Over the past few years, social networking has been treated by younger generations as the best invention since the video game. But a recent trend shows that the older generations are following the hype by joining Facebook themselves.

According to Ken Burbary, a professional web marketer and technologist, over 14 million Facebook users in the U.S. are ages 13-17, while over 10 million Facebook users in the U.S. are ages 55-64. Those numbers show that seniors aren’t that far behind the youngsters in terms of Facebook activity. Females, who represent over 50 percent of the Facebook population, outrank males in every age category. Middle-aged women, in particular, were reported to be the fastest-growing segment on the social networking site in 2009 and their numbers are still growing. So what’s attracting middle-aged women to Facebook?

“Women tend to be more social by nature and tend to make more buying decisions,” says Amy Jantzer, social media consultant and co-founder of weedott, a social marketing consulting company in Orlando. She said that women tend to scout for deals and coupons online and generally want to get their friends’ opinions on what to buy.

Erik Folgate, a social media and Google apps expert, says that family ties are also a driving force for older women to join Facebook.

“Their children and grandchildren are attracting them to Facebook. These middle-aged moms are nosey, and they want to see what their kids are doing on Facebook,” Folgate says via email. “They also know that it’s a much easier way for them to stay in touch with children that are now out of the house and having children. Every grandmother wants to get updates on their grandchildren, and Facebook is an easy way for them to view photos and videos of them.”

It can also be a source of nostalgia for those who are looking to reconnect with old high school friends, says Joel Goldstein, an internet marketing expert.

As for the future, Jantzer expects that this trend will fuel more older people to join Facebook. “If they don’t, they’re going to be left behind,” Jantzer said. “The younger generation - that’s just how they communicate.”

To keep up with the younger generation, many local seniors are taking classes on social media. The Orange County Library System (OCLS) offers a class called Facebook, Twitter and More, which teaches students the basics of social media and how to set up accounts on social networking sites. The class started in 2009 when many seniors started asking questions about Facebook and Twitter.

“We didn’t anticipate seniors being that interested [in social networking], says Tony Orengo, instructional technology specialist for OCLS. “I think they’re attracted to Facebook for what it is - a way connect with family members and even old friends.”

Orengo adds that about half of the adult version of the class is usually filled with seniors, and of course, females.

The class is offered in a majority of the 15 OCLS branches. The classes are free for Orange County residents with a library card in good standing.

Article by Marisa Ramiccio

The FBI reported in the Preliminary Semi-annual Uniform Crime Report in January through June 2010, that “as a whole, law enforcement agencies throughout the Nation reported a decrease of 6.2 percent in the number of violent crimes brought to their attention in the first six months when compared with figures reported for the same time in 2009.” But what about in our backyard specifically and what are our local agencies doing about it moving toward the future?

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the southeastern United States with a budget of more than $180 million dollars and over 2,400 sworn and civilian employees covering 1,004-square-miles. Orange County’s statistics indicated an overall drop in reported crime, with the exception of homicide, from a 6 percent drop in residential burglary to a 27 percent drop in auto burglaries.

Statistics provided by Orlando Police Department (OPD) reflect a similar overall drop in crime. By comparison, Orlando is approximately 104-square-miles and is protected by slightly over 800 sworn and civilian employees. According to the 2009/2010 adopted budget, approximately 32.64 percent of the roughly $359,000,000 budget went to the Police Department.

Statistics are gathered and sorted by crime type; assaults, burglaries, homicides, etc. at a global level. Gone are the days are Crime Analysts gathering staff in a room for an exercise of sticking pins in a map to determine crime patterns in specific neighbourhoods or sectors. As part of the City of Orlando’s Technology initiative, OPD has begun using www.CrimeReports.com. The online application provides simple analytics that give citizens and community groups an overall snapshot of their community. The graph and pie charts provide a breakdown of recent crime by type and percentage, and the crime trend graph gives citizens a quick view of crime trends in their area.

At no charge, members of the public can sign up for automatic email alerts customizable by location and crime type. The system generates emails, at intervals determined by the user, which advises residents when a crime occurs near their home. According to CrimeReports, their network provides software tools to help agencies understand crime tends “empowering users to make informed decisions o help improve safety of neighbourhoods and community.” The application does not replace Crime Analysts, but savings are recognized in public funds as CrimeReports hosts the application, reducing some of the city’s information technology costs.

Both the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Orlando Police Department have lost some staff due to budget cuts. So how are they managing to reduce crime in spite of it all? Through use of tools such as CrimeReports, social networking and community initiatives, law enforcement has become more proactive. Proof of this was supported by some of the information on tactical units and initiatives supplied by OPD’s Sgt. Barb Jones. “Tactical Units are proactive, self-initiated units that are assigned to the Patrol Services Bureau,” she says. “Of the three, one is focused on East Orlando, working a flexible schedule adjusting days and hours to address developing crime trends and seek out people wanted for violent offenses. They also participate and assist in several specific crime operations and initiatives through the city to combat violent crime trends that develop with particular focus on getting guns off the street.”

For readers who prefer the social networking as their technology application of choice, both the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and OPD have Facebook sites used to distribute criminal information to the public and relay items of information for each organization focused on teens and young adults who frequent the web.

Article by Monica King

Make room, ladies and gentlemen - there’s a new Sherriff’s Office in town.

After being in the works since the mid-nineties, the Lake Underhill substation opened in late February to help better serve the growing East Orlando population. According to Lee Massie, Orange County Sheriff’s Office captain of Sector 2, East Orlando is the largest of the 6 sectors within Orange County and answers the most calls annually. Sector 2 currently has about 165 deputies assigned to answer calls for service, patrol areas and keep the community safe.

“To have a facility like this affords us an opportunity to be more involved in the community we serve,” Massie says. “It also builds moral for our troops and makes them more positive.”

One of the things that makes the Lake Underhill substation so special is the emphasis on making it environmentally friendly. The building has natural lighting, storage for bicycles to encourage alternative transportation to work, water efficient landscaping and several other green initiatives. In fact, the new Sector 2 substation received 34 LEED points, which is an energy and environmental rating system for buildings. A building must only earn 26 points to be considered a LEED facility, of which the substation is only one of three LEED certified county facilities.

Instead of stark white walls, the substation is painted in calming green and blue hues. Also, a majority of the rooms in the substation are multi-functional. “Most rooms are set up to do just about anything,” Massie says. There is an on-site fitness facility that is open to all Orange County Sheriffs and a laundry room.

Another unique thing you’ll find at the Lake Underhill substation is empty offices and open rooms. “This building was built for anticipated growth,” Massie says. “So as the area grows, so will we.”

Despite being in a substation, Massie emphasizes the importance of being connected and working hand-in-hand with the Sherriff’s Office. “We’re not going to be two separate entities - we’re a continual seamless operation,” Massie says. This is done through the utilization of technology, which Massie says needs to be embraced in order to be effective. Through an online Orange County map viewer, Massie can view recent crimes that have occurred in specific areas, and then conclude where to send his deputies. If he starts to notice trends of suspicious people, he can post this on a virtual bulletin board that all sectors of the Sheriff’s Office are privy to, in an effort to share information.

“There’s a way to be both efficient and effective,” Massie says. “I have so many resources at my disposal. We can now merge crime analysis with enforcement - instead of looking for a needle in a giant hay stack, I can make the hay stack a little smaller.” Massie, who grew up in East Orange County and whose parents still live in the area, says he has a vested interest in keeping this community safe.

According to Massie, the next step is getting the citizens involved.  The Orange County Sherriff’s Office website - OCSO.com - provides a wealth of helpful tips and information, as well as the opportunity to sign up for crime alerts. “We really want to reach out to citizens,” Massie says. “They know what’s suspicious in their neighborhoods, and when they see it they can tell us so we know what to look for. That way there’s this seamless flow of information.”

Article by Katelyn Schmidt

Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Tornados. Whatever the disaster, they all have one thing in common: to save lives and put the pieces back together, it takes an elite team of disaster management professionals to respond quickly with a strong plan of action. In the past, training these unsung heroes was costly, sometimes even inefficient - but not anymore, thanks to one Orlando-based simulation company, who was just chosen by FEMA to deliver innovative training and assessment tools beginning later this year.

Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS) announced recently that FEMA has selected them to help emergency planners obtain real world experience and measure performance to gain certification through its simulation training tool, Emergency Management Staff Trainer (EMST).  The FEMA version of EMST will address critical cognitive and behavioral tasks that will contribute to the design and delivery of new technology components leading to enhanced learning and certification for emergency management personnel.

“EMST is a web-based simulation tool that allows individuals to train on their own or in a team-based environment anywhere in the world with an internet connection that basically trains emergency response decision making,” says Jeff Sestokas, senior research scientist/instructional designer and project manager at ECS. Upon entering the simulation and choosing their role in a disaster scenario, users are immediately dropped into an emergency scenario, complete with news clips, phone calls and e-mails to replicate their real world counterparts. They must prioritize, react and make decisions on the fly that will affect the outcome of each simulation.

Scenarios come from countless hours of research and interviews with seasoned emergency management personnel, some of which have more than 40 years of experience. “They are from the school of hard knocks,” says Sestokas. “A lot of them have failed in the past and through those failures, we’re able to assess cognitive drivers and create a scenario around them to train the current and future personnel in hopes they won’t repeat the same cognitive breakdowns.”

The system will now be part of the FEMA certification process for all individuals performing emergency operations. By combining the traditional, instructor-led classroom lecture learning environment with EMST, users gain invaluable experience, living through situations they would’ve never had the chance to know outside of the real thing in the past. “Combining the classroom setting with a deliberate, more interactive system can make all the difference in the world in the case of a disaster,” says Sestokas.

In addition to all of the added simulation time, the program also dissects decision making as a process. “Research shows 87 percent of all decisions are intuitively-based, with only 13 percent being analytical,” says Sestokas. “In the past, we were just training to a textbook rather than looking deeper and examining how these decisions are made at an intuitive level and that’s something we can do with EMST.”

By recording decisions in real time and providing instant feedback, users learn what they did right or wrong immediately in an effort to be better in the next disaster situation. “It provides FEMA emergency responders with more realistic training and feedback they can use right away to create clear procedures that help correct faulty mental models,” says Sestokas. “Essentially, they train to acquire expert skills by engaging in tasks that promote active learning in their domain of specialty from a computer making the process cost effective, timely and effective.”

“We’re continually looking at what expertise really is and how we can train more effectively with innovative technologies to save dollars and lives,” says Sestokas. “For FEMA, this is their next step in doing just that, and we’re honored to help.”

Article by Corey Gehrold

Three years ago Ivan Kahana was driving from the Millenia area over to Winter Park just to get in a good game of tennis. It was around this time he heard of the website Meetup.com, a social media site that allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest.

“I just thought, ‘there’s obviously got to be a tennis Meetup,’ but there wasn’t,” Kahana says. “There were well over 70 people in the Orlando area interested in tennis, but no one had taken the initiative to create a group. So I did.”

Social media websites like Meetup and Facebook have made getting a group together and getting active easier than ever in East Orlando.

With Meetup, it’s as simple as searching for a sport or activity you’re interested in, and entering your zip code. Then Meetup provides you with a list of groups in the area that share your common interest and all you have to do is join them. On an average week, there are about 500 Meetup groups gathering in the Orlando area to participate in their various activities or interests.

In the case of Kahana’s group, South West Orlando Tennis (SWOT), the group has become a melting pot of different sexes, races, religions, ages, skill levels, career goals, and family lives. The unifying characteristic is that every member of SWOT has a love for tennis.

“You don’t have to be some fantastic player to be a SWOTTER,” Kahana says. “You just have to have a passion for the sport and for meeting great people.”

This type of diversity is rarely found in sports leagues, but is a common theme in Meetup groups.

Glen Duke’s Meetup Ultimate Frisbee Group started about four years ago and welcomes various types of players.

“We have all skill levels,” Duke says. “It’s not like if someone doesn’t play well we shun them. Anyone that needs to get their frisbee fix is welcome.”

Nicholas Johnson, creator of a year-old kickball Meetup group in Orlando, appreciates how easy Meetup makes it for adults to connect.

“If you’re not in school, and you’re just a working adult, you can’t just wander into a park and find a group of people playing sports and join in,” Johnson says. “Meetup makes it possible.”

Johnson’s group is co-ed and ages range from 18 to “grey hairs.” While there is a core group of about 30 people, Johnson says there are always new people who will find the group and join in.

Facebook is also a great tool for gathering groups, as Mario Erazo learned two years ago when he first began to discover social media and created his Central Florida Soccer Facebook group.

Erazo’s group is co-ed and ages range from 18-40’s. Erazo separates the games in his groups into three categories - recreational, semi-competitive and competitive - so no matter the skill level, there’s a game for anyone who wants to play.

“Social Media is so simple - it’s wide open,” Erazo says. “I just create an event, invite people, and it’s done. Everyone is welcome and everyone has a good time.”

Kahana’s SWOT group has over 100 active members, and plays twice a week. Kahana has effectively created a network of players that can meet through SWOT’s Meetup page, and then setup good days and times to play together.

SWOT is Central Florida’s #1 social tennis group. It’s helped its members begin to exercise more, helping heart conditions and weight issues. It’s mended relationships, and started them. For many SWOTTERS, getting together for a game of tennis is the highlight of the week.

“It’s a community offering,” Kahana says. “It’s about giving back to the community by offering friendships rooted in a mutual love.”

Article by Katelyn Schmidt