New River Valley Heft: Gaining Structure

This post first appeared in Handshake 2.0's High Five and is presented here to suggest an incentive- driven approach that may result in great benefits to the people of an area from becoming a greatly linked social network.
In the last High Five I suggested working on developing some kind of structure for the New River Valley, a chunk of land and water in Virginia (partially North Carolina and West Virginia)that many people seem to think can have a special dimension beyond those on a map.

They see the New River Valley and what is within it and in its history can be good for the people living within the boundary and border. Other regions have had such experience. "Why not this one?" they ask. "Maybe better than the others," they suggest.

There are already many New River Valley-related organizations, including:

New River Valley Planning District Commission
Main Street Radford (e.g., related town and county groups)
New River Valley Agency on Aging Advisory Council
New River Valley Community Services
New River Valley Economic Development Alliance
New River Valley Development Corporation
New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Investment Board
New River Valley Competitiveness Center
New River Valley Development Corporation
New River Valley Planning District Commission
Multi-County and Town, Business & Economic Development officers
Multi-County and Town Community Development staffs
Virginia Economic Development Partnership

In the spirit of reducing over-worked leaders, reducing redundancy, increasing efficiency, reducing travel costs and energy use, and gaining synergism� maybe some of these can work together, merge, communicate, or share or pool resources.

I now doubt that Rural System will ever get started but I once thought it would be good for the Valley.

One part of it included developing a membership that gave those living in the Valley more than the joyful feeling of having a special mailing address. Citizens would sign up, pay a few bucks, and start getting some real benefits and access to where their talents, abilities, and knowledge could pay off for them and their Valley neighbors. (This may well be essential for the near regional economic future.)

Such a membership would include for them:

Substantial membership savings on:

• services of all cooperators of the system
• costs of events, annual meeting,  and member tours
• purchases of outdoor clothing and boots
• outdoor equipment and books
• Avi course entrance fees (a new bird-watching sport)
• entries to a specialized local and personal history project

The would receive as members

1. A colored computer map of the Valley and the region
2. Access to a unique web-site and a monthly newsletter, blog, and Internet options providing links and information about the region and the role of its organization within it
3. Notices of special events and opportunities
4. Within-Valley employment opportunity notices
5. Special information about government programs and services available for land holding
6. Access to a specialized tax reduction and wealth management center
7. Access to a regional credit card program
8. Access to prime rate group insurance
9. A personal annual land valuation report
10. Access to information about responsible land buyer, tenants, and Trusts
11. Access to a caretaker for land if one "lives away"
12. Reasonable pooled information about possible impacts of proposed development
13. Notices of several occasional meetings each year
14. Pooled or cooperative projects among internal groups and organizations
15. Priority access to land management consulting and management service
16. Resource-management-improving and energy-saving hints
17. An annual rebate (membership fee) or an award based on total profits
18. Distinctive membership symbols (e.g., lapel pin, bandana, cap)
19. Membership sign for display at property entrance.

I called it the New River Valley's Heft (project/company/initiative/program/etc.)

These suggestions provide grounds for citizens throughout the New River Valley to join together to become one of the most linked social networks anywhere.

Definition: heft - something of great weight (physical or otherwise); to lift something heavy (perhaps to determine its weight) often

Robert H. Giles, Jr. writes High Five for Handshake 2.0, a technology business news and business blog service venture of Handshake Media, Incorporated, a member company of business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks.  The opinions Robert Giles expresses are solely his own and are not necessarily shared by Handshake 2.0 or its sponsors or advertisers. 

You can follow Robert H. Giles, Jr. on http://www.Twitter/bob_giles