August 18 NYC Meetup: Learning From Google’s Living Stories
Next meetup: Wednesday, August 18, at the NYC Google offices, where we will discuss the concept of “Living Stories.” Presentation starts at 7 p.m., but come early and socialize (and gawk) at 6 p.m.
Google, in a three-month experiment with The New York Times and The Washington Post, created a format called Living Stories. The site mapped a timeline of events and aggregated articles and opinion pieces, images and video, and other materials to give readers the big picture.
Other news sources have taken tips from Living Stories and melded them into their own sites. Among them is ProPublica, which launched its redesign in June.
Get a chance to see the storied New York Googleplex (Lego secret kitchen! For geeks: see the A, W, and K of AWK done in plastic portraits), when Josh Cohen, senior business product manager of Google News, and Scott Klein, editor of news applications at ProPublica, discuss what they’ve learned about displaying complex stories online and cultivating an active audience.
If you want to test Living Stories for yourself, Google has released the code. For you WordPress users, Google also created a WordPress plugin and theme.
We’re also looking for volunteers to take detailed notes about the meetup, which we’ll post on the Hacks/Hackers blog here at hackshackers.com Interested? Email us at nyc@hackshackers.com.
The charge is $5, but that is not meant to be a deterrent (mostly to make sure people who RSVP don’t flake). If this is a problem, please email nyc@hackshackers.com, and you can volunteer in exchange.
A big thanks goes to Google for generously providing beer, wine and crudites in addition to meetup space. Hope to see you Aug. 18!