takes in charity, philanthropy, social service, volunteerism and much more, and for years it has been tended by a staff writer named Michele Howe.

This week, we introduce an online home for Helping Hands with the help of our colleagues at NJ.com.  The site offers  blogs written by experts from a variety of places — including the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Catholic Charities and a half-dozen others, with many more coming soon — about a wide range of issues; a search tool, powered by the United Way’s Volunteer Solutions database platform, that helps people find volunteer opportunities close to home; a public blog that allows people to share stories about random acts of kindness; and links to a wide range of organizations and resources.

The maestro for all this is our own Carly Rothman, a young reporter who started a wonderful charity called Kids-for-Kids of New Jersey Inc. when she was an 11-year-old student from South Orange. Now, working with Michele and others on staff, she has helped us expand our coverage of the world of good works and breathe new life into one of our long-running print franchises.

What else is hiding inside our pages, waiting to find new life online?