Everybody wants in on the action

Okay bloggers, scoot over. There's a new website coming to town: livemidlandtexas.com. Not sure what it's all about, but it's supposed to debut in a few hours. From CBS7:

The site will feature a live web cam, a blog about life in Midland, and also give a place for potential businesses to see a possible future in the tall city.

Laura Roman of Midland Development Corp., said, "We hope that this sight will help spur re-development. It is a place where people can give input and any information on the life of downtown."

My only advice to them would be to stake a claim to the domain name midlandtexaslive.com, too, so some scoundrel doesn't grab it and try to piggyback on all of the fame that's surely headed their way.

Here's an example of what could happen. Mywesttexas.com is the local newspaper's popular website. But someone uses a slight variation of that -- Mywestexas.com -- to capture the attention of spelling bee dropouts who might need an accountant. Nothing illegal about that, but it must be awfully annoying to the newspaper.

P.S. Here's the old Midland downtown webcam.

Comments

[jeff]

George, thanks for the intro, and the link ... I used it to check out the new site, and the new blogs ... eh, I dunno ... that may have been my last visit ... but I'll try again in a little while.

[Wallace]

My first visit brought one first thought. Turn off the music! Most people over 18 y.o. don't like to be blasted with non-optional music. I wish them good luck, but I'm not sure what purpose the effort will yield. Plus......the much vaunted "webcam" was down....just hours after it was initiated.

[Geo]

Jeff and Wallace, thanks for dropping in.

As you both know, keeping up a blog is a lot of work, so those volunteer bloggers are to be commended for donating their time and energy to this venture.

And the calendar looks like it could be a useful feature. For example, I didn't know that "Dracula" and "Rocky Horror Picture Show" were going to be shown at the Yucca on Halloween night. The "Roar with Laughter" comedy program on 10/18 seems to be missing, however. It's not exactly downtown, but some of the other events aren't either.

[Jeff]

George, I hope you're right about those bloggers ... at the moment, you have a much kinder view of them then I do. All I see is a chamber of commerce pamphlet for the blogosphere, carefully composed and controlled - kind of like the "candid discussions" of issues that politicians offer on their blogs.

If I'm wrong about these LiveMidland blogs, that's fine with me ... in fact, that would be great.

[Geo]

Jeff, you are right, of course. I believe this project was originally conceived as a way to provide positive news, offset criticism and promote the downtown area. Now the purpose seems to be to promote the downtown area. So to meet the requirements the blog entries may not be as wide ranging as they might otherwise be.

The challenge for them will be to keep the site current with frequent updates and original material.

[Jeff - Admarc]

Thanks for the thought on the domain name. Done!

[Jeff - Admarc]

Thanks for the thought on the domain name. Done!

[Geo]

Jeff-Admarc: Wow, you guys are fast!