"Humanity Ascending: A New Way Through Together" is "a cutting-edge documentary that provides a message of hope for a worried world," according to the producers. It will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Grove, 71 Orange St., New Haven, with hosts Melissa Waldron and Rachel Heerema.

Barbara Marx Hubbard narrates "Humanity Ascending: A New Way Through Together."

The narrator of the film, futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard, has been a leading voice for innovative change in the world for the past 40 years, and has been called the "intellectual heir" of R. Buckminster Fuller, according to a release.

As a visionary, author, speaker, social architect and co-founder and president of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, she believes that humanity now, as never before, is on the threshold of a quantum leap. If we are able to integrate newly emergent scientific, social, and spiritual capacities, we could transform ourselves to move beyond our current global crises to a magnificent future equal to our vast new potential, the release stated.

"Conversations with God" author Neale Donald Walsch says, "at a time of increasing confusion and rising concern about our planet's future, the Humanity Ascending Series unravels the mystery of our collective experience in an extraordinary overview that is breathtaking in its scope, startling in its clarity, and gloriously hopeful in its thoughts about tomorrow, demonstrating once again why Barbara Marx Hubbard is considered a global treasure and one of the greatest visionaries of our time."

For more information on the film, visit the Humanity Ascending website. Melissa Waldron, a writer, consultant and local food systems advocate, writes the blog Fertile Ground USA and is a member of the New Haven Register's Community Media Lab.

By Angi Carter |Community Engagement Editor

acarter@nhregister.com

Twitter: @ReachAngi

Facebook: Angi Carter or New Haven Register Community Media Lab

Sooo, Ed and I have discovered a great resource for thecommunity, businesses and bloggers – all in one spot.

It’s called The Grove on Orange Street in New Haven. Every2nd Monday of each month, bloggers and folks with social media or marketingexpertise get together there for a “Bloggers and Beer” networking event.

We got turned onto it by Giulia Gouge, a master Twitter useryou should follow: @giuliag.

#thankyou.

Ed and I got a chance to meet other folks who are startingblogs or looking for ways to improve their blogs. We also encouraged them tobecome part of the Register’s online blogging hub the Community Media Lab.

Even though we are full-time journalists, we don’t know itall when it comes to writing or blogging skills and we don’t pretend to.

As Ed and I figure out the offerings of this blog and growthe Community Media Lab, we’ll be offering weekly tidbits that we pick up alongthe way. So here are some tips we lucked out on hearing at The Grove. I hopeyou find this first edition of “Get Your Blog On” as helpful as it was for us:

Know your mission and purpose for blogging:

Start your blog and create each post with a clear sense ofthe message you want to convey, who you are trying to reach and what you aretrying to achieve with the content you provide for that audience.

Content is Queen:

Content is the most important tool we have as bloggers toengage our audiences. Spruce it up with links to previous posts or to websitesthat can help provide context; videos or maps; and photographs.

Give people an idea of what they can expect in a future postand issue a call to action. Ask them to comment or hit your Google+ and Likebuttons.

We will definitely be returning to The Grove – with someother bloggers alongside us.

By Ed Stannard, Community Engagement Editor
estannard@nhregister.com
Twitter: @edstannardnhr, @nhrvoices
Facebook: Ed Stannard-Register, Community Media Lab

It’s a big new digital world we live in, and we’re all at different places on the path. So it’s great to meet up with others and trade ideas.

That’s the idea behind “Bloggers and Beer,” a monthly event at The Grove, a kind of social-entrepreneurial incubator and nice place to hang out. I went there today with Angi to find out what was happening. We had an ulterior motive too—to spread the word about our Community Media Lab of bloggers. We’re always looking for new writers to add to our stable.

I don’t know if it was the blogging or the beer, but more than 15 people were there: everyone from a guy who’s running multiple blogs, to someone getting ready to launch, to a hat designer. Some had no clue how to get a blog going. Most had something they weren’t sure about. (I include myself in the category of “have a clue, but not a big one.”)

The topic of the day was content—how to make a blog interesting to draw traffic. There was talk about having bright, interesting headers, photos, graphics, and how people sharing on social media makes the audience bigger.

Someone said something like, “Once someone tells me how to do something, I feel like I should have known that already.” I’ve felt that many times. Here’s my take on it: This digital medium is like going to a new country. Even when you know what’s going on, it can feel foreign and strange. We should assume we know everything there is to know, even if we knew it when we put out a newspaper or a newsletter. That’s why we need to get together, share ideas. The bottom line: There are no stupid questions, and if anyone asks me something that’s obvious to me, I need to remember that I have asked others things that were obvious to them.

That was the tone at today’s gathering at the Grove: People helping each other, bringing them along. It was exciting and fun. Join us next time!