e-Vermont Newsletter ~ January 2012 Edition
Save the Date Feb 16th – Vermont Communities in a Digital Age
Join community leaders, learners, and everyone interested in using online tools more effectively to create jobs, reinvent schools, attract visitors, improve civic involvement and enliven neighborhood connections.
This all day workshop takes place at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, VT, starting at 8:00 am with sessions ending at 4:30 pm. Cost is only $20 and includes course offerings, refreshments, lunch and a chance to win a Kindle Reader.
The day begins with keynote speaker Anne Galloway, founder and editor of VTdigger.org, speaking on journalism in a digital age. Courses throughout the day include:
• Increasing Public Internet Access in Your Town
• Teaching Basic Internet Skills
• Mobilizing & Managing Community Resources
• Online Tools for Business
• Funding for Technology in Schools
• Online Options for Town Emergency Communications
. . . and more. For details and registration go to the registration site or click the Vermont Communities in a Digital Age icon at e4vt.org.
Community Stories Go Online
e-Vermont partners started working in rural communities in the summer of 2010. Since that time, our work has taken us to the furthest corners of the state, from Canaan to Pownal to Alburgh and the Islands. Our partners have all seen the impact of their services on the 24 communities e-Vermont served – now we’re telling those stories online in the Communities section of e4vt.org.
Check out the growing collection of Community Stories that tell about Fairfield library’s support of an online farmers’ market, Poultney’s downtown Wi-Fi zone, community history going online in Arlington, communication links in Moretown after Irene, and more. New stories are being added throughout the winter.
Community Calendars Launched Across All e-Vermont Towns
All two dozen e-Vermont communities now have an online calendar tool that collects information about local events and displays them in a calendar format that can be embedded on any website.
This calendar project began with communities interested in better systems to share information about events. Online calendars often exist in a town, but are not coordinated. Some tools allow for creating a new centralized calendar, but may require users to have an account to log in or other barriers to being user friendly for all community members. Plus, it can be difficult to get a centralized calendar up and running as people aren’t in the habit of going there to submit events.
e-Vermont’s solution was a partnership with Front Porch Forum. FPF combined a simple Google Calendar platform with active management that integrates the popular FPF posting system with the calendar tool. Even though this tool is FPF based, community members can also submit events through an online form and any organization can use the widget to display the calendar on their site. Click HERE to learn more.
Midyear Report Available
At the start of July, e-Vermont published a report describing the first full year of work in e-Vermont communities. A midyear update is now available online. Read about all the great work completed in Round 1 communities and launched in Round 2 communities since the summer.
