By Jaimi Dowdell
IRE Training Director

IRE Resource Center staff have been busy adding tipsheets from the CAR conference. Handouts include information on forensic accounting, Web scraping, data on deadline, Twitter and more. In addition to this, many of the wonderful presenters and attendees have been sharing their tips, data and tutorials on the NICAR list and via Twitter. If you weren’t able to attend the CAR conference or are ready for more learning, here are some resources to keep you moving:

• “Live your best life on deadline” with Stupid Web Tricks from Ben Welsh, Los Angeles Times.

• QGIS mapping tutorial from Tim Henderson, The Journal News (White Plains, NY).
• While Jeff Larson and Scott Klein of ProPublica released and demonstrated their new Table-Setter application, Chris Groskopf of the Chicago Tribune wrote up notes on how to deploy the application. (All of this and Groskopf wasn’t even able to attend the conference.)
• Discover five essential queries with SQL Server and MySQL scripts from a lightning talk by Anthony DeBarros, USA TODAY.
• Manage and juggle your work to make time for CAR with these tips from MaryJo Webster and David Heath, Huffington Post Investigative Fund.
• Resources for mashups and Web mapping on the fly from Niran Babalola of The Texas Tribune.
• Tips on having a data state of mind from MaryJo Webster of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Brant Houston of the University of Illinois.
• As an added bonus, MaryJo has updated her “My Favorite (Excel) Things” handout. It now includes information for Excel 2007.
• “Good Habits When Making Software” from Brian Boyer, Chicago Tribune.
• Details about Open Flash Charts from Tim Henderson. This includes a form that lets you make a simple chart, with links to how to implement it yourself and make more complex charts.
• Trying to learn free stats software R? Bill Alpert of Barron’s suggests a website from Pat Burns for beginners as well as a guide, “The R Inferno,” from the same author.
• Jacob Fenton, Investigative Reporting Workshop, has created a page for web-only conference resources. It includes front- and back-end code from Fenton’s session about getting started with google maps flash api using flex and geodjango.
• Get story ideas with links to some of the best recent computer-assisted reporting stories.
• Free code from a session on GeoDjango and open layers with Derek Willis, The New York Times and Ben Welsh, Los Angeles Times.

Got some resources you’d like to share? Send them my way and I’ll get the word out (jaimi@ire.org). Also, don’t forget that the IRE conference in Vegas is just around the corner; check the details out here.

By Jaimi Dowdell

IRE Training Director

If you’re still debating whether to head to Phoenix next week for the computer-assisted reporting conference, I want to give you a few reasons why you should make the trip.

• The people. I’m not ashamed to admit that I wouldn’t be where I am in my life or my career without the fabulous people many lovingly refer to as NICARians. This group includes folks from around the world and they come from news organizations large and small, new and old. They are supportive, energetic and a blast to be around. I recommend getting to know them as they are a valuable resource.
• New (to us) sessions. Hey, we’re journalists, we tend to warm up to new things slowly. This year we have a session of lightning talks with Derek Willis as the ringmaster. The schedule is set and I’m anxious to hear five minutes of delicious material from the likes of Brian Boyer, Sarah Cohen, Bill Alpert and more.
• In addition to the lightning talks, Jennifer LaFleur has also organized a session where you can meet with CAR experts on topics ranging from the economy to the Census. Got a question? I have no doubt that the wisdom in the room at CAR speed dating will be able to help. Better yet, Jennifer has promised snacks.
• The session I’m most excited for doesn’t come from a journalist at all. Joe Epps, a professor at ASU and founder of Epps CPA Accounting is set to explain how reporters can use forensic accounting techniques. He plans on discussing records we should request and methods we can use.
• Open source madness: There’s nothing that makes me salivate more than free stuff and we’ve got it at the conference. This year there are more classes and sessions incorporating open source software than ever before.
• Sessions to help you juice up your Web skills. Panels will help you unlock Google secrets with Nora Paul, discover stupid Web tricks with Ben Welsh, find free online applications with Neil Reisner, learn how to tame feeds with Nils Mulvad and more. There are also classes to give you hands-on experience in scraping the Web, building a Google map, figuring out programming and much more.

This is just a taste of what’s to come, and in my opinion, it looks very good. I can’t wait. If you have any questions about how CAR can help you, how you can get the most out of the conference, or why you should think about going, feel free to drop me a note at jaimi@ire.org. The skills that I’ve learned from previous conferences and the chance to get to know so many wonderful and intelligent people have helped me in so many ways - I have no doubt you can benefit as well.