Bringing the Chicago Sun-Times to Facebook

Facebook Project Details

One of the 10 largest daily newspapers in the United States, the Chicago Sun-Times is dedicated to being the premier source of local news and information for the greater Chicago area. Its media properties include the Chicago Sun-Times and suntimes.com as well as newspapers and websites serving more than 200 communities across the Chicago area. The challenge:

The Sun-Times needed a quick and effective way to reach non-traditional audiences and create new ad revenue opportunities. Studies show that teens and young adults do not read the newspaper or visit on-line news sites for information. They needed to create a new way of interacting with the news that would appeal to this audience.

Pathfinder formulated a strategy and execution plan to meet their goals and maximize audience reach by using Facebook and the power of social media, while working within the following constraints:

• Tight deadlines and limited resources
• New audience required very different interactions
• Facebook platform is immature
• API is constantly changing and introduces additional complexities related to data model, security, and compliance

The process:

After working with the Sun-Times and understanding their needs to develop the strategy, Pathfinder applied its proven Agile development methodology to co-develop and deliver the application within their tight timeframes which were crucial to their success:

• Utilized Agile development best practices to deliver frequent iterations designed to quickly identify issues, reduce risks and incorporate changing requirements
• Integrated existing systems to speed development and evaluated several technology options to ensure maintainability, flexibility and performance
• Leveraged pair programming techniques to provide knowledge transfer and train staff while developing a cost effective, custom open source application

The solution:

Pathfinder worked closely with the Sun-Times to deliver the YourSeason Facebook application, in less than three months. The application contained several supporting back end components, including, security, integration, and a complex data model and database. Data is pulled via a web service to populate content for each distribution channel including, Facebook, print and on-line. The application utilizes the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), Ajax, and J2EE. This combination provides the Sun-Times the greatest flexibility, performance and ability to integrate with existing systems. It is also easier to maintain and extend.

• YourSeason Facebook Application; delivered in less than 3 months
• Provides latest high school sports scores, schedules and statistics
• Dynamic, interactive application that leverages the power of social networks
• Designed to easily scale to meet demand
• Flexible, open, standards based framework that can be extended

The impact:

As a result, the Sun-Times has launched the YourSeason Facebook application to coincide with the 2008 Chicago-area high school basketball season, providing the following benefits:

• Creates a new channel for ad revenues
• Supports a new paradigm and interactions for younger audiences with the news media
• Provides a framework that can easily be expanded to other channels, audiences and opportunities