cbv_ajavent.jpgHi ChannelBV Readers! It’s Alex, John and Allison, your friendly CBV founders. We wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of your support. We have received so much good feedback and encouragement around this project, we really feel that our work is having an impact and that people appreciate what we are trying to do. We’ve come to a bit of a crossroads at ChannelBV and we are going to need your help to move forward.

So, here’s the scoop: ChannelBV has a pretty simple mission. In a nutshell, we want there to be a go-to place for information, discussion, opinion and ideas that surround the issues that face the Greater Buena Vista Community. In many ways, we feel that we are achieving that mission. However, there are a couple of key areas where we need your help to improve.

In the ‘things we think we’re doing well’ column, here are a few stats to chew on:

First Post on: February 7, 2008

Total Posts to date: 165 (one every week day for the past 7 months)

Number of Visits to ChannelBV.net: 12,000+

We are especially proud of the role the CBV Forums continue to play in town conversation. They are a great place to find serious opinions and thoughtful discussion about issues that affect us all. There are a wide variety of opinions and issues on the table surrounded by a largely civil discourse. This is great! We would love to have more there. Another ‘win’ for us has been the Buzz. People seem to genuinely appreciate getting this hyper-local calendar and event holders have noticed increased local attendance at events featured on the Buzz.

One of the places where we feel we are coming up a bit short is on the front page. Recent discussions amongst the editorial staff seem to point to two problems. The first is that we conceived ChannelBV as the place to go to find a broad spectrum of community voices. But, by and large, the front page is only filled with our own words (and how broad a spectrum of ideas can be reasonably be presented by three friends who share many political and ideological views?). Compounding this has been that we haven’t actually been presenting our ideas. We’ve been trying to present broad issues in an open and objective way to encourage people on both sides of the issue to chime in with their point of view. Unfortunately, while some folks have been chiming in, there hasn’t been nearly as much discussion as we would hope for, thus, the community isn’t being served with a variety of viewpoints.

The other problem we’re facing is that, after investing hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to build and maintain the website, hard as it may be, it is time for us to let go a little and give the community a greater voice and stake in the future of ChannelBV. We think that, with your help, the changes made over the next few weeks can pave the way for ChannelBV to become a better community resource with a more sustainable future.

We are coming to you today to ask that you become a contributing member of ChannelBV. What does this mean? It means that we are asking you to support community conversation with your ideas, your words, your work and your dollars. When you become a member of ChannelBV, you are stating that a free and open forum for discussion is a resource that this community needs. When you become a member, you are enabling every person in this community to speak out in a way that invites conversation and discussion, encourages communication among interest groups and fosters mutual understanding and personal responsibility for our collective future.

In short, we need your help in whatever way you feel you can best contribute: Money is very helpful and appreciated. More writers, even if you can only write an article once a month or so, are absolutely necessary. People to help with the administration of the website and other community activities are also needed.

Specifically, members are asked to:

- Financially support the activities of ChannelBV including maintenance of the website and the weekly newsletter (the Buzz).

- On request, to serve in an advisory or administrative capacity to manage the activities, finances, functions and mission of ChannelBV.

- Write articles on the issues that they care about to be published on the front page of ChannelBV, for the ChannelBV discussion forums, for the ‘letters to the editor’ section of our local paper and for other publications.

- Participate in community discussions both online and off.

- Attend community meetings.

- Work for a future where all voices are heard and all opinions are taken into consideration.

We have two different types of membership: Individual and Business / Group. An individual membership carries a $50 suggested minimum donation and includes a listing on our supporter’s page. A Business or Group membership carries a $100 suggested minimum donation and includes a business listing on our supporters page and a button advertisement on the front page for one year. Please click here to visit our ‘Join’ page where you can safely and securely contribute online. You will also find information on how to contribute via US Mail.

Please come see us at our booth at the Sustainability Festival this Saturday, September 27 at the Orpheum theatre. We would love to talk to you about how we can work together to support the present and future of the Greater Buena Vista community and ChannelBV.

Thanks again for your support. We look forward to seeing you all on ChannelBV and around town. If you have any questions for us, please feel free to use the comments or to email us ‘info at ChannelBV.net‘.

Sincerely,

Alex Telthorst, John and Allison Abdelnour

Founders - ChannelBV.net

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