After months of speaking with and getting feedback from readers like you (and lots of hard work), we have officially relaunched BostInnovation 2.0! The new site expands our content offerings and includes many news collaboration and community features. We have more new features to roll-out over the course of this quarter, but in the meantime here are the top 4 things you need to know about the new BostInno:
Local Profiles: We Made it Simple.
We designed profiles to showcase all the great news and content produced by and about the people and organizations that make Boston the incredible hub of innovation that it is today. And don’t worry – we weren’t looking to recreate the wheel.
For organizations, we have pulled core information from LinkedIn. Check out this example of Performable’s page, which displays posts BostInno has written about the company, the company’s own blog posts, and its Twitter stream. If you do not see your company or organization listed upon searching, all you need to do is click “Add Organization” at the very top of BostInno. Enter the URL to the LinkedIn or CrunchBase company page, and voila — the information will automatically populate.
For you personally, all you need to do to show yourself as a member of the community is connect with one of your social networks (it takes one click – really, we promise!). Now, when you engage on BostInno, all someone needs to do is click on your name to learn more about you. Beyond basic info, your profile showcases posts from your personal blog, your Twitter stream, and posts you have written on BostInno… Which takes us to the next new aspect of BostInno.
Write A Post: Share Your Knowledge.
Over the last year we have featured a slew of guest posts, and had many members of the community ask to contribute content every few weeks. With the relaunch, we wanted to make this a lot easier on you.
Have something newsworthy to share with the community? Want to get something off your chest and contribute an op-ed? Have a great list of resources to contribute? Want to drop thought leadership and all your good knowledge? (Don’t be shy!)
All you need to do is click “Write a Post” at the very top of BostInno and submit the finished product. If it meets editorial standards and fits the rest of our content niche, after a quick review your post will be live and featured to the entire community on the homepage.
Activity Feed: More Than Breaking News.
Much more happens on BostInno than just breaking news. In fact, some of the most interesting content are the discussions you engage in on posts. We created an Activity Feed to showcase everything that happens on BostInno. If you contribute a comment, for example, your face will be at the top of the feed so when a new visitor comes they know that post has piqued a discussion – in real time.
The activity feed also displays things like new community members who join, the organizations they join, when someone has written a post, and when someone gives a post or comment a +1 (which means they like it!).
Curation & Aggregation: Arming You to Innovate Better, Faster, Stronger.
Saving arguably the best for last… One of the most exciting parts about the new BostInno is that it is now a hub of information beyond the original stories we write about the innovative companies and people in the Boston area. We strive to keep you in the know about larger industry dynamics, arming you with information that will allow you (and ultimately Boston) to innovate and stay even more ahead of the curve.
In the middle column of the homepage, you now have headlines from other top sources across the web. In dark blue text at the top half of the homepage is a “News You Need” feed. These are stories the BostInno staff has hand selected as must-read (and if you click through you will see our commentary appended to the stories, which we welcome you to add to and engage in discussions). These hand-selected posts are dubbed in the news world as “curated news.”
Following the middle column down to the bottom half of the homepage in green text is “News From Around the Community.” This feed of headlines is from top company and thought leader blogs as well as other Boston sources that focus on innovation like Xconomy and MassHighTech. We do not hand-select these headlines and they automatically appear in the feed as the original source publishes them. This is known in the news world as “aggregated news.”
Only interested in certain topics? Not a problem. For every section page – like Social Media or Mobile – only curated and aggregated news on those specific topics display on their respective pages.
Interested in how we make hand curation and aggregation possible? We make it happen through our news platform, Pinyadda, which aggregates news as it’s published from top sources across the web and organizes it into feeds on a topic-by-topic basis.
Do you have feedback for the new BostInnovation? Did you find some bugs (bear with as we continue to iron them out)? We welcome your emails: info at bostinnovation.com!
