Introduction to new Patch blogger Barrie Howard

I care deeply about civic engagement, and one of my goals as an activist and community organizer is to leverage technology in service of giving people a voice. Whether it be a personal story or a political agenda, I want to engage with people in the community and have conversations about what it's like to live, play and work in the City of Takoma Park, Maryland.

I started a blog three months ago that targets the hyper-local, specifically Ward 6 of the City. It can be found at hornoftakoma.wordpress.com. Patch does a good job at covering city news as a whole, and some broader-reaching headlines, so I've tightened up the aperture on the lens to focus on two neighborhoods: New Hampshire Gardens and Hillwood Manor.

While I track public policy debates from the local to the national level, my concerns are how they directly impact the residents of Ward 6. I'm working my way across a broad range of topics, and want to reach out to residents and business owners to get them to share their stories. I use Twitter to tweet from and Foursquare to check in at community meetings I attend, and encourage others to engage to tweet so that they can participate virtually. I push blog posts to Facebook and Twitter, upload pictures to Flickr, creat Google Maps of the area and write restaurant reviews for Yelp. I don't think people's voices should be constrained by their inability to physically show up a meeting or event.

Another goal of mine is to promote local businesses and nonprofits, and do my part in helping them be successful. They are a part of the community as much as the residents. Support comes in more ways than just money, and helping promote them can drive customers to these local merchants, restaurateurs and service providers. I plan on starting a series of podcast interviews of business owners, nonprofit program directors and residents from my blog in the next couple of months to capture and share some of the wonderful stories about life around Ward 6.