TrailLink

So it's finally the weekend and the long work week in the office has left you aching to get outside and enjoy nature. You know of a few place to hike, but want to be sure you're not missing out on anything near by. That is where TrailLink comes in.

TrailLink is not just a trail finding app it's a connection to local history. The app was designed by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to turning abandoned railroad lines and connection corridors into multi-use pathways for exercise and leisure.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has done some incredible work by preserving the history of these paths and enhancing the character of the communities they reside in. Now with the TrailLink app you can take advantage of the over 30,000 miles of preserved trails. The app allows you to look for free but creating a profile is easy and can be done either through your email or Facebook. Once your profile is set up you have access to an abundance of maps and other features.

TrailLink login screen

TrailLink uses your phones location
to find trails near you

Once you've picked a location you
can see the details of the trail 

Like many other trail finding/hiking apps, TrailLink allows the user to connect with other users by highlighting your favorite trails, writing reviews, posting pictures, creating guidebooks, and using GPS to create your own route for the trail. While there are numerous quality hiking apps like AllTrails, Map My Hike, and ViewRanger only TrailLink offers the unique connection to these preserved man-made paths. For anyone interested in history, enhancing their community through adaptive reuse, or just a nice bike ride, rail trails are an excellent option.

Once the map is accessed the user will see an exact location
as well as points of interest along the trail.

With TrailLink being created by the nonprofit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC for short) there is an emphasis on donation and becoming a member. Although giving back wouldn't be a bad thing the app itself does not pressure the user and still allows you to operate it with ease. RTC does find a subtle way to provide aid for itself by making the trail maps available for purchase for offline use. This won't impact your experience at all as the maps are all still available for free when logged on. The real benefit for a nonprofit like RTC is that this app provides exposure to their cause. 

An example of the offline maps
available for purchase

TrailLink brings together people who are interested in exploring local rail trails for a variety of reasons. Through this form of social networking people can learn and contribute to the preservation of something the benefits their community while enjoying the trails for their ultimate purpose. By creating an app that provides information and social networking Rail-to-Trails Conservancy has attempted to tap into the groundswell to get new people interested in their cause. 

Chevrolet Engages with the Groundswell

The groundswell can be a great tool for companies to use for public relations, marketing, but mostly staying relevant and successful for a new generation of consumers. Li and Bernoff state that listening is often one of the most neglected skills in business (pg. 93). If a company is going to prosper then they need to listen to the groundswell around them in order to actually find out what the consumer wants and what they think of their brand. However, as smart a decision as listening is the only next logical step is to interact with the groundswell and devise the best next course of action to take. As far as auto manufacturers go Chevrolet has been on top of this interaction for years.

Bigger companies like Chevrolet that have been around for decades have been using the older way of advertising for years and you would think might be hesitant to change. However, for a company that has dealt with bad press keeping up on the current trends in advertising will go a long way to helping the brand in the long run. By starting small while thinking big Chevrolet has listened to the groundswell around them and the auto industry to try and market their brand to whole new generation of consumer. Talking with the groundswell through the four most effective methods of posting a viral video, engaging in social networks and user-generated content sites, joining the blogosphere, and creating a community has brought the company recognition as being innovative and active in the their industry.

Like many companies, Chevrolet has used clever marketing ploys in an attempt to create dialogue through social networks like Twitter. The #TechnologyAndStuff campaign was started by accident when company spokesperson uttered the phrase while awarding a free truck to World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner

For a company like Chevrolet they know that something like this will get the groundswell's attention but it won't sustain them. The companies insight and devotion to staying relevant has led them to some energizing social media campaigns. By energizing the groundswell they can tap into the power of word of mouth by connecting with the consumer (pg. 131). To Chevrolet's credit their social media presence has done a lot to energize consumers especially first time buyers. More than a third of sales to the company's new Spark, Sonic, Trax and Cruze models are Millennials that are new to the brand. The buzz created by the company's social media marketing team have aided in spreading the brand and attracting a new base of consumers. This new base of consumers are more likely to talk about Chevrolet via additional social media outlets which will be attracting additional consumers.              


Energizing the groundswell in a positive way is great for a company, but helping that groundswell support itself is what will be beneficial to sustaining interest. Chevrolet has taken this step as well be creating their own community forum which allows Chevrolet enthusiasts from around the world to talk about the product, ask questions, and receive input from others like them. called The Block this the online community allows automotive enthusiasts to upload profiles that can be shared with friends and contains information about the latest Chevrolet news and events.

The Block provides an outlet for Chevrolet enthusiasts to express their passion for their cars and support other like minded people by answering their questions. Something like this helps the groundswell around Chevrolet to support itself and helps Chevrolet learn more about their consumers and where to fix faults within their products. Instead of telling the consumer what they want and need, Chevrolet can now adjust to what their most loyal consumers are actually saying. It gives the company an ability to adjust their marketing and product designs as it stays relevant to what the groundswell is currently saying.     

Adopt-a-Hydrant

In New England you can be sure of two things, championship football and snow. Over the last few days in particular we have dealt with the later of the two in abundance. In order to keep daily life functioning that snow has to be plowed back and removed from our streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. For most people the stage between snowstorm and resuming daily life might be an afterthought. However, it is actually an elaborate process of collaboration between city and state workers as well as private contractors. Before the first flakes start to fall to long after they stop numerous men and women are working to maintain the public's safety by opening up our transportation infrastructure.

Maintaining the public's safety is a major focus of the job for these workers and snow removal takes top priority due to it being an inconvenience to daily life... Unless you ski or snowboard of course.

With all the time, effort, and resources that go towards maintaining roads an important asset to public safety will often be forgotten until its too late. That asset is hydrants.

The goal of plow truck drivers is to widen the roads and knockdown snow that builds up at intersections so people can see before making a turn. One thing they do not worry about it covering hydrants with snow. With many public employees involved in snow removal operations already it becomes impossible to devote additional resources towards clearing snow away from the thousands of hydrants a city may have. That is where the Adopt-a-Hydrant app comes in.

Started in 2011 in Boston by Code for America fellow Erik Michaels-Ober, the initial app he developed gives citizens the ability to "adopt" a hydrant, and pledge to keep it accessible to firefighters during snowstorms. The app attempts to be interactive and "game-like" by giving users the ability to name their hydrant as well as "steal" a hydrant from another user who fails to maintain their hydrant on time. Adopt-a-Hydrant is a map-based web app and allows for individuals, businesses, and governments to customize for any infrastructure from catch basins or tsunami sirens.

Adopt-a-Hydrant Boston

Green hydrants indicate being "adopted"

Adopt-a-Hydrant Worcester incorporates catch basins as well

The app took off among many cities and towns in New England and beyond. Snow abundant areas saw this as a great way to interact with citizens as well as accomplish an important task. Even Worcester uses some semblance of the technology although I will say the number of people that "adopt" a hydrant is far smaller than the number of hydrants the city actually has. The program might not be as well used here as it is in other cities like Boston, but the hope is that public awareness for this community involvement continues.

Reading Reflection #1

It can be weird and overwhelming at times to think of how fast and dramatic public opinion can be shaped through social media. A careless phrase or an ill conceived marketing strategy by a group or individual could result in a public relations headache and may even do long term damage to public perception. It has been made clear time and time again that the groundswell is not something to take lightly. This large scale build up of public opinion is dictated by the three forces of people, technology and economics (Li & Bernoff, 10).

People have a desire to connect and that certainly plays a huge part in groundswell and economics are the driving force for most things in life so that's not a surprise. In my opinion what might be the most important element of them all is technology. Technology has given life to this media and is constantly changing and growing. To focus on just mastering what is currently the trend at the moment is futile, but to ignore social media trends altogether is worse. It is not so much that an organization can just be aware of social media they have to be actively involved in it in order to be on the right end of the groundswell (Li & Bernoff, 13-15).

Groundswell technologies are as numerous as they are diverse. Blogs and podcasts, social networks, wikis, and certainly forums have all become catalysts for groundswell. Blogs in particular are viewed and used by a great percentage of the population everyday and have become invaluable for businesses looking to stay ahead. However, it is through social networks like Twitter and Facebook where direct interaction with the public can have an even greater impact due to the number of people that visit these sites and how frequently  they visit.

Percentage of U.S. Population with a Social Network Profile

The influence from these media outlets over time have become highly respected and something a successful company is going to want to be aware of and involved in. When it comes to groundswell actions though not everyone necessarily fits into every roll. The Social Technographics Profile refers to the people-to-people activities in the groundswell and essentially divides the population into groups depending on level of involvement. You could be a creator, a critic, a joiner, a spectator, or really any number of different labels depending on the level of which you use or not use social media platforms. The point shown is that groundswell seems to encompass everyone and its presence doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

For people and businesses in particular looking to get involved and to use the power of groundswell for their benefit a key planning process to use is POST. Also known as people, objectives, strategy, and technology this process is at the foundation of groundswell thinking. Study the people you are trying to reach in order to see what they are ready for, figure out what you want to accomplish, determine how you want the relationship with costumers to change, and finally choose what will be the best technology available to do this (Li & Bernoff, 67-68). It may not work every time but it's better to take that chance rather than be left behind.