We’re excited to announce the official launch of our goTenna Mesh Ambassador Program! Over the past few months, we’ve put together a plan to help local Mesh enthusiasts get their communities connected.
Our long-time friends @MikeL from Urbana and @gua742 from Seattle will be our first Mesh Ambassadors. They’ve already done some great leg work in their respective communities, and we’re excited to highlight their efforts.
For more information, to get involved, or to check on the progress of each campaign, go here:
Also, we’re excited to hear from Mike and George in their Urbana and Seattle threads. They’ll be sure to keep us updated on their local initiatives. If you have any questions about what they’re working on, don’t be afraid to reach out.
Plus - help us spread the word about the Seattle & Urbana campaigns by using #meshmytown on social media. We hope to add more campaigns soon, and can’t wait to see entire communities meshed - let’s do this!
I’m interesting in how you get mesh units distributed? How do you entice people to maintain and keep them up and running? Do they connect a device to the mesh?
Thanks for the great introduction, Austin. Also thanks to Virginia who has worked hard over the last few months to get the Ambassadorship Program on it’s feet and ready to bring the mesh to the masses. And to everyone at goTenna who have worked so hard to get this great idea off the ground, where some ended up in Chicago and my wife, Maiko, received one as a gift.
As soon as I heard about what goTenna Mesh was, I knew it would be useful for many Urbana residents, as well as visitors. If you’re coming to the football game on Saturdays, give me a Shout if I can help with parking or game info or send me a message to GUID 9229 0810 5651 83 if I can help with a game day question. That’s part of my job working parking and the mesh is just one more way to help me deliver customer service. This is also a big town for food and working the mesh can allow new entrepreneurs to manage deliveries. Our town also walks to work in many cases, so the mesh can deliver friends and family from those “Where are they?” moments.
It’s an honor to be recognized for doing this project. I’ve been involved in many community organizing projects in my time. This one has been incredibly satisfying so far and it’s just getting rolling. There is already about 3.5 square miles of mesh service in central Urbana covering downtown and beyond. We’re looking for people to the west and the east to host a node. All that’s needed is easy rooftop access. The nodes are solar powered. They sit on the roof and do their thing reliably with just check in every so often because the power arrangements of a small battery pack and a solar panel are still a little experimental as we finalize a design that is stet to take the mesh texting right through the cold, gloomy Midwest winters.
And what about Champaign? We’re working on that. It would jump start things if there is some interest in the campus high-rises. Live there or know someone who does? That is the easy way to get there, but more down to earth connections will also work.
Hey, the previous and the Urbana thread may give some ideas, but it’s been mostly about knowing people in the right places. Friends and associates in some of my past adventures have responded to my odd seeming requests. As they learn more, it makes more sense. Getting the GTMs into their hands helps as much as anything, although several of the hosts have yet to try them. Since they’re solar powered, that’s makes power easy, although I’ve only recently felt the system we’re using is going to suffice, with a full test coming soon as the days get shorter.
I’ll try to be more help in a day or so. I’m scrambling right now to get to a 2600 meeting, a great place for networking. Then I have to be out in the hurricane rain at 6am Saturday for a game with a 6:30pm kickoff to help park people. Maybe they’ll Shout or send me a note at GUID 9229 0810 5651 83? Then I’ll be back to making more mesh starting Sunday
Right now we are focused on getting things going in Seattle & Urbana - but if you are interested you can email ambassador@gotenna.com (just send us your name, local community, and why you’re interested in becoming a Mesh Ambassador) and we’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready to expand the program.
Hi Dan, we have your request via your note to the marketing email - and yes we’re just setting up the ambassador@gotenna.com email today and it should be working shortly!
Thanks for your interest in the goTenna Ambassador program! As Austin mentioned, we are currently focusing on Seattle and Urbana but hope to expand the program in the future.
If you are interested in meshing NYC, check out our In The Mesh article that talks about a program we are working on with the city to get small businesses goTenna Mesh devices.
