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.

The docents met Sunday morning, covering a range of topics. Here is a run down of some of the issues we touched on, and what we are thinking.

The fun stuff:

• As you no doubt noticed, we've put out the call for new docents. Let us know if you're interested and have the time and energy.
• In order to recognize excellence in citizen journalism, we're going to name a "Blogger of the Month." The recipient will be rewarded with a gift certificate to a local business.
• By unanimous vote, the docents agreed that stevenl be named Olyblogger of the Year for 2007. We are unable to offer a prize this year, but he has our eternal thanks and admiration for all the hard work he has done making OlyBlog damn fun to read!
• We're starting up another fund drive in order to collect the cash we'll need to refit OlyBlog with a new structure that will allow more news-focused content on the front page, and take that function off of the blogs. Our initial goal will be $1,000. The following are some examples of layouts that we're considering:
  

  http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/
  http://www.opendemocracy.net/
  http://cornellsun.com/
  http://www.sbindependent.org/
  http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/

  Let us know what you think about these. We'll also be putting out the call to our more tech-savvy friends to help us build this new structure.
• enpen is working on constructing a pool of stock photos of Olympia on Flickr. He'll post more on this later, but if you're interested, drop him a note.

The not-so-fun-but-necessary stuff:

• We agreed that OlyBlog should adhere closer to its mission of focusing on hyperlocal content. In a manner similar to how Wikipedia flags material that does not meet its standards, docents will begin to flag material that has no apparent connection to Olympia. Olybloggers will have a chance to establish that connection; if there is no connection established within a reasonable amount of time, the non-local content may be removed. (There is one exception: humor. We all find a lot of value in sharing a good laugh.)
• Docents will also begin to flag posts that violate the social contract. Again, the person who originally posted the material will have a chance to adjust the post. If there is no compromise after a reasonable amount of time, the offending post may be removed. Multiple violations may also result in the blogger being placed on probation until they create 3 local posts.

It looks like there are some big changes in our future as we continue this curious experiment into citizen journalism. Thanks to all our contributors and supporters in the community. We're trying to build something that will have lasting value to everyone in Olympia. Let us know if you have ideas about how we could do this better.

Economists have long justified the enclosure of the commons (handing public land to private owners) by pointing to the fact that an ungoverned group of people couldn't resist the temptation to maximize their own profit by adding one more sheep to the land, until the pasture was overgrazed and worthless to everyone. I see a similar process underway here on OlyBlog. There are some who fail to see OlyBlog as truly a common, civic space, and are persistent in asserting their right to say whatever they want. Anyone who confronts these individuals is accused of having a vendetta, of being politically biased, or of having a double standard. If fact, they are trying to protect the commons, trying to maintain it as an open resource. Trying to make it accessible to the greatest number of people.

The only way to do that is to have some code of conduct (i.e., a social contract). How many of you have helped work on the social contract? How many worked on the bylaws. Not many. That was left to the precious few who really care about making this a resource for the community. These are the tools that will insure that OlyBlog is protected from the few who would turn it into a free-for-all, no-holds-barred, knock-down, drag-out brawl. How many of you stepped up and said: "I don't care what you think, but that's not an acceptable way to communicate on the blog" when someone was out of line? Not too many. Again, that was left to a few docents who really care enough to put in the time to read every comment on every thread.

Is this a democracy? Not yet. Maybe not ever. Should it be? I'm not sure that's the best way to proceed. Despite our almost 6k readership, it seems that we have a shortage of human capital. Who's going to step up and take a positive role in shaping this blog, if they haven't already done so? As I've said in the past, if you find yourself unhappy here, start your own show. It is easy, and you won't have to change your behavior for anyone else. If you plan on sticking around, though, plan on doing some changing, because that's what it takes to be part of a community.

Whew! I just got done reading will_is_ok's Fudge post. Quite a gem.

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I explore OlyBlog's nether regions. Here's my question for anyone in the know.

What is the longest thread in OlyBlog history?

Creating hyperlocal content can be difficult sometimes. I was wondering if folks would like to toss out some ideas for local stories. Anything goes with brainstorming. Be as wacky as you want.

Here's a couple to get things started...

1. Inventory of garbage in Capitol Lake. Maybe updated monthly, or something. (You see a lot of weird stuff in there, at times)

2. An artesian well-watch. Keep track of inspections, saftey concerns etc. (What's up with the well at the old DOT location, next to the IT station?)

Don't be afraid to brainstorm. No one should be critical of any one else's ideas. Let's be creative and see what we come up with.

This cartoon captures perfectly one of the reasons why comments get out of hand. I wish more people could say their piece, and then let it go.

I am a docent at OlyBlog, which is dedicated to hyperlocal news and discussion of topics related to life in and around Olympia, Washington. OlyBlog's mission is to promote citizen journalism and to provide a resource for sharing knowledge and discussion about Olympia (and immediately surrounding areas.)

OlyBlog is awesome and fun. However, throughout much of the history of OlyBlog (over 2 and 1/2 years now) there have been users of the site who participate in a way that is disruptive and discourages participation by a broader audience. Personally it has been aggravating and frustrating to deal with some of these individuals, there are about 10 or so of them, who bring an attitude of prejudice, of combativeness, of aggression and intolerance for any ideas but their own. Some users' behavior is downright nasty, hostile, provocative, antagonistic, hostile and dishonest. (sorry, yes I realize this isn't a thesaurus.)

Time to look at some numbers.

According to our statcounter, we get an average of 1,538 unique visits per day. However, that number underestimates our total readership, as not everyone looks at the blog everyday. Hence, the poll yesterday to get a sense of how often people do, in fact look at the blog. By taking those numbers, and adjusting our average daily unique visitors, I think we've got a more accurate estimate of how many people read the blog in total. Of the respondents to our one-day poll:

• 47% were "daily" readers = 722.86 x 1 = 722.86
• 23% were "every other day" = 353.74 x 2 = 707.48
• 9% were "every third day" = 92.28 x 3 = 276.84
• 5% were "once a week" = 76.9 x 7 = 538.3
• 16% were "once in a while" = 246.08 x 14 = 3445.12
• For a grand total readership of 5690.6.

Now, considering that the combined population of Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater is 86,438, at least 1/4 of which are children under the age of 15 (and probably have preferred activities other than hanging out on OlyBlog), putting the adult population at roughly 64,828. Thus, OlyBlog readership constitutes somewhere between 8-9% of the adult population of the Greater Olympia area. I don't know about you, but I think that is remarkable.

These are obviously estimates, and if anyone has better numbers, please feel free to make corrections.