The Linchpen

If you missed tonight’s #wjchat on radical change in the newsroom, below I’ve captured some highlights from the discussion. Put another way, I’ve gathered about 75 (out of more than 1,500 tweets) that I found the most interesting:

What was the highlight of the chat for you?

Last week I asked: What did you say when someone asked you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” when you were in elementary school. Below are some answers from Twitter. Enjoy! (Also, feel free to continue the #wdywtbwygu hashtag.)

http://twitter.com/#!/alykat/status/24865749973602304

http://twitter.com/#!/kathleensulli/status/24867424381698048

http://twitter.com/#!/matthewbyrnes/status/24873613823836160

http://twitter.com/#!/excdinglyrandom/status/24892284650651650

http://twitter.com/#!/trishanderton/status/24896231633321987

http://twitter.com/#!/sdoig/status/24912285742931968

http://twitter.com/#!/fricto/status/24914985498972160

http://twitter.com/#!/katdowns/status/24917106692718592

http://twitter.com/#!/suzanneyada/status/24917609505890305

http://twitter.com/#!/davewrightjr/status/24918171098030080

http://twitter.com/#!/RobinJP/status/24922525158871040

http://twitter.com/#!/rosenbaumk/status/24933005969592321

http://twitter.com/#!/megterilli/status/24933641276624896

http://twitter.com/#!/karenkho/status/24933829315661824

http://twitter.com/#!/WithDrake/status/24934657334181890

http://twitter.com/#!/kingkool68/status/24934752645545984

http://twitter.com/#!/RebeccaKesten/status/24935215356977152

http://twitter.com/#!/jmestepa/status/24935809392058368

http://twitter.com/#!/LisaSink/status/24943431558111235

http://twitter.com/#!/williampd/status/24969096722386944

http://twitter.com/#!/JMBorchardt/status/24971075678896128

http://twitter.com/#!/michelleminkoff/status/24971080330383360

http://twitter.com/#!/wcochran/status/24991547237867520

http://twitter.com/#!/greglinch/status/24993955959541762

http://twitter.com/#!/vaguity/status/24996077383983105

http://twitter.com/#!/pergam/status/24997551006556160

http://twitter.com/#!/kimgrinfeder/status/24997950212022272

P.S. I love the Twitter Blackbird Pie plugin for WordPress.

UPDATE: Read some of the responses.

Quick thoughts from this evening:

When you were in elementary school, what did you say when asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Do you see any connections between that and your current job or interests?

Thinking about this makes me feel thankful for all the great opportunities I’ve had and continue to have in journalism and technology.

UPDATE: Read some of the responses.

I’m here in Phoenix for the first-ever News Foo camp (what’s a Foo Camp?). I’ve pitched two sessions for this afternoon based on ideas I’ve been thinking about lately:

• Networked reading: room 252 at 4:30 p.m.
• GitHub for News (some background: Quick thoughts on journalism and version control): room 252, 5:30 p.m.

I’ve been meaning to write about these once the ideas are baked a little bit more, so stay tuned for more details.

On the evening of Nov. 18, I attended An Army of One or a Nation of Millions? Web Design Process and Practice with Happy Cog, presented by the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington and hosted at the building of my soon-to-be employer, The Washington Post.

"Collaborative design process can be..."

(Disclosure: I attended as a guest of the Post; I am not — yet? — an ADCMW member.)

I’ve included my chronological livetweets from the #adcmwhappycog event (P.S. not my idea for a hashtag), plus some tweets with photos by @AnneLikesRed. Chris Cashdollar (@ccashdollar) and Kevin Hoffman (@kevinmhoffman) gave the presentation, which I will embed or link here after it’s posted online.

Read their great insights and comment below with your thoughts:

greglinch: #happycog is different from other shops bc everyone works on a project. Also, everyone works in more than just their speciality.

greglinch: The official hashtag for the @happycog event is #adcmwhappycog. They’ll be discussing their processes and more.

greglinch: .@happycog processes generally include: project definition, IA, viz design (design systems for ease in future), programming #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Process values at @happycog: collaborative, iterative and flexible. #adcmwhappycog

AnneLikesRed: http://twitpic.com/380xjq #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: All of the things I’ve mentioned in the past few tweets is more of a framework then part of a rigid process. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: For each project, @happycog asks: What is the design challenge at hand & what is the culture of the org they’re working with? #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: What the @happycog process could be like. RT @AnneLikesRed: http://twitpic.com/380xjq #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: .@happycog will sometimes disconnect and completely focus on the work — sometimes working on paper to start. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Sample sketches from Build-a-Bear project, which never launched but, bc of that, they learned a lot #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/28jgmfj

greglinch: At wireframe stage, they focused on the upsell and the call to action — the two fundamental reqs. #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/mn3wqj

greglinch: Another view of #adcmwhappycog event. RT @robleto: Happy Cog speaking at ADCMW @ Washington Post http://instagr.am/p/Srh1/

greglinch: “Fast results have a cost.” Also, they have no-meeting zones to focus on work — and those are disconnected from email, etc. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Where are all the #ONADC tweets, peeps? Share the love! Read about @happycog event with: #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Project definition/IA when working with clients: Early, open discussion with focused meetings #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Wireframes at @happycog focus on hierarchy + persistence, *not* visual design #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: When you’ve worked with a wireframe for weeks and need to scrap it, it can be hard to get out the thinking of that wireframe. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: “Rules need to be understood to be broken” #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: At @happycog, they’re great at generating ideas — they need to improve at removing ideas. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Photo of @HappyCog commenting system that’s character-limited and can be tweeted. #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/0le4ifj

greglinch: They put ideas on the @HappyCog blog that are incomplete so people can weigh in and build on them. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: .@HappyCog is mostly waterfall, with only a bit of agile, for their process. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: “Use deliverables for discussion” — @HappyCog. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Mental Models is a book about “aligning design with human behavior” they recommend http://j.mp/bPBZIK #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Use “existing research and design team as guinea pigs” for project. For Philly tourism site, asked what they’d do on weekend. #adcmwhappycog

AnneLikesRed: http://twitpic.com/381br2 #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: “Balance classification with context” — make sure info is where it needs be, not just like indexes in a library card catalog #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Roughy 80 people attending #adcmwhappycog event.

AnneLikesRed: So true! http://twitpic.com/381fal #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: “The actual dynamic of group decision making” — You need convergent and divergent thinking #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/jau2rzj

greglinch: Book recs: Rework http://j.mp/c1PlYh and Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making http://j.mp/af7oqi #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Core Values: full participation, mutual understanding, inclusive solutions, shared responsibility #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/9fvddnj

greglinch: “Pathways to Action Model” — process design, vision space, problem space, solution space, make it real #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Collaborative Design Process: creative concepts, client review, single concept iteration #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/17izxqj

greglinch: Techniques they use w/ clients to learn more include a scale for balancing site’s feeling & MadLibs #adcmwhappycog http://yfrog.com/c95s9bj

greglinch: “Being dogmatic is for the birds” — find the unique process needs for each project. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: During Q&A: “People who tell you CMSes are separate from design is lying to you” — it does impact design decisions #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: Quite a coincidence that an attendee mentioned Edward de Bono + his book — I just discovered him on Tues http://j.mp/bCF2Pe #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: .@happycog looks for models — such as from other industries — that can solve specific interaction problems. #adcmwhappycog

greglinch: And that’s a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed the #adcmwhappycog tweets. My fingers (and iPhone) get the rest of the night off.