... into the digital age

It's regatta weekend in Saratoga Springs and sports reporter Stan Hudy w/ the help of his wife Reda and Web editor Steve Shoe are going all out to bring readers the latest results from the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta.

They've been planning this coverage for months and it's pretty amazing. Here's what we've got:

-- Twitter updates with results from each race on the @saratogian_spts feed
-- A live video feed so fans near and far can watch the action as it happens
-- The video feed also features a live chat so viewers can talk to Hudy & Shoe about the races and the coverage
-- Hudy's also been doing a little blogging about the event
-- And, of course, we've got our traditional written coverage online and in print
-- Oh, don't miss this it's my favorite part of our coverage: Rowing for Dummies. I love a good diagram and this one uses another newish-to-us online tool -- Scribd. That website allows us to upload a pdf file and embed it inside a story.

Here's the set-up at the Regatta, that's Hudy keeping cool under the umbrella
(photo by Steve Shoe)


We're pulling out all the stops for crew coverage this weekend, I hope you'll check it out, even if you don't know anything about rowing. I think the Hudy/Shoe coverage of this event, really exemplify what we're trying to do with our Ben Franklin project. We want our coverage of everything, from regattas to robberies, to be comprehensive, creative and meet our readers' needs.

I tried to find a Ben Franklin quote about boats that might fit... here's what I got:
"Vessels large may venture more, But little boats should keep near shore."
The Saratogian might be a relatively little boat, but we're still venturing as far out into the digital age as we can get. Are you coming along for the ride?


-- Emily