Welcome to samrhall.com

Welcome to my little home on the Web. As you can see, I’m just getting things up and going.

In the coming weeks, I’ll add more content — from blog posts on topics such as politics, writing and lifehacks to the different consulting areas in which I’m involved to additional pages about me, my family and the work I’m doing.

Just to get you started, I’m a former journalist turned political consultant who still enjoys writing and graphic design. I’ve been the publisher of several weekly Mississippi newspapers and one small daily in west Alabama.

On the political side, I’ve worked as communications director for the Mississippi Democratic Party and caucus director for Democrats in the Mississippi House and Senate. I’ve since moved to a more non-partisan role in politics, currently helping to organize and manage a race for the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Taking the route of a freelancer/consultant is giving me the opportunity to learn more things that I’ve always wanted to learn, such as Web design. I’m just starting to toy around with simple designs, such as this site by customizing a WordPress theme designed by Brian Gardner.

I’m also talking with a few small Mississippi weekly newspapers about helping them to launch Web sites. Our goal with these sites is to give small, rural newspapers a good presence on the Web but not break their budget or cause them further strain on a usually one- or two-person newsroom.

Finally, I’m not complete without my family, something I’ve grown to realize more and more in recent months. My wife, Tara, and I have been married since the summer of 2002. We have two children — Joshua, 2, and Ella, 8 months. Our family is rounded out by our two cats, Hemingway and Huey, and our beloved dog, Rosie. (Unfortunately, Rosie is not living with us right now.)

As I’m wont to do, I’ll share with you two photo galleries of my family at leisure, here and here. The first is of us at the lake for the afternoon. My son loves to feed the ducks. The second is of us building a bird house at the library one evening. Tara did a better job of decorating than I did of building.

That’s about it for now. Check back often, as I hope to have my full site up and going within two weeks.