In a recent post entitled "The Future of Thanet" in "The Big Blog" Adem raises some interesting questions. Prime among them is what can we actually do about the decline Thanet is facing.

"Most of the local blogs or the newspaper articles I read point towards an area in steep decline but surely there is something we can do? On face value it appears that there is nothing we can do, but that is me being pessemistic, and just because the council are happy for the towns to die doesn’t mean that we should be."
"The Future of Thanet", Adem, 14th February 2008

I mentioned in the comments something I have said before - we bloggers hold a lot of power (by which I mean influence) if only we allowed ourselves to discover how to use it. The only person I can be sure to influence is myself. This is true for everyone.

So rather than moan about the state of the area I intend to take action and this is what I prose to do

I can choose to vote with my feet (as can anyone else). I can choose to avoid Westwood cross if comparable services exist elsewhere. There is, actually, nothing special about Westwood Cross anyway and the truth is that it hold no appeal for me beyond the fact my bank forces me to travel there rather than a more convenient location.

This is not because I think centres like Westwood Cross are inherently bad but that I think our town centres are important and my preference is towards shops I can walk to. It seems to me that the full impact was not considered and I seem to recall that the council assured us that the town centres would not suffer. This has not been the case from where I am viewing things.

£50 of Free Resources

I can also vote with this blog and it's resources. I am going to dedicate a total of £25 of advertising to other Thanet Bloggers. To get hold of that a blog writer need only to write quality and positive review of an independent business that is located in what's left of our town centres. I will double your share if you manage to include an interview with the owner.

To claim simply email me an image and the URL you would like to have it linked to and I will set you up with your free advertising set to deliver a steady stream of impressions over the course of a week or so. You can claim additional advertising impressions for additional reviews.

I will further match this with a fund of £25 for additional advertising for the business in question if the business emails or messages me with a 125 square image and a URL they would like it pointed at.

To go with this I am going to offer 20% extra on any purchase of advertising to any Thanet based SME (Small or Medium sized Enterprise) and I'll knock £100 off any web consultancy work too. This is providing they are not based in the source of the drainage on the town centres (Westwood Cross).

Why do this?

Because I believe in Thanet and I also believe that unless we business owners not only start to think out side our tiny boxes but start to consider the social impact of our businesses Thanet has little to hope for. We can not afford to wait for Sandy Ezekial, Frank Thorley or anyone else to take action but we must find the action we can take ourselves first.

I am aware that I have not exactly been able to offer billions but it is slightly less that needs to be found to solve the decay of Thanet. What will you offer?