the Dirt

[Liz Pulver]

Hey there- I’m analyzing the DIRT and LAND online for an asla committee i’m volunteering for. I wondered if you had any thoughts on them?

Do you ever frequent them? why? why not? What would make them appeal to you, what could be improved, why you do/don’t go to those sites??… It seems to me that the two may be a little duplicitous, and that there’s so much info out there, it’s hard to keep track of more sites, but I’d love to hear from you. Thanks! Liz
http://land.asla.org/
http://dirt.asla.org/

[Eric Galvin]

im subscribed to the land online newsletter email thingy and i really dont like it much. the content is fine however. i personally think its a little snippet of the web from the 90’s; no RSS feeds, comments or any other social features that are easily accessible (something like the fine job done here at Land8lounge is much more effective) The dirt is just another blog in my rss reader and their content is pretty good. if i had to nail down what to improve at the dirt, id have a hard time… good luck with analyzing the sites. i think the biggest problem they have is really how great Land8lounge is. it really gets everything right in making a community of landscape architects and getting everyone talking, where as the dirt and land online are more of a magazine. the perfect combination would be the political/ASLA orientated information provided by the dirt in a “ASLA news” area of Land8lounge…..

[Kevin J. Gaughan]

Liz, thank you for your inquiry.

Truthfully, I am not a huge fan of LandOnline. I think one of my issues with it, is that it doesnt grab me. It was designed to look sleek and clean, however, there is not much hierarchy on the page. Because everything comes at me at the same level, I am not drawn to click on any of the links. If that is going to be the “news” page for ASLA, than I feel like it should take on more of a news feel. Although it is not as pretty, I tend to go to WorldLandscapeArchitect for news in the profession.

I do like the format of The Dirt. Mostly because it is in just a simple blog format…which is why blogs are so successful. Sometimes I forget to check it, but when I do, I usually find it interesting.

At first, I would not have considered having both LAND and THE DIRT to be duplicitous (I felt that The dirt usually hosted more editorial and opinion driven posts), however, as I was just checking it now…it looks as if The Dirt is just another news blog. Granted, the stories are a little more interesting than the ones found on LAND.

So, I guess my suggestion would be either to find a way to better define what goes on each site, and further develop those. Or, find a way to combine them and make it more reader friendly. I hope this feedback helps. Good luck!

p.s. I want to just stress one last thing, I think the work the ASLA is doing is very important and I think it is important that the members be made aware of what is going on. So, I do not think that they should give up on ASLA related news. One last idea would be to maybe have a section that highlights a different Chapter every month and has a story on some of the projects they are doing at the state level. Just a thought!

[Liz Pulver]

Eric,
Thanks alot for taking time to right back to me. It was helpful to hear your thoughts. I agree this website is good! dynamic and energetic. I like your idea of hooking asla into land8lounge. I’ll mention it! LP

[Liz Pulver]

Kevin,
Thanks for your insight here. Really appreciate it. You’re right-asla is important as a resource and advocacy group and has made great strides in recent years. I like your chapters idea. It’s something i’ve thought about for LA magazine too. I’ll mention it! Best, liz

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