Hacks/Hackers Boston Knight Mozilla Beerathon

(Cross-posted from beta.boston.com) Stitching together multiple realtime video feeds, syncing questions and and answers to videos, crowd-sourced editing of video highlights, and automated news karaoke — these were some of the ideas brainstormed at Monday’s Knight Mozilla Hacks/Hackers Boston Beerathon. The crowd of “hackers, reporters, editors, students, interested oddballs, etc.” (as described by Globe Creative Technologist Chris Marstall) met up at MIT’s Medial Lab to tackle the topic of “Unlocking video”, the first of three Knight Mozilla Innovation Challenges (the others are reinventing discussions and general ‘blow our minds’ killer news apps).

Knight, Mozilla launch news innovation challenge

How can you not love a meeting that starts with: “There’s the pizza, beer and colored markers, go for it.”

Mozilla’s News Technology Program Manager Nathaniel James opened the April 26 Bay Area Hacks & Hackers Meetup with the world debut of the Knight-Mozilla News Innovation Challenge.

The short story from the website:

[The] partnership is a three-year initiative of the Knight Foundation and Mozilla to harness open-web innovation for journalism.

Through a series of innovation challenges and community events, we will identity 15 fellows that will be embedded in leading newsrooms around the world. These fellows will create new tools, ideas, and news experiences that benefit both readers and newsmakers—all using open technologies.