NatsPark Fan Tweets, Phase 2

With the Nationals starting an 11-game homestand on Thursday night,we’re planning to reactivate the Nationals Park Fan Twitter project with eyes on a) getting even more participation and b) displaying and archiving the Tweets on washingtonpost.com.

If this project works, it will provide an interesting and useful way for people to get a feel for what it’s like to visit Nationals Park. Ideally, it should be interesting to follow if you are at the park or not, and looking at it live or scrolling through the archives.

So to that end, I ask you: what kind of Tweets are you most interested in reading (or composing)? Here are some of the sorts of Tweets we got from the last homestand:

– Stadium ambiance and experience: “unknowledgeable braves behind me in sec 241″ or “ARG! Giffords is out of ice cream bars in the club level! How is that possible? Serious food #fail“

– TwitPics/yfrog pics from the park (Note: I love these)

– Game action, pretty straight description: “Incredible catch by Diaz- 2nd time the Nats have stranded the bases loaded.”

– Game action, with commentary/snark: “Fat Ronnie is probably gassed from that 3b.”

So please pass on your feedback, in the comments here or by emailing me at jon-dot-denunzio-at-wpost-dot-com or Twittering to @PostSports.

I am hoping to have a basic page up to capture the Tweets by COB today or early tomorrow. Will pass on the URL asap.  And early next week, the page should add some bells and whistles.

Reminder: To participate during games you attend, simply add the #natswp hash tag to your tweet and  append your section number. In a slight change from last time, no need for the second hash mark — “#natswp 401” is the way to go. And the section number is important; next week the way we display the Tweets will use those section numbers to make what should be a very cool web graphic.

Thanks for your help, input and participation …

Jon

(Click here for the background on the “beta-test” round of this project from Fourth of July weekend.)

In Development: NatsPark Fan Tweets

We’re considering a project that would capture and display Twitter posts from fans at Nationals Park during games. The primary goal is to get a feel for the stadium experience now that the place is broken in, so to speak.

So we’re especially interested in Tweets about food and drink (and the ease/difficulty in getting them), seats and sightlines, ticket prices and other costs, pre-, in- and post-game entertainment, etc etc etc. Anything that sheds a little light on what it’s like to be at the game would be useful.

We’re hoping to test this concept at the three Braves games this weekend, with fuller implementation at the long homestand that starts July 16.

How can you help? Pretty simple: if you’re at any of the games this weekend, it would be fantastic if you Tweeted a few times before/during/after (especially during) with these two hash tags attached: #natswp and #[section number]. For example:

The beer guy is offering half-price Miller Lite right now! #natswp #230

There’s a widget to the right that will display the 10 most recent #natswp Tweets, and you should be able to see even more  here.

If you have comments or suggestions, please leave them in the comments — or Tweet them to @PostSports.

Thanks,

Jon