Hacks/Hackers Austin: Innovation at the Texas Tribune

On August 20, Hacks/Hackers ATX, along with the local ONA group, got together at the Texas Tribune to discuss innovation. Rodney Gibbs, Chief Innovation Officer, and developer Noah Seger discussed the progression of Texas Tribune since it’s inception in 2009. Over the past three years, the organization has developed some of the most popular and heavily visited data projects including the state government salaries database and most recently, the Public Schools Explorer. It was a great group of professionals and students, and a lively discussion ensued.

Refreshments were sponsored by longtime member and UT Ph.D. student Lewis Knight. Thanks Lewis!

We’re working on some interesting topics (music-themed and Formula 1) for the next couple meetings with ONA. Stayed tuned to the meetup site for more info.

Hacks/Hackers Austin – Student Innovations in Data Journalism

On May 21st, Hacks/Hackers Austin, along with the local Online News Association group, met to discuss student projects practicing data journalism. Jake Batsell of SMU joined us, along with one of his students, Natalie Posgate, to discuss their award-winning Campus Crime project associated with the Light of Day project. Ryan Murphy of Texas Tribune also participated in the presentation, as he and Matt Stiles (now with NPR) assisted the SMU group at the outset of the project. Watch the video below and check out the links from Jake’s presentation.

Afterward, Cindy Royal and several of her students presented the results of their Texas State of Change project. The project was funded by a grant provided by AEJMC and the Knight Foundation. The students worked with the VIDI Drupal modules developed by the Jefferson Institute, among other tools including Google Charts, JQuery, HighCharts.com, ManyEyes and others, to create a site telling the story of Texas State University’s recent designation as Hispanic Serving Institution. The students who attended – Sara Peralta, Shannon Delaney, Ashley Hebler and Joe Vasquez – discussed their roles and impressions of the project. You also read about the course and grant activities at advanced.cindyroyal.net. Video of the presentation is below.

Both groups of students had memorable and valuable experiences in working with data and have great skills with which to enter the working world!

Many thanks to the Statesman for letting us use their facility once again. And thank you to Jacie Yang of Texas State for shooting video and taking photos at the event.

Busy Spring for Hacks/Hackers Austin

The Spring of 2012 has been a busy one for Hacks/Hackers ATX. Here’s a rundown of the past three events. With a new collaboration with the local Online News Association group, we have broadened some of the topics we are able to present. In February, we hosted a panel on Twitter and TV News featuring Sara Talbert, a reporter for Fox Austin; Michael Spurlin, a producer for MyFoxAustin.com; Rebekah Hood, the web editor for KVUE.com; Nick Blackhall, a web editor for KVUE.com. Rob Quigley of UT moderated.

In March, Austin is the place to be, with SXSW bringing thousands of tech, music and film enthusiasts to town. Hacks/Hackers, along with Online News Association and several other organizations, sponsored a big event at Palm Door, the return of the Awesomest Journalism Party. Ever.

TXST students took a break from the SXTXState.com coverage to enjoy the party.

Jeff Elder and Xavier Damman of Storify at the Awesomest Journalism party.

For the April meeting, once again in conjunction with ONA, the topic was Producing Great Video for the Web. It featured Jorge Sanhueza Lyon of KUT-Austin (formerly of Austin American-Statesman) and Burnie Burns, the founder of Rooster Teeth Productions, the company that makes the web series Red vs. Blue. See video excerpts (not great video – sorry for the poor lighting) of their presentations below.

See Storify of the event done by UT student Gerald Rich.
 

Jorge Sanhueza Lyon
 

Burnie Burns

Stay tuned for the announcement of the May meeting. What we are planning is a presentation of student data journalism projects. More to come.

Hacks/Hackers ATX Teams Up with ONA Local

Happy New Year! Exciting changes are in the works for Hacks/Hackers ATX in 2012, joining up with a newly formed Online News Association local group. The two organizations hosted a debut meetup at Opal Divine’s Penn Field on January 5 to kick off the collaboration. The plan is to broaden the scope that was originated by Hacks/Hackers ATX since September 2010, but adding content that addresses general online news issues, while retaining the Hacks/Hackers presence in data, programming and user experiences.

The organizing group includes people from Texas State University, The University of Texas, Austin American-Statesman, Texas Tribune, local television stations and bloggers. Above, Rob Quigley, senior lecturer at UT, kicks off the event. Plans are to hold meetings on the fourth Monday of each month, with the first planned for Feb. 27. Details and location to come. For more information, join the ONA Austin Meetup group, follow on Twitter or Facebook. All meetings and events will also be posted on the Hacks/Hackers links (Meetup, Twitter, Facebook).

With more than 60 people attending the debut meetup, the joint group is off to a great start!

In other news, Hacks/Hackers ATX enjoyed co-hosting the Austin Holiday Web Bash, along with 18 other local meetup groups, at Buffalo Billiards on Dec. 13. The event, which collected food and donations for the Capital Area Food Bank, was attended by more than 500 area programmers, developers, designers, instructors and overall Web enthusiasts. It was a great time and a great success.

Holiday Web Bash Photo by Damon Clinkscales

Hacks/Hackers ATX, Ryan Murphy, Texas Tribune, Nov. 1, 2011

Ryan Murphy, data reporter at Texas Tribune, was the speaker for the November meetup of Hacks/Hackers ATX. He talked about a variety of projects that he uses in reporting publicly available information and how the Texas Tribune integrates various tools, like Google Fusion Tables, in their coverage.

The Tribune was kind enough to sponsor Home Slice Pizza for us. For December, we’ll be teaming up with some other Austin meetup groups for a holiday party. Details to come. And, in 2012, we’ll be making some changes, working together with an Online News Association Local to develop more programming and events. Thanks to everyone who has attended Hacks/Hackers ATX meetups since our inception.

Hacks/Hackers ATX, Christian McDonald – Austin American Statesman, Oct. 4, 2011

On Oct. 4, Hacks/Hackers ATX met at Austin American-Statesman to hear from the Statesman’s own Christian McDonald on Deconstructing the Bastrop Complex Fire Map. We were all aware of the devastation of the wildfires in early September, and the Statesman used innovative techniques to provide the community with information and coverage. Check out his video and presentation (also on Slideshare) embedded below. Links associated with the presentation are available on Delicious.

We’d like to thank our sponsor Home Slice Pizza for donating the delicious pies. We also celebrated Hacks/Hackers ATX first year in existence. Many thanks to all who have attended our events. Next meeting is Nov. 1 at Texas Tribune.

Hacks/Hackers ATX: Wikileaks and Other Document Dumps, Sept. 6, 2011

On Sept. 6, 2011 at the Texas Tribune in downtown Austin, Hacks/Hackers ATX hosted a presentation by Gregory Foster of Consumers Union on Wikileaks and Other Document Dumps. Foster led the group through the history of documentation leaks from the Pentagon Papers to the more current release of war logs known as Wikileaks. Each example was analyzed through the lens of several criteria: spectrum of secrecy, quantity of information, quality of information and intentionality of release. There was great conversation from the group around this provocative topic. Watch the presentation below.

Stay tuned for programming announcements for the October meeting when Hacks/Hackers ATX will be celebrating it’s first anniversary!

Hacks/Hackers ATX – Ryan Robinson, Austin Demographer

On Aug. 2, Hacks/Hackers ATX was joined by City of Austin Demographer Ryan Robinson at the Austin American-Statesman. Robinson detailed several of the demographic shifts that have been occurring over the past decade, providing insight into ways these trends affect our social, economic and political climate. View his full presentation for more details and watch an excerpt below.

Many thanks to Annette Priest of Revel Insight for sponsoring refreshments. Stay tuned for September programming announcements and plans to celebrate our chapter’s first anniversary in October.

Prior to the meeting, Christian McDonald, the Statesman’s online projects editor as well as one of the Hacks/Hackers ATX organizers, treated my Issues in New Media class to a tour of the facilities. We were also joined by online managing editor Zach Ryall and newly appointed social media editor Maira Garcia (and a graduate of Texas State) for a discussion of their online and social media operations. Thought the Hacks/Hackers family would also enjoy some of these behind-the-scenes photos.

Hacks/Hackers ATX – 7 Awesome Examples of Writing About Data

For the July meeting of Hacks/Hackers Austin, Kristen Carney of Cubit Planning discussed 7 Awesome Examples of Writing About Data That Will Drive Eyeballs To Your Site. Covering a variety of tools, Carney demonstrated the value of seven examples: landing pages, data disproving an accepted truth, analysis of social media, tweets about data, infographics, data about everyday stuff and data about making money.

And Gregory Foster of Consumers Union, recently returned from the 2011 Civic Media Conference at MIT, covered some of the winners of the Knight News Challenge. Watch video of both presentations.

Thanks to the Texas Tribune for hosting the meeting, Niran Babalola for organizing the programming and Jennie Chen of Miso Hungry for providing the snacks. The next meeting is scheduled for August 2. Details to come on our Meetup site.

Integrating Tech Skills in Your Communications Career at Hacks/Hackers Austin

Austin’s Hacks and Hackers came out for this panel on Integrating Tech Skills in Your Communications Career, a topic that is of great interest to students, recent grads, job-seekers and seasoned professionals, as they wish to update their skills to reflect the coding and social media requirements of modern media. This panel included four recent graduates who are all using tech skills in different ways in communications careers. Scott Thomas is the business/tech reporter for AustinPost, Maira Garcia is a content producer at the Statesman, Ryan Murphy is a data journalist for Texas Tribune and Maggie Cook is a User Operations Analyst at Facebook.

Each panelist expressed the need to gain experience while in college, working in student media or perfecting skills with projects. And, Murphy said that meeting people who shared your interests was key, highlighting the importance of early networking. He also added that mentors, like Matt Stiles formerly of Texas Tribune and now at NPR, were instrumental to his development. Cook expressed that it was important to find your passion, what really makes you happy, and to use college to explore those interests. She also said that every class she took was valuable, including languages and requirements that may seem less relevant at the time.

Thomas and Garcia expressed that writing was an important skill to have, and should not be replaced, but complemented by stronger tech skills like learning HTML, CSS and Javascript or learning multimedia editing. You can watch the full panel in its entirety below.

Thanks again to the Statesman for providing the facilities for the event. Stay tuned for announcements of the next meetup, scheduled for July 5 at Texas Tribune.