Recruitin' the Locals

Howdy!

Yup... I've been at it again. General rabble rousing, spoutin' off at the mouth, askin' stupid questions, trying to use mixed metaphors (poorly I might add), and otherwise just generally stickin' my nose out and darin' somebody to take a poke at it.

But this time I really put my mouth in motion before engaging my brain. It went somethin' like this...

"Geeze Scott, how come so many small communities are having such a hard time figurin' out this web site stuff? Ain't you guys supposed to be helpin' these folks understand what this thing is all about? It ain't all that tough fer cryin' out loud!"

To which his response was, (and I'll paraphrase here too), "Now that you mention it Kevin, we sure are. What are you doing the first week of September?"

Wham! Right on the kisser! He had me! Pinned me right up agin' the side of the barn! One of those "put up or shut up" kinda things, that an old country boy just *can't* back down from.

OK. So I had also told him I thought there ought to be a way for the various organizations in any given city or town to maintain a set of common links for their community that each organization could then, in turn, link back to. Something akin to a shared online resource clearing house. A place where certain selected folks, like maybe the City Clerk, and the Chamber Secretary, or maybe even the local librarian could help keep the information up to date (you know, responsible type folks). After they were properly coached in the use of proper editing techniques, of course.

This would save them time in maintaining the same stuff on each of their respective web sites. It would also save them money in the long run because they would be sharing the work load.

Wham! He had me again! "Surely" said he, "You can come up with some idea that would be workable. A place where the information could be readily accessible and used by large audience, and provide a vehicle to allow the communities the ability to better represent themselves. Hmm?"

Ah hah! Little did he know he had me right where I wanted him. Well... somethin' like that anyway.

All funnin' aside, the idea is this. OfficialCitySites has reviewed several thousands of websites for local communities. We have become pretty good judges of what online resource sharing models work and those that don't. Given that we are ardent supporters of the Open Directory Project, the solution for these communities (and our plan - hehe) was simple:

Help teach small communities about web sites through seminars, online guides, and resource links. Coordinate these efforts through national level organizations and at the grass-roots, local level.
Recruit and train community members as editors for the Open Directory Project at the local level, especially in small communities. Counsel them on goals, culture, and guidelines of the ODP and coach them in the application and editing process. (Yes, these folks would have to pass the muster by applying and getting accepted).

Bingo! Everybody benefits! Local communities have a venue for building a web presence and a resource for maintaining a common set of links; and the ODP benefits by having active editors in one of the most crucial and underdeveloped areas of the directory: the locality level.

OfficialCitySites is taking its role as a contributor to the ODP one step further by reaching out to others to show them the benefits of getting involved in this project. We are currently working with numerous organizations, demonstrating the benefits of the ODP and how it can meet their needs. We have posted information on our web site about the ODP, explaining how, and more importantly why, they should become an editor. By the time this newsletter comes out, we will have already presented our first round of workshops at the Utah Rural Summit.

I encourage fellow editors to seek out ways they can promote the ODP in their own communities. If anyone would like to help create "how to" guides, or if you have any ideas to offer, please feel free to do so. I'll gladly accept all the help I can get.

B' the by… does any of ya'll have good public speakin' skills? 'Cause it'd be jus' fine 'n dandy by me fer ya ta take my job. Heck, I'd even triple yer hourly editor pay ;-)