This winter we’ve gotten a lot of feedback about school and church closings online.

We’ve taken that feedback and created a new layout for the closings page.

Our intention is to give people the quickest access to the name of the school or church they are looking for. So, instead of first looking for a county and then for their school/church, they can simply look for their school/church.

This layout also prevents the loooong list that sometimes happens during closings.

Yep, it’s a change from the traditional “county-based” closing list. Yes, it’s different than before. Can you accept the change? Is it easier? Do you spend less time hunting for your school or church?

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Now the discussion really begins. You’ll be talking about it, maybe even in Comments below or Topix forums.

And the media will be talking about it. See what they say at WDIV, WEYI, WILX, WPBN, WLUC.

Our print friends at the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and Grand Rapids Press will also have something to say.

Find the voices in the blogosphere at MichiganPolitics.tv.

Earlier in the day I heard that a group of employees from Hart Enterprises may show up to protest the possibility of losing their jobs.

About 50 of them arrived a few minutes ago.

With homage to Tim Steele’s blog, here’s an impromptu moment in our newsroom.

For the next hour or so, you can take a look inside our studio as we put the finishing touches on the set and get the studio audience seated. Click on the link at the top of the homepage.

It’s also a good time to see what’s going on in our newsroom. Lots of people are taking care of last minute details.

The audience for the show has begun appearing. It’s worth reading about who makes up the audience. No, they were not hand-picked by the Governor.

TV stations from Detroit, Traverse City and Flint have started arriving at the station.

A little while ago we wrapped up our final meeting to discuss the logistics of the show. To give you the big picture, here’s what is going to happen tonight.

6pm — Governor Granholm will be on our newscast to talk about the show
7pm — Live video web stream from our studio as preparations take place
8pm — Show begins (you can watch it on TV or live online at woodtv.com)
9pm — Show ends
9:30pm — Live video web stream ends

It’s been a lot of effort to make this show happen. We’re fortunate to have done essentially the same thing a year ago. I understand that the Governor’s office was happy with how we produced the show in the past and asked us to do it again.

Behind the scenes, these are the big things we’re coordinating:

- 30+ media members in the station
- 50 audience members in the studio (plus their guests)
- The Governor and her entourage and security are here for 4 hours
- A state-wide broadcast of the show on NBC affiliates
- An hour’s worth of questions for the Governor
- Rounding up 50 people from across the state to represent us demographically

I’m sure I’m missing something here. To any one at the station, leave a comment below to what else you’ve been working on.

Tonight WOOD TV8 is hosting a statewide town hall meeting featuring Governor Granholm and 50 people from across the state.

As part of that event, I’ll be blogging throughout the day and during the show to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how a show like this comes together.

In recent days I’ve been exchanging emails with a teacher at a local high school regarding our school closing email system. The exchange began when our alert system didn’t live up to his, or our, expectations. Instead of arriving instantly, the alerts were delayed by more than an hour.

He took the subject a step further by pointing out that text messaging is how many of today’s students communicate with each other every day. Whether that’s at school, at events, on the road, wherever and whenever.

And in cases of tragic college events, text messaging can be even more important.

At Northern Illinois University, the students were learning about the tragedy from each other — before the university’s system informed them. Much like peer-to-peer distribution on a network!

From a technical standpoint, it’s very interesting. It gets us thinking about how we distribute breaking news information to you and what’s the fastest way to make it happen. The wheels are spinning …