Brogoitti

It’s always nice when an important message you’ve been trying to communicate finally feels like it’s sinking in.

For months — and perhaps longer — I’ve been encouraging readers through columns and in person to register their online subscription. Each paid subscription offers you options to customize your local news experience. Want to receive the printed edition? We have an answer for that. Want to read your newspaper online and forgo the printed edition altogether? We have an answer for that. Want the best of both worlds? We have an answer for that, too.

Even if you opt for the printed edition to be delivered to your home, your subscription includes — free of charge — online access once registered. Your online access allows you peruse our websites without restrictions, as well as access to our mobile app and e-edition. This opens the door to a treasure trove of content, interactive puzzles (14 new ones each day, including sudoku, crosswords, word jumbles and number logic puzzles), videos and photo galleries that never make it to the printed pages of our newspapers.

It also ensures on time delivery, when the weather isn’t cooperating or there’s production or mail issues. Fourteen feet of snow outside? You’ll still find that day’s newspaper delivered promptly to your email inbox, or easily accessible on our websites.

While I’m personally partial to my printed newspaper, I also like the convenient and timely access to breaking news and updated information on events and business happenings as they take place, so our website and mobile app are my go-to for news in between our printed editions.

While I’ve never taken for granted that you invest your hard-earned dollars into receiving the local news we produce, I also know the frustration that comes with being a consumer. Paying for something that doesn’t seem to be working the way you would expect it to — or paying for a service you can’t seem to access at all is maddening.

Technology can certainly have its drawbacks at times. The No. 1 reason subscribers to any of our company’s newspapers call our customer service line is for help with their online access or digital subscription. More often than not, our customer service team is able to quickly and easily talk customers through the process of registering their account, changing or retrieving their passwords or other digital concerns.

However, if you’re a visual learner like myself, it can be a challenge to communicate over the phone what you’re seeing (or not seeing) on your device to troubleshoot some of these simple problems. Recently, we’ve taken the time to develop an online directory of “help me” videos to show readers how to activate their account, login to the eedition and more. These simple, step-by-step videos allow you to walk through the process on your own (and if you’re like me, pause the video every so often and rewind because you missed an important step). If you’d like to check them out, visit eomediagroup.com/docs.

Readers have had pretty great success working out their online access problems via a phone call or by watching our “how to” videos, but occasionally we get a call from a subscriber who is experiencing a unique problem we just can’t seem to remedy over the phone. In those instances, we invite callers to come to the office with their smartphone, tablet or laptop so we can work with them one on one. That’s been helpful for many, so it only makes sense that we would personally invite others to come in for that same one-on-one assistance.

My staff and I will be available to walk you through any registration or access problems you’re encountering, and show you all of the special content and features available to you. I invite you and your digital device to come by The Observer’s office on Wednesday, March 6, from 2-4:30 p.m. or the Baker City Herald office on Thursday, March 7, from 2-4:30 p.m. so we can get you registered, and walk you through everything your online access has to offer — or to troubleshoot any other digital access concerns. Or, if that timeframe doesn’t work for you, give me a call and we’ll set up another time that’s better for you. Or, better yet, just stop by the office during normal business hours, Tuesday through Thursday — we’re happy to sit down with you.

I’m happy to say that based on our weekly audience reports, it appears my nagging is beginning to pay off, resulting in encouraging upticks in digital access registrations. I’m also happy to report that those who are new to our digital platforms are enjoying the experience of our eedition and our mobile app and spending time with the new features and content they’ve discovered on our websites.

Turns out, technology isn’t all bad. In fact, it can be pretty great — when you know what you’re doing.