by: Shea Carver

Ian Oeschger heads downtown Wilmington to Port City Java on Front Street most every morning. His job as an information architect for IBM allows him to be home-”worked,” so to speak, which he willingly shares “takes a lot of discipline.” His online meetings among fellow peers must be carefully maintained over, say, his passion for daily surfing (the literal meaning of the phrase, not the Web version). Oeschger’s on the path of techie enlightenment, as he’s one of many on an IBM team who develops software, writes programs and philosophically discusses the goings-on of Web 2.0—the second generation of Web development and design. His dedication includes studying the progression of information-sharing and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

“I didn’t know I was a nerdy person,” Oeschger states first and foremost one mid-afternoon as we convened at his PCJ-”office” for coffee to discuss his latest study, www.groveproject.org. His blog isn’t an IBM product, but rather a personal one, which won encore’s first annual Wilmington Webbie award as the best local Web site (nominated by encore readers and decided on by encore employees).

Before Grove Project’s (GP) debut and Ian Osechger’s submersion into the world of tech-everything, his West-Coast roots were planted firmly in English-major territory, which nicely indulged his penchant for writing. Thus, it was an organic transgression for he and his wife to open a bookstore in Saratoga, California in the early-’90s, just before the explosion of Silicone Valley.

“[Then,] I didn’t even know what technical writing was,” he explained. “In fact, when I was in school, everyone in the English department [actually made fun of technical-writing majors].” But when opportunity arose in the market to become a tech-anything in and around the Bay Area—”they had tech janitors, tech delivery people, tech whatever”—Oeschger decided to see what it was all about.

“I didn’t have any sense at the time that this would be a historic period,” he noted. “I started working with Netscape and Mozilla ... and that was the beginning of me being a totally nerdy person.”

More than a decade later, Oeschger and his wife, along with their son, now reside on the NC coast, a place where he has been able to foster a love for Wilmington life while expanding on his now-veteran IT background. Having built many Web sites for businesses and organizations locally—including stoptitan.org, a nonprofit that stands against the construction of Titan Cement Plant in Castle Hayne, one in which Oeschger serves as a founding member—what most Wilmingtonians should be familiar with is groveproject.org. Tagged as “a concentration of local citizen journalists,” the site welcomes and encourages dialogue about, well, everything—from growing chickens in the back yard to reviewing restaurants to writing essays to even offering biting commentary on numerous topics such as, say, local magazines (including yours truly).

Wanting to continue fostering his love for writing, along with sharing it with his friends, Oeschger makes it clear that his intent was not to start his blog as a new job prospect—as in something he could support his family on like he does with his IBM gig. “I wanted to have fun, and [I knew], at the very least, [my friends and I would] be writing for one another, reading one another and just enjoying doing so. . . . If I quit my job to do Grove Project full time, we’d be in a pile of trouble; we’re not doing this for financial gain,” he iterated.

Instead, Grove Project simply became “a means [to] know more about Wilmington—and just be involved.” In fact, when he and his family made the transition to the East Coast five years ago, they immediately fell in love with their new community. Oeschger clarified.

“I was like, ‘Gosh, it’s great here! There is so much do and so much to see, but I just don’t know where it is.’ I had the sense that there were people here who lived this really exotic, urban life that I wanted to live, too—but I wasn’t sure how.”

Through groveproject.org he began connecting with others who were interested in sharing stories in their small corners of eastern North Carolina, whether they were posting pictures of the line out the door at Britt’s Donuts on Carolina Beach’s Boardwalk or interviewing their favorite local bands or talking about the pros and cons of Titan Cement Plant’s construction. Osechger’s intent was to have the content come naturally, allowing writers to write whenever they felt the urge, something which continues in today’s GP forum. Currently, Grove Project populates 12 unpaid site writers, and garners as little as 250 visitors a day but as many as 1,500. Said visitors are able to chime in on posted articles, opening discourse so community interaction can take place. Acting as a mediator, Oeschger administers the site carefully.

“I am never gonna throw away a comment,” he noted, “unless it’s spam. I mean, you can’t make an account for yourself and write there; you gotta pass by me before it’s live.”

He monitors to ensure the discussions don’t turn into flame wars, where bickering becomes the focal point. “I want an open discussion,” he said. “I guess when people say ‘open,’ there are a lot of nuances there. But I encourage conversation—actual conversation rather than flaming. . . . If you want to come and talk, that’s great; have a discussion here. But the paradoxical bad result from making it wide-open is people form themselves into aggressive sub-groups. I maintain that if you can, in this unitopiary way, make it open, you can create an opennish, openoid space, but you have to maintain it. You don’t get open intelligence for free; you have to work on it.”

His supposition from the onset of the site’s foundation has been simple: start up a Web site, write about ‘X,’ and “in short order, because this is such an undense place Web-wise, [if] you type in ‘Wilmington plus X,’ [groveproject.org] will come up.” That’s the techie ideal for his site; but Oeschger’s purpose for it—whether it be another media outlet, a news source or a local networking place—isn’t as easily verbalized. One thing, however, remains clear to him: “I have no interest in selling ads. In fact, I am glad that we rebuff ads.”

What seems to garner Oeschger’s interest most is having GP visited—by anyone. “I was vindicated that if you write about stuff here,” he expressed, “it could be a great blog.”

It seems GP is on its way to mandating such, as the Wilmington public has picked up on its popularity—partly because it allows many locals a voice and an exchange, and also because it has received some recognition as of late, linking to WHQR’s news feeds (Oeschger is a board member for the public radio station), as well as sharing articles from the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. Something Oeschger is hesitant in proclaiming the site is to be like that of Facebook or MySpace, where connecting socially becomes its main focus. The techie knows well that such sites aren’t constructed around content, something GP will always have.

“As much as I hate the word ‘content,’” he said, “I like that people come and participate. But I don’t think the site was set up for social [activity]. And I think this kind of bucks a trend in Web 2.0 . . . because content takes time and energy, and many social-media sites are, at the their base, about saving energy and withdrawing effort and commitment. [But] as I said, [my writers and I] have the incredible luxury of getting to write and spend time with it for fun and not for profit.”

The next step for GP’s site is locked into the World Wide Web ether right now. Yet its future is sure to serve Wilmington a nice dose of locality—a place where localvores can be localvores, writing ‘til their heart’s content.

Wilmington Webbie Runners-Up: Other Web sites we found most useful and/or entertaining to our locale

By: Emily Rea

goinggreenpublications.com
Trends come and go, but true transformation comes as a result of dedication, determination and vision—all aspects upheld by local Web site goinggreenpublications.com. It’s the official dot-com for Cape Fear’s Going Green magazine, a relatively new publication centered on offering timely information on environmentally minded events, encouraging conversation among friends and neighbors, and providing resources the community about all-things green. The site was launched in February 2008, a few weeks after the first volume of its print counterpart was published.

“People are eager to read about what their friends and neighbors are doing on the green front,” Editor Valerie Robertson asserts. “Going Green’s Web site was designed to complement the magazine. [It] offers a comprehensive calendar of green events, a list of resources, a glossary of eco-friendly terms, and a forum for the public to contribute green thoughts. It also allows people to read current and back issues [of the magazine].”

First and foremost this site is a practical and valuable source of information in a clean, easy-to-navigate format. It offers unique local information, including and a directory of local environmental organizations. In fact, viewers find it so useful that 60-70 percent of first-time visitors bookmark the site for future reference. From green tips, to local and national green-resources links, it always helps readers stay in the green loop.

fullbellyproject.org
Begun by Jock Brandis with a mission to “design and distribute income-generating agricultural devices to improve life in developing countries,” nonprofit organization Full Belly Project strategically uses invention, design and construction; partnership and collaborations with locally based social entrepreneurs; distribution of appropriate technologies; education; as well as outreach and marketing to see that people in rural communities in developing countries can live lives of abundance. The Full Belly Project’s Web site—relaunched on February 22nd, 2009—provides anyone interested in the movement, progression and successes of this organization with up-to-date news, videos, FAQs and even ways to show support and volunteer.

“We recently redesigned our Web site so that it would be much more interactive and easy to navigate,” Executive Director Jeff Rose says. “We wanted to give our followers the ease of access to the latest information surrounding us, without always going to the Web site. Folks can sign up to our RSS feed and get e-mails from us, [or] they can click on our calendar and find out what our next event will be. We can integrate videos with ease now and hope to continue to drive our content with more videos in the future.”

The Web site plays key role in getting new members and keeping current supporters informed. When asked about the future of Fully Belly, Rose is excited and optimistic. “We like to think that the site is still in it’s pupal stage,” he reveals. “We are currently working on creating a very interactive intra-net, where our members will be able to have real-time brainstorms with each other in order to develop new technologies that will increase the income of poor farmers in Malawi. Folks will be able to chat, [and] post videos and diagrams [to help] describe their ideas. They will be able to develop direct links with farmers in Malawi and have an incredibly fulfilling experience by exchanging ideas with them—all through our site.”

creativewilmington.com
There can be little doubt that the Port City is filled to the brim with talented, passionate and creative people. So it’s no wonder our readers flock to such a creatively inspired Web site as Creative Wilmington, an online guide for all things art: visual arts, film, music, dance, performance, literary, and the list continues. Creative Wilmington itself is a nonprofit organization “whose mission is to support contemporary art by marketing, funding and advocating creative production, through participation and education.” The Web site was created to be an online community of the co-op variety—that is, paying members within the creative community in Wilmington could have control over the dispersement of their own information, managing their own content in order to increase the visibility of the arts.

Its Facebook page notes, “We provide a network of arts information and resources, which connects all sectors of community life, and is accessible to the general public. We also foster a dynamic arts environment by: broadening public access, appreciation, participation, and education in the arts and culture of Southeastern North Carolina.”

Visitors to the site can experience a customizable, user-friendly interface; a vast searchable calendar of events; directory listings for organizations, venues, and schools; individual artist profile listings; and online forms for community submissions. The draw of the site, it appears, is not only the widespread promotion and appreciation of the arts in Wilmington but the grassroots spirit of making our passions our own, taken into the hands of the public in order to exist, maintain and progress.

Craig’s List “Missed Connections”
http://wilmington.craigslist.org/mis/
Ever wonder what might have happened to that cute brunette who pulled up in the next lane at a stoplight last week before speeding off with a wink? Or the overly courteous and oh-so cute cashier that will probably never be there at the same time again? Well, wonder no more, as social networking has been taken to an all-new level on Craig’s List!

That’s right, Craig’s List, the free online classifieds mega-site where we can not only find apartments for rent, furniture for sale, jobs to seek and forums to express our opinions, but now we can search through missed opportunities with potential love interests.

Wilmington’s own subdivision craigslist.org has a new category under its personals called “Missed Connections,” where people who cross paths have a chance to meet again. Recent posts include such intriguing inquiries as:

“I was walking my pitbull downtown Monday. We talked outside of the ice cream shop. If this sounds like you, drop me a line—maybe we could be the ones eating ice cream.”

“You got up to go to the restroom and when you came back to your booth, our eyes met. You had on a light blue tank top-type shirt. You are really HOT!!! I was checking you out, and I think you checked me out. too. I would like to hear from you if you see this and are interested.”

From the sound of it, no one in Wilmington is safe from the unfolding drama withheld in the Missed Connections section of Craig’s List—a fact that can only mean people will be back to visit it again and again... and again.