posted by Joe Polk at 12:16 PM /
Well, as you read yesterday, Mike has ridden off into the blogging sunset. He will be back from time to time to guest blog and to definitely chime in as a commenter as well. But what happens now?
As Mike said, I fully intend to keep this blog going. Mike and I have heard from Lebo people everywhere -- not only here in our own town, but expatriates from around the country. They told us that they really enjoy keeping up on the news "back home" as well being able to "feel the pulse" (hence our tagline) of their community as our fellow residents engage in civil (and sometimes not-so-civil) debate regarding issues facing our hometown or chosen place of residence.
Any good businessperson will elicit feedback regarding their store, restaurant, etc. -- and this blog is no different. Please let me know what you like about Blog-Lebo; what you don't like; and what you'd like to see here -- whether it is different content, pictures, more opinion and less articles or vice-versa. I want this blog to continue for a long time, but I want to make sure to engage my readers and keep you coming back.
I really love this town. I was raised here and continue to live here. It's not a perfect town (none of them are), but it's my (our) town and we have the power to control its future -- through the election of our public officials, our ability to volunteer to serve others here and to speak our mind when it needs to be spoken.
Mike did this town a great service by starting Blog-Lebo in the first place. It has forever changed our community and I want to make sure that it exists for a very long time. Thank you for your previous (and future) readership. I can't do this without you!
As Mike said, I fully intend to keep this blog going. Mike and I have heard from Lebo people everywhere -- not only here in our own town, but expatriates from around the country. They told us that they really enjoy keeping up on the news "back home" as well being able to "feel the pulse" (hence our tagline) of their community as our fellow residents engage in civil (and sometimes not-so-civil) debate regarding issues facing our hometown or chosen place of residence.
Any good businessperson will elicit feedback regarding their store, restaurant, etc. -- and this blog is no different. Please let me know what you like about Blog-Lebo; what you don't like; and what you'd like to see here -- whether it is different content, pictures, more opinion and less articles or vice-versa. I want this blog to continue for a long time, but I want to make sure to engage my readers and keep you coming back.
I really love this town. I was raised here and continue to live here. It's not a perfect town (none of them are), but it's my (our) town and we have the power to control its future -- through the election of our public officials, our ability to volunteer to serve others here and to speak our mind when it needs to be spoken.
Mike did this town a great service by starting Blog-Lebo in the first place. It has forever changed our community and I want to make sure that it exists for a very long time. Thank you for your previous (and future) readership. I can't do this without you!
Labels: future of blog-lebo, future of Mt. Lebanon
5 Comments:
Here are three of my favorite ways that Blog-Lebo serves Mt. Lebanon.
First, Blog-Lebo is a great way to find out what's going on. News about what's happening with local restaurants and businesses, pointers to stories about Mt. Lebanon in the press, scores from the school game – I get them all just by staying plugged into Blog-Lebo. Even when I travel, I know what's going on at home. For me, Blog-Lebo truly is the pulse of Mt. Lebanon.
Second, Blog-Lebo draws attention to important matters that are under-reported elsewhere. With mainstream news coverage waning, issues that are too complex or too small often don't get the attention they deserve. Blog-Lebo, however, shines a light on these issues, drawing them to our attention, making sure that the community has an opportunity to discuss them.
Third, Blog-Lebo provides place to gather and to have conversations about our community. (It's the place, as far as many in the community are concerned, me included.) It's a place that's open all day, every day. It's a place where everyone is welcome to participate. It's a place where conversations are carried out in public, where they serve as a resource for the entire community, even those who don't participate directly.
Those are some of the things that make Blog-lebo great for our community. Now, how can we make it better? How can we carry on in the tradition that Mike established?
Here's what I think.
Mike seemed to have a knack for identifying overlooked and unpopular issues and presenting them in a way that helped us see their importance. He presented them with a strong voice, too, which helped start discussions. You might say that he stirred things up constructively. With Mike contributing less, we might want to consider other ways to stir things up constructively. I'm not sure how to do it best – op-eds? tip line? – but it's an important need, and I would like for Blog-Lebo to continue its tradition of meeting this need in style.
Another consideration is sustainability. Running a blog takes work, the kind of work that over time can burn a guy out. Joe, unless you're comfortable carrying most of that burden alone, consider ways to get help from the community. Maybe you could ask people to contribute stories. Maybe you could shift into more of an editor's role. Or maybe you could delegate some moderation or beat-coverage duties to trusted contributors so that you wouldn't feel tied to the blog so tightly and could take breaks now and again. Think about vacations and real-life things like that: How do you want Blog-Lebo to run when you need to step away for a bit? Many of us, I am certain, would be willing to help. Just ask.
Finally, thanks, Joe, for assuring us of your commitment to Blog-Lebo. Please know that many in our community are equally committed and more than ready to lend a hand.
Long live Blog-Lebo!
Cheers,
Tom
I enjoyed the blog and will continue to do so even after we leave Mt. Lebanon. But it seems as though the only posts that ever garnered any interest or discussion revolved around something controversial. And that generally meant $$$ was involved. So, to answer your direct question, it depends. How do you define a "blog". Do you simply want to post stories that have local interest in the hopes that people check in and read those stories from time to time or do you yourself want to post original material with the goal of prompting debate amongst your readership? It's your blog now. You are steering the ship. Good luck!
Blog Lebo is a great resource for me; I check it every day. Keep up the good work. At the moment,I can't think of any changes to suggest.
Joe, thank you for rising to the challenge and keeping Blog-Lebo going. As a fairly new resident (<3 years), I can attest to the challenge of catching up on the local knowledge, politics, treasures and traps of this very special village.
I echo the Tom's sentiments, especially the notion of building a more vibrant community of contributors to help make the site more sustainable. One thing I've appreciated about the posts here is the civility and the general objectivity. Not that you and Mike don't have a POV, but it's less of an axe being ground as a way to raise a subject, offer a perspective and facilitate discussion.
By diversifying the contributing voices, we're bound to see more lively debate. That's great, as long as it maintains mutual respect.
Thank you for your replies to my postings. I'd like to answer them individually if I may:
1. Tom -- I think it would be great to have other authors contribute to the blog. As you've seen in the past, Mike was absolutely the person with all of the writing skills. Try as I may, I'm nowhere near as good -- but I'd like to get better.
That being said -- we have had guest authors before -- Bob Williams (formerly of The Almanac) as well as Dave Franklin (a long time followed of Blog-Lebo). I would love for more people to become a part of the blog.
I think that me being in an editor type of role might work best since some of our fellow residents aren't the most tactful when they wish to voice their opinions and I would not want to just openly post their articles/thoughts without some editorial review/moderation.
You said "Just ask." Well now I am. Tom -- if you would like to post on Blog-Lebo, please let me know if you have a particular angle/area that you'd like to cover. I follow a number of blogs to assist me with research for my jobs and none of them has only one author. Each person brings their own style of writing and viewpoints -- which in my opinion, make the blog that much stronger.
2. Bob -- you're right. Most of the postings that generated the most commenting have been something "controversial" or involved money. I don't know if that's just the nature of a blog like this or in general.
I would definitely like to keep the hybrid model (news stories and opinion pieces) that we've operated on for a long time. Mike and I have received a lot of feedback regarding this and I think that it works. Some people just like to "keep up with things" and not comment so the news stories work for them. Other people like to get down and dirty in debate and discussion on the opinion pieces, so I definitely don't want to lose those either.
3. Kelly -- thanks for your comments. I appreciate your readership and hope that you continue to keep tabs on the site.
4. Gordon -- I'm glad you found the site and hope that you've enjoyed your time here in town. Would you also be interested in sharing your thoughts as an author on the blog?
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