The technical-minded amongst you will notice that this ‘ere DevLog and the current Beta CovWatch website are running WordPress front-ends. The template I have chosen is called “illacrimo” and is by Design Disease. I personally think it’s one of the best free WordPress templates I have seen for a very long time. I’ve shown it to a number of people and they loved it to.

However, templates never look exactly how you want them, and whilst this one comes pretty close, I want to do a couple of things with it:

• Adjust the header to show off the logo a lot more,
• Place the video mini-player into the second column, below the RSS links,
• Split the column below the mini-player into two - first column to direct to site content with the newly created 3rd column for advertisements,
• 4th column (formerly the 3rd column) to become a place for links to external content, widgets and more advertisements.

A late addition to the Cov Watch website is going to be a “Freecycle” service that will allow people in and around Coventry to list items that they are giving away.

Furniture, toys, equipment and more can be listed on the service so long as there is no money involved. Registration and listing will be quick and easy and we’ll be offering filters and categorisation as well as RSS feeds that will make finding items quicker and easier than any other freecycle-type site out there.

Plus, we’ll be cleansing the lists regularly so old items won’t appear in your search results - as soon as the item has been collected it will be removed from the website.

Sounds good? Join us in coming weeks for the Beta launch!

It is likely that Google Maps is going to be a strong feature of the CovWatch website in addition to the video services.  We want to use the service to provide a range of useful maps for Coventry. Some ideas:

• A map showing property developments and planned developments
• Pin points for tech/creative job vacancies
• Locations of crime and anti-social behaviour hot-spots
• Pin points for affordable housing
• Pin points of significant local events, celebrities and other trivia

So here’s an example of the anti-social behaviour option. The map can show areas known for anti-social behaviour as well as individual incidents. It can also advise on venues that carry out activities that can attract anti-social behaviour, such as late night off-licences. But, just in case you thought it’s all negative, you can also use the service to identify areas and venues where anti-social behaviour is virtually non-existent.

View Larger Map

Our attention has been brought to an appeal by the Coventry Telegraph for bloggers to come forward and become part of their publishing platform.

You can find out more information here:

http://cv5.coventrytelegraph.net/calling-all-bloggers.html

Simon has found that the guys that brought you TheyWorkForYou have also developed “Fix My Street“, which enables residents to report a range of problems and submit them to their council for action. It is an open system, which makes it easier for us to hold our councils to account.

The bonus is that they provide RSS feeds, which we will integrate into the CovWatch design. That means that you’ll be able to come to CovWatch to see what problems are being raised in the Coventry area and what’s being done about them.

It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks with both home and office moving at the same time, but thankfully that’s all behind us now, so we can return the focus to development of the CovWatch Beta site.

One thing that we are settling on is the need to publish a daily (maybe weekly to start with) news update either as a video or audio-only podcast. With regional news on ordinary TV falling apart it strikes me that there’s a market to change the way it’s made and consumed. More of us access the internet and more of us have access to self-publishing platforms - pushing the two together in a fancy way could see the dawn of a locally-based informative and useful news source that’s also flexible and available on-demand 24 hours a day.

I think that if we produced this in addition to interactive written content on the website we could be on to a winner for Coventry. It’s also clear that perhaps our first focus could be on the football club and then grow it outwards from there.

Thoughts welcome, as always. It’s as much your project as anybody else’s!

Here’s a press release we’re sending out to try and build momentum towards our Beta launch date. The project has stopped and started recently, but is now starting to gain traction again. Thanks for supporting us!

Monday 23 June 2008 will see the launch of the beta version of a new Coventry-based new media project.

CovWatch aims to fill a gap in local and regional news, current affairs, sport, politics and entertainment by providing user-powered content online.

Speaking of the launch date, co-founder Mike Rouse said, “We are going to build a crowd-sourced new media movement in Coventry. The consumers will become the providers and together we will shake the foundation of modern media in Coventry.”

“We hope to work with colleges, sixth forms, businesses and other organisations to show the world what Coventry is doing and how great this city is. We don’t have a millionaire backer and we’re not owned by big business - we depend on the support and input from people all over Coventry”

The project already has a Facebook group, which has attracted over 170 fans and hosts active discussions on the football club as well as leisure venues. Fans have also submitted their photos of local events and around Coventry.

Mike Rouse continued, “We are going to do more. The Facebook page has helped us to understand more about what people want to see and hear from us and that’s feeding into our design process.”

Join us on Facebook here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cov-Watch/10485992689

Well, here we are on our own little blog. Let’s hope the saying “From little acorns…” rings true for us. We are definitely still resembling an acorn at the moment - a shell of an idea that is yet to push out that crucial first root to put us in good stead for the future.

What is CovWatch?

We hope that you can infer from the name that CovWatch is something to do with Coventry and something to do with watching. We’ll give you a clue. It doesn’t involve bird watching, train spotting or Eddie Stobart spotting. It’s bigger than all of that put together. CovWatch is about watching what’s going on in Coventry. It’s people, it’s building, it’s society and everything about it.

Watching You, Watching Us

At the heart of CovWatch is a grassroots video venture. That basically means that people like you and me are picking up our digital or analogue camcorders, our mobile phones and our webcams and we are recording videos about anything and everything that’s going on in our lives. How much you record is up to you. We want to know and show what life is like for ordinary citizens of Coventry going about their daily lives. Equally, we want to know what professionals and businesses are doing in Coventry and showcase their talents to the world. Together we can correct the impression that Coventry is crap and show off a vibrant city full of talented people.

From the Ground Up

We believe in grassroots action - people know what is best for them and their families. We aren’t going to take the traditional mainstream media approach and package something up that we think best shows Coventry and its people and businesses - we’re just going to give you the tools to make whatever you want.

So… Step 1

The first thing we need to do is show you the kind of thing we’re looking for. So, we’re going to produce a few videos and upload them. You can either upload your own videos or work with us to produce them. We know from cold hard experience how much effort has to go into producing a video that’s even just a few minutes long. Let us do that part - we’re going to work with a number of Coventry-based organisations to make that as easy as possible. Then again, if you’re confident with all things video we’re not going to stand in your way.

Next Step… The Platform

Unlike the mainstream media we don’t have millions of pounds at our disposal to splash out on fancy looking websites. No, instead we recognise that most of the tools already exist. That’s why we’re looking at the likes of YouTube, Blip.tv and Daily Motion to power our platform. With them behind us we can use our creative talents to put together the front page and tie it all together. We’re not about wasting money on expensive platforms - we’re about bringing the goodness of Coventry to a wider audience. That’s why we’re using WordPress for this devlog instead of spending weeks and a load of cash building our own system - because that would just be nuts - a bit like an acorn… (Not the acorns again! -ed)

The Devlog and You

We’re going to update this devlog with our latest musings and progress and really want you to be a part of that too. We want to hear your ideas, get your feedback and really involve you in the whole process of CovWatch. We’re nothing without you and want you along for the ride from the very start.

Hope to see you soon!

Mike, Vijay and the rest of the CovWatch team!