1. OpenSource Computerlabmomentsbefore
the eventbegan. (Source)
Feature Story PRE 376
TylerSmith
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Computer Science students invited to the future
The future of technology is exclusive to the future. Not the unpredictable future that
holds our fates, but the future of the technology industry. Current and former students of the
University of San Francisco’s computer science program are being given a once in a lifetime
opportunity to get hands on experience with the future of online code.
Adobe, the leader in creative software, is hosting a series of Open Source events that
began Oct. 30. The first Open Source was held in San Francisco, home of Adobe’s headquarters.
Andrew Matlock, a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco, was one of the select few
that were invited to the exclusive event.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” says Matlock. “To have the ability to try out new products
before its available is something everyone wants to do.” Matlock graduated in May of 2015 and
was selected by Adobe from a pool of other graduates and current students of computer
science programs from various colleges around the San Francisco area.
What is Open Source?
Open Source is a program hosted by Adobe to allow industry media, industry leaders,
experts, and amateurs to come test Adobe’s latest products and improvements on previous
products. This Open Source series will have an extensive focus on HTML5 and Adobe’s latest
products that feature HTML5 compatibility. The event will run for 24 hours beginning Saturday,
Oct 31 at 8 a.m.
Open Source is designed to give the
consumers the ability to give feedback to Adobe so
that they understand what the consumer would like
to see added to the products. Open Source also
allows consumers to get a glimpse of what will be
the next generation of consumer products for online
code before the products hit the open market.
“Having the chance to be a heard in the tech
community so early in my career can be life
changing. I have the ability to become familiar with a product, review it and assist the company

2. Adobe Edge
Animate isone of
manyproducts
featuredatthe
OpenSource
Event.
in making changes that consumers, like myself, want to see. Especially when HTML5, something
that is becoming such a standard in the industry, is the focus” says Matlock.
HTML5
HTML5 is a web based coding language that serves as both the structure and content of
a webpage. Having been heavily compared to Adobe Flash, HTML5 has the ability to display and
host media content such as images and video, but with none of the security flaws found in
Flash. HTML5 has risen to the top as Flash as slowly sank in popularity.
Greatly influenced by Steve Job’s “Thoughts on Flash” letter (article) condemning flash
for its vulnerabilities and short comings flash began to fall off the radar for many of the top
sites such as browsers like Safari and Firefox who began to ban the code, making HTML5 the
preferred alternative. YouTube and Google Chrome are the latest companies to join the shift
from Flash to HTML5 as of Sept. 2015.
“HTML5 is still in its infancy. The market for products that use HTML5 as a creative tool
is essentially non-existent,” Claims Matlock. “This line of products at Open Source will be the
front runners of the market and quite possibly become the industry standard that will be used
for years to come.”
Open Source goes live
The Atmosphere is electric, excitement is buzzing. Computers are lined up in rows upon
rows, with just enough space to spread your elbows to utilize the keyboard and mouse. At the
end of each row are teams of Adobe representatives on hand to assist anyone who runs into
trouble during testing. The clock strikes 8 and the participants pour in. Everyone wants to dive
into the latest software utilizing HTML5.
“I really want to dig into [Adobe] Edge Animate first.” says Matlock
as he takes his seat at his assigned computer. “It’s going to have the
biggest effect on me as far as web aesthetics goes, because it will give
users the chance to create some of the most unique and interactive sites
on the web.”
Adobe’s Edge Animate gives users the chance to turn their website
into an interactive environment that reacts to a visitor with many
animation possibilities. Edge Animate offers users the chance to do this in
a stream lined work space that was not previously available to HTML5
code. Traditionally animators would have to mix HTML5 code with CSS

3. (cascading style sheets) and JavaScript. Edge Animate removes this barrier by mixing them all
into one program that does the work for you.
Open Source runs on through the day and testers start to complete projects and offer
feedback to Adobe representatives. New testers fill the seats left vacant by those who finish
with the products.
Open Source comes to a close
“I think Adobe lived up to the hype,” says Matlock. “I’ve learned a lot about what to
expect from the next generation of HTML5 products and definitely look forward to it. Although I
did run into some speed bumps along the way that I did make recommendations to correct, I
feel as though the event was a success for Adobe. The new line up looked great and worked
well with HTML5. I even implemented a few changes to my own blog site using Adobe Edge
Animate. “
Matlock wasn’t the only one who felt the Open Source event was a success.
“We have received an incredible amount of positive feedback on all our new products
and even our old products that now have enhanced HTML5 support like Dreamweaver,” says
John Davis, a member of the Adobe Open Source team.
Moving Forward
As San Francisco’s Open Source event comes to a close early Sunday morning the Adobe
crew starts to pack up equipment and prepare for the next stop on the event tour. Open Source
will visit Austin, New York, Boston, Denver, Seattle, and then finish back on the west coast in
Los Angeles on Dec. 20.
“Through each city that we visit on the Open Source tour, we will be inviting students of
relevant programs from local colleges to get hands on experience with our future products just
like we did here in San Francisco with USF,” says Open Source manager Brian Price.
Adobe Open Source has left Matlock with something that he can call upon in the future,
“This experience is something I plan to use in my job search. Having worked with technology
that so few members of the industry have is a huge advantage I have going forward in my
career.”

4. Communication Objective
This feature story will serve two primary purposes. First it will display the work that
Adobe is doing with HTML5 and give a little background on to what this has to do with Adobe’s
Flash. That will represent the willingness to change that Adobe has as a company to adapt to
HTML5 and lower support for Flash. The second purpose that the feature story serves is that it
will demonstrate what Open Source is like and serve as promotion for the event as it kicks off
the two month tour of the United States.
The most important peripheral purpose of this story is the focus on Andrew Matlock, a
recent graduate of the University of San Francisco. Matlock represents the younger
demographic. Adobe (for the purposes of my campaign) wants to reach out to a younger
audience and pull them in. Adobe often gives opportunities to college students to see if they
have what it takes to make their new products shine, most recently giving four students the
opportunity to remake the origin story for some of Marvel Comics’ greatest characters using
only Adobe Products. Matlock will represent Open Sources’ version of this and will be echoed at
every stop on the tour as each city will have colleges from which participants will be invited to
try out the new products.
Matlock will be the example that is basically advertised as a “This can be you” type
character and will create some buzz around programs, cities, and the events themselves.
The overall goal of the story is to promote the Open source event so that people know
where to go, when to go and how to participate and what it might be like. While all of these
details are not present in the story, links to events calendars and schedules within the article
walk the audience through the process and will reiterate all relevant information to them.