Read the Morning Journal’s Ben Franklin site here:
Here comes Wal-Mart, now what? – In a low-key way, Wal-Mart is about to open its first store in Lorain, a town where voters went to the polls to deny the store entry on its first attempt several years ago. But will job-starved Lorain finally welcome Wal-Mart, or will this strong union town refuse to shop there? What do local merchants see as the fallout for themselves.
Crowdsourcing opportunities: shoppers, union members, local merchants, the unemployed who might apply for a Wal-Mart job.
Interview the mayors of Lorain & Elyria. You are the city hall reporter of the day, what are the top three questions you have for the mayor? Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko and Elyria Mayor Bill Grace will answer your questions about their cities.
Crowdsourcing opportunities: Soliciting questions from readers online and via Facebook & Twitter, then have each mayor respond in writing.
Mr. & Ms. Most Interesting. Tell us about the most interesting local man or woman you know and what makes them special.
Crowdsourcing opportunities: Asking readers to name the most interesting people they know, and to provide specifics and pictures or videos to illustrate.
Role models of success in local business: Find people who are succeeding and prospering in local business, against the overall tide of a bad economy.
Crowdsourcing opportunities: Ask readers for examples of such people, then ask those people what advice they have for overcoming the odds.
Generations of Lorain Youth Baseball: Create a multi-generation portrait of Lorain Youth Baseball competition and fun by tracing vignettes about grandfathers, fathers and sons who have played and been involved across the generations as coaches and league officials.
Crowdsourcing: Solicit names and interviews with fathers & sons who can tell of the family tradition of involvement with Lorain Youth Baseball, as well as provide current and past photos, video and other memorabilia.
Historic high school memory book: Lorain’s two high schools, Admiral King and Southview, are closed and passing into history. Next year, students from both will become the new student body of the city’s lone high school, which has been named Lorain High School. This story would ask graduates of King and Southview from years past to share their favorite vignettes of special times, best friends or inspiring teachers during the nearly half-century that the two schools dominated the local scene.
Crowdsourcing: Asking grads of all ages to share their stories and high school memories across the decades at Admiral King and at Southview, share photos of friends and special teachers and other memorable school events.
The Ben Franklin Project 
Crowdsourcing and co-creation is the wave of the future. No longer can an organization rely on internal research or a closed source for designing products and services. By simply asking customers to help design the product of the future will not only reduce cost but keeps the customer engaged. Design and surprise or co-create.