It will be exactly eleven years ago on Saturday 25th February that this website was "Officially" launched. Getting it to that point took a lot of work. The planning for the site had commenced more than a year earlier!
An article (copied below) from Cove News in mid-2011 sets out what we had hoped our community website might achieve. Reading it, you will see there have been hits and misses. But has the massive effort put into the website over the years been worth it? What do you think?
Many other community websites set up round the same time have foundered. Why? To succeed, a community website needs lots of volunteer effort + regular contributions to the site from across the community. In North Arm Cove we have been lucky to have had that support over most of the past eleven years. But to keep the website strong into the future, we now need new volunteers and more contributors of content. Can you help? You don't have to be a tech wizard to assist.
This is what my rather effusive Cove News article said back in 2011:
A Community Website for North Arm Cove
“All the world's a stage ...” wrote Will Shakespeare way back in 1603 “... and all the men and women merely players.”
Perhaps this is not As You Like It but, some four centuries later, it seems the Web that has become the world wide stage for players of all ages. Their exits and entrances in the era of the Internet come via Facebook or Google Plus. Via Twitter or You Tube. Via Skype or the North Arm Cove website.
Say that again? Via the ... the North Arm Cove website?!
Well maybe not the North Arm Cove website just yet (it is still just a prototype) – but “real soon now” this fantastic new service will be winging its way to a village computer near you. Fantastic? Yes we do exaggerate a tad. It probably won't be overly brilliant when it is first launched but if we all get involved and play our parts we can turn it into something which works to benefit our community. And that would be quite good, wouldn't it?
Communication after all is the glue that binds a community together. Some villages have their pub, their club or shopping centre. In others, the houses sit cheek by jowl perhaps huddled around a square, a church or village hall. In our beautiful village, the houses are spread thinly, close by a lengthy shoreline. Even the roadways tend to divide us into disjoint parts. What sort of community would we be if we did not have Cove News: to nudge us to participate in cooperative activities; to alert us to community happenings; and to report on our achievements and personal milestones.
If we get it right, our community website can both supplement and complement the important role played by Cove News. It shouldn't be something you look at once, admire for its pretty pictures then forget about. If those with Internet access participate, the Cove website can become a dynamic resource for our community, for its many groups and committees. It can be an on-line meeting place where issues of concern can be explored and discussed in a constructive and civil manner. It can be a way to initiate and gain support for new community ventures. It can remind us of upcoming events and alert us to matters of urgent concern. If we get it right.
Our website won't resemble an on-line newspaper. With a budget of a cough and a sneeze it won't be anything too fancy. So far the focus has been mainly on the overall structure and the technical stuff. It has been a steep learning curve for those involved in this part. We've experimented a lot and scratched together a prototype. Some of the prototype is a bit clunky but we think it is mostly quite easy to use.
Now we would really like to get our many local community groups involved. We want to accommodate their needs as far as we can. And although the site is not just about pretty pictures, if you are willing to donate some you have taken we could have a spot where we can include them. We should show the rest of the world why we think our Cove is a great place to live.
Doug Kohlhoff, August 2011
