Inspired by the Readership Institute's research showing that stories about ordinary people help grow newspaper readership, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors encouraged their membership to explore ways to improve coverage in that area.

Last month, those explorations were showcased as part of a presentation on the best work from newspapers in 2002. The ideas were exciting and offbeat — but all made for excellent stories. Here are a few of the ideas:

The Lexington Herald-Leader picks fans from the crowd at large sporting events and follows their lives up to and through the next game. In part, they have been able to answer the question: who are those guys who paint their faces and why to they do it?

The St. Petersburg Times has a reporter follow a floral arrangement order from the flower shop to delivery and then she writes about what prompted the flowers. This technique led to an amazing story about a family whose father so loved coffee that they adhered to his wish and buried his ashes in a coffee pot.

The Virginian Pilot in Norfolk has someone scour the classified ads daily looking for people who are selling unusual items or offering or seeking unusual services.

The Charlotte Observer has committed to writing a story every Monday about “firsts” … my first day of school, my first car, my first Seder, my first prom, etc. This approach also led the San Gabriel Valley Daily News to find a story about a father who tracked down the barber who gave him his first haircut for his son’s first haircut. It had great pictures of both occasions.

The Raleigh New & Observer has picked four readers of various backgrounds to write once a week about their lives.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

The question posed by the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis was: What is it like to be a kid in Minnesota today? Ten writers and eight photographers fanned out across the state a profiled kids doing what kids do — showing a pig at the fair, teasing their sister, dreaming of being a basketball star.

The Seattle Times

Each week the Seattle Times catches someone doing something nice. In this story, a boy spends a year to train guide dogs only having to part with it once it is trained.

LA Times Magazine

Ordinary people own guns. The media have a tendency to vilify gun owners. The Los Angeles Times profiled average people who own guns, much to the chagrin of the anti-gun lobby.