July 19th, 2007
11:38 AM ET
Passionate projects

Every few weeks a small group of us here at CNN.com get together for what we informally call an "Exchange Think" session. We'll extract ourselves from the often frenetic pace of the newsroom, find a quiet corner, and share all the cool new things we've stumbled upon online, let each other know about new blogs, and just dream up fun ideas for the site.

Many of our discussions center around ways to enhance community on the CNN.com. For example, lately we find ourselves talking about pervasive newsgames, mash-up or green screen contests, meaningful CNN presence in online worlds, and other avenues for making user participation a compelling component of our storytelling. Building up a community on CNN.com is one of my personal passions. For our sessions, we also routinely bring in guests from across the newsroom so that we can hear about everyone's own passionate projects.

For me, one of the best things about working at CNN.com is that we have the opportunity to take our blue sky ideas and make them reality. In addition to the many planned features that we'll be rolling out continuously as part of the evolution of CNN.com, many of our "Exchange Think" ideas have also had an impact. For example, the CNN Exchange Flickr group, which feeds into I-Reports, is one of the great ideas that came out of an Exchange Think session. The I-Report blog is another.

Here are some of our favorite sites:

Do you have a great idea for us? We'd love to hear all about your ideas for newsgames, mash-up contests, or anything else that would get you excited about interacting with other CNN.com users and engaging with our stories. Let us know what content or resources we can provide to make your ideas viable, and we'll be happy to explore it. Contact us with your ideas, share your clips or creations, or just let us know about links or initiatives that should be on our radar. We look forward to hearing from you!

Posted by: Karyn Lu, Manager, Site Development - karynlu
Filed under: Content • Feedback • Ideas


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Displaying 3 Comments | Add comment
1
July 19th, 2007
4:45 pm ET
 

If you'd like to make an interesting video then make the same small mistake that my wife and I did one summer when we were visiting Charleston SC.
Charleston one of the nicest cities to visit, that's what I thought until we jumped on the first bus or tram that went into the area we wanted to see. Our bus took us on a loop and it allowed a in person look into the other side of this very conservative city.
I've been in the construction industry all my life and I've never seen the kind of run down real estate that we saw that day. It sure changed my mind about the South.
Check it out yourself, it will be worth your time.

Posted by: dick rasile
2
July 21st, 2007
3:29 pm ET
 

I've submitted my suggestion – restore the live CNN International simulcasts overnight on the CNN.com video service. That would be more useful than "newsgames".

Posted by: Doug
3
July 31st, 2007
5:59 pm ET
 

Are those linked Web sites really anyone at cnn.com's "favorites"? If so, you have issues. Check out what was posted on Tuesday, July 31, at BoingBoing. I'm not going to copy the text, because I'm pretty sure your filter would block this post.

G'head, I'll wait while you check out BoingBoing.

Back? Good. Now I ask you, who, exactly, at your "news" Web site is into that sort of thing? And more importantly, why did you feel the need to share that with the world?

Posted by: John
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