I just finished writing my first article on the iPad–my first article period–and it was such a rush. The way it all came together was so spur of the moment and I loved it. I can’t wait to experience this many times over this semester.
I used Pages on the iPad to take notes during my interview. I realized it is really hard and really slow to type one handed on the iPad, so note to self, when you’re trying to get all your interviewee’s quotes down as fast as possible, make sure you’re at a desk or table so you can use both hands! I felt so goofy when I asked one of my interviewees if we could go to the counter nearby for me to prop up my iPad, but it made the rest of the interview ten times smoother and I was able to make eye contact with the source with both hands free and feel like I was making more of an effort to make the interview conversational.
I used the camera and video recording functions on the iPad to take some shots of the D-Tix line at the Union, and the quality was alright enough, I’m just disappointed I didn’t get shots of the line when it was an even crazier mob scene.
Today I learned that when it comes to getting a comment from the police department or another institution/business that has regular work day hours, do it ASAP. Don’t wait until after 4 o clock like an idiot like I did today when they’ve already left the office for the day. I should have saved my Twitter searches of the event for after I made this phone call and got the police comment, because let’s face it, most of us always have our phones on us making Twitter a 24/7 accessible source. Next time, I know to prioritize with my contact of sources, especially when the deadline is in just a few hours.
I thought it would be cool to use the Panorama app to show the line at the Union, but I was never quite satisfied with the result. I wanted it to include even more people, but when I moved the iPad faster the picture got blurry. Instead, I chose to go up a level in the Union and take a more bird’s eye view of the line which turned out to be very effective.
I used my iPhone to tweet the class hashtag on my way to the Union, and I think I will likely usually do that, because my phone is more often in my hand and accessible for quick tweets than my iPad. I used my laptop (MacBook) to actually write the article, looking at the notes I had taken in Pages on the iPad propped up on the table next to me.
Probably my favorite part of gathering information and writing the article was searching on twitter for hashtags related to the event, for people who had something to say about the change in ticket dispersal. I was lucky enough to find a source that was disappointed with the change to a lottery and able to articulate this in a level-headed way without sounding just plain bitter and crazy. I learned that you have to verify Twitter DM exchanges with a phone call or email, otherwise your source could be anyone pretending to be someone else on an account!
Looking forward to sharing my experience in class tomorrow!
By Karlie Frank – Student in Nicole Kraft’s COMM 2221 Course – Getting My Mojo