ChicagoNatureNOW! 2.0
The Next Step in Our Evolution:
Creating a Real Community
CLICK HERE to Donate to Our GoFundMe Campaign
The next generation of ChicagoNatureNOW! is here. With over 1,500 followers, no longer will the scouting be done by a dedicated few. It will be done by you. The future of ChicagoNatureNOW! will be guided by the level of your excitement and participation.
THE SPARK
It must have been over twelve years ago when I came up with the idea for ChicagoNatureNOW!. At the time, the plan was to rent billboards along highways to spread the good word about the natural wonders of the Chicago region. Then in 2013, the obvious dawned on me: Create a website. Duh! I immediately registered the ChicagoNatureNOW.com domain name along with its many permutations. Then in June of 2016, shortly after the media excitement for my book, My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago, wore off, I launched ChicagoNatureNOW.com to maintain the momentum.
ORIGINAL VISION
My original intention for ChicagoNatureNOW! was to create a FREE crowdsourcing community for sharing local wildflower blooming information. And though the book began my big push to educate people about these wonders, when I launched the website, I didn’t have anything resembling a crowd—only me. Now, after six years of growing the platform, we have over 1,500 weekly subscribers. That’s a crowd—the crowd I’ve been hoping for! And as a result, no longer will the scouting be performed by our small team of dedicated Nature Scouts. Now we have you. And you have each other. And together, we can fulfill the promise of ChicagoNatureNOW!. The future course of ChicagoNatureNOW! is up to you. But I wonder. Has ChicagoNatureNOW! evolved into what I’ve envisioned from the start—a passionate crowdsourcing community that loves and supports Chicago nature? It’s time to find out how badly this service is needed—a service that has provided so much hope and beauty since 2016 and that was there for people, every day without fail, during the pandemic.
WHY THE CHANGE?
Over the past six years, you’ve relied on a tiny team of dedicated volunteers to scout our many preserves for the six months, April through September. And I have personally devoted twenty hours a week to scouting, reporting, and managing the team. Never was I able to recruit enough volunteers to do the job I had envisioned. Yet, despite our limited resources, we provided fantastic reports, week after week, even in August of 2020 when I had major surgery and was out of action for over a month. Without missing a beat, our beautiful volunteers went above-and-beyond to not only scout the preserves, but to wrangle the data and write the highly complex weekly wildflower alerts. I’d like to especially thank Jim Yassick and Zeke Wei for composing those reports.
My heartfelt thanks goes out to the scouts who
have contributed to bring you the news.
We wouldn’t be here today without your dedication.
Scouting at this level of detail and timeliness is unsustainable, and we’ve finally reached our limit. It’s impossible to recruit enough volunteers who are willing to drive thousands of miles a year. The financial donations are helpful, but not nearly what we need to pay the bills. And then then there’s me.
I’ve dedicated more than six months a year over six years and spent many thousands of dollars to build the platform and keep things running. Yet, our 1,500 followers make up just 0.0169 percent of our region’s population. My time, energy, and potential are now disproportionately applied. With so many followers, I’m now counting on all of you to pick up the slack. As a force of nature and a force for nature, it’s time for me to end my six months of scouting and reporting, and resume my mission of bringing nature to the masses and into the lives of our other 8.865 million neighbors, the other 99.983 percent. Life is short. And I have many creative large-scale nature-related projects that I haven’t had time to pursue, ranging from public art exhibits and new books to a special television program and bringing my one-man nature show to a Chicago stage.
THE FUTURE IS UP TO YOU
It would be great if this service could grow to include many more quality nature preserves around the region and be a resource for people to volunteer to restore preserves near their homes. The potential of this community is limited only by our imaginations and willingness to expand its possibilities.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
The only real difference between ChicagoNatureNOW! 1.0 and the new 2.0 version is that, now, if you want the latest blooming information, simply share what you find after visiting one of our showcase preserves. Every follower will still receive our weekly newsletter, but it will contain valuable blooming predictions based on my database, not current scouting information. The up-to-date blooming information is reserved for our community of contributors who will replace our scouting team.
Ways to participate:
- Be rewarded with the latest wildflower blooming news by becoming a ChicagoNatureNOW! EXPLORER. After visiting one of our showcase preserves, just share your wildflower experience on our new special Facebook group. You’ll gain access to the latest wildflower news throughout the region thanks to the efforts of your fellow Explorers! Therefore, you must contribute to remain in the group. If this works for you, then click here to join our ChicagoNatureNOW! Explorers Facebook group. Without doing a thing, you’ll receive our weekly wildflower forecast. (To participate as an Explorer, you must have access to Facebook and it helps to have a smart phone.)
- Do nothing and simply continue to receive our weekly reports, except that now they’ll provide valuable blooming predictions, not detailed specifics and real-time blooming information.
Consider these questions:
Do you want current wildflowers news, or will our new weekly wildflower forecast be enough?
Do you want to be part of a fun community where you can learn so much so fast, or are you happy to go it alone?
Would you like to be part of something bigger than yourself?
THE FUTURE OF OUR SCOUTING TEAM
I’m hoping that our previous scouts will become Explorers and some will become administrators of the group. But at first, I’m encouraging them to lay low, be supportive, and let the community get used to scouting. We can’t keep doing all the work.
MY FUTURE PARTICIPATION WITH CHICAGONATURENOW!
I’ll still be here. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be running this community and paying its bills. And I’ll be managing the Explorer group and participating as an Explorer, but only to a point.
With all that said, I hope to see you on the trails. And I very much hope to see you sharing your experiences in the Explorer group.
Take care!
Mike