Washington Post Field Trip

My trip to the Washington Post was SO great! About three hours, we sat in a conference with Rob Curley, the Vice President of Product Development. In most situations, sitting and listening to someone talk for that amount of time would put me to sleep. This time, however, it did the exact opposite. I was so intrigued by everything Rob was talking about. He gave us an overview of the Washington Post, washingtonpost.com, news websites from his hometown, and so much more.

We also talked about the future of news and technology, and how the two have already met and are growing side by side. Rob stressed the importance of news being available on cell phones – especially the iPhone. He strongly believes (and knows) that in a matter of time, everyone is going to have a phone with this kind of style. The Post has already recognized this and has made changes to their website. They have made their website iPhone-friendly, unlike some newssites that aren’t easily read on small screens.

One of my favorite features from the Post’s website is their dining guide. After a little bit of typing and the click of a mouse, sushi places that are open at midnight appear right before your eyes.  I think something like this should be created for the Towson area.

We also got a tour of the Washington Post offices as well as the washingtonpost.com offices. The Post is very typical, and it looks like it popped out of All the President’s Men. The website’s offices are completely different. The 4 levels look a lot like a Real World house! It was totally modern and I loved it.

Annie, Danielle, and I are very inspired to start our own blog-type of website for TU students. There is so much that we’re missing out on and we’ve got big plans to change it. ;-)

 Thanks so much to Rob Curley, Thomas Lieb, Stacy Spaulding, and the entire staff of the Post for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to learn such valuable information. I had a wonderful time!