Apr
13
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Posted (admin) in Uncategorized on April-13-2006

Sean and Marcus and Andrew have provided some wonderful feedback on this blog and what needs to be done to make it more effective for the reader in fulfilling its purpose.

The three had similar comments of consolidating a blog, database, social and professional web sites and organizations into one central location. Using Evolve Point’s RSS technology and WebMail’s RSS feeder I think we can create an information hub for young adults in NewVa.

I need some help.

What should it be? Who should manage it? How much will it cost? How can we bring it all together? When can we meet to discuss? You folks are the experts and I need your help. Let’s see if we can make it happen.
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    I'm busy today, and will be at the WebmasterWorld PubCon in Boston most of next week. After the weekend of the 22nd I'll be available for a meeting. Perhaps a group of us can meet for lunch and then brainstorm.

    I think it should be a property of the city to the extent that the city should maintain control of the web site and continue ownership of what would become a viral marketing in perpetual motion. In fact it's a much better use of some of the money being poured into print advertising because print advertising stops paying off almost immediately. By contrast, a web site that evolves into an economic and community portal for professionals living in the Roanoke Valley would be working for you 24/7.

    There are alot of cookie cutter web sites out there that try to be a portal for a city or metro area. They don't work particularly well because for the most part they're just one of a thousand portal sites that have just enough content to be mildly interesting but are too generic to be of any real value. However, if you took the idea of a portal and built one specifically for the valley then the model could work quite well. You could aggregate area blog feeds. You could have a photo journal aggregating photos from locals that are activity based (i.e. not photos of your dog sitting on your couch, but photos of your dog hiking with up a local mountain). You could have a resume repository. You could have a job repository. You could have a calendar with local events (cultural, local bands at local clubs, etc). You could list homes for sale, apartments for rent. You could have a transplant sponsor directory - a directory of folks who could help people get settled into the area, introduce them to new friends. You could have a directory of vendors where folks can buy furniture and so on (emphasis on non-box stores, make it more interesting to people).

    This is something the paper could own too, I'm just not so sure that it's a good idea given the need for the paper to have concrete ROI. The city itself can get concrete ROI with an influx of new white collar workers so a web site of this scope becomes more justifiable.

    Sean
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    I agree with Sean on his points. This seems like a logical thing for the City or other local government to manage; although, I think, having worked for the government myself, I know there can be a lot of red tape to cut through on just about any decision. It could also be done by a local chamber of commerce pretty easily as well or be developed into a not-for-profit group managed by a board.

    I am also available for a meeting at any point and would like to be involved in the brainstorming, planning and implementation of this project.

    It seems Roanoke.com tries to do some of this stuff, but I think it can be done MUCH better, especially with an eye on Web 2.0.

    Looking forward to hearing from others,

    Marty
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    Marty has some great points. Perhaps a cooperative project between the appropriate chamber of commerce and the city. In this way actions can be taken with respect to the web site through the chamber to avoid red tape. For something like this you need to avoid glacial progress, the web site will need to be very adaptable especially during it's formative stage.

    Sean
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    For the sake of arguement, I'm going to say this as nicely as I can.

    Over the years, the city has betrayed the trust of the youth. It will be a long, hard road to regain that trust. I support any endevour to do so, with the caveat of being a blogger with an active Roanoke-Alumni readership.

    To those who left, Roanoke has always been an attractive area. Someplace they wished they could live the life they went elsewhere to find. The ones whom I have spoken with would love nothing more than to come home again. But the first complaint I hear is that they have no voice, no say in the future of the city. The general view is that over the years the residents of comparable age have been pummled into apathy. Ignored for the vision of retirees with disposeable income, and the ever present and undefineable "children" nearly every forward-looking project is latched onto.

    The lake has taken the big money, and will not give that up. The speculative building of downtown is attractive, but without a supportive community and culture, is useless. The vision of turning the Patrick Henry into a retirement-apartment building horrifies most of this demographic.

    They love to come back and visit, remember the times they had when they were young. But at the end of the visit, the bitterness that drove them out returns.

    I agree that Web 2.0 will display Roanoke in the best light possible - and I still say that someone should reach out to Google (provided they have not reached out themselves) and attempt some form of deal with them.

    Luring the white collar workers is easy, flash some money and affordable housing and they come running. But who then will provide the services the city needs? What of the plumbers, cooks, and warehouse workers? They need a place to live too, and they love Roanoke as much as anyone.

    A website will not be the single source solution for the problem, its going to take a revolution in the way Roanoke exists. Forget Web 2.0, and begin to develop Business 2.0

    Again, Im not looking to come across harsh or judgemental - but there are far larger issues here than just attracting more IT jobs. Retention of those jobs, and the workers who fill them is equally important. Without a community base to support them, the population will always be transient.

    My 2 centavos.

    Keith of Forgotten-Roanoke/Roanoke-Found
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    I agree with you all on a community based site led/sponsored by the Chamber and/or local jurisdictions.

    The biggest problem I see with that is the fact that once those people get ahold of it, the will forget the very people you are trying to reach out to.

    As with everything in Roanoke City, it seems as though the only ones allowed to speak are the elders. The Times and the City have both spoke of giving the younger crowd a voice, yet it has not happened.

    Let me know if I can help.

    Rhett of RoanokeFire.com
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    "Community" sites sponsored by a single institution rarely do well over the long term without a very enlightened board and a light hand. A highly successful community portal that is "owned" by a single institution will often end up being co-opted by the institution itself, which wants to capitalize on the site's success--understandable from the perspective of the institution, but usually not a good thing for community the site is trying to serve.

    If possible, I'd recommend an indpendent site that accepts sponsorship from a variety of interested organizations. That way, sponsors get credit for their help, but the site is able to chart it's own course.

    Of course, there is no free lunch. The advantage of a single sponsor is that you may get better support and continuity than with an all volunteer effort.

    Either approach can work, but it helps to know what the downsides of each one are before you get started.

    Andrew
    (thirteen years of community portal experience)
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