We're working on incorporating a few more collaborative tools into the site. One has appeared on the front page this afternoon.  There is a "what we're reading" section on the front page. This is a test at setting up ways for people to contribute more content.  We will be inviting some of our editors and contributors to mark articles on the web that they have found interesting, and to contribute them into our team collection of interesting stories.  

We are sponsoring our first Wis.Community community film showing. We hope to do more of these in the coming months - films that enlighten and entertain, and that will not show in local theaters otherwise.

LOOK & SEE is a cinematic portrait of farmer and writer Wendell Berry. Through his eyes, we see both the changing landscapes of rural America in the era of industrial agriculture and the redemptive beauty in taking the unworn path.

We just dropped in some weather widgets on the site - you'll see one on the right hand side of the front page. These are IP-enabled weather widgets, so they will show you the weather in whatever location the internet gods decide you are in when looking at the site.  If the gods are wrong, just tell it where you want it to look.  If you click on the little Willy Weather logo on the bottom you'll be taken to a full-page weather forecast with radar, etc. 

For those of you who use the Meetup app to schedule events, we're working on importing events from Meetup. This is working fairly well, and we just imported the first batch. Basically this is based on Meetup's rules for what is an "active" Meetup event, which means that the meetup needs to have members and at least 3 people signed up to go to the event.

Tomorrow is the day of The Big Share in Wisconsin. You get an opportunity for one day to make investments in the Wisconsin community by donating to nonprofits and other worthy organizations in the state. It's easy - go to the Big Share Website and make your contributions on-line. Many of the organizations have matching shares, so for many of them donating tomorrow will multiply your charitable giving.

Lots of site improvements are going on at Wis.community for the new year. The site now has a membership option, where you can voluntarily make a contribution to help us grow.  There are memberships starting at $10 for an individual - currently the only perk on the site is that members of any type will have most of the ads on the site disappear when they are logged in. More perks are coming, including some nice additions for members who are nonprofits or businesses.

We are now set up so that you can contribute to the growth and development of Wis.community. You can purchase a membership in the site on-line, and pay with Paypal, check, or with a credit card. Money from memberships will be used to help defray the cost of the site - and we're also working on some new benefits that you will get with a membership.

Hi -

If you get a chance, it would be great if you could take just a minute or two to fill out our latest questionnaire. These really help us to figure out what should be worked on, and what your interests are. Fill it out here

The site is slowly becoming more fleshed out, with additional functionality. Some of the exciting things happening: