"But it's FREE!"
The "community" of Mill Valley, is, according to some observers, fractured into at least three - the "haves", the "would-haves" and the "have-nots". The "business community" is, I suspect, equally splintered. There are those businesses which trade mostly locally and prosper. Then there are those whose customer base is outside the locality. Then there are "the rest", mostly marginal and scratching a bare living.
The outsider is probably largely unaware of these divisions. The result is a misguided attempt to graft the notion of a "virtual community" on to a body of businesses which probably neither need nor want it.
The second question which arises is what is being presented in the new medium for those businesses which want to establish a web presence.
For "millvalley.com" businesses which elect for the "off-the-peg" web presence, the short answer is "Not a lot". It boils down to a frame with a colored and textured background, a few lines of text and space for a phone number. No eMail, no explication of goods or services. No real use of what is, to many minds, the most important development in communications since the telephone.
As one disappointed small business owner wailed, "But it's FREE!"
Precisely. You get what you pay for.
The danger here is that businesses which sign up for a "free" web presence are not being educated as to the full potential impact of the medium. The belief seems to be fostered that one scans one's brochure, inserts a few lines of HTML code, sticks the result on a server and waits for the business to roll through.
Oh that reality were that simple!
Be that as it may, many businesses which are attracted by a "free" web presence, such as that being peddled by "millvalley.com" will doubtless become disillusioned with the medium as a whole. It will be difficult for them to accept that the rate of change is such that the necessity of constant revision is paramount for a successful Website. They will be stuck with the belief that the medium has nothing to offer, when the truth is far from that. Those businesses will probably find it hard to overcome their misapprehensions, and thus will deprive themselves of an effective presence in what is destined to become the pre-eminent medium of the next century.
In that respect, "millvalley.com" has done the "community" it seeks to serve a grave disservice.
Leaving aside the quality of the photography, and whether or not a business is served well or ill by a 120K download, "Go Mill Valley" gives the appearance of attempting to differentiate their clientele. The businesses represented probably got their money's worth. But $500 will not buy you a tremendous amount of customized, exciting web design...
Nonetheless, "Go Mill Valley" has reached its target of 1,000 hits per day, and has had excellent feedback from some of its clients.
Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce estimates that there are around 1400 businesses in the town, of which about 600 are service or professional businesses operated out of people's homes.
"millvalley.com" has entries for a total of 81 businesses. The "gomillvalley.com" site hosts 32. Neither can be said to fully reflect the business "community" - although the preponderance of real estate agents at both sites probably does.
On Friday, March 22, the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce website is launched at
http://www.millvalley.org. It's hosted by
AONet, whose clients include
The Sacred Doorway and
The Earthrise Company, purveyors of fine
Spirulina products.
AONet has a Mill Valley phone number.
Perhaps this latest attempt to build a "virtual community" will meet with more success.
March 20, 1996
The first is the notion of "community". The word seems to imply the idea of a sharing or commonality of characteristic. In this case, I suppose it means the sharing of a geographic location. This is a shaky basis for the creation of a "virtual community", particularly when the creation is being carried out by those from outside of it.
copyright 1996 FeNiX