Garrett Hubbard takes questions during a live Q&A online.
(Photograph by H. Darr Beiser/USA Today © 2008, used with permission)
Click below to read some of Garrett’s answers.
Where Ideas For Online News Bounce Around
Archives for category: Tips & Tools
ONA08, the Online News Association’s national conference, has launched several sites online, where you can connect with others who will be in Washington, in person or in avatar, next week.
There’s:
- A Twitter feed that’s the “control tower” for all things ONA08 online
- An embeddable Twitter widget that collects all tweets tagged @ONA08 and #ONA08
- A pre-conference podcast series (RSS feed | iTunes subscription)
- A public bulletin board for discussing panels and workshops, arranging meetings, and making last-minute announcements
- A conference-focused Facebook group
- And the ONA08 conference homepage, where you’ll find on-the-scene reports about ONA08 produced by the very talented student newsroom.
My team, the ONA08 Social Media Subcommittee, wants to make ONA08 as much about community as it is about industry. I hope you’ll join the conference online and in person. And if you want to get a hold of me, send me a message or reach me on Twitter.
The Subcommittee members are Mary Ann Chick Whiteside, who will be among those liveblogging the conference; Paul Hyland, who’s been a creative sounding board and instrumental in gathering volunteers for on-site help; and Steven Lubetkin, who’s putting in a tremendous effort producing the podcasts. This conference is made possible in no small part because of them.
Most freelancers will tell you when it comes to deciding who to write for, choose magazines. The pay better. And there’s something nice about seeing your name, your photos, your work on glossy — or if it’s a “green” publication, matte — textweight stock.
They’ll also tell you it’s good to develop relationships with editors. After all, getting assignments is as much about who you know as it is about your story idea.
But what if you’ve never pitched before? Writer’s Market and Writer’s Digest are two sources for beginners’ guidance. Freelance Success has morphed into a dynamic community of newish and experienced guns for hire. And MediaBistro’s popular writing classes provide in-person and online experience with feedback from working professionals.
There’s a lot you can learn online as well. Jason Tanz is posting a step-by-step article about landing a profile of “Adaptation” screenwriter Charlie Kaufman in Wired magazine. If you’re curious about the pitch process, check it out.
And to show you how quickly word spreads online, check out the Google search.
Photo by Sarah Sosiak/Flickr
Drew DeVigal’s Interactive Narratives has relaunched.
The site is a searchable database “designed to capture the best of online visual storytelling around the country and the world.”
Register, and you can submit your own work, as well as vote on and critique others’ multimedia projects.
“Our goal is to highlight rich-media content, engaging storytelling, and eye-popping design in an environment that fosters interaction, discussion, and learning,” writes DeVigal, who is multimedia editor at The New York Times.
As storytelling online evolves from the straight-ahead text+photos/photo gallery+video format, this new site should be an interesting resource to see what other people are doing. Best of all, you don’t have to be a journalist to participate.
Carlos Brando, a Ruby on Rails developer, has released a free book covering the Ruby on Rails 2.1 updates.
It’s a pretty good overview for those new to the latest version of Rails. And hey, you can’t beat the price.
(via Ruby Inside)
