Another citizen journalism opportunity from the Chron:
If you’re going to the World Series, we want to hear from you.
Chron.com is looking for “citizen journalists” to report on the scene in the stands at Minute Maid Park and U.S. Cellular Field.
- Use your cell phone to send us pictures of you and your friends at the game.
- Text us with updates on how you’re enjoying the game.
- Drop us e-mails with your latest reports.
How do you get involved? Send us an e-mail at yourstories@chron.com, and give us a pitch on how you would be one of our “Fans In The Stands.” Earn your piece of Internet fame!
Isn’t this missing something? Hey, Dwight, where’s the call for World Series liveblogging? I say bring your laptops to Minute Maid and eliminate the middle man. It’s what the Astros want you to do:
[Astros vice president of marketing Andrew] Huang expects that the way fans use the network will evolve over time. “It’s great to come to a game and check your e-mail, but we want to create interactive opportunities for people to participate in the game,” he says.
The Astros will work with Major League Baseball to develop exclusive real-time features, such as electronic scorecards, statistics on players, and perhaps even instant replays. The club is also considering letting fans order refreshments from their seats, promoting tickets for upcoming home stands during the game (the team already sells 77% of its single seats online), and letting fans vote for the best play of the game. The most engaging uses, Huang admits, probably haven’t even been conceived yet.
I just conceived of one. The rest is up to you, Houston Chronicle.
Congrats to the ‘Stros for winning the pennant, and good luck in the upcoming World Series.
But what strikes me about those quotes is the unabashed commercialism. OK, MLB is a business. They exist to make money. I get that. But “Minute Maid Park?” “U.S. Cellular Field?” And the only use for being online they can think of is letting fans order refreshments from their seats? Can’t any of these folks think of anything that doesn’t involve squeezing a few more bucks out of baseball fans?
The Chron could start by refusing to honor “naming rights” agreements that they aren’t even a party to! Sure “Minute Maid Park” has agreed to call itself that in exchange for $$ from Coca-Cola, but the Chron hasn’t (as far as we know, anyhow). Call them by their traditional names, folks. You might even start a trend. If so, “naming rights” would probably seem a lot less lucrative.
BTW, do “Minute Maid Park” and “U.S. Cellular Field” have WiFi, or would liveblogging be limited to those with digital cellular service (from U.S. Cellular, natch)? For that matter, given the national paranoia about terrorism, can you even get in with a laptop (which could, after all, disguise a bomb)? Maybe your cell phone is the only “online” thing you’re allowed at the game.