I'm very thankful I could be a part of the event. Great group of people. and it was great to put Internet personalities together with the real thing. Great to meet (e:Paul) Buffalo Pundit Zack Schneider Cynthia Van Ness and others. Thanks again For the invitation Paul, it was a great experience.

Everyone had great stuff to share, there was really a wealth of ideas and talent there. Aside from 3created who realy didn't have a good product. but it was great to see and hear everyone else. I got a lot out of Zack Schneider's talk he definitely does great stuff with web design.

I always like doing speaking engagements, this was my first in Buffalo. Of course they make you nervous, but I accept that, and I know that throughout life I will have to do public speaking, and the more practice I get the better. I Learned a lot this time, for one I hardly looked at my notes, part of the reason was that I couldn't read them in that setting, and the other part was that following words on paper just wasn't going to help get my point across. unfortunately I think I left a lot out of my presentation due to my lack of adequate notes. next time, bullet points, and 25pt font size!

But since I painstakingly typed up notes for my presentation here they are.



Notes From my Geek Meet Presentation:
Politics and the Buffalo Internet

I'm going to talk about What kinds of websites exist in WNY, where they came from and what their role is in shaping the public discourse as well as how they are putting pressure on the local government.

First a little bit about my Background, BA Political Science, started Masters at UB but I left that for the New Media Design Program � at the same time I got internship for Brian Higgins, to see what it was like behind the scenes.

As For My Web Design background, I started coding in notepad, and am currently using CSS PHP and other basic languages that I've learned at UB.

Also participate by writing for WNY Media, for almost a year.

So Regarding Politics and the Buffalo Web,
the Internet has Suddenly emerged as an important medium for local politics and news.

Technology has progressed to make Internet Publishing easier and more affordable,

And over the past year many important websites have been started, but a big factor in the rise of the Buffalo Internet is that Local news has been so interesting.

The Buffalo Mayoral Race kind of solidified and encouraged all the alternative news websites. But also
Erie County's fiscal crisis - Downtown Casino - Waterfront Development - Increasing investment in city neighborhoods.

Lots of issues have pushed local news to the front of peoples minds.

More Western New Yorkers are paying attention to local politics,
meaning more people want to talk about and read about local politics.

People have gone beyond simply reading the Buffalo News, and watching the major news channels. Now they are finding news online.

For example a site like WNY Media, gets over 30,000 hits per day,
it is also listed under Google news,
and it is more popular than all four TV news network websites.

Meaning that online news readership has grown tremendously. STOP

Lets think about who is reading online news.

some are just concerned community members like myself, but journalists and politicians also make up a significant part of online news readership.

Politicians and Journalists have a vested interest in public sentiment, and perception of different issues.
Journalists want to know what people are talking about, so that they can produce more Attractive News Coverage.

Politicians want to get reelected, so they want to make sure that they know about public discontent and can either cover their butt, or proactively address a winning issue.

If for example someone writes an article about Brian Higgins or one of his issues, Brian and the people who work for him are going to want to know what is said. It's their job to stay connected to the public and make sure that their candidate looks good.

When I was working in Higgins office, I got an email on Buffalo Issue Alerts listserv and that same day one of Higgins staff was talking about the e-mail, calling somebody to find out if the issue had been addressed, quoting the e-mail. I asked her if she was on the Buffalo Issue Alerts listserv and she said that she tries to keep up with everything she can, and she also gets forwards from people, e-mails and news articles that might be important to the Brian Higgins Team.

Ok, I've mentioned some of the local websites, and I'd like to show you some of them, and get into specifics.


Examples:



WNY Media Network:
About one year old
30,000 hits per day, just wnymedia
Site ranks higher on a daily basis than all 4 local TV stations
Started email � budget disaster - > website
Wordpress Blogs sponsored through the site, Judy, Buffalo Pundit 12 total regularly updated
Many Writers on main site, easy to get involved.
ie. My articles
Buffalo News Part of the problem � 238 reads
Impeaching the President � 878 reads
Relevant articles get 70 reads in 2 days
Joe Illuzzi Front page Buffalo News, Beast broke story originally.
Members meeting in person who never knew each other before the websites started.
Reporters contacting webmasters about community happenings. Marc "all the time"
Helping local community endeavors, "Save Santaland"
Marc fired from channel 2
"we have grown from 1 site less than a year ago to 12 quality daily updated websites. We
have all grown closer as friends in the process and I have met dozens if not hundreds of people through our website. We continuously get tips and information from people"





Buffalo Rising:
1 year May 2004
Started with a blogger account to supliment their small free magazine.
Quickly increasing number of visitors. About one third as popular as WNY Media
on par with WBEN Radio News website.
Very relevant, talks about community development and positive points.
Publicity given on B Rising definitely helps issues.
Community meetings, Charity gatherings, arts, etc


Speakup WNY:
2.5 years may 2003
Very popular twice WNY Media, but focused on discussion board.
Skewed statistics because small number of people checking their posts.
Relevant but focused on community discussion, can be chaotic.


Buffalo Issue Alerts:
3.5 years 2002
List Serv 300 subscribers
Started from local concerns and e-mail
Ideas frequently picked up by Buffalo Rising
Promoted petitions through listserv, to save Antwater House, and prevent gates circle Walgreans


Buffalo Pundit:
Buffalo Pundit nearly 2 years. Started before to promote Wes Clark for President,
About 1000 visitors per day, higher on weekdays
Illuzzi Webstats Story picked up
Hosted 2 "BloggerCon" events many locals attended both
Promoted petitions by others



Fix Buffalo:
1 year Oct 2004
Lives on near east side
300 visitors per day 130 subscribers
Interviewed by News and Artvoice about Woodlawn Row houses
"I've met more people this past year in decision making rolls than I would have otherwise."
"upset that the City of Buffalo could hold private property owners to a higher standard than they use themselves in maintaining real property."



Politics WNY:
7.5 years old 1998
Somewhat popular.
Snail Mail turned into e-mail, website, new magazine.