Taking Online Offline
Last week we hosted a Launch Party for Citizen Wausau at Citizen Desk. We had a great time and the event got people talking - in fact, we were asked several times if this could be a monthly event - or at least one that happens more frequently. This got me thinking.
Why not create other opportunities to take this online community offline?
I imagine being able to host groups, clubs or individuals for organized (or unorganized) meet-ups. There was this non-profit meet-up I used to attend in San Francisco called Net Squared, where they partnered non-profs with technology. Pretty cool stuff.
A couple of weeks ago I attended a large scale meet-up called Barcamp in Milwaukee. This was an “un-conference” where anyone could participate or present. It was an amazing chance to network with other geeks in the state, reconnect with old Wausau acquaintances and make many more new ones!
Back in the RockWater days we used to have LAN parties for online gaming and that sort of thing - it was a great time!
That said, we have this space at Citizen Desk that could be perfect for these sorts of activities.
I searched on Meetup.com just to see if there is a perceived need for such space - but there does not seem to be a whole lot of people using this tool to advertise meetings happening around Wausau. I found similar results when searching Upcoming.org.
There’s just so many ways we could connect to each other in ways that this site doesn’t provide for (although I understand there are those that are fine with that). So, I’d like to put this out - what kinds of events or meet-ups could we get going to create further community?
Here’s a few suggestions I’d throw out:
- Friday night happy hours
- Writing classes
- Discussions or workshops for programmers
- Weekend hack-a-thons
- Graphic designer meet-ups or critique.
- Poker or board game nights
Possibilities are endless, really - if you were to leave the comforts of your home to attend an event, what kinds of things would you be interested in attending?
Personal note: My wife and I have a son with Cystic Fibrosis - it sure would be nice to connect with other parents who have children struggling with life threatening diseases. Just another thought.
Tom Neal said:
It’s all about creating new social & professional infrastructure for a face-to-face networking community in the free information age. And it need not be an exclusive “geek” thing, of course. Our local geeks, if they’re patient and approachable, can help us non-geeks become more geeky, baby step by step. How about the manufacturer who wants to invigorate their Web site and further engage their audiences? The small business owner who wants to find affordable ways to build and mine a customer database? The extrovert with a huge ego who wants to let the world know about them? I don’t know what the heck happens at a hack-a-thon, sounds borderline illegal, but I expect fundamental workshops with over-the-shoulder demonstrations would be very helpful. And how about sharing info on the dangers of the dark side … liability, libel, privacy, stalking, security, abuse, etc.? Keep this line of thinking going forward; I think it’s packed with potential.
October 24th, 2007 at 7:49 am #
tommichlig said:
I’m all for the idea of a consortium of Wausau-area graphic/web design professionals and others in related fields (web developers, writers, photographers, etc.) I’ve knocked this idea around for years with colleagues, but we never went anywhere with it. To my knowledge, no such thing exists in these parts. Something to get area designers to leave the isolated confines of their agency and take a look around at what their contemporaries are up to.
October 24th, 2007 at 11:18 am #
dolly said:
I like the idea of taking citizen Wausau offline. What if in the future, you started a citizen Wausau newsletter, or mini-newspaper so that those who don’t have access to the internet, could be involved in citizen Wausau as well? This way people who don’t have the internet, or don’t know how to use it, could write in with their thoughts and/or concerns and others would have access to them.
Kassondra Pflieger
October 25th, 2007 at 11:00 am #
robertmentzer said:
I am definitely in for poker anytime, anyplace. The problem is I will take all your money and you won’t invite me back. And I only carry $100 bills, none of this penny-ante stuff.
October 26th, 2007 at 8:08 am #
Jim Rosenberg said:
The most interesting online group with regular offline gatherings I’ve ever encountered is on Flyertalk.com and they meet up all over the world. The reason is because they are inclined to travel at the drop of a hat anyway, so just about any pretense will do. Here’s something where I touch on a gathering in London that I attended:
http://tinyurl.com/2vwu73
It’s an interesting collection of people, to say the least. (And yes, the annual Presidents Day weekend in London is already planned, with people already signing up.)
October 26th, 2007 at 12:12 pm #
Andy Sutton said:
If you have a poker night I’m in.
October 26th, 2007 at 3:03 pm #
Barry Liss said:
HEY!
Is CitizenWausau a textual or a pictorial environment? I would argue its strength comes from the former. The web/computer hasn’t stomped out literacy - it’s just made it an exceedingly rare phenomenon - like the politeness forms of gentlemen and ladies.
These two vids are from my fellow media ecologist Michael Wensch in the Cultural Anthropology Department at Kansas State. Warning: they’ll fry your head like a cod on a Friday night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4CV05HyAbM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
Barry
October 27th, 2007 at 6:36 am #
Marcus Nelson said:
Hmm . . . So poker is popular. What night would be a good starting point?
Also - creative folk? Are you interested in a meet-up? Calling all Graphic Designers, Web Specialists, Photographers, Editors, Writers, Marketing Peeps - would you guys like to begin a monthly meet-up of some sort?
Let’s get some things going in November!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:55 pm #
Andy Laub said:
I think it’d be quite interesting to gather the creatives in Wausau for a sort of “state of the industry” type of meetup.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:31 am #
tommichlig said:
I’m down with the gathering of “creatives” (see my above comment, #2 in this thread).
November 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pm #
erik said:
Portage County has a similar type of thing:
http://www.artsportagecounty.org/
Though truth be told the alliance seems quite thin and really nothing more than a web-directory of artists in that area. It’d be interesting to see what artists in the Wausau area are up to. Especially as a budding filmmaker, the craft is such an ensemble art form that requires many artisans coming together to make a final product. As my producers and I move forward on our next project, I know it’d be great to have a resource of where to find creative folks looking for an outlet.
November 1st, 2007 at 8:00 pm #