ROCKNET MEETING MINUTES
August 14, 2003
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm in the City Manager's Conference
Room in Rockville City Hall.
Present were: Bob Ekman, Telly Whitfield, Roald Schrack, Art Casanova,
Sally Sternbach, Stan Klein, Betsy Robbins, Mike Cannon, Brian Pierce
1. Minutes of prior meeting accepted with minor revisions.
2. Betsy Robbins reported on Rockville and Rocknet websites and distributed
statistics for the two sites. Visits to Rockville website slightly down
from 2654 in June to 2610 in July (but the decline is well within
statistics and thus not meaningful, 2610±51 vs 2654±52). Visits to the
Rocknet website were 455±21 in July vs 442±21 in June. Again, not a
meaningful change. Rockville site added Red Gate Golf Course registrations
for tee times through the commercial site teetimes.com. There was a
discussion of relative use of the internet vs national average. In 2001,
84% of Rockville residents had internet access, in 2003 this grew to 89%
access. This access level is about 10% above the national average. The URL
for the Rockville site has been www.ci.rockville.md.us In conformity with
all other cities. Now the URL www.rockvillemd.gov will also work and is
probably easier for most people to remember. The city has a backup power
system in case Pepco fails.
3. Bob Ekman distributed new background material on Wi-Fi. Sally Sternbach
of Greater Rockville Partnership discussed possible impact of a Wi-Fi
hotspot in the Town Center comparing it to the effort made in New York City
to enhance the attractiveness of Bryant Park (42nd Street and 6th Avenue).
She suggested that Rocknet contact the Chamber of Commerce.
4. Mike Cannon reported on the second day of the Baltimore broadband
conference.
5. Telly Whitfield told about city efforts to foster community and
introduced Art Casanova of The Alliance of Rockville Neighborhood
Associations (ARNA). David Hill is going to develop a website for ARNA.
There will be Leadership workshop on October 11 and a Neighborhood
Conference on September 25.
6. Rocknet will be getting the Lyris 6.1 for its listserve software.
The meeting adjourned at 9:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Roald A. Schrack
13 Farsta Ct.
Rockville, MD 20850
voice: 301-279-7017
fax: 301-279-8889
