MetroCascade Victoria

About MetroCascade

MetroCascade Victoria aggregates ("gathers together") hyper-local news and information.

At MetroCascade, we think that residents and visitors will benefit from access to local information, whether it's related to community events, the arts, business, education, technology, or any other topic that matters to people. We've created the MetroCascade service to help you get connected to the local scene.

We aggregate as many of the online conversations and sources of information about Victoria that we can find. This includes blogs, community pages, events calendars, mainstream news sources. MetroCascade aggregates these links so that we can send you away - so that you have those links in one place and can click through to discover more of what's going on in your city.

What's in a name? How does this work?

Our name is part of the story. "Metro" refers to real attributes: we're starting in Victoria, but see the service as one that can roll out in any metropolitan area. We focus on metros or cities because these are places where people engage in activities that others benefit from knowing about. The "Metro" already exists physically (streets, neighborhoods, districts). We want to enhance the connections within it, make the different activity silos (arts, business, politics, technology, etc.) transparent, and allow you to remix your city.

"Cascade" refers to the fact that news and conversations are part of an on-going flow of information that changes constantly. By aggregating that flow, you can access it in real time by viewing the updated "Cascade" at the top of the homepage.

We're also working hard to roll out additional features to enhance the "Cascade." For example, we're refining the tools to help you find specific streams of information: clicking on tags/ topics takes you to items with a specific tag. Eventually, registered users will be able to customize their individual "cascades," allowing them to filter for only the information they need.

How you can help us:

Suggest sources (of news, photography, events) that we should include for aggregation.

Contribute content yourself: if you're a blogger who writes about anything of local interest, tell us about your blog so we can include you.

If you're an organization that hosts events, let us know, especially if you update webpages with event listings.

If you're a small business owner who offers services, consider starting a blog that we can include for aggregation.

If you're a fan of a service provider or establishment, an arts group, an event or meet-up - whether upcoming or something you recently attended - write about it, or photograph it!

If you have a Flickr or other photosharing account with local photos, tell us!

We're still in early stages, but hope to integrate local Twitter updates, too. If you're not comfortable trying your hand as a citizen journalist or reviewer/ critic, consider getting a Twitter account where you can update your Twitter stream with snippets of information of local interest, whether it's a traffic jam or an announcement or reminder of an event, or a shout-out for a great coffee shop. We eventually plan to offer an online form that registered users will be able to use to submit their information, too.

MetroCascade maintains a blog (of course!), so if you're not comfortable keeping your own blog, send us your information so that we can blog it, which will mean it's included in the news "Cascade." Contact Us here.

Sign up here. up as a registered user so we can keep you informed of new features as they become available.

In the meantime, check back often and tell your friends. Spread the word!

We're a small team of Victoria-based community managers, writers, and technologists: Yule Heibel, Werner Bahlke, and Helmut Hissen. The idea for MetroCascade was hatched partly out of frustration over the difficulty of keeping up with all the great (but sometimes nascent) arts groups and entrepreneurial initiatives in Victoria. We felt that residents and visitors would really benefit from a service that provides "just in time" information, and which helps break down the silos that keep creative people (whether in arts or technology or business) from knowing about each other. Together we can build the synergy that strengthens the creative fabric of the city.