Monthly Archives: November 2010

Vermont Citizens in a Connected Age Workshop Dec. 11

Posted on Monday, November 29, 2010 by No comments yet

The Citizens in a Connected Age workshop advances the computer and Internet skills learned through the Vermont State Colleges and Vermont Small Business Development Center courses offered in each e-Vermont project town.

However, ANY Vermonter with basic computer skills can attend this workshop!

Learn About

  • Website communication tools.
  • Social media – strategies for incorporating it into a business, government or personal life, with computer lab time.
  • Troubleshooting technology – how to diagnose a problem with applications.
  • Data security – backing up data, protecting private information.
  • Marketing a business online.
  • Google applications – why use Google apps, with computer lab time.
  • Weighing the risks and benefits of online financial transactions.
  • Digital storytelling for educators.
  • Best practices for e-government websites.

When and Where

  • Saturday, December 11, 2010
  • 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Castleton State College, Castleton, Vermont
  • $10 registration fee – includes course offerings, refreshments and lunch.
  • Options for online registration: pay by credit card online, or register online and pay at the door. We cannot accept credit cards at the workshop.
  • Download the workshop poster (pdf).

For more information

Contact Joanna Cummings, e-Vermont Community Coordinator: joanna@snellingcenter.org


Visit

Facebook faces the (potentially impossible) task of…

Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2010 by No comments yet

An interesting take on Facebook

This is a very interesting article (hat tip to Michel) on why Facebook (and for that matter other social media platforms too) want you to have more friends.  In essence it is because more friends equals more activity which equals more content.  Keeping the content coming is the key to a living social network.  Like a shark, that must keep moving forwards to stay alive, social networks that start to run dry of content, start to die:

Online social networks are built on user-generated content. Without this content, these networks are the equivalent of dying blogs (or MySpace). That said, Facebook faces the (potentially impossible) task of keeping its users engaged and active. Account holders have lives outside of Facebook, what social scientists call opportunity costs, so these social networks need to incentivize participation short of paying people. What better way than to give us a large captive audience of acquaintances, colleagues, classmates, friends and family to share our content with.

It takes a village…

Posted on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 by No comments yet

Thanks to the thousands of local folks across 50 Vermont towns who make Front Porch Forum work with their participation, recruiting of friends, constructive feedback, and financial support. Through this year’s annual FPF supporting-member campaign, neighbors kicked in an amazing $18,000. These funds are already being plowed back into FPF to maintain, improve and expand our service in Vermont. Thank you!

For all who have asked, yes, we welcome contributions toward our 2010 $20k goal until Dec. 31…

http://frontporchforum.com/about/donate.php

Front Porch Forum
PO Box 64781
Burlington, VT  05406-4781