Cardinals Chat to kick off at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 14

This ran in the paper Tuesday, and it was suggested I post it here in case the regular readers, many of whom are not from this area, don't see it in the regular news...so, here 'tis. Log on. Join in. Have fun!

Corey N.

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As part of an upcoming plan that will dramatically increase The Daily Statesman's coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals, a new weekly live chat will begin this Thursday, March 14.

The chats, tentatively scheduled for each Thursday at 1 p.m., will take place at dailystatesman.com. A link will be available on the main site to access the actual page where the chat will be located.

Hosted by columnist Corey Noles, readers will be able to log on during the chat and ask questions or share their own opinions.

Noles has covered the Cardinals, at least in part, over the last two seasons, including the 2011 World Series and the 2012 Postseason. He will be sharing his own personal insight and the knowledge he has gained in his time writing about and covering the team.

Noles looks forward to the opportunity to interact on a more personal basis with his readers.

"A lot of major sports sites have been doing this for years and it's been quite successful," he said. "We hope this will help to bring a more interactive edge to our Cardinals coverage in the future."

The time is the only issue still to be determined.

The plan is to try a chat in the afternoon this Thursday, then in the coming week, to try an evening chat.

"We want to make sure the chats take place at a time when the most people are able to log on and get involved," Noles said. "To start, we're going to try out a few different times and look for some feedback from our readers to find out what works best for them."

Each chat will last approximately two hours and feature Q&A, polls and other features.

In the first edition of the chat, Noles will be making an announcement regarding the future direction of the Statesman's Cardinals coverage.

"The announcement is a big deal -- both for us and our readers," Noles said. "You definitely want to be there for it."

The chat will be utilizing CoveritLive software. This is the same software that The Daily Statesman once used during election webcasts to allow viewers to chat back and forth with Noles and request results or ask questions.

Log on Thursday at 1 p.m. to join the inaugural chat.

Follow this link to log on http://dailystatesman.com/baseballchat

If you have any questions, email Corey Noles at cnoles@dailystatesman.com.