Planetizen Benchmarks How Tech Savy Your City Planners Might Be

Remember when the Internet was going to make our lives easier?  Everything was going to be available anytime, anywhere.  Sometimes it feels like the web has just made everything more difficult, more complicated.  Yet sometimes, when we look up from our iPhones for a minute, some folks are trying to make the business of civic […]

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The Social Web and Disaster Response

Blandin on Broadband Blog noted this American Red Cross survey last year in a blog reflecting on the role of Social Media in the recent riots in England.  Are YOU prepared to respond to citizens seeking help by way of Twitter or Facebook? Web Users Increasingly Rely on Social Media to Seek Help in a Disaster […]

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Grassroots Engagement With Social Media

During a fast-paced presentation, rancher Jeff Fowle and organic dairy farmer Emily Zweber outlined how they have used social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and LinkedIn to connect with non-farmers. Both strongly emphasized the importance of the “human element” and the need to be genuine when using social media or else any attempts are destined to fail….

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Rural Broadband: Jobs and Services

Written Remarks for Presentation to Murray County (MN) Farm Bureau, 27 July 2010 Just five years ago, most Americans accessed the internet on dial-up modems.  Today, about 2/3 of the nation uses broadband service—high speed internet that lets you download and upload photos and video and use specialized applications as well as surfing the web. […]

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Republican State Convention 2009

I was a delegate to the 2009 Minnesota Republican State Convention this past weekend.  The agenda for the off-year convention was full of bylaws and constitution changes—real “inside politics” stuff that most folks find particularly and annoyingly boring.  I’m not most folks (I read zoning ordinances for fun) and I’m grateful for my neighbors giving […]

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