I am constantly trying to find ways to bring the knowledge I have to my community. Any time I talk to someone who I don't work or teach with on a regular basis, I end up talking about a little tool or tip that I find is a easy way to use technology in a more efficient way. Twitter lists, little tools like Seesmic or coTweet. That's why I tried to launch a Foursquare Day in Columbia last week. It was worth the try to create a "swarm" and get 50 people to gather in one place. It didn't work - but it was fun to have an excuse to visit spots in my town where I don't normally hang out. Plus, I had an excuse to bring a bouncy ball and chalk downtown and start a game of foursquare. Silly? Yes. Fun? Certainly. And I hope it shows I really do want to find fun ways to bring the social media community together.

But I'm not sure if my town is comfortable with instant gatherings. We live such a scheduled and busy life juggling work and life (and our kids' lives). But I'd love to find ways to create social meetings that are fun and I could offer skills and knowledge that I teach daily with my students and employees in my newsroom. The knowledge we have translates on so many professional and personal levels and I want my community to know more. The end result is a bit self-centered. A more savvy community will participate in sharing with the journalists in our community. It would help our changing newsrooms transition into using a more socially-minded and sharing news process. Is that greedy? Or am I just trying to move our town a little closer into a vision of community I expect will happen naturally just in a longer time frame? These are the thoughts that ramble through my head at times.

(Photo courtesy of @justex07)