2010: The year that Fresno rallied

Category: Year in Review!   |  Tags: fighting hunger frebby awards fresno google fiber yayfresno

I'm driving back to Fresno from a Christmas in Louisiana, catching up on local blogs. It's that time of year when everyone looks back at the last 12 months, outlining highlights and memorable moments. One post I find particular interesting is the Beehive's 2010 Rewind: Favorite controversy?.

Thinking through many of "controversies" that I've egged on witnessed this year, I am reminded of all the times that our community came together for a cause. This was the year that Fresno rallied. A few examples:

• I want my Google Fiber
  Remember the Google Fiber for Fresno campaign? It started as a grassroots effort; after only a few weeks more than 11,000 Fresnans spoke in one voice saying, "We want our Google Fiber." The creatives that formalized messaging for the effort later received a Frebby Award for their work.
• #YayFresno
  If you're not on Twitter, you missed this one, but earlier this year a group of twenty-to-thirty-somethings with a shared antipathy for Fresno created a Twitter account to mock the community. I'll admit: it was funny, at first. Then it became obnoxious, and quickly moved to absurd, picking on individuals. In response, a group of tweeters (myself included) began grouping pro-Fresno messages with the "yayfresno" hashtag, which is still being used—in fact, you can now buy a #YAYFRESNO button at Twee Boutique. The parody account was eventually deleted.
• Fighting Hunger, one "like" at a time
  Walmart's "competition" for $1,000,000 to feed families in need has inspired tens of thousands of Fresnans to take a very simple action: a click or a comment on Facebook. From the start, Fresno has taken a lead position in the tally of supporters, and no matter the outcome at the end of today, the campaign has proven that we have an active online community. I hope that we can continue to bring attention to the food needs of our region long into the new year.

Admittedly, I've been tied to each of these, so I'll call this a personal list. What did I miss? How else has the community rallied this year?

Posted Friday, December 31, 2010

James Collier is chief strategist for Paprika Studios, exploring ways to utilize emerging technologies. He writes about community, social media, and random observations.