In my senior column for the Collegian I said “Thank you to all the students, professors, bosses, colleagues, friends and family who made my college experience an experience. When I look back on my years at Penn State I will think of you, not Old Main.” I originally wrote that as a little dig at Penn State’s administration, but I realize now it’s actually very meaningful. I spent the last week on a half-dead campus and realized that Penn State is just a place on a map with a lot of buildings that probably won’t be there in 15 years (let the fundraising begin for IST II Building). College has been more about the people who shared these four years with me. So without further ado, shout outs to the people who made my college years special. (Feel free to skim – this is ridiculously long)

Frank Whitehead was more than my manager at the pool, he is also a great teacher and friend. I appreciate all his career advice and assistance, even after I left the pool. Also thanks to Joe Pardini, who was the greatest first boss anyone could ever have. Thanks to Caitlyn, Maureen, Steve, Tim, Emily, Craig, Jess, Alicia, Marta, Kelsey, Dan, Rachael, Dennis, Lydia, Amanda, Joey, Dennis, Brian, Lori, and Megan and whomever else I’m forgetting for all those summer memories.

Tony Pasquarette and Jean Denis at GE – Transportation gave me a meaningful introduction to the corporate world last summer and I thank them for their time. Also thanks to my fellow interns Vishad, Yaara, Jon, Chad, Trevor, Ross, and Scott.

IST Learning Initiatives was a great opportunity for me to stretch my legs in design and learn a little more about education. I thank Larry Spence and Lisa Lenze for all their support and I thank Tory, Stephanie, Prerana, Angelica, Liling, and Dan for being fun and easy to work with.

The Daily Collegian has a number of professionals who work behind the scenes to make our lives easier. Special thanks to Tom, Sharkey, Becky, Dave, Candy, Patti, and Gerry.

John Harvey, news advisor, is a great teacher and I believe he was one of my biggest advocate’s within that organization. Rick Simpson, Collegian systems manager, is one of the busiest people I know yet was always willing to answer any question Chris or I had. I hope we were more helpful than we were a headache. Thanks.

The lifeblood of the Daily Collegian is its students. Thanks to Krystle, Kayur, both Kathleens, Alex, Meg, Terry, Jess, Andy, Travis, Halle, Devon, Dan, Sirage, McGill, Lauren, Spolar, Horan, Rossilyne, Billy, Prah, Pfister, Sarah, Heather, Freel, Weeden, Adrienne, Jim, Kyle, Greg, Brandon, Sarim, Serpiello, Kim, and all the other people whose names I am forgetting. You accepted me and were responsible for bringing to life some of the stuff Chris, Ali and I dreamed of and welcomed me into your family – so thank you.

Jimmy Young brought me back to the Collegian as a Web intern and Jeanette Hannah supported us for a year. Erin James, though, ultimately pushed me to finish something and gave us free reign to change the organization. It was a risk to let a let someone with only a semester’s worth of writing experience and no editorial skills become an editor and I thank her for that.

Ali Busacca, Web editor, brought energy, leadership, and voice to the Web project. If we accomplished anything, it was because she pushed us and the rest of the staff. Chris Bajgier probably ranks among the most remarkable people I have met in college – hearing his story made me realize how much I take for granted. He is also a technical leader who is responsible for some of the most sophisticated work we’ve contributed to the Collegian. Both Chris and Ali have been great partners and friends to me, so thank you.

The College of Information Sciences and Technology has been a great home and community for me to pursue my undergraduate studies in. I would like to thank Jim Jansen for being an ever patient thesis supervisor and a great teacher. I would also give a shout out to Dr. Santoro, Dr. Wang, Dr. Mitra, Dr. Mudgett, Dr. Fronseca, Ms. Mahar, Dr. Tapia, Dr. Lucas, Dr. Maitland, Dr. Smith, Dr. Sawyer, Dr. Kavsny, Dr. Clark and Dr. Bagby for helping my learning experience. Also thanks to Dr. Supon and Shawn Knight for all their helpfulness and advice.

I also owe thanks to all the group members I have had over these 4 years at IST. I hated group work in high school and last semester I was actually leading a group. I won’t even attempt to name you all, but thank you for all your help. Special thanks to Dana Kracaw, Jason Scott, Rishi Das, and Mark Poblete for hanging out in class together, you guys truly represent the sense of community I am talking about in IST.

Mike Logan instilled in me a passion for film and DVD collecting that has become a passion for me. I’m sorry we didn’t see as much of each other this past year. Ditto for Dan Kerins, the puniest man I know and a fellow Sunday brucher at the dining commons.

I thank Greg Lathbury interjecting humor, oddity, and some real wisdom into our lives. I thank Boots for inviting me to my first real college party and just hanging around with us these last couple years. I thank Marc Kordell for hanging out as well and putting up with my frequent button pushing.

I thank Cat Cornett for letting me tag around with her and Rob these past couple years. I enjoyed the SameTimes over the summer and the little whiteboard messages on my door. I also give her a lot of credit for being the hardest working student I met in IST.

I thank Chris Somers for being my best friend at Penn State for four years. I know I’m kind of a downer and anti-social at times, so I give him a lot of credit for hanging around with me all the time. I enjoyed all the intellectual debates we got into, as well as the personal conversations, so I appreciate him listening. I told him it takes a lot of balls and brains to continue studying some of the most complex energy problems our society faces as a grad student and I’m sure he’s up to the challenge.

I thank Rob Shedd for also being my best friend and my roommate for four years. I told him he’s been the model of an academic and a professional for me and I meant it. I’m not sure how many deadlines, assignments, and events I would have missed if I couldn’t just turn around in my chair and ask him. I’m really proud of all his work and I’m sure he’s going to keep amazing us. I thank him for sticking by me for four years – I hope he’s gotten at least a fraction out of knowing me as I did from knowing him.

Last I turn to my family, who have been in the background supporting me all the way. Pat, Caitie, Chris, Brian, Michael, Kevin, Jack, and Billy are also my best friends. I really enjoy being able to come home and get immediately swept up into your lives. I’m proud of everything you guys do and I hope you forgive me for being a jerk sometimes. I also thank all my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for their interest and support along the way.

Finally my parents, the most generous, unselfish individuals I have ever met. Every time worry, get paranoid, or mess up they always support me and comfort me. For example, my mom first pushed me to go back to the Collegian to work on the Web site – I probably wouldn’t have done that on my own. Likewise their encouragement when I started looking at jobs that would take me further from them was really amazing. I never realize how much my dad cared about his children until he started hassling me to call home more often (even when I was calling every other day ). I’m glad to hear you guys are proud of me. I feel like I will be successful in life if I can even attempt to match your honesty, kindness, and selflessness. Thanks for all the sacrifices you’ve made to raise me the way you did and help put me through college – I will always be grateful to you.

And that wraps up my ridiculously long thank you note. Sorry for the sloppy writing – I’m finishing this after midnight after compiling it these last few days. I apologize to anyone who I forgot – I know even this list is not comprehensive and I could have written more about everyone.

I also want to congratulate the class of 2007, I am proud to know you and share this time in my life with you. And finally I wanted to encourage everyone to keep in touch with me. I am headed to ESPN in Bristol, CT on June 2 to work on their Web site as a technical producer. It’s an exciting opportunity and a fresh start, but I don’t want to lose this amazing network of friends I’ve made in college. Feel free to contact me at steve.clancy@gmail.com and check my Web site at http://www.steveclancy.com as I start to blog again in the coming weeks. Thanks again for all the memories. May God Bless You All.

Oddly enough our first multimedia experiment comes as my tenure at the Collegian ended. It’s a fairly short video, but its already gotten a few good reviews

Last fall I spent my first night back in State College watching the movie Accepted.

Given that I spend most weekends in a movie theater with my friends, it seemed like the appropriate start to the school year.

In case you haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a bunch of lovable losers, led by the “I’m a Mac” guy from those commercials, who accidentally form their own college.

And much to their surprise, students start showing up and, beyond all logic, start paying the founders’ tuition.

After the initial shock, the founders do something that’s actually quite extraordinary.

They take the students’ tuition money and invest it in equipment for their area of study.

Photographers get SLR cameras, cooks get kitchens and skaters get half pipes.

OK, so maybe study is a broad term here.

Naturally, a small portion also goes to the administrative costs of keg parties and tiki bars.

The whole thing is kind of a magic moment that could only happen in the movies. But it got me thinking.

What would I do if I could reinvest my tuition?

I am an information sciences and technology major, so I would buy myself a pretty nice computer setup and some teach-yourself programming books — although the For Dummies series does not really cover how to protect a database through sui generis intellectual property rights or the potential for information technology to enable globalization in the third world.

(I’m sorry, am I showing my IST major here?)

But I couldn’t buy the relationships and connections I have made in college.

In addition to meeting policymakers, innovators and legends, I have also made some lifelong friends.

Still, the best part of Penn State is also the best part of Accepted: the message of learning through experience. That is what I have gotten out of working at the Collegian.

I imagine people in some of the other student groups would reach the same conclusion.

I have built Web sites on my own before, but none have the reach that The Daily Collegian Online does.

In addition to our print circulation, some 300,000 people visit our Web site every month.

It’s pretty nice to go into a job interview and meet an alumnus who reads the Collegian every day online.

I’m equally flattered when friends tell me their mom reads our Web site.

It’s easy to take a class on organizational studies, but it’s a little harder to transform a traditional newsroom into a group of Web-savvy journalists.

But we’ve taken our Web site to a new level, and I can say I helped do that.

These are the experiences I’ll be carrying into my job.

That’s why I am worried every time administrators talk about making Penn State a “student-centered” university.

In my book we already had one.

I cannot think of a better example of grassroots community building than the one I witnessed in Paternoville, which got reduced to a university-sanctioned booster club last fall.

Likewise, Thon is the most successful student philanthropy in the country.

Yet apparently it could be improved upon by shortening it two hours.

USG tended to create more conflict than it resolved, but what better preparation is there for real world politics?

At least it attempted to represent student interests.

Sometimes these organizations (including the Collegian) make mistakes.

These are teaching moments too, though, and the university should embrace that, rather than running to their lawyers to “protect” student from themselves.

So, thank you to all the students, professors, bosses, colleagues, friends and family who made my college experience an experience.

When I look back on my years at Penn State I will think of you, not Old Main.

Last week several politicians announced their intention to run for the presidency in 2008. Besides talking about their hopes for the future and trying to rally momentum for an election almost two years away, the announcements had something else in common.

None of them did it through a press conference, a Sunday morning talk show or even Jon Stewart’s chair. Instead they all chose to make their announcements directly to their supporters through online videos.

The medium of the Mentos and Diet Coke video has finally come of age. Campaigning on the Internet is no longer a novelty, it’s a standard that every campaign is rushing to embrace.

It started last month when John Edwards announced his presidential intentions in a series of videos and Webcasts events.

Among his guests was tech blogger Robert Scoble, who interviewed Edwards for his podcast.

Edwards has a live video discussion scheduled during this week’s State of the Union.

Now his opponents are trying to keep up and outdo each other.

Hillary Clinton has announced she will host a series of live video chats on her Web site.

Barrack Obama reportedly struck a deal with video start-up Brightcove to create his own “channel” of content on the service.

Even Sam Brownback, who is running his campaign on traditional values, embraced online video for his announcement.

The video-frenzy is part of a larger trend of politicians embracing social media tools like blogs, wikis and podcasts.

There’s a lot of potential for both sides in this new arena. Voters should get to interact directly with the candidates. Politicians will be able to transmit their messages directly, rather than go through the gatekeepers of traditional media.

There is a dark side to all this, though.

Video often makes one-sided messages appears as two-way conversations. In theory, a candidate could deliver his message entirely through videos, without ever having to answer a question from reporters.

Howard Dean garnered excitement when he introduced politics to blogs in the last election.

Four years later not much has changed. Generally it’s only the staffers who blog to rally the base. Candidates themselves do not often blog to reach out to voters.

Candidates seem more inclined to do videos, however, because impromptu speeches and meet-and-greets in front of the camera come naturally. The Internet has created opportunities for new levels of openness in all facets of society.

Hopefully politicians will use these new options wisely to enhance the dialogue between voters and candidates.

We don’t have to just hope though. Social media is available for anyone and everyone to use.

So if you’re not satisfied with a politician, use the Internet to demand more of them.

Earlier this month our wonderful systems manager, Rick Simpson, began providing us with daily statistics information about our site. In the past, statistics were tabulated at the end of the month and didn’t give us a good idea about what are visitors were looking at on a day-to-day basis. Our statistics reports are publicly available, so if you’re curious you can see what I’m talking about. I try to avoid getting too worked up over some details, because statistics can be lies with numbers. But I did want to focus on a couple areas of interest – blogs and the long tail.

First, let’s talk about blogs. I’ve been checking Technorati, a blog search engine, a lot to see who is linking to the Daily Collegian Online. According to Technorati the answer is a handful of real blogs and a lot of spam blogs (blogs that just steal content and links to attract more hits). After checking out the referring URLs in our statistics I realized that we get linked a lot more often than I realized. College Humor currently has Friday’s Bundy story linked on its home page, as did FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). Bundy, by the way, gathered more page views than our home page yeterday. Yesterday Fark tagged our story about a creationism/evolution lecture from Sept. 29 as “sad”. Those are just some examples of the bigger sites linking to us.

This all leads into my second point – the long tail. Those two “hot” stories from yesterday’s statistics are ones that did not appear in yesterday’s paper. In fact, a look at our statistics reports will show that only about a third of our traffic is for that day’s news. The long tail is a concept introduced in a Wired magazine article that has later been expanded into a book. It suggests that the Internet has started a shift in business from selling a small number of popular items to using technology to sell small quantities of many smaller items. Think of sites like Amazon.com and Netflix, whose selection is a big selling point. Julia Turner demonstrated last month how the long tail works for Slate magazine.

Seeing information like this shows the significance of maintaining archives and not putting them behind a pay wall. Some people may think it bad that a significant amount of our traffic goes to our archives, but from an advertisers’ perspective we’re still delivering them eyeballs. There may be some issues revolving around what sort of audience comes from outside our site. One way we don’t capitalize on this currently is that our archives don’t bring people back into the site well. Our navigation isn’t consistent across the site and we don’t have any “fresh” content on our archive pages. So most people who come to our site from a direct link to a story don’t necessarily to see what else we have going on.

The long tail is a valuable lesson for a lot of businesses including newspapers. Its unfortunate that more news sites do not embrace this philosophy and leverage their archives better.

Blogging regularly is more difficult than you would think. I’m not sure what keeps the Kottke’s, Scoble’s and Jarvis’ of the world going. People have been asking me to post more, so I thought I would outline how we currently post stories on our Web site.

Our process is designed for stories to come right off the print pages. All the pages of the print newspaper are designed in a program called QuarkXPress. It seems most people around have a love-hate relationship with the program, which makes design easier but has a lot of annoying little quirks. I don’t design the paper, so I am often indifferent. I do need it to get stories onto the Web though and here I have a beef with the software. Quark has a nice feature where it lets you copy the formatted text in HTML format. This is both beautiful and troublesome though, since its HTML is often poorly formatted and includes some bizarre characters.

Next we copy the text from Quark into the Collegian Web Generator (Da Da Dah!). The Web Generator is sophisticated, simple, and only occasionally buggy. It was created by Joseph Shimkus in 2000 with the best wisdom from that time. At its best, it pareses Quark-speak into more readable HTML. It also lets us add headlines, photos, and shadow boxes to the stories and spits it out in our Web site’s standard template. It also includes different formats for things like columns and editorials. After all the stories are done it creates the section pages for news, sports, etc.

One hang up with the Web Generator is that it spits out static files, only slightly souped up HTML pages that aren’t very different from your ePortfolio site. This means that we have to move these files around on the site and create links to a lot of things by hand. And while this may work OK for your Dane Cook fan site, it gets more complicated when you have more than 100,000 articles to maintain.

We can’t really update the Web site until the last page of the paper is sent off to our printers, which is around 1 a.m. on a good night. We also have to go through most of this process whenever we do a Web update mid-day, which is a hassle. One advantage we have on the Web, as compared to the print, is that we can always go back and fix our mistakes. Fixing stories requires someone to go in and edit the actual HTML, so its not really made for the tech-queasy. All this is handled by a couple students and our systems staff who perform some of the more thankless on the site.

If all this sounds ugly to you, you’re right. We’re not quite on the cutting edge yet. Still we’re different than most other newspaper’s, who just outsource their Web site work. We like to think by keeping things in house we’re able to give the site the extra love and care that makes our site better than the rest. We are actively looking for ways to improve the site though, so you’re welcome to send me your thoughts. And I promise I’ll write again sooner rather than later.