Troy's Community Newsletter

Barry B. Floyd

Project Manager -- The Uncle Sam's Home Page Project

www.uncle-sams-home.com

By Clem Marino

Give us some background about yourself (where you grew up, education, etc.)

My two brothers and I grew up a couple miles east of the Emma Willard area in Troy, near George Washington Elementary School. The neighborhood is a quiet suburb of Troy. A number of the families and friends I knew then are still in the area, including Bill Prout who works with Troy United Ink.

Later on (1980) I went to RPI, in their Architecture Program. In the Architecture Program, from 1st year, there were opportunities to learn about "industrial cities" and Troy in particular. Along the way I started taking a lot of Philosophy and Social Science classes. And, one of the Social Science classes I took was Tom Phalen's "Troy 19th Century Industrial City". This class renewed my interest in genealogy and local history, to the extent that I began doing some reading and research on my own.

With respect to my family, my father's family is originally from Massachusetts, my mother's side of the family is from the area. My grandmother (on my mother's side) worked in Troy in a law office, commuting by trolley daily. My grandfather owned the"General Tires" store in downtown Troy through the 1960's and 1970's. My mother and father also worked in the area, originally meeting through work. During the 1970's, before there were shopping malls, we shopped in downtown and on occasion went out to dinner at the Troy Club (since destroyed in a fire).

Towards the end of my college career, I maintained an interest in Troy. After some traveling around the country and a couple trips overseas, I decided to stay in Troy. The most obvious evidence of this choice was when I bought a duplex off of 15th Street almost 10 years ago. The house, built in the 1860's, needed some work but suited my needs. I learned a bit about the house, and neighborhood, over the years - Mt. Ida, Prospect Park, The Gorge, etc.

What is The Uncle Sam's Home Page Project? (It has been advertised in TUI for the last 18 months)

It is a World Wide Web site, formally started in November 1996. Prior to that, I had been informally collecting notes and kept up on my research. At one point I realized I had amassed enough information to put together a book or newsletter. But during the late 1980's and early 1990's I didn't know how to get a book published and I knew how much time and money a newsletter cost.

The WWWeb site format enabled me to "publish" information about Troy and to regularly update the information as needed. As a local student, a resident, an employee, etc. I had a variety of perspectives regarding the type of information that might be of interest to various audiences. With the latest re-write of the WWWeb site I have added collections of information in the form of "profiles" (e.g. families, students, commuters, etc.)

Another major component of the WWWeb site has been the support of TUI on-line. When I first saw the newsletter in a local store, I knew there must be some way to collaborate. It seemed that TUI was providing various audiences with information that was not otherwise available or easily obtained by the readers. In this, I believed Uncle Sam's Home Page and Troy United Ink were performing similar functions but using different media.

Why did you start the Uncle Sam's Home Page Project?

Through college and since I had helped publish newsletters. With the advent of desktop publishing systems, it made it possible but there were still a number of costs I couldn't avoid. While at school, I had also "published" an on-line philosophy newsletter, using "LISTSERV" (pre WWWeb). This seemed like a good idea with respect to the Troy information, but other than college students it seemed like not enough people had access to computers or the Internet.

After a 18 month sabbatical ending in late 1996, I started getting involved in World Wide Web site development. Now it seemed like there were enough people on-line and there was little or no cost to publish. Distribution is nearly free and you can update content as needed. I put together an informal business plan, outlining objectives and doing some market research and competitive analysis. I found that it could be done and at the time only a few of the major cities (New York, Boston, etc.) had widely recognized WWWeb sites. Since then, many other "city sites" have emerged.

Thus, The Uncle Sam's Home Page Project was born. With the fourth and most recent re-write of the WWWeb site the Project is now known as "Uncle Sam's Place (tm)".

How is the project doing?

I get a lot of positive feedback via e-mail and the WWWeb site statistics reflect a significant increase in month-to-month usage. While it will never attain the activity level of many better publicized sites, it is now realizing 10,000 page requests per month with a 15% - 20% month-to-month growth rate. I also feel the WWWeb site is maturing in its style, content and procedures. Overall, I would say it is doing better than expected.

Needless to say, I have learned a lot in the past two years (re)designing and maintaining Uncle Sam's Place. The first few months went by very quickly. Through friends of friends I met up with Mike and Jim Gile of "Web Services Group" (http://www.wsg.net). I presented my ideas and found they were getting involved with the City on a similar project. They were, and remain, very supportive of the Project. We established a good working relationship early on, which in hindsight has been critical to the success of the Project.

What is your opinion of Troy? What is your vision for Troy?

Troy and the Capital District are both unique and not unlike many other urban centers. Troy is unique for its history, as well as its relatively compact geographic size. It has an aesthetically pleasing downtown architecture and an ideal relation to the Hudson River, now with what seems like an ever expanding marina and an adjacent park. As I get more personally involved in various organizations and businesses in Troy, I am finding a great deal of support for the City and its neighborhoods. For these things and more, I have been, and remain, happy living in Troy.

Troy is not unlike many other urban centers in that it has lost many of its downtown residents over the past couple of decades to the suburbs. With the residents so went many types of retail outlets. However, unlike many other urban centers

Troy and its people seem to have taken advantage of newer trends. For example, many employers have moved hundreds of employees into downtown Troy (i.e. the State, incubator center, and River Street businesses). With the employees so arrive many other types of businesses catering to these employees or employers directly or indirectly - restaurants, office furniture and supply stores, galleries and banquet facilities, hotels, etc. For these things and more, I believe the City and its people will prosper now and in the future.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Barry Floyd has recently joined the Board of Troy United Ink.

In cooperation with Troy United Ink Corp., a not-for-profit corporation
Items published herein do not necessarily represent the opinions of Troy United Ink Corp., its officers or it's Board of Directors.

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