THE MEN BEHIND THE CODE
04.15.2010 // by: Alison
The Stand data has been released! After one full year of hard work, the promise of raw data release has been made good to the public—and it looks great. On Monday, we declared a “Day for Saying Thank You,” and as we think about the culmination of all the efforts of the Stand volunteers and field organizers, the Ochs Center and CASR, and most importantly all of the questionnaire respondents, we’d like to recognize one more component of the equation for Stand’s success.
Our custom user interface for the results page of the Stand website was built by local web developer Daniel Ryan. Without his willingness to take on such a mammoth-sized project (1.2 Million data points!), this database wouldn’t have the style and grace that it currently does—a whole bunch of data without searchability isn’t very useful at all. His hard work—in conjunction with Matt Turnure who runs the rest of our site—made the customizable search engine possible, and for that we are very grateful.
So, on behalf of Stand and all the Chattanoogans who are effortlessly digging through Stand results right now, a special thanks goes out to Mr. Ryan and Mr. Turnure.
RESULTS NOW AVAILABLE!
04.12.2010 // by: Alison
Click here to see the complete data pool.
It’s just shy of a year since we first donned clipboards and yellow shirts to begin the seemingly impossible task of asking 25,000 neighbors and friends what they like about Chattanooga. It took our city only five short months to blow that goal out of the water.
So here we are, one year later, facing a new task that seems even more exciting and unapproachable than the first. Getting 26,263 responses was the easy part; implementing the changes that need to occur is the hard part.
With the gracious and knowledgeable help of the Ochs Center, Stand has come up with five major trends that emerge from the data. Together, these tell us the next 25 years are about Chattanooga’s people.
Our city = our citizens. Thirty years ago, we wanted to love this place, and we connected quality of life with natural and man-made environments. Stand responses show that now we’re ready to focus on the people populating our region—how they live, work, and play in this place we call home.
Beautiful, but we’ve got baggage. Chattanooga’s scenic beauty is a source of pride for citizens, many of whom remember a time when it was not quite so lovely. We treasure the renewed beauty of our city and need to ensure that planning and growth efforts keep Chattanooga clean and safe—from our parks, to our roads, to our houses and offices.
Education informs everything. Stand survey results show concern about Chattanooga’s future in three key areas: education, crime, and jobs. We crave public safety and access to quality education, and as a city, we’re ready to say: our opportunities are decided by the safety of our streets and schools.
Live or work, we’ve got a place to share. Stand survey results show that our downtown is a valuable asset, regardless of where we live in the region. For many, it’s a hub for regional commerce, local business, and impressive attractions. Fact is, downtown is everyone’s business.
Changing culture, serving culture. We know how to recycle, pick up trash, and vote, but our community wants to do more. Complex community problems can’t be solved in an 8-hour workday, and the gap between wanting to volunteer and actually volunteering has to be closed.
These trends are by no means comprehensive, they’re merely what stood out most strongly to us—and what we, as an organization, have chosen to act upon. There are a lot of little interesting things in the raw data—and we encourage all of you to dive in and find your own conclusions. In the coming months, there will be public discussions, forums, and events, plus collateral and presentations to help make this data set a tool for everyone.
Thanks, Chattanooga. We love you.
A DAY FOR SAYING THANK YOU
Chattanoogans are busy. We live, work and play in a city that’s on the move 24/7. We’re accustomed to using all sorts of savvy mobile gizmos and gadgets to remind us to pick up our kids, wash our clothes, attend meetings, and everything in between. Despite all these reminders, it never fails that we forget a lot of important things. Like telling people “thank you.”
The first question of the Stand Survey asked, “What do you like about the Chattanooga Region?” and 4,586 responses confirmed: Chattanoogans love their fellow citizens. We feel the same way.
Today, as we launch the results of the survey, we’re dedicating our efforts to YOU, as one of the many important individuals making this place so unique and loveable. We want to say thanks for living here, thanks for working here, thanks for the people who you care for and for being a good neighbor.
Today, we’re spending all day shining a little extra light on how much we appreciate you for what you do to make this city alive. So, consider yourself thanked! And… since it doesn’t take much time or effort to make someone’s day, we’d encourage you to do the same for another Chattanoogan.
To make it even easier, we’ve created a simple thank you card to help you do just that. It’s easy to print or simply forward along to someone unexpected via email today.
If it’s easier to do this with some other great folks to provide good company, just drop by CreateHere, today, April 12. We’ll be sure to have some pre-printed thank you cards available and delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies to boot.
THE POWER OF PLAY
04.05.2010 // by: Alison
This week’s City Share will feature Jeremy Lansing of Playworks, a national nonprofit that supports learning by providing safe, healthy and inclusive play and physical activity to schools at recess and throughout the entire school day.
Beginning in the mid nineties as a small organization in Oakland, CA called Sports4Kids, Playworks now actively engages kids on the pavement, grass and hardwood of low-income schools throughout the country. With a unique focus on recess, Playworks employs play and physical activity as tools to teach valuable lessons that translate back to improved learning in the classroom—including teamwork skills, conflict resolution, and leadership development. Students return to class after recess better able to focus and with fewer conflicts that cut into valuable teaching time.
More than just a proven model for increasing physical activity at schools, Playworks is effectively changing school culture so that teachers can focus on teaching and children can focus on learning.
Jeremy Lansing is the Community Training Program Manager for Playworks’ original Oakland office. Prior to his position at Playworks, Lansing taught high school English in Israel and worked as an early childhood intervention specialist for a child abuse and neglect prevention program in Oregon.
Please join us for this enlightening presentation followed by thoughtful discussion from 12-1 pm on Wednesday, April 7 at CreateHere.
Lunch will be provided by Greenlife. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to blair [at] chattanoogastand [dot] com.
COMMON GROUND: A NEW APPROACH TO CITY PLANNING
03.31.2010 // by: Alison
Tomorrow is a special night-time presentation of City Share featuring Michael Hendrix, the co-founder and former creative director of the Chattanooga-based sustainable design company Tricycle Inc.
Michael Hendrix is a location director and associate partner at global design and innovation consultancy IDEO. In addition to leading the Boston studio, he contributes creative direction and brand strategy on projects ranging from counter-culture apparel to OTC drugs to luxury home goods. Michael believes that the best brands are built by a system of networked experiences, from strategic planning, to the manufacturing floor, to consumer interactions. Tomorrow night, Hendrix will discuss his beliefs and methodology regarding community and design.
IDEO takes a human-centered approach to community design, fueled by the belief that the power of community is stronger than that of a single individual, organization, or brand. Beyond the physical, cognitive and emotional factors of design, they foremost consider the social factors, asking questions and evaluating answers: How might the user’s relationships influence or motivate behaviors? How might an experience be shared with others? What is the meaning of belonging, and of identity? What drives the feeling of membership or loyalty to a bigger cause or group? These questions inspire a new dimension of design that they bring to digital experiences, brand strategy, workplace design, urban planning, and beyond. Human-centered design harnesses the power of many to create experiences that are shared, co-created, and take on a life of their own-design for and by the users.
Michael will be introduced by Nick DuPey, a former Tricycle designer who now owns and runs the design and screen-printing collective Young Monster.
Please join us for this special night-time presentation, from 7-9 pm on Thursday, April 1 at CreateHere. Light refreshments will be provided.
If you missed last week’s City Share with Clay Shirky, watch it here.