This blog will be posted while Me, Myself & I are at today’s “Petaluma Going Green Expo.” We’re on a panel of speakers, who each have five minutes to showcase a local grassroots movement that helps Petalumans “make connections, build community, and add value to our quality of life.” Which ones do we highlight is our dilemma. Since 1995, PetalumaNet has been the incubator of several projects that fit this challenge. For example: PEN (Petaluma Electronic Network), three annual Community Internet Fairs – 1996, 97, 98, or the three annual North Bay CyberCity Roundtable Symposia at Sonoma State University – 2000, 01, 02, the No One Left Out Project, or the creation of a Computer Lab for Senior Citizens were all “community building” endeavors that contributed to adding value to the quality of life in our favorite river town.

Hammerhead suggests that since this a Green event, something connected with the current environmental and conservation movement would be appropriate. He remembers a slogan by the first director of the U.S. Forest Service in the early 1900s, Gifford Pinchot, who believed in managing our natural resources in a manner that would provide – The greatest good for the greatest number in the long run.” My other associate, Eagle-Eyes, suggests that a clue might lie somewhere in the more than 270 blogs posted by Me, Myself & I on Petaluma360, since March 2006.

For some reason, my memory chip flashes back to the “barn raising” events of an earlier time. (No, no, I wasn’t around then and I was a city-boy, so I only heard about those occasions.) This barn raising analogy might be just what we’re looking for – bringing people together in order to build a structure that is needed by a neighbor.

Today’s communities are becoming more and more diverse, and the perceived needs and concerns are more diverse and complex. Therefore, let’s focus on the desires of people at the neighborhood level of a community, whether it is a cul-de-sac of 4-6 homes, a block of 12-20 homes, a mobile home park, an affordable housing complex, or even an entire residential development of 100+ homes. The significant factor is that the needs are identified at the neighborhood level and become a bottom-up or truly grassroots initiative, rather than a top-down directive. In today’s ICT world (Information and Communication Technology), not everyone participates in f-t-f meetings (face-to-face), so there is a role for online communities to play. The question shouldn’t be “either f-t-f or online,” but let’s utilize both – each one supporting the other.

Our original grass root project, PetalumaNet can now be identified as (1.0), and we can label the more recent NERT+CERT+ALERT activities as PetalumaNET (2.0). The (1.0) phase stressed promoting the greater use of computer technology and telecommunications in all sectors of a community. NET or the (2.0) phase is designed to use the more sophisticated ICT tools in a way that will enhance and/or empower the creation of neighborhood teams so that the desired goals or needs of the neighbor may be achieved in a more effective, efficient, and economical manner. (The 3 E’s)

Build It Green enthusiasts (as well as any 360 reader) interested in learning more about the creation of a Neighborhood Enhancement/Empowerment Team are welcome to join us on Saturday, October 20, from 2-4 p.m., at the Lieb PEP Apartment Complex, 210 Douglas Street, for a NERT open house. Stay tuned.