“We needed something fast, robust and real-time – something we could build on rapidly” – Mark Catalano – Newsweek

Mark’s one-on-one interview

Mark presenting on stage

When it comes to the inside scoop on the Academy Awards, Newsweek has long been the authoritative source that people turn to. Its round tables, which have traditionally taken the form of articles and videos, have consistently garnered considerably high viewership despite noisy competition.

However, Newsweek’s digital development team knew that in order to continually grow interest in its round tables and retain its mantle of authority, it needed to create a differentiated and engaging experience that would capture the wealth of social media interaction and buzz surrounding the awards show.

Echo’s StreamServer enabled the team to have the flexibility necessary to quickly build a custom, live event dashboard for the Oscars that allows the Newsweek team to live blog simultaneously while users make picks and chat with each other regarding the contenders. The entire process was only a few weeks from idea conception-to-production, giving Newsweek a sharp strategic edge on a night which innumerable media sources are vying for attention.

Check out the app live on the web.

Some quotes from the video

“We needed something fast, robust and real-time – something we could build on rapidly”

“We managed to get everything together in about 3 weeks”

“It’s a new way for us to reach out to our user base … and allows them to participate in our content in a deeper and more interesting way”