We want this blog to be a conversation. Part of that conversation will be about the All-America City Award itself, who’s involved, what they are doing, how it is done. But equally important will be a broader conversation about civic engagement, civic innovation, inclusive community development and grassroots local problem solving.
Our goal is to make these topics as accessible as possible to the public. We want to hear about your projects, your successes and your stories of positive community change. We want to spread the word about those stories and about the All-America City Award.
The blog also will be a hub for information, pictures and video about our annual All-America City Award program. Applicants, finalists and winners—present and future—can use it to stay up to date on the latest developments in the 2010 award competition.
Here are some ways you can participate in the blog:
1) Suggest topics we could blog about. What would you like to read about, relating to communities/civic engagement?
2) Send us your stories of community change.
3) Be a guest blogger.
4) Send us your pictures or videos about your community projects and preparation for the award program at aac@ncl.org. We will showcase them on our “All-America City Story Board.”
5) Upload your pictures on Flickr, and tag them with a text “allamericacityaward” and “nationalcivicleague”. That way, we and anybody else can find those pictures too. If you have a caption for the picture, please add it on Flickr.
6) Upload your All-America story video on YouTube with the tag “AllAmericaCityAward” and “NationalCivicLeague”.
7) Send a video to us at aac@ncl.org.
8) Give us some ideas. Tell us what you would like to see us cover on this blog. Leave a comment on the site, or email us at aac@ncl.org
9) Donate to the National Civic League so it can connect problem solvers looking for new and innovative approaches to complex issues through the All-America City Award by clicking here.
Also, we are trying something new this spring. We are starting a media contest for community story telling, using video and photos that you provide. We are calling it the “All-America Story” contest, and the winners will be announced in June at the All-America City Award competition in Kansas City, Missouri. More about that soon so stay tuned!
