Lise and I went to Burlington yesterday to speak on a panel at the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility's 18th Annual Spring Conference. It was held at Champlain College.
Our panel was called "The World Wide Web Comes Home: How 'Local Online' is Changing Your Business." It was moderated by Michael Wood-Lewis, co-creator of Burlington's Front Porch Forum. Lise and I, representing iBrattleboro, were also joined by Richard Donnelly from Burlington Telecom, Chris Middings from Seventh Generation, and Paula Routly from Seven Days.
Michael introduced the topic by taking a survey of the audience, asking about familiarity and experiences with the internet, then each of us got to introduce ourselves. (We offered greetings from southern Vermont, of course).
Our mission was to talk about "local online" and what that means. Lise and I tackled it from our perspective creating and building iBrattleboro. Richard talked about the infrastructure and again made us wish we had our own local, municipal, fiber optic network here.
Paula, creator and publisher of the Seven Days newspaper and site, spoke about the challenges of print organizations and adapting to changing technologies, and Chris M. spoke of the value of highly localized advertising and marketing.
After some presentation, the panel took questions from the auditorium's 50 or so participating attendees. That got us into discussions of advertising, authenticity, civics and local participation, predictions about the future. All of this was taped and should be on the CCTV Burlington site at some point.
It wrapped up and we had some good post-panel conversations before walking into Burlington proper to take a look at Church Street and the waterfront.
Church Street was nice but had elements of other places I've been like Harvard Square or Georgetown. The closed off street was great as were all the outdoor cafes. It appeared to work because Church Street was not a vital main thoroughfare and there are easy ways for drivers to go around (and through) it. I liked the big rocks, too. Not being much of a shopper, though, I was enjoying architecture and all the flowers in bloom with scents wafting through the air.
On our way down to the waterfront, we noticed large groups of college age folks making their way in the same direction. At first it was just one group - guys with shorts and sunglasses and girls with incredibly short skirts looking somewhat dressed up. They seemed somewhat intoxicated, too, and it was hard to figure out. Why the big group? That's something usually reserved for freshmen. It didn't fit.
The closer we got to the waterfront, the more of these people we began to see - all dressed about the same and all heading in the same direction. It finally became clear when we got to the water what was going on - it was a boat ride/party for students ending their year. Ah! Now it makes sense.
With that mystery out of the way, we made our way back up the hill to the college, got in the car, and headed to Montpelier to say hello to ex-pats Dan and Phayvanh. We got to see Dan's office at the Times-Argus bureau in the center of town where he crafts the news from the Statehouse and other stories.
They treated us to a great pizza dinner, a fine martini, amazing cookies, and a rousing game of "The Farming Game". Its a game that simulates trying to keep a family farm going, so you start off in debt to the bank and pay lots of bills before any harvest money comes your way. Your harvest money, of course, dependent on how many crops you've gone into debt to get going mixed with a roll of the dice. Woe to those without a harvester.
This morning we got up and got two tours. The first was a stop at the bakery-like general store that Phayvanh works at, where we warmed up with coffee (and hot chocolate for me). If you like little cheesecakes, make it a point to visit Gesine's. Heck, if you like little cheesecakes get in the car and go there now!
The second stop was a complete tour of the Vermont Statehouse with Dan leading the way. We got to see all of the paintings and artwork, including Brattleboro sculptor Larkin Mead's bust of Abraham Lincoln and the portrait of Howard Dean sitting in a boat. (I thought it captured his friendly awkwardness pretty well, but some may disagree.)
We semi-joined a school tour for a moment in the House chamber and got to hear that Vermont has the highest percentage of women legislators in the country at 33%. We also got to see the smaller Senate chamber, as well as all of their committee rooms and side offices.
Despite everything being out of session, our guide had the inside scoop that the Governor would be signing a bill in his ceremonial office at 11 am, so we dropped by to see him proudly announce a bill to prevent Vermont employers from retaliating against any mother who chooses to breastfeed, mentioning that Vermont leads the nation in mother's who breastfeed and how that is great for health, fitness, and the economy. We also are the highest rated state for "overall child well-being" according to a report Douglas mentioned.
The room was literally crawling with babies. (Well, most were being held by mother's, but a few were crawling...). Many were in awe of the ornate ceiling and fancy decorations in the room. The governor mentioned that perhaps one of them, one day, would be sitting right there signing a bill into law, adding later that he hoped they grew up to be healthy taxpayers. Everyone, babies included, seemed pleased.
Not our usual routine, but rewarding nonetheless.