Shepherd Today

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Help me grow Shepherd Today into an

Online Community
Growth is hard.

I was reminded of this fact of life this weekend when I attended the Daddy-Daughter dance
on Friday and College Goal Sunday on CMU's campus. As we were on our way to the
dance, someone reminded my daughter and I that this would be our last year attending
because next year she will be in the Middle School as a sixth grader. Kayla took this in stride
at first, but as the dance was wrapping it up she was disappointed because she wanted
to dance some more. She was suddenly aware that when we left the dance that night we
would be leaving for good. I told her that it was okay, and that I would always be interested
in dancing with her. After we had returned home, she told me that she already felt like a sixth
grader.

Today I volunteered during College Goal Sunday in CMU's Park Library. During CSG, almost
two dozen families sat down in front of a computer and completed a FAFSA application
online. Just being on CMU's campus again made me reflect on my time I spent there as a
student, but watching these high school juniors and seniors go through this process with
their parents made me think about the day when my kids will be preparing to go to college.
Although this was just one afternoon, the application process for financial aid is a big part of
these student's transition to a new phase in life.

This Spring, I am anticipating a lot of new growth for the Shepherd Today fan page. Not quite
the same as watching your child mature into a sixth grader or move off to college, I know, but
still there are bound to be challenges and setbacks.

My vision for Shepherd Today

When I started Shepherd Today, my plan was for it to be one of the richest,
most reliable sources of information and news for the Village of Shepherd
and surrounding communities. In order to accomplish this, I knew that the fan
page needed to be better than the average page you'd find on Facebook. This
meant developing consistent content which appealed to the wide audience.
_____________________________________________
Contact: 32bpwr3@gmail.com

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 This is still my vision, although I'll admit that it has been tempered by a new
sense of reality. For starters, I do have a day job, a family, that squeeze what
time I have to devote to maintaining Shepherd Today. Second, the fan page
hasn't developed into the online community that I hoped it would become.

I'm going to try some new tactics which I hope will change that.

Opportunities for everyone to get involved

Starting in March, the Shepherd Today page on Facebook will be just one way in which you
can view or report information and news related to the Village of Shepherd. In addition to the
community page, I'm developing a blog, and a site on groupsite. There is also a Twitterfeed
and other services in the works.

I'm also rolling out the means for individuals and organizations to more easily share their
information via Shepherd Today. If you have an announcement which you need to make to
the Shepherd Today community, you only need to submit it by web or email, and it will be
published on Shepherd Today. You are also welcomed to join the half dozen residents from
around Shepherd who have been regularly supporting my efforts.

If you have an announcement, but you're not sure how to express it, there is now an online
form available which will guide you through the process of assembling all of the relevant
information. After you submit your request, it will be processed and turned into an article on
Shepherd Today.

Of course, you can always release your information directly by posting a comment on the
community page wall or emailing me.

All of Shepherd Today's streams of information or news have been consolidated into a page
on Groupsite. You can always go to http://shepherdtoday.groupsite.com to skim the latest
blog posts, read highlighted news stories from around Mid-Michigan, start a discussion,
or respond to anything that is on that page. My intention is for this page to be more like a
central hub or starting point for anybody who wants to find out what's going on in Shepherd.
I've also started a calendar on Google which will display information about upcoming events
in and around the Village of Shepherd. This calendar can be viewed, added to, or shared
with others.

In order to develop Shepherd Today into the community that I wanted it to be, I am opening
it up to as many channels of community input as possible. I am, in a sense, turning control
to its fans or readers. The more people interact through the community page and the other
tools that I've set up, the less involved my team and I will need to be.

_____________________________________________
Contact: 32bpwr3@gmail.com

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 Shepherd Today 2.0
My next goal for Shepherd Today is to make its content available for consumption in different
formats and media. This includes a newsletter which would summarize the news and
discussions which were shared during a given month, a podcast, and a larger publication
containing a year or six-month retrospective.

Call it "Shepherd Today 2.0."

But, now that I am putting Shepherd Today in the hands of its readers, I want to hear what
everyone who has been using the community page think about my plans for the future.
Much like other things in life, I will need your help if Shepherd Today is to achieve to its full
potential.

_____________________________________________
Contact: 32bpwr3@gmail.com

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