Innovative Interactivity (II)

UNC students launch 2010 multimedia stories for “Powering a Nation” website

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ July 26, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

Twelve students at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill spent their summers working tirelessly on stories about energy issues in America as a part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education known as News21. UNC is one of eight schools participating in this initiative and I am proud to say that I was honored to be a part of the UNC team. We recently launched our stories about topics such as the BP oil spill and the nation’s nuclear controversy and I would love to hear your feedback on our work!

Boyer publishes thesis findings analyzing retention and satisfaction of passive and interactive multimedia

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ June 7, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

I am thrilled to announce that I recently completed my master’s thesis for the Master’s of Science in Information Science portion of my MSIS/MBA dual degree at UNC Chapel Hill. Over the past eight months I read prior research, crafted a research proposal, and carried out a small-scale qualitative study analyzing twelve multimedia presentations. My aim was to determine whether or not there were significant differences in short-term retention rates and satisfaction levels between consumers of passive versus interactive multimedia. Although my data only suggested a slight difference in retention rates between the two, users reported noticeably higher satisfaction levels after viewing interactive presentations. I strongly believe my findings prove the need for a larger, more controlled study, so I decided to publish my study at MultimediaThesis.com for others to peruse and hopefully build upon.

Innovative Individuals: Gabriel Dance

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ March 19, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

If you ever saw The New York Times’ multimedia package “Gauging Your Distraction,” or the 2008 election interactive “What One Word Describes Your Current State of Mind?,” you were marveling over the work of talented multimedia producer Gabriel Dance. For a full list of projects he has worked on at the Times, check out his del.icio.us bookmarks. Throughout this series, II readers have been quite vocal about including numerous Times’ producers, and the name Gabriel Dance kept coming up as one of them. Therefore, we are happy to feature Gabriel as this week’s “Innovative Individual” for his exceptional work at the Times.

II’s guide to grad school – the where, when and why (Part 3)

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ March 18, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

Today we complete our series highlighting graduate programs across the country with overviews from students at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and Northwestern University. Finally, I will add my two cents about my Information Science program at UNC, and II Spanish Editor Andrea Ballocchi will give you her take on her graduate studies at the University of Miami.

Student journalism project evolves into humanitarian effort after deadly tsunami

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ March 5, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

In 2006, 20 UNC and Chilean students spent 10 days in Robinson Crusoe Island, off the coast of Chile, to document its land, culture, and people for their award-winning multimedia project, Chasing Crusoe. Four years later, they learned that a recent tsunami caused by the Chilean earthquake devastated the small island and its people. By leveraging their multimedia storytelling skills, the former students quickly acted, in what has become a full-fledged grassroots humanitarian campaign.

Innovative Individuals: Paige West

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ February 25, 2010 ⋅ View Comments

If the name Paige West does not ring a bell, you definitely need to keep reading. Director of MSNBC’s Interactive Studio, Paige leads 11 online producers to develop all of the interactive multimedia for the “top global news site.” Talk about a big role to fill! We are honored to select Paige for this week’s “Innovative Individual” for all of her innovative work at MSNBC, as well as her other multimedia contributions at Second Story and NewsU.

Phil Daquila produces thesis, “The Improvisers”

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ December 13, 2009 ⋅ View Comments

2009 UNC master’s graduate Phil Daquila recently launched his thesis, “The Improvisers.” In it, he beautifully documents how people improvise in all aspects of life, from the extracurricular activities of dance and music, to the life-altering decisions made in our professions. Notice how all aspects of this site are carefully designed, from the typography in the videos to the site header. All together, there are seven videos documenting everything from firefighters improvising while putting out fires, to musicians improvising on stage.

Innovative Individuals: Nancy Donaldson

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ November 26, 2009 ⋅ View Comments

If you watched “The Frontline of Mexico’s AIDS War” by the Washington Post in 2008, or enjoyed the “Choosing a President” presentation by The New York Times, you were watching the talented work of Nancy Donaldson. During her short career she has already produced a wealth of innovative multimedia projects from two of the most highly respected news organizations. As is evident from her inspirational work, it seemed clear that she deserved the title for this week’s Innovative Individual.

MSNBC interactive editor Vu Nguyen discusses stimulus tracker

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ November 22, 2009 ⋅ View Comments

I was pleasantly surprised to see Vu Nguyen’s blog “BiofusionDesign” come back alive recently with several posts about his latest mapping projects at MSNBC. The best part about it is that he discusses what tools he used for specific projects, and other “behind the scenes” information. If graphics interest you, I would highly suggest checking out Vu’s site for inspirational projects, insights and tips about the field.

Multimedia reviews from fresh eyes

By Tracy Boyer ⋅ November 10, 2009 ⋅ View Comments

UNC professors Laura Ruel and Don Wittekind recently notified me about a new assignment they gave their “Intro to Multimedia” students this year, which I have thoroughly enjoyed checking out. Each student is required to find a multimedia project to critique, and their write-ups are being posted on the class Website for everyone to read. The reviews are honest and insightful, and surely a big help to producers who are curious to learn how an average user views their projects.

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