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Connecting4Change - New Look & A New Name!
Thanks to community feedback on our e-newsletter survey, Connecting4Change is now in its first issue!
Our new look is the result of several suggestions provided in a recent survey. You asked for a newsletter that is mobile-friendly (it is), easier to read (see skimmable categories and headlines), more visually engaging (note our cleaner design and [...]
Why County-Scale Data is Insufficient When the Goal is Positive Community Change
Recently, a map generated last year by SCOPE was re-posted by SRQ Daily as a data factoid titled, “[Poverty] Income Below Poverty Level.” It was framed as evidence that Sarasota County is better off, economically speaking, than many counties in Florida. This is a great example of why everyone needs data at a more [...]
A Collective Look at Data Here in Sarasota County
This month Debra Jacobs, who works for the Patterson Foundation (a philanthropy that is located here in Sarasota County), contacted SCOPE with a question. An email had been posted on the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations list serve by Joann Ricci, the Vice President of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. She was asking for examples of [...]
The Power of Mapping: Googling the Perfect House
How can community data be useful to us as citizens and as neighbors? Doug Griffin, a resident of Siesta Key and member of the SCOPE Data Team, describes how he and his wife recently used online GIS mapping tools to address a challenge that many of us face at some point in our lives.
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In [...]
Community Data 2.0: North Port — the Countdown is On!
Next Thursday, March 15, people who live and work in North Port will be gathering for half a day to think and talk together about how everybody can use data to make their own community even better. SCOPE is co-hosting with the City of North Port. We are really looking forward to it – will [...]
Everyone Leads
Paul Schmitz founded Public Allies Milwaukee in 1993. Its mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. He recently wrote a book called Everyone Leads. The Stanford Social Innovation Review took a look at that book; here’s what they said. “For Schmitz, the process of [...]
Data Byte: American Migration Map
In Sarasota County, many of us have moved here from somewhere else in the United States. Have you ever wondered what our county’s migration patterns would look like if they were visualized on a map of the entire United States? The interactive American Migration map makes this possible for any of us to look at [...]
Data Byte: Many Eyes
How long is everybody’s morning commute here in Sarasota County? How safe are the airlines flying out of our local Sarasota-Bradenton Airport? There are a lot of great places to grab a cup of coffee here in Sarasota County. How much coffee are we consuming? Want to see for yourself? IBM has developed an online [...]
What Does it Mean to Be a Neighbor-Business?
Over the past several months, SCOPE has had increasing opportunities to collaborate with a group of fellow neighbors in Central-Cocoanut, which is the neighborhood where the SCOPE offices are located. This has been especially rewarding since the mission of SCOPE is all about citizens becoming “connected and inspired to create a better community.” We realize [...]
Auditioning a Data Platform
As efforts to develop a community data collaborative here in Sarasota County continue, it becomes increasingly apparent that we need a well-designed online platform to gather, store, share, and make sense of local data.
One platform currently under consideration is the Community Platform, created by folks at the Urban Institute. This is a web-based system that [...]