It was a 15 minute phone conversation that occurred yesterday between myself and Henry Abbott, who really gets it: If you have a blog, you can try quick experiments like this no problem.

Abbott wanted to paint a picture of New Orleans "as a multi-layered, not a simple happy Disneyland."

And that's what the NBA PR team is probably trying to convince us all of right now - that all is fine in New Orleans.

He's on a plane today - so I'm on troll watch at the wiki which has been set up for his readers to contribute links and stories about New Orleans.

What's great about this little experiment - it's not just for basketball fans. If you know anybody that might be interested in helping out - send them the link.

A natural question, one I ask myself, is where the line is drawn between beat blogging and citizen journalism. How is this project a "social network for sources" and not just changing the way journalist and readers engage. The full answer will have to wait for another post. The short answer: When you open yourself up online 99 percent of the time, people who step forward to help you are exactly the people you wanted to find. It's a self-selecting process and when it's done, you have new sources.

From the post.

New Orleans may have the richest culture of any American city. Writers and reporters had a hard time describing the city even before the complicating factors of first the hurricane, and then to a much lesser extent, the All-Star Game.

At this moment in history, as the Big Easy struggles to find its feet while recovering from the worst natural disaster in American history, it's a story with a lot of moving pieces, and something that's very tough to describe accurately and with nuance.

Drop into the middle of that the multi-faceted nuttiness of the All-Star Game -- all those events, parties, and madness on and off the court. Mix it all together and what do you get? Something great? Something terrible? Something in between?

I have no idea how TrueHoop, ESPN, or even the entire assembled media could do a thorough job of keeping track of everything that might happen. Last year in Las Vegas some of the best portraits of the scene in the city came from citizens -- cab drivers, waiters, dealers and the like.

This year, let's get everyone ready to help early. If you are in New Orleans, or if you are willing to look up and link to some of the best New Orleans content, I am asking for your help in covering the 2008 All-Star game.

With the help of David Cohn, I just started a wiki about All-Star in New Orleans.

Go on, put your writing and researching hats on and click that link.