Everyone loves a good story. The new ArcGIS StoryMaps is a great way to tell one.
Demonstrate your storytelling skills using this next generation story builder by entering the 2019 StoryMapper of the Year Contest sponsored by Esri.
A Simple but Powerful Map Builder
Many government organizations have been using classic Esri Story Maps apps to create stories on many topics, including social issues, the environment, agriculture, sports, health, and tourism. Esri Story Maps apps use templates to combine maps, text, and multimedia content to tell stories.
“Esri Story Maps has evolved tremendously over the past eight years, but this is our biggest leap forward yet,” said Allen Carroll, program manager for storytelling at Esri. “We’ve taken the feedback provided by our storytelling community to create this next generation storytelling tool and deliver a great new experience for our users. Our goal is to enable tens of thousands of people to create sophisticated, map-driven narratives that rival the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Washington Post.”
ArcGIS StoryMaps is a simpler way to tell your story. With ArcGIS StoryMaps, you no longer need templates—you can build stories using the new builder block palette. Mapping is also much simpler. Easy-to-create express maps can be made within the builder itself.
Other major enhancements include one-click design themes that make your content look polished and professional and responsive design that means your content will look beautiful on any mobile device. It’s now possible to author stories from a tablet.
A New Kind of Contest
The 2019 StoryMapper of the Year Contest will work differently than previous story map contests. It adds a community service dimension. In addition to an ArcGIS StoryMaps entry, participants will be asked to describe how they would use a $5,000 donation from Esri to make a positive impact on their community through storytelling.
For example, you might want to purchase laptops for seventh graders at a local school and host a classroom workshop on GIS or story maps. Or you could work with a nonprofit to empower the homeless to tell their stories. Your entry will be judged on the merit of your $5,000 donation idea as well as the story map you submit.
The Esri StoryMaps team and three guest judges will select the top five finalists. The guest judges are geography and storytelling all-stars: Alex Tait, the geographer at National Geographic; Michael Goodchild, professor emeritus and geographer at the University of California, Santa Barbara; and James Fallows, a staff writer for The Atlantic.
Once the top five entries are selected, they will be featured on the StoryMapper of the Year Contest website and—starting October 21, 2019—online voting will begin by the public to choose a favorite. Contest participants and the finalists are encouraged to invite their friends and followers to share their favorite entries and vote for the grand prize winner. The entry that gets the most votes receives the grand prize and the entrant becomes the StoryMapper of the Year.
The winners will be announced by Esri president Jack Dangermond on GIS Day (November 13, 2019).
The grand prize winner will receive
- $5,000 for use in partnership with a local government entity, school, or nonprofit organization.
- One Esri Technical Certification exam voucher valued at US$250.
- One ArcGIS for Personal Use license valued at US$100.
- A certificate of recognition.
The four runners-up will each receive $1,000 for use in partnership with a local government entity, school, or nonprofit organization plus the same voucher, license, and certificate of recognition described previously. Esri will also promote the finalists on esri.com and on the company’s social media sites.
To start creating your own story map, visit ArcGIS StoryMaps (esri.com/storymaps). For more information on classic Esri Story Maps and how to switch to ArcGIS StoryMaps, visit the ArcGIS StoryMaps product road map page.
