Little Summary...

In March of 2007, the Equity and Technology Research Alliance partnered with Ryakuga Communications and hosted a community radio broadcast in the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia. This broadcast was the second of two radio broadcasts funded by an INE Public Outreach Grant which was conceptualized to allow researchers of the “New Economy” to communicate their findings beyond the traditional academic audience; with the first taking place from the cafeteria of Eastern Shore High School in November 2006.

The Wolfville broadcast was a huge success, both in the eyes of those who organized it, and the members of the community who participated and tuned in for the full 5-days.
Additionally, the event was simulcast over the Internet and allowed the broadcast to be streamed anywhere there was an Internet connection.

One of the ways in which we promoted the event was using the power of social networking on the Internet. We incorporated elements of the new “social media” with traditional broadcast; adding interactive blog and photo sharing elements to enhance and encourage community participation. Indeed, people were tuning in and reading about what the Equity and Technology Project was up to from across the planet. The blog was started on March 20th (the day before the broadcast) in eight very short days the blog was viewed 339 times with 743 page views. We were able to share the experience with visitors from not only Nova Scotia, but all across Canada and seven other countries throughout the world.

Many ideas were shared over the days of the broadcast. The content included discussions related to Dr. Looker’s research and conversations about community issues and organizations. In many cases the two overlapped as a consistent stream of dialogue about sustainable rural development, equity, culture and technology flowed throughout the broadcast day. By the end of the five-day broadcast not only had we created a fine discourse about how technology can enhance equity, we had proved it and turned the broadcast into a demonstration of best practice in itself.

The most important aspect of the whole process of the radio broadcast was a sense collective ownership and collaboration; policy officials, community members and organizations, artists, students, local business owners and academics were all participating together. It is important to keep the dialogue that was started running. Even if we are no longer on the air, continue talking and collaborating and listening.

Andy's Blog...

A link to Andy's (Thugs at Bay) blog about the event here...

http://www.wolfville.org/community-radio-in-wolfville

The day after...

I would just like to extend a formal thank-you to all who have participated and co-operated with us in the Equity and Technology Community Radio Broadcast in Wolfville. The event was a huge success and would not have been possible without the tremendous support and participation of you all.

We will be posting links to some audio in the blog and at Ryakuga's site in the coming weeks. We will also be indexing the recordings and making them available to the community at the local CAP site soon.

If you are interested in receiving follow-up information on the project and what was accomplished in Wolfville these last few days; please let me know by posting a comment here. And please give us feedback on what you liked and what you thought could have been done better.

Fred Campbell fred@ryakuga.org
Ivan Emke iemke@swgc.mun.ca
Dianne Looker dianne.looker@msvu.ca
Chris Cann chris@ryakuga.org
Charlene Croft charlene.croft2@msvu.ca

Cheers all
And Thanks again.

Sunday links

Again I'm here to update the links from some of our guests today.

Jordan Walker and Bill Cruess's Facebook Group and online petition for Africville reparations (you will need a Facebook account to access this link)

Edith Callaghan www.ruralsustainability.org (for your Wolfville Sustainability Survey)

Debbie Reimer Kids Action Program kidsaction@xcountry.tv

Community Media

Well we're on the final day here at Wolfville Community Radio. If you tune in now you can hear a discussion about the importance of community media and thoughts and plans on how to potentially get Wolfville a form of interactive community media (radio and television).

Open Mic

Live Jam down here at the Atlantic Theatre Festival offices on Main Street Wolfville.

If you like what you're hearing check out these wonderful artists online.

www.myspace.com/adambazinet

www.myspace.com/robinsonfactor

www.youtube.com/rocknboyz