I like OlyBlog. I think it is a promising avenue for people who care about this community to communicate and to dialogue about what exactly is going on. I mean, we can post photographs and video, and offer rebuttals to some of the views that might be expressed in the mainstream establishment (corporate big business) media outlets. Here I have a chance to offer a different perspective - my own perspective. And so do you. And so do we, collectively.

On OlyBlog there is the possibility to have civil discussion (yes, it's not perfect - and not as good as in person - especially for emotional items). But at least people can express their viewpoints, and hopefully not be in fear of being attacked, or suffering a reprisal because of it. So we have an opportunity to have a conversation, and through that, perhaps, it can be a goal to project a collective perspective. - Being realistic, I realize that this might not be possible. At least we have a venue to express a collective perspective that may have been formed elsewhere.

So OlyBlog exists as a forum for organizing ideas and movements, for networking and consciousness raising. Maybe it's just a place to go to find something to do when you're bored...

I also love the concept of public citizen journalists rivaling the establishment media structures. Competition (insofar as it is fair competition!) is healthy.

What's your take? What does OlyBlog mean to you? I would love to read some thoughts about what OlyBlog is doing right, and what could be better.

Is it all just smoke and hot air, or what?

My previous OlyBlog blog can be found at olyblog.net/blog/robert-whitlock

"I've decided to end the experiment."

Rob, what experiment? Why did you end it? How? What is happening with Olyblog now?

I would like to understand what's going on, and I think the entire community deserve to understand.

Thanks in advance.

Matthew

After more than a year of working with a group of docents who have helped to run the blog, I've decided to end the experiment. The docent model was not entirely successful, in no small part due to an overall lack of organization and commitment, but lately due to some specific personality conflicts. I'm not sure what will take its place, but I'm hopeful that we can develop some sort of community-governed system. Stay tuned.

Some folks may have picked up that I'm leaving the docency in a couple of weeks, and I don't intend without leaving a replacement behind me. And, I'm nominating folks just to get the ball rolling, the discussion going, but I think these folks could do a pretty good job.

Gug. While he's not a front page regular, he's a steady hand in the comment threads and he can be guilted into turning his sharp mind on some local topics on a regular basis.

Epersonae (chad360's better half, aka Elaine). Same as above, not enough front paging, but what does is very good. Would bring a level of, what what do you call it, knowledge of actually running a website. Oh, yeah, we don't actually have much of that right now.

Chad360. While I have to be honest, his stream-oh-chad writing can leave me dragging behind the family blog sometimes, chad takes what we do here very seriously. To the point he buts heads with current docents, but I don't think that's particulary a bad thing.

Thad Curtz. While fairly new to here and someone I almost disagree with at all point, Thad is also steady and seems to have a fair interest in the overall topic of citizen journalism. He's also done lots of front page stuff, but centered on one topic in particular.

That's my core list, but other folks to come to mind include: Katherine and einmaleins.

So, how are we going to do this? I say come up with a list of nominees and vote from there. Whether we need two rounds depends on the size of the list.

I immediately wanted to solve this problem, so I asked of them (sometimes they offered without my asking): What is something we could do about that? What can we change that would make you feel safe contributing to OlyBlog? Hands down the number one answer has been: Anonymity.

As anyone who has reading the docent list is aware, there are a number of issues that continue to be a challenge for the blog. This is a not-necessarily-complete list:

• Moderation. This issue has always been a challenge on OlyBlog. Some folks have difficulty putting the community before their own needs, and their continued participation pushes many other actual or potential bloggers away. We've worked hard to build a system that feels fair (warnings, probationary periods, eventual banning), and my sense is that it has been working ok. But, not all docents are in agreement about it, and users tend to view it as arbitrary.
• Meeting. It has been very difficult to get docents together for meetings. We all have a lot going on, and OlyBlog is not the top priority for any of us.
• Content. Another question that docents have grappled with is: what is appropriate for the front page? What is news, and what is fluff? How do we support more serious local content?
• Mission. Finally, we have a lot of ideas about where we want OlyBlog to go. For example, we'd like to expand the blog into a clearinghouse for all types of local media: OlyMedia. OlyBlog would be a part of that, but it could also include OlyNews (part of what OlyBlog currently does), OlyRadio, OlyBands, etc...

It is clear to me that this is too much for the docents to handle alone. We need more energy and input. So, I'd like to suggest the following:

OlyGather -- An ongoing group that meets weekly to discuss news in Olympia, to suggest stories for OlyBlog (or eventually for OlyNews), to discuss issues on OlyBlog, and to be the decision-making body for OlyBlog (OlyMedia).

I think this would take one job off of the docents (decision-making and long-range planning), allowing them to focus on the day-to-day issues on the blog, helping others with content, and pursuing their own interests. I think this would also be an important adjustment because there seems to be the general perception that docents are "running things" without being sensitive to the input of other users. While I think this perception is unfounded, it is there, and this change will address that perception. I hope that we will also begin to have some of the conversation and networking that used to occur when we met at the Brotherhood on Monday nights.

Comments?

We're looking for local businesses that would like to sponsor our "Olyblogger of the Month" program by donating gift certificates or goodies. The current sponsor will be acknowledged on the blog with an icon that would run for the month of sponsorship (something like the Zhonka block on the left).

I went to the Olympia Web Design Meetup last night and heard a great presentation on Drupal (the system that OlyBlog runs on?). There was also a discussion of having the group help a local organization with their website. I thought of OlyBlog because it's a great local website and runs on Drupal.

If OlyBlog is interested the group may be able to help improve the website. I encourage the folks involved with the technical side of OlyBlog to sign up for the meetup and attend the next meeting:

Meetup: http://webdesign.meetup.com/507/

May meeting: http://webdesign.meetup.com/507/calendar/7703770/

Awhile back there was a discussion on OlyBlog about photographs, namely that some people feel less inclined to submit content because they don't have pictures to accompany the articles. In order to rectify this situation I have created a stock photo pool on flickr to provide photos to accompany articles on OlyBlog.

If you have a camera and would like to add to the pool you need only join the group (and flicker) and start submitting your photographs to it. The group is public and the only stipulation for membership is that anyone creating content for OlyBlog automatically has permission to use any submitted photos with that content.

When submitting photos I cannot recommend highly enough the meticulous tagging of photographs with intuitively searchable terms (e.g. if a picture is of a business then add the name of the business as a tag as well as a more general term like "business"). Right now there is an extremely limited number of photos in the group but as it grows the ability to effectively search through it for a desired subject will determine the value of the database. For those interested in helping with this project but not in taking pictures you too can add tags to individual photographs thereby making the database more searchable as long as you sign up for a flickr account (which is free).

If you do use a photo please make sure you credit the photographer as well as provide a link back to the photo's source online. In my perfect world of creating benefit for everybody I'd like this photo pool to give local photographers exposure and publicity that would otherwise be lacking.

Please feel free to ask any questions and feedback is appreciated.