The Day is asking a lot of you this year; but don't worry, we'll do the heavy lifting.

We need you to tell us what you're interested in knowing about, so we can deploy our talented staff to find the details and get them to you through stories, columns, newsletters, pictures, videos and podcasts.

You'll be able to submit questions and vote on topics through our Curious CT and Hearken engagement features, and we'll be chatting on social media and by email and phone. Eventually, we hope to see you at in-person events.

We'll share our work on theday.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We'll continue delivering the print newspaper we've been putting out since 1881.

For those of you I haven't met, here's a bit about me. I became a reporter here more than 25 years ago, and as I moved from assignment to assignment, I felt every time I had scored the paper's best beat. My focus, always, was on listening carefully to the people whose stories I was telling. 

Guess what? I still have the best beat. In January, I became the audience engagement editor, and once again, the most important skill I'll be using is listening. My job is to find out what you want from your community newspaper and make sure we continue to be your trusted source for local news. I'm working closely with Carlos Virgen, our assistant managing editor for audience development, and with our newsroom and marketing teams.

Right now, we're investigating two stories you voted on in Curious CT. You wanted to know if there are active white supremacist groups in our area, and asked us to report on the history and future of New London's landmark Lighthouse Inn. You've been submitting new questions, and we'll hold another voting round soon.

Sportswriters Gavin Keefe and Vickie Fulkerson are on their way to the NCAA tournaments to cover the UConn men and women, and we'll be bringing you a tournament newsletter and podcast in addition to their daily courtside coverage. As the NCAA teams move up the brackets, we're running our own bracket contest, called Pizza Madness, where you vote on your favorite pizza joints, possibly winning a prize. We'll be reviewing the winning restaurants.

Have you listened to Looking for the Todt Family yet? Since we began publishing it in January, more than 100,000 people have downloaded the masterful true crime podcast, hosted by reporters Taylor Hartz and Sten Spinella and produced by multimedia director Peter Huoppi and Virgen.

Since we love sports, we're working on a package remembering Dodd Stadium in its heyday that will include a gallery of photos you submitted. We'll have interviews with fans and a column by Norwich reporter Claire Bessette, a dedicated season ticket holder. I've joined the crew at GameDay, our award-winning high school sports broadcast, and will be interacting with you during games.

Features Editor Kristina Dorsey has introduced "What do you say?", in which she asks you to tell us about fun topics like food, TV and fashion. Her most recent work included a playlist of the musicians you told us you love. You can now hear arts writer Rick Koster reading his weekly column as you read it.

I'll be back regularly to tell you about our latest projects, and invite you to listen to The Storyline podcast as I interview people in the news and talk to my co-workers about their stories. Sign up for one of our newsletters to follow your favorite topics more closely. Leave a comment on this story on theday.com, or email me at k.florin@theday.com.