Press Release

Tuesday, 3 April 2007
19:00 (UTC-7)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Davis, California, USA – Look up 'burrito' on Wikipeda and you'll find a sociocultural history and straight-forward description of this delicious culinary creation. Look up burrito on your town's local wiki and you'll find a thorough burrito-geist, including prices, reviews, sins and virtues of all the burrito joints in your town.


Of course, unless you live in a handful of cities in Canada, the US or Germany, your town probably doesn't have a wiki. Fortunately, a new non-profit service called Wiki Spot enables anyone to create a community wiki for free.


Whereas Wikipedia strives to be an authoritative encyclopedia of everything, a community wiki serves a smaller group of people with common interests. One of the best examples of this is Davis Wiki, a local web resource for and by the community of Davis, CA.


The Davis Wiki has become a space where restaurants are reviewed, local organizations post information about themselves, and Davis residents and UC Davis students can share everything they know about the town they call home. The genius of the wiki format is its simplicity – anyone can log on an add content. Experience with website editing is not necessary,


Three years ago, then-UC Davis undergraduates Philip Neustrom and Michael Ivanov started the Davis Wiki with a simple goal: collect all the interesting and amazing things they learned about Davis in one spot, and let other people help and build on what they knew. The project launched in October, 2004 and quickly grew to become the most detailed and comprehensive “community wiki” in the world. Neustrom feels this was a remarkable achievement.


“The Davis Wiki has been an awesome success, and today provides an invaluable resource to the people of Davis in ways we couldn't even imagine when we started,” Neustrom said.


As Davis Wiki grew, other towns began to want to create similar resources for their communities.


“Lots of people living in different places and having different interests wanted to set up wikis for their communities. We helped a few people set up wikis, and helped provide a home to the Rochester Wiki, Santa Cruz wiki, a housing co-op, Chico Wiki, and the Pittsburgh wiki. But we didn't really have the proper infrastructure to accommodate a lot of different communities and do so in a way that let them have complete control over their wiki. And what we've been working on will do just that.” continued Neustrom.


Using Wiki Spot, anyone will be able to sign up and start a wiki for just about anything. While most of the existing community wikis benefit people living in the same geographical area, Wiki Spot wikis can be used to connect any community that will benefit from sharing information. One could make a wiki dedicated to beer, welsh corgis, your favorite television show, or any other subject where a group of people can collaborate and share information.


“We believe that information should be freely exchanged for everyone to use. Wiki Spot is about removing the barriers to that exchange, through easy to use websites, easy to start wikis, and a home free of the clutter and influence of advertising.” said Brent Laabs, UC Davis graduate student and Wiki Spot volunteer.


For more information, or to start a community wiki, please visit www.wikispot.org

Call or email us for more info!

Philip Neustrom
Davis Wiki co-creator, lead Wiki Spot programmer, Benevolent Dictator for life
<philipn AT gmail DOT com>

Graham Freeman
Wiki Spot volunteer
graham.freeman@cernio.com

Arlen Abraham
Wiki Spot volunteer
<arlen DOT abraham AT gmail DOT com>

April 13, 2007 "Wise up to the Wiki" - Article in the The Daily Democrat about the effect of the wiki on local businesses and specifically Bistro 33

Jan., 2007 "Wanna Wiki?" - Article in the Davis Food Co-op newsletter about the wiki as an example of online community building

Dec. 10, 2006 "Web site has scoop on Davis community" - Article on Davis Wiki in the Sacramento Bee. (use bugmenot to bypass registration if you wish)

Oct. 31, 2006 "Halloween: UC Davis legends exposed as myth or fact" - This creepy photo of the Baxter House taken by Philip Neustrom is used in the California Aggie article.

Aug 7, 2006 "Yearbook support group takes shape on Facebook" - California Aggie story cites El Rodeo page.

July 27, 2006 "The People Behind the Screen" - California Aggie article about the first annual Davis Wiki Fundraiser.

June 5^th, 2006 City Council candidates run Internet campaigns" - California Aggie article about Internet usage during the 2006 City Council Election.

June 2, 2006 "The truth, and nothing but my opinion" - California Aggie opinion article by then-Managing Editor, mentions "our alternating competition and cooperation with online resource, Davis Wiki."

June 1, 2006 "KDVS to host Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom concert" - Minor cite in the California Aggie.

May 30, 2006 "Editorial: Turn up the frequency" - California Aggie editorial about the ASUCD Entertainment Council mentions the wiki as a place to publicize shows.

May 23, 2006 "Sick of a dirty public bathroom? Grab a mop" - an aggie story takes about a third of its text from the wiki's Cafe Roma page.

May 22, 2006 "Davis Wiki updates software, server for speedier service" — Article in the California Aggie

May 2, 2006 "Local Web Encyclopedia Collects UCSB Articles" — Article in the UCSB Daily Nexus about http://ucsbwiki.com

April 20-21st, 2006 "ASUC Bill Would Limit Flyering" and "Flier, Flier" — Article & editorial in UC Berkeley's The Daily Californian about flyering on the Berkeley campus.

April 11, 2006 "CAROLE online, but remains anonymous" — An article about CAROLE and the identity of CaroleDavis. Users/JasonAller is quoted.

April 6, 2006 "It's a wheels thing" — Bicycle Census Mentioned in The Sacramento Bee article.

April 1, 2006 "The Davis, California, Town Wiki" — Article on Davis Wiki in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

March 30, 2006 "Traveling preacher breaks the silence" — Cited in an article in the Reno News and Review related to page Preachers with Signs.

March 29, 2006 "Bits & Bytes, Chilling on the Creative Commons" - Column in the California Aggie mentions Davis Wiki as an example of a Creative-Commons licensed work.

March 28, 2006 33 Wikis: Davis Wiki - A look at Davis Wiki in a series on interesting wikis.

Feburary 10, 2006 "Man on Fire", "UCD student runs for council" — Information on City Council candidate Rob Roy cited in Sacramento News & Review and the Davis Enterprise

Feburary 6, 2006 Letters to the Editor — Mention in a letter to the editor in the Davis Enterprise about WiFi Hot Spots

January 17, 2006 "Use a Wiki to create a village" — Mention in Eureka Times-Standard article

January 10, 2006 "Oak tree's demise leaves huge hole in Davis' heart" — Mention in the Sacramento Bee

January 8, 2006 "Fallen solider" — Story about The Jagged Tree in the Davis Enterprise

November 2005 Mention in the School Library Journal. Article entitled "If You're Curious About Wikis..."

September 24, 2005 Two mentions in the Davis Enterprise's town orientation issue. One for an piece with the headliner "If you want more in-depth knowledge of the city, UC Davis or the surrounding areas, you might want to check out the following resources...", another for an article on the Arboretum, which mentioned the many Arboretum Bridges to be found (12 of them!)

September 5, 2005 "Edit This Article! Davis Wiki, Ever Expanding" — IET's HyperText student computing publication runs story on Davis Wiki. (pdf)

June 28, 2005 "A tale of two cities: Dixon and Davis" — Daily Republic story cites Davis Wiki as a source.

June 8, 2005 "Newsweak: Davis Wiki leads coup on ASUCD" — California Aggie spoof edition features Davis Wiki on cover.

May 25, 2005 Wiki page The Worst Intersection in Davis cited in research paper Roundabouts in Davis (a Comprehensive Policy Analysis) by Ph.D student David Zetland.

February 23, 2005 "Oh, the places you'll get lost going to!" - Map mentioned in a column in The California Aggie

February 15, 2005 "'Friends' urging your vote" - UCD 'slate' references page about themselves in The California Aggie.

January 24, 2005 "When acronyms go awry" - A page referenced in The California Aggie column.

December 6, 2004 "Davis, at your fingertips" - Davis Wiki featured in a very good article in The Davis Enterprise.

December 1, 2004 "Technically Speaking" - Davis Wiki mentioned in The California Aggie

November 23, 2004 "A new online resource for the Davis community" - Davis Wiki featured in an article in The California Aggie.

November 3, 2004 Philip and Mike made a guest appearance on "Dr. Andy's Poetry and Technology Hour" on KDVS and were interviewed by host Andy Jones about Davis Wiki live on the air.