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City JTech (CULJTEG) Update -- Notes from Nov. 8 meeting
November 09, 2011
UPDATE: there’s no Greenslade lecture today (Nov. 14); today’s meeting is thus moved to 3:00 p.m.
First off, sorry to anyone frustrated with the scheduling of these meetings — most of the people interested so far are in the Newspaper/Interactive program, making it difficult to accommodate the Broadcast and Investigative folks interested in attending. Such was the case yesterday; I had anticipated our interviewing class would be over no later than 4:00 p.m. (giving us an hour to return from Westminster to the university), but in reality it lasted until 4:30 p.m., giving us no hope in returning in time to make the meeting. I made an executive decision to move the meeting to a nearby pub so at least a few of us could discuss things and attempted to inform anyone else who had previously expressed interest that this was the case; apologies to anyone who showed up at Saddlers.
Two notes on that point:
1. Meetings are now every Monday @ 5 pm
Eventually these will change to be biweekly or even monthly, with the intent of creating smaller breakout groups to focus on specific tasks or ideas with more frequent meeting times. This will be impossible until we reach a certain critical mass, so we’re going to try meeting more frequently this semester and with a focus on discussion and logistics. With any luck, we can start moving towards a project-based focus by next semester.
Additionally, it has been suggested we move to Monday evening in fairness to the non-Newspaper/Interactive folk. This makes a lot of sense — all of us are in Greenslade’s lecture and will thus be in the same area at the same time.
2. News, discussion and updates will be posted in the #cityjtech hashtag; announcements posted from @cityjtech
It would’ve been a lot easier to inform people the venue had changed had I created a hashtag earlier on. I’m proposing #cityjtech (and have registered @cityjtech) for this purpose. We could use #cjtech if people are finding that too long, but I figure consistency and descriptiveness are more important at this point. Please comment if you disagree.
Addressing some misconceptions
To address a few questions I’ve been receiving:
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Do I need to know a lot about programming?
- Not at all! Some of the projects we’ll eventually work towards will involve some heavy development work, but this is where City’s epic alumni network will come in. Your experience and aptitude as a journalist is what will make this group special. For non-journalists, your outside experience will greatly aid our discussion. If you do program, your technical expertise will be helpful in moving ideas forward. Everyone is welcome, regardless of technical knowledge.
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Is this a big time commitment?
- It doesn’t need to be. This group is designed to allow a broad spectrum of participation — everything from contributing ideas and discussion to hacking code. MA programmes are really labour-intensive; commit at a level you’re comfortable with.
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Is this just a bunch of stuff about WordPress?
- It won’t be. Some focus on WordPress is natural given how widely used it is in our programme and the ease with which it can be extended. However, while WordPress is great for some purposes, it really isn’t the future of online journalism — it’s a blogging platform. If you find WordPress terribly uninteresting, please say so! There’s lots of room for technology of all sorts.
Finally, we have some champions!
In project management terms, a champion is somebody who will invest time and energy to see that an initiative succeeds. For City J-Tech, I’m asking champions regularly show up for meetings and tweet about CULJTEG events. These people can essentially be considered group co-founders. As of last meeting, this list includes:
- John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch)
- Teodora Beleaga (@t30d0ra)
If interested in being a regular part of the group and helping promote it, drop me a line or leave a comment!
