I'm mostly happy about how Living in Dryden has turned out, and every now and then I try to encourage other folks to do something similar. Judging by the list of Dryden weblogs on this site, I'd say Dryden is doing pretty well in building a community of people writing on a regular basis about things that matter to them.
A couple of months ago I did an interview with Jon Udell, a fellow technologist I know through work. He wrote up some of the interview (though I don't think those are really 'laws'), and the full interview is now available.
I'm also hoping to lead a panel on Creating Local Life on the Global Web at the SXSW Interactive conference next March. Talking about Dryden in the middle of Texas may seem a bit strange, especially at a web development conference attached to film and music shows, but there's a lot to do there.
When the Internet and the Web first appeared, they seemed like great ways to reach large numbers of people who weren't already connected to each other. People who lived in California could talk to people in Germany, Bangaladesh, South Africa, and New Hampshire, about common interests they couldn't have easily shared before. In the past few years, though, it seems that we're learning about how these technologies can help us communicate on a much smaller scale, helping us look beyond the walls and property lines of our homes to connect with our neighbors.
There's a lot to discuss here, and it's not just about places like Dryden. Some 'local' communities are local once a year, at a conference or event, while many have members coming and going. Online communications let people who have left the community stay in touch with what's happening, and even build new connections while they're away.
I don't know that a lot of Dryden residents will be at SXSW, though I'm hoping David Makar will be on this panel as well. There may be a few web-folks among the readers here, and maybe they can visit the panel-picker and vote for (or against) the proposal I've put in. (The Panel Picker is open until September 21st.)
Posted by simon at September 5, 2007 6:10 PM in tech , why