Well, I must confess that this is a sad post to write. On Friday of last week, The Sasquatch held a wake/commemoration for the end of their publication.
A fiercely independent media source, Sasquatch will be suspending its publication due to financial strains and a generally challenging market. Editor Shayna Stock summed it up best when she wrote,
“This has been a difficult process for everyone involved, particularly because the need for independent media in this province is still so acute, and The Sasquatch, though barely out of its infancy, was already punching far above its weight. The more unbalanced and divided our world becomes, the stronger the need for democratic, public-interest journalism that holds power to account and presents practical alternatives to the status quo. It is painful, then, to close down a new publication that directly addresses that need.”
Well said, Shayna, well said. To all those involved with the publishing of The Sasquatch, thanks for being part of an important dialogue. We will miss you!
Just in case you’re a student and you needed a good reason to get angry, or at least spiteful – Rick Mercer gives you a few reasons to get out there and cast your ballot!
So here’s the question: does social media influence political policy? Over the last few years, the rise of social media as a medium in which to interact with people locally and around the world has created a dramatically different landscape for those hoping to be elected as well as for those in power. Social media exemplified by Twitter, Facebook, and a whole host of blogs, has produced an entire generation of people that can not only get their viewpoints out to the public vis a vie the internet, but also be contacted by politicians in a new way.
For instance, let’s say that you’re sitting at your computer when you hear a knock at your door. You get up, open the door and see a politician running in a local election. Now let’s say you’re sitting at your computer and you see that the same politician is following your twitter account, or has added you as a friend on Facebook; or maybe they made a comment on your blog. To which are you more receptive? Read more »
I just wanted to drop a line and let everyone know that the Impoverished Gourmet is ready for some online action! This afternoon will mark the first online installment of the most delicious and affordable recipes out there. A word to the wise… our goal is to show that cooking is much more fun and easy that most people think!
Now for the hard part… is it possible to be succinct enough to have a cooking column on a blog?? Stay tuned!
Many of you will find this the most complex chapter in this entire project – topics like CSS and JavaScript have a habit of boring/confusing in equal lengths. You do not have to know this stuff to be able to start and run a web site, but a basic familiarity will help you diagnose any problems you find on your site, ask for help, and communicate with other webmasters.
As always, if you have any questions, please leave a comment! Read more »
A strong web presence can be very beneficial for a non-profit organization. A good web campaign can increase awareness and attract volunteers/money. This ten part series is designed to help non-profit organizations take the plunge, get their first web site online and attract visitors.
A strong web presence can be very beneficial for a non-profit organization. A good web campaign can increase awareness and attract volunteers/money. This ten part series is designed to help non-profit organizations take the plunge, get their first web site online and attract visitors.
While this site currently runs Wordpress only, we have some serious changes waiting in the wings. What you see is a default templated version of one small section of the larger dream for reginastreets.ca. My plan is to eventually adopt dual Content Management Systems (CMS) to run this site – the magazine will be run on Wordpress, but the rest of the site (the business directory, the event calendar, our Guide to Regina Downtown, and the associated Google Maps tie-ins) will run on a CMS called Joomla. Complex? Yes. A cool experiment and learning experience? Definitely.
I know much more about Joomla than I know about Wordpress and the Joomla forum is one of my serious online hangouts. Joomla was actually a big factor in the formation of my open source for non-profits concept, but that is another topic for another time. A very interesting topic came up in the Joomla forum and this article was born moments after reading it. Read more »
In my previous installments, I have introduced search engine optimization and the three most important optimization tools at at your disposal. This is an oversimplification, but if you want to get good search rankings, write good content, get good links and write good titles for your articles. But what does this have to do with the Regina Streets Magazine?
The RSM is a street publication, founded in the tradition of great street publications like the Nashville Contributor and the Edmonton’s Our Voice. I helped start the magazine and remain heavily involved – I write articles, edit articles do the layouts and work with/recruit our vendors. So, once again, why am I writing about search engines? Read more »
