Madison's the Tech Town... So Where's Our Web Buzz?

Madison markets itself as an Unexpected™ technology hub. We've got technocentric Dakota State University, the semi-shadowy but job-creating Bulldog Media, the now full Heartland Technology Center and a number of other new tech-oriented business.

Maybe folks in Madison are too busy actually working with technology to mess around with Facebook and other Web 2.0 distractions, but I continue to wonder, for all our native techno-wizardry, where's our Web buzz?

I know Facebook isn't a perfect proxy for all Web activity or real-world support, but it does capture some information about a subset of the population. I say subset, even though Tea economic development director Jenni White gushes to KELO that "everyone" is on Facebook. Not quite everyone... but the city of Tea created a Facebook page* and drew 397 fans in two months. If our economic development corporation, the LAIC, is anywhere on Facebook, I can't find it. (Genuine open interaction with the public terrifies the LAIC.) Madison's Chamber page has been up a little longer than the Tea page but has 130 fans, me included.

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Update 10:46 CDT: The absence of Madison Facebook buzz is all the more striking in the context of this amazing statistic from Mike Knutson at Reimagine Rural: South Dakota has the highest percentage of population signed on to Facebook in the country, 31.1%! Knutson also points to other communities making good use of Facebook, like Oldham, whose page has 251 fans. That's 68% of the population in the Oldham ZIP code. The Madison Chamber page's friend–ZIPpop ratio: 1.5%.
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Our radio station, KJAM, is doing a little better on fans, with 574. Its Amazing Madison website also gets some participation on its calendar of events.

Participation capacity remains absent from Madison's other online venues. MadisonSD.com is still all top-down marketing... but it does offer a wonderful live view of Heartland's new sign and the gas station at the edge of town.

Even at DSU, there is what feels to me like a surprising lack of online activity. Well, not in class: I see numerous students making constant use of Facebook (expect a subsequent study on the inverse relationship between in-class Facebook use and GPA). But I don't see a lot of students or even profs doing much to establish prominent online presence. With some notable exceptions, From our President on down, we just don't see much online activity.

Is this odd? Am I missing a great undercurrent of local Web activity? Or is techno-Madison strangely behind the times in terms of embracing and producing engaging Web content? If there are Madison Facebook pages and blogs and other online presences that put the lie to my hypothesis, let me know!

*Hyperlink Grouse du Jour: tea has a Facebook page, but I'll be darned if anyone makes it easy to find. KELO commits that familiar sin of doing journalism about the Web and not including hyperlinks to the website discussed (Grrr!!!). The City of Tea, with more stake in driving traffic, flunks Web 101, too: on their city website, they say, "Join us on Facebook... Search Tea South Dakota."

Tea Webmaster, go like this:

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/pages/Tea-SD/Tea-South-Dakota/351241160161">Join Us on Facebook!</a>

Smut Peddler Faces Lawsuit for Sexual Assault

Speaking of objectification, a Sioux Falls smut shop owner is facing two lawsuits for sexual harassment and sexual assault. Two former female employees say David Eliason, owner of Annabelle's porn house in Sioux Falls and Olivia's pull-off-and-____-off rest area in Tea, tried to practice what he peddles with them, creating a less than optimal work environment. Last month, Judge Kathleen Caldwell heard from two women (likely the same, though I can't confirm that from my reading this morning) and found their stories sufficiently believable to grant a five-year protection order to keep Eliason away.

Eliason, of course, says the women's claims are "100 percent false."

Hmm... let's see: guy makes his living selling sex toys and portraying women as objects of sexual gratification. Guy gets sued for treating actual women who work for him the same way. Should we be surprised?

Eliason's chosen occupation makes clear his view of women's proper role in society. The trial and his lawyer's defense strategy promise to be equally disgusting.

South Dakota Green Notes: Local Wind, Carbon Credits, and Walkable Tea

Small signs of good green things happening here in South Dakota:

Farmers Cash in on Carbon Credits: KJAM reports that $1.3 million dollars is on the way to 414 South Dakota farmers and ranchers for their participation in the Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program. Convert cropland to grass, plant trees, get a check... heck of a deal! I should sign up my acre....

Wind Power Powered by Local Investment: Dakota Wind Energy is seeking stockholders for its planned 750+ megawatt wind energy project in Roberts, Marshall, and Day Counties in northeast South Dakota. The company says this project alone could light up 200,000 homes. The company says their business model will keep more of the economic benefits of wind power in the communities hosting the wind turbines than do wind farms owned and operated by foreign investors. Let's hope so!

Tea Wants More Walking, More Parks: Tea's city council gave first reading Monday night to an open space ordinance requiring developers to support more parks in the city. Says Mayor John Lawler, "We want to have decent-sized parks and we want to make sure nobody is more than a half mile from a park" [see John Hult, "Tea's Goal: Parks Within Walking Distance of Every Resident," that Sioux Falls paper, 2008.07.29]. Much of Tea's phenomenal growth has hinged on commuting culture, with Sioux Falls workers looking for small-town residences within reasonable driving distance of their big-city offices. It's good to see the automotive mindset isn't stopping people in Tea* from working to create a walkable town. (Walkability score on West Maple Street: 42 out of 100 -- better than some places, but still lots of room for improvement!)

*Say, just what do you call people from Tea? Teans? Tea-ians? Tea-ites? And do we call census workers there Tea-totallers?