RINexus.com Will Further Strengthen Strong Providence Geek Community
I worked as a web/multimedia designer/developer in the Boston area for seven years. In both places that I worked, I never had a sense for what the outside “web world” was up to. There were no well-publicized community events or meetups. There were no community networking resources that I knew of.
In May, I joined BatchBlue. We’re located in Barrington, RI—but more specifically we each work from home. Within two days, I was already at my first Providence Geeks dinner. The Geeks meet monthly, which greatly helps build a sense of community. However, a resource was just launched to bridge the gap between meetings.
RINexus.com is an initiative by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) to foster community in Rhode Island’s info-tech and digital media community. And so far… it’s doing exactly that. There are a lot of things to like about this site. I just wanted to highlight a few.
Calendar
The calendar actually shocked me. I had no idea so much was going on in the area. Specifically, I was surprised to see that there are monthly web development lunches. I haven’t gotten to one yet, but I hope to soon.
Company Profiles
Company profiles provide a great at-a-glance look at a particular organization. You get a summary, links, list of related news and events listed on the site, and more.
The Map
Google Maps are always impressive. This one is no different. Here you can see all of the companies that have profiles on the site presented on a map. Great to see who’s in your area.
User Profiles
User Profiles aren’t that impressive, right? Well, there are some cool features here. For starters, everyone can edit their interests. Those interests are then hyperlinked so that you can see who else is interested in that topic. The profiles allow you to share links and other info as well as give users a look at what your last contributions on the site were.
Bottom Line
I already feel far more connected to the Rhode Island community than I ever did with the Boston one. The Nexus (and the Geeks) has a lot to do with that. I have the feeling that this will work better in Rhode Island than other areas because Rhode Island is so small. The community is much more manageable.
The best part about the RINexus site is that the development team, led by Jack Templin, is very open to feature requests and suggestions. So, that means that a great resource will only get better.