During live-blog coverage of an sports event, one person can serve a valuable information-gathering function, collecting real-time information, providing updated statistics and adding a layer of information and context to supplement the text or video streamed information.
Below is a set of suggestions you might want to consider. Set this up on Firefox, or any browser that supports tabs.
You can open the comment box on CoverItLive and type in NewsHub as your handle. Your comments can then be moderated, but that is a lot for someone handling real-time coverage solo.
Those invited in as panelists should log in as NewsHub, rather than your name. The live blogger should introduce you and welcome you to the web cast as well as any notables.
Set the comment panel on the right, it should be about a quarter of your screen.
On the left, have your Firefox set up, and sized to take the three quarters of your monitor that is availabe and open tabs, in order:
Search.twitter.com -- try some different searches for your event so that you can see comments in real time. We will evaluate other live-search applications that might support multiple search terms
Open statistics pages for the competitors in your tabs.
Check out http://statsheet.com/ This is an amazing tool for college basketball coverage. You open a tab for the individual game, or check out games on the fly.
Open the scoreboard page on CBSports -- you can use this to follow games in almost real time and can share updates through commenting. Keep it short, active, name both teams, the approximate time remaining (under 12 minutes), and the score. If you have time, you can add rankings and other pertinent facts. As the event being live-blogged reaches its zenith, be thoughtful about your comments as the readers' attention is needed on what is happening on the floor.
Open a Google News page -- use this to get background information and find articles. One hint is to type in BKC, the AP code for college basketball.
End sports livecasts with updated records and what is next for the teams.
You can add other tabs as you thing will be helpful. During the game you can shuffle through the tabs to find information that is then added to the flow. But be aware of what is going on during the streamcast. Time outs are opportunities, or quickly after significant moments in the action. Support the webcaster.
