by: Todd Herzer

It begins with the simple invitation: “Welcome to the conversation”, and before you know it you’ve crossed the threshold from passive reader to active participant in a dynamic, ongoing community conversation.

Welcome to ChannelBV— our community’s new online public square.

Launched by three Buena Vistans, Alex Telthorst, along with John and Allison Abdelnour, ChannelBV is located at www.channelbv.net. Asked why they decided to launch the site, Allison says, “We wanted to create one convenient place where people would know they can go to find out what is happening around the community and thus increase the ability for more people to participate in community events.”

Husband John adds, “We also saw the need for open communication amongst community members. ChannelBV allows questions and answers to take place instantly and directly.”

For Alex, it was “a desire to get people together to have conversations about this place that wouldn’t happen otherwise.”

So what exactly is ChannelBV? An online newspaper? A community forum? A blog? Actually, it’s all of these and even a bit more. Perhaps the most accurate term to describe the Channel is “citizen journalism” defined as “the act of citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information” (We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis.)

Here’s how it works: The public is invited to submit content in the form of articles, events for the community calendar, links to their blogs, and even to advertise their businesses. Readers are also welcome to share comments on individual articles or to engage with other community members in the Discussion Forums.

In many cases the articles posted on the site lead to further discussion on issues important to the community. For example, after the local and national media picked up the story about the potential blow-out of the Leadville mining tunnel containing contaminated mining waste, ChannelBV posted an aggregation of various media sources covering the story. Concerned readers of ChannelBV then launched a discussion forum on the site and continued posting links to major news sources providing additional timely and detailed information as the story unfolded.
This kind of participatory journalism was another reason for launching the site.

Another service ChannelBV provides on the site is a timely calendar of events. As John says, “We really want to provide one source where people can get an up-to-date calendar that includes a practical mechanism for the public to submit their own events and get the word out in a convenient manner.” In addition to the calendar on the site, people can sign up for a weekly events calendar sent via email called the BV Buzz.

Holding to a long-held newspaper tradition, revenues for the publication are derived from advertisers. One of the first businesses to advertise is The Trailhead here in Buena Vista. According to owner, Keith Baker, “We advertise on ChannelBV because we support what they’re doing. Our community desperately needed a forum for the free exchange of ideas. Meetings aplenty offer the engaged citizen a chance to be heard, but a person can be in only one place at a time.” And in terms of generating business, Keith points out, “We believe like-minded people—and by that I mean open-minded and capable of critical thought—will frequent the site. In short, ChannelBV readers are our demographic.”

While still in the early stages of developing the site much has been learned. According to John, “It requires community buy-in and participation. We are encouraging locals that are passionate about their community to start blogging and commenting.” And Allison points out, “It is fascinating to see how some folks immediately understood what we are trying to do and thus have jumped in right away and participated in the forums, blogging, and events submissions, whereas other folks, the majority I'd say, still don't quite understand the service we are providing and how it might benefit them.” For Alex, it’s learning to be patient… “to take a walk when the work gets frustrating and that the only way to do anything is to be constantly improving, upgrading and iterating.”

So what’s the longer term vision for ChannelBV? For Alex it will become a destination site for the community with fresh, relevant content by and for the readership. And in Allison’s words, “If someone is starting to think more actively about the future of our town and choosing to voice their ideas and care to listen to others’ ideas more than they ever have before, we are ecstatic. ChannelBV literally should serve as a channel that brings people together but that also provides a vehicle to help take them to a more informed future”.

The word “community” has its roots in the Latin word for “common”.  So the idea of an online community square suggests that ChannelBV can be a place where everyone can come together to both inform and to learn from one another based on our common interests in our community.  It’s a place where everyone is welcome to the conversation!


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