New Web site designed to network IU, local community

Five years ago, IU alumnus Dale Staton worked for a company that struggled to communicate between departments because each was isolated from the others. At that time, he realized the situation was not unlike the community in his former college town: Bloomington. \nAs a result, Staton decided to establish BloomingtonOnline.net, a Web site designed to combat these problems and network Bloomington. He said Bloomington is an eclectic place, and so it is fitting that the site provides an opportunity for the diverse groups of people to communicate on a common ground.\nThe Web site offers a variety of features, including classified ads, a search directory, a chat forum and games. The site also has a calendar section, where businesses can purchase a calendar and post their events. Users can also access a number of calendars to keep up with what is happening in Bloomington.\nStaton said he likes the calendar feature because it allows users to search for diverse events around Bloomington. \n“If someone looks online and sees that an event at Jake’s is cancelled, they might see that at the same time there is a tractor pull on the west side of Bloomington,” Staton said. “They might say, ‘Hey, let’s see what a tractor pull is all about.’” \nThough he does not usually use the site, after looking at it, sophomore Seth Ball agreed. \n“It’s nice to be able to see all of my options at once,” Ball said. \nThe site generates revenue solely through the calendar and advertisements. This is important, as Staton said one of his goals is for everything to be free for users.\nStaton said his favorite part of the Web site might be the graffiti section. He has a collection of pictures of tasteful graffiti found all over the city. Users are able to send these photos as online postcards. He said he especially enjoys the graffiti section because it offers a variety of pictures that appeal to many different people. \nThe overall goal of the site is to stay local and maintain a networking system in Bloomington, Staton said.\n“I hope it becomes a true community service,” he said. “I hope it can be the place where people come to find out and tell about what is going on in Bloomington.”\nThe site also helps keep Bloomington money in Bloomington, he said, by providing an index of local resources and businesses. \nBloomington needs to “recycle money not just aluminum,” Staton said.\nJunior Bob Isphording, though not a regular user of the site, said it is a good way to “stay connected with local businesses” while on campus. \n“It’s easy to support more commercialized corporations,” he said, “and the site makes it a lot easier not to fall into that trap.”