Contents:
1. Launch!
2. New Workshops: Water, State Parks and More
3. Sentinel Now A Listener
4. Added Features, Bug Fixes, Coming Attractions
5. Updates From the Gov2.0 Space
6. Civinomics to Moderate a Forum on Campaign Finance Reform
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1. Launch!
We launched the new workshop platform with a fun party at Cruzioworks on April 11. There was fabulous food by Inda Joze, terrific local wine courtesy of VinoCruz, and a great crowd of civic-minded citizens and dignitaries, including almost the entire Santa Cruz City Council. Thanks to everybody who attended—it was a warm welcome, and the Civinomics team was grateful for the outpouring of community support. Read more about the party in this Santa Cruz Sentinel article.
In the weeks since the launch, hundreds of members have signed up, and almost 500 items have been posted to more than a dozen workshops. Wow!
We've also made it even easier to start your own workshop by slashing monthly rates from $100 to $15 and are looking forward to seeing more useful workshops being started by our members.
2. New Workshops: Water, State Parks and More
With the release of the Draft EIR for the desal plant, Civinomics is happy to be launching the Santa Cruz and Soquel Water Supply workshop. We hope this workshop will allow the community to have a free-flowing conversation about how to constructively move forward on our region's pressing water issues. One thing to know: due to California state law, official comments on the EIR have to be submitted in writing. You can find a link to the form on the workshop homepage.Also check out Day Use Fees at State Parks. How do we design a fee system that is up-to-date and modern enough for state parks to sustain themselves? Let's figure it out! This workshop is facilitated by Santa Cruz local startup and outdoor guide Hilltromper.Did you know? We’re approaching 25+ Years of Santa Cruz Geekery! That’s right, the first computers and Internet in Santa Cruz emerged in roughly ‘85-90. How should the City celebrate this tradition?
3. Santa Cruz Sentinel Now A ListenerCivic media is good media. The Sentinel wants to reaffirm its commitment to covering our community by listening in on Civinomics. The good people at our paper of record hope the structure of Civinomics can help improve its coverage of local issues and trends and the way people discuss them. You can see the Sentinel icon in the Notables section of the workshops they’re listening in on. These include: Reducing Hypodermic Needle Pollution, SC Community Leadership Visit: Colorado, Santa Cruz Climate Action Plan and Santa Cruz Tech Economy. The Sentinel will continue to listen in on new workshops as they emerge.
4. Added Features, Bug Fixes, Coming Attractions
Just because we launched doesn't mean it's time to rest! Since April 11 we've added the following:
Added Features
* Vast improvements to search
* Activity feed links expand when clicked to display full content (per request in Civinomics workshop)
* Ability to edit zip code in profile editor added (per request in Civinomics workshop)Bug Fixes
* Facilitator, Listener, object revision history bug fixes
* More validation on signup form to reduce mistakes
Coming Attractions
* Ability to directly upload profile photo (per request in Civinomics workshop)
* Upgraded profile edit form functionality
Got an idea for how to make Civinomics easier to use? Submit it or upvote someone else's suggestion in this workshop.
5. Updates From The Gov2.0 Space
* President Obama signed an executive order directing the federal government to release all data to the public in an open, machine-readable format.
* The Open Counter application developed by the City of Santa Cruz's Peter Koht and Code for America is a finalist in the Knight Foundation News Challenge. Way to go, Peter and City of Santa Cruz!
* Civinomics is applying to become a member of this year's Code for America Accelerator program. Wish us luck!
6. Civinomics to Moderate a Forum on Campaign Finance Reform
Civinomics CEO Manu Koenig is going to be moderating a Forum on Campaign Finance Reform, next Thursday at 7:00pm in the Santa Cruz High Auditorium. The event will showcase presentations by Derek Cressman of Common Cause, Austin Price of CALPIRG, Nancy Abbey of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Chris Finnie of Move to Amend, and Santa Cruz City Council member Micah Posner
Thanks again to everyone who has supported us and we look forward to seeing you online.
Yours,
The Civinomics Team
Manu, Robert, Edolfo, Chris, Todd and Traci
