Andrew C. Nelson

Civilization is

Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry.The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river. — Will Durant

My writing during these past 19 years has been all about the events on the banks of civilization. I am pleased I’ve been able to those stories in newspapers. 

Story Telling with a Map

I worked with our photographer at the Georgia Bulletin to design this custom Google map.

The goal was to use an alternative story-telling  technique by showing landmark’s connected to the “Gone with the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell.  You see, the heir to the estate donated millions of dollars to the Atlanta Catholic Archdiocese and we wanted to showcase one of Atlanta’s most famous residents.

I had seen MSNBC tell a story simply with photos and thought this may be an opportunity to try that approach.

How it came about?

In a planning meeting head of time, I talked about this idea. In my mind, the map could tell the story about her influence in Atlanta. 

The photographer was interested. He and I discussed what would be good landmarks to capture. He busted his butt to capture strong photos. 

We then worked together on the map. He had never created one before, so I gave him a how-to on creating a marker, uploading photos, embedding the photos with the cutlines. Then once it was done, I talked him through how to put the map on the newspaper blog. (www.georgiabulletin.blogspot.com)

The end result was good. But I thought we could have beefed up the cutlines to make the story telling stronger. 

Have you ever told a story with a custom map? What worked? What didn’t work?

View Margaret Mitchell’s Atlanta in a larger map

Two Apps to Boost Social Media Engagement

As engagement becomes the coin of the newspaper/social media realm, the question comes up, when’s the best time to post?

I’ve heard around lunch time, when folks are taking a mental health break at work, or in the evening hours when people are catching up on their online life after hours.

Both sound reasonable to me. Audiences are varied, so what may be best for a small pizza shop may be morning when people start to think about lunch plans would naturally be different for a news organization.

I’ve know two sites claiming they have the secret sauce to boost engagement levels:

1. Crowdbooster

Crowdbooster helps you achieve an effective presence on Twitter and Facebook. We show you analytics that aren’t based on abstract scores but numbers that are connected to your business and your social media strategies: impressions, total reach, engagement, and more. We then give you the tools and recommendations you need to take action and improve each one of these metrics.

2.Timely

What we do is analyze your past 199 tweets and figure out the best time slots. We then use this info to auto-schedule your tweets and learn as your followers grow.

Or if you are DIY kind of person, Mashable wrote a post on how to compile the data on your own to customize it.

Advice Put to Work

I listened to my first Typecast podcast while I emptied the dishwasher.  It certainly won’t be my last. At times, I wanted to grab a pen to scribble some of the great tips.

Hacks and writers of all types should have a listen. 

Exploring the website, I was glad to see someone had posted the tips, including one I found interesting:

Anecdotes often feel too long. Here’s the trick: Don’t start at the beginning, start in the middle. You never see a judge walk in, sit down and bang the gavel on “Law & Order.” When they cut to the scene, the judge is already banging the gavel.

 With that in mind, I revised my lede to:

Bill Maddox carried the cross down the aisle of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, as his mind flashed back to the people who once filled the wooden pews. People long gone, some buried in the nearby parish cemetery, where flowers decorate metal headstones.
“I couldn’t help thinking about my folks, my parents, and all the other people that have passed. You just had a feeling they were in that service,” he said. 

Mobile Journalism Presentation

I gave a presentation on mobile journalism at a recent conference. 

The audience was about 20 editors, many who are one-man bands at weekly newspapers in the southeast.  

The key point I stressed was:

• make the best of the technology they have.
• don’t spend a lot of money, if you don’t have it.
• be creative and look for tools that are already out there. I talked up apps that topped out at $10, while many of them are free.  

It was great to get this email a few days later:

Andrew,

I hope all is going well in Atlanta. I wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to finally take baby steps to more interactive features on our website.

My first venture was a photo slideshow with Animoto. It is embed in this story.

And here’s the presentation:

Social Journalism for CPA, Regional on Prezi