Holland, Michigan

That's right, I'm blogging from Tulip Town, U.S.A. My courses this quarter are all focused on one major project. We're acting as a consulting firm for the Holland Sentinel, which wants to boost its online presence and possibly develop new products to reach a wider audience. Maybe the biggest problem they face is the wide diversity in their coverage area: from super-rich Chicagoans who own summer homes on the lake front (much quieter over here than on the Chicago side) to rural families who have worked for the same manufacturing company for generations, and everything in between. So we're here interviewing the people who run the paper and several groups of community members to get to know them and provide a basis for our brainstorming and product development in the next ten weeks. I spent today speaking with members of the local arts council, customers at an out-of-the-way restaurant with a loyal following, and a high school journalism class. My classmates covered coffee shops, small business groups, religious groups, Latino groups, and all the rest. Friday we pool our data and hit the ground running next week. The weather here is no different from Evanston, but the setting is decidedly more rural and quaint, and in general more likeable (except that, while we were driving here, there was heavy fog blanketing the highway, which is already surrounded by dense trees, and it looked like something out of a horror film). I had a great plate of Cavatappi "Mac Style" at a pasta place last night (Mac & Cheese is still one of my favorite meals, anytime) and tonight we're eating at Butch's. If that's good too, I might consider asking Hillary if she'd like to return for the Tulip Festival, which I hear is a pretty big deal.