Friday, October 10, 2008

Live-blogging Dion in Brampton Using SpinVox

Live-blogging is a strange beast.

That's what Ivor Tossell's headline said in yesterday's Globe.

Live-blogging is definitely not something new, but it does seem to be catching on in Canada.

Tossell said,
It seems like every news organization that has something to prove (and there are none that don't) has spontaneously taken up the practice of live-blogging. It might have something to do with election season, which has spread live blogs the way the fall weather gives everyone the same cold at once.

Live-blogs are actually micro-blogs, or short status updates that cover an event in frequent intervals.

Seeing how Omar Ha-Redeye's face is currently plastered from coast-to-coast on television defining the basics of technology in politics, it might be wise to demonstrate aptitude one step ahead of the mainstream media.

Omar will be covering an event tonight, live-blogging using entirely new technology.  Well, the technology has been there for a while, but it hasn't been used in this way ever before as far as we can tell.

Stéphane Dion is celebrating Canada's multicultural heritage tonight in Brampton.  He will be introduced by Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien, and accompanied by Andrew J. Kania, Ruby Dhalla, Omar Alghabra, Hon. Navdeep Bains, Bonnie Crombie, Hon. Albina Guarnieri, Hon. Gurbax Malhi and Paul Szabo.

He will call in updates using SpinVox, which will be coverted to text using Ping.fm and posted as a live-blog.  You can follow him on Twitter, or one of the many other social network services that support mirroring.

There will be a lof of activity on these sites in the next little while, but it will all be over in a few hours. (continue reading &aquo;)