Today, I’m happy to publicly invite others in Richmond and Wayne County to join in this effort to raise the level of public discourse in our area.  Whether it’s commentary on the local arts scene, restaurant reviews, political news analysis, your experiences with religion and spirituality, technology tools, sustainability tips or perspectives on education, we welcome contributions from those who feel they can provide a local connection and provoke conversation that might help move the community forward in some form.

What’s more, you can make a little money while you do it.  We want to encourage compelling writing while valuing the time of our contributors, and so we’re also offering a small amount of compensation as an incentive, currently US$20 for each contribution accepted for publication on the site.

You can learn more about what it means to become a contributor to ProgressiveWayneCounty.org, and I hope you’ll help spread the word about this opportunity to encourage new kinds of dialog in our community.

Hmmm, I wonder if we’re ready for that. There’s been some demand for it over time. On other community websites I’ve been involved in, it was quite a useful way for folks to connect, but that’s often over a geographical distance. I don’t want to make it any easier than it is to isolate ourselves from each other when we don’t need to be, but for those who might not have time or inclination to meet in person about the issues at hand, an online chat can sure be handy. We’ll see.

The site still needs a lot of work to make it more collaborative and relevant, but I’m excited about the possibilities. The greatest part of it is that anyone can add content to it (news, events, blog entries, etc.) so it’s not just about what I think of as progressive or know about going on. If you have comments or suggestions, send them my way!