The month of February seems to have gotten away from me. So on this Leap Day it's about time for a NeighborMedia update. There's lots of project news to report, especially regarding outreach.

• Training program additions: CCTV kicked off a new course schedule that includes Blogging 101 and Citizen Journalism 101. Both were extremely successful in their first runs.
  
  -Blogging 101 is taught by CCTV's newest staff member, Colin Rhinesmith, and was enjoyed so much by its students that they requested a second session to be held next week. That class will be offered again on Monday, March 31.
  -Citizen Journalism 101 is taught by John Grebe, host of "Sounds of Dissent" on WZBC-FM, and is being offered again next Wednesday, March 5. The February Cit-Jo class turned out a dynamic group of Cambridge residents who had many interesting story ideas. It was a great outreach opportunity for the NeighborMedia program. There is a free orientation on Monday for any non-members interested in becoming members and taking this class.
  -Another course in the new journalism track is Beginning TV News Production, now in progress with instructors Birgit Werner and James Barabas who are part of the You Are Here news team.




• Neighborhood outreach: Targeted neighborhood outreach commenced this month, with citizen journalists pooling together materials to hand out at neighborhood meetings along with brief presentations.
  
  -While the Area IV community spent most of February dealing with the loss of 18-year old Lucien Christalin, 02139's Sharon Stentiford was able to fit in some NeighborMedia outreach focused on youth, first speaking at a meeting of City Peace, then the A4NC meeting where much of the conversation was around engaging youth. Then Sharon and Toni Bee hosted two BeLives that featured Area IV teens.
  
  -Meanwhile, in East Cambridge, Ilan Levy and William O'Neill presented the NeighborMedia program at a meeting of the East Cambridge Planning Team. Attendees watched a video clip from the 02141 segment of the October Wrap-Up show. At all meetings in EC and Area IV, the handouts seen here were passed out with viewing information and appropriate contact information.
• Cambridge Eyesores: This is a great idea for an ongoing feature, the brainchild of Karen Klinger. Check out what she calls "the mother of all eyesores" here.