The docents met Sunday morning, covering a range of topics. Here is a run down of some of the issues we touched on, and what we are thinking.

The fun stuff:

• As you no doubt noticed, we've put out the call for new docents. Let us know if you're interested and have the time and energy.
• In order to recognize excellence in citizen journalism, we're going to name a "Blogger of the Month." The recipient will be rewarded with a gift certificate to a local business.
• By unanimous vote, the docents agreed that stevenl be named Olyblogger of the Year for 2007. We are unable to offer a prize this year, but he has our eternal thanks and admiration for all the hard work he has done making OlyBlog damn fun to read!
• We're starting up another fund drive in order to collect the cash we'll need to refit OlyBlog with a new structure that will allow more news-focused content on the front page, and take that function off of the blogs. Our initial goal will be $1,000. The following are some examples of layouts that we're considering:
  

  http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/
  http://www.opendemocracy.net/
  http://cornellsun.com/
  http://www.sbindependent.org/
  http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/

  Let us know what you think about these. We'll also be putting out the call to our more tech-savvy friends to help us build this new structure.
• enpen is working on constructing a pool of stock photos of Olympia on Flickr. He'll post more on this later, but if you're interested, drop him a note.

The not-so-fun-but-necessary stuff:

• We agreed that OlyBlog should adhere closer to its mission of focusing on hyperlocal content. In a manner similar to how Wikipedia flags material that does not meet its standards, docents will begin to flag material that has no apparent connection to Olympia. Olybloggers will have a chance to establish that connection; if there is no connection established within a reasonable amount of time, the non-local content may be removed. (There is one exception: humor. We all find a lot of value in sharing a good laugh.)
• Docents will also begin to flag posts that violate the social contract. Again, the person who originally posted the material will have a chance to adjust the post. If there is no compromise after a reasonable amount of time, the offending post may be removed. Multiple violations may also result in the blogger being placed on probation until they create 3 local posts.

It looks like there are some big changes in our future as we continue this curious experiment into citizen journalism. Thanks to all our contributors and supporters in the community. We're trying to build something that will have lasting value to everyone in Olympia. Let us know if you have ideas about how we could do this better.