Then he pulled out a laptop computer and took a call on his cell phone.
It's an interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, you have the classic traditions that have persevered through multiple cultural clashes over the course of more than a hundred years. But on the other hand, you have a technological revolution that is changing the very fundamentals of how we communicate. Can they coexist?
Of course they can. The very nature of the Internet is such that it gives anyone and everyone a voice. The Information Superhighway does indeed have a horse lane.
More important than that, this rodeo is so much more than a local event. People from around the world are coming here to compete. The Internet allows friends and relatives from all over take part in the experience, especially since The Daily Times doesn't deliver to Saskatchewan these days.
No one probably knows this better than the young men and women competing in the rodeo this week. For most of them, the Internet is something that has been a constant all their lives. It's not new and revolutionary to them, it's as normal as driving a car.
We have to keep up with the times here at The Daily Times, which is
We've already begun with some of our interactive offerings. Right now, we have a database up that allows you to search through the initial draw of contestants by name or what state they're from. It's an interesting tool for showing you how international this rodeo is. Did you know there are 10 Australians competing this year? We wish Brent, Rachel, Britt, Josh, Carl, Cody, Jamie, Maria, Revee and Bernie the best of luck and a safe journey.
The entire rodeo schedule is also online, and I encourage everyone to take a look at just how thick this thing is. In terms of just how much stuff is going on, the rodeo could give the county fair a run for its money.
We haven't ignored the social media front, and we will be providing updates throughout the day, primarily through the Web site Twitter (http://www.twitter.com). You can find us there under the screen name "TheDailyTimes," and we'll be posting any updates there as we get them. We encourage you to update on these services about your rodeo experience as well. You can use the tag #NHSFR' to share your rodeo experience with us and the whole world. We'll also be sending our updates to our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com), so if you haven't friended us there yet, now's a good time.
If you want to share more than just text, we've created a group on the photo-sharing site Flickr (http://www.flickr.com) for your rodeo photos and video. Just search for the group "National High School Finals Rodeo." We will, of course, have galleries up on Daily-Times.com for all the photos and videos taken by our photographers.
We want to share what we create with as many people as possible, which is why we've created a widget that bundles up all the things I just spoke about into one little package that you can take and embed on your own Web site, blog or social media page. It will display the latest headlines, photos and tweets from The Daily Times rodeo coverage. If you want to use this widget, just find it in our rodeo section (http://www.daily-times.com/rodeo) and click the "Get Widget" button.
Finally, if you have any questions, comments or concerns about our coverage, there are a multitude of ways to send us feedback. You can comment on this article in our Topix forum. You can Tweet back at us using the command @TheDailyTimes. You can leave a message on our Facebook wall. Or, last and certainly not least, you can always call or e-mail me using my contact information below.
We hope you all enjoy the National High School Finals Rodeo as much as we know we will. Good luck and Godspeed to all those participating.
Patrick Hogan is the online editor of The Daily Times. He can be reached by e-mail at phogan@daily-times.com or by phone at (505) 564-4627.
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