Welcome to the Digizenburg Dispatch

Cultivating Central PA's Digital and Tech Community

Author

Don Demcsak
February 03, 2025

Introduction

Welcome to the Digizenburg Dispatch of Central PA. A "digizen" is a combination of the words "digital" and "citizen." It refers to individuals who actively engage in the digital world and share their knowledge with their local community in an informed, responsible, and ethical manner. Digizens are typically well-versed in technology, internet culture, and digital communication. They contribute to both online and real-life communities, spread digital literacy, and promote positive behaviors in both realms.

While Central PA may not be a technology hub like Silicon Valley, Seattle, Austin, or New York City, it is home to a significant number of digital and technology professionals. You might not realize how many of the people you encounter daily are also digital and technology experts, as Central PA is not commonly thought of as a tech center.

Since moving to Central PA in 2024, I've discovered that there are many individuals who fit the description of a digizen, yet they often don't expect to meet others like themselves. My first mission was to identify where other digizens gather, so I searched for various Meetup Groups and events in Central PA. I found numerous thriving (and some not-so-thriving) groups, but there wasn't a single place that aggregated all this information.

That's why I decided to create the Digizenburg Dispatch. Just as "Hippie" described a subculture in the 1970s, "Yettie" for the Dot-Com era, and "Hipster" for the 2010s, "Digizen" accurately captures a new generation of the 2020s. This group embraces both the digital world and real life in transformative ways. Their ability to seamlessly navigate both realms, taking the best from each and creating new, previously unimagined opportunities, is a defining characteristic of this emerging subculture.

But this isn’t about any Digizen, it is about the Digizens of Central PA and what better way to describe a community based in Central PA than to create a typical sounding Central PA town name, and so Digizenburg was born.

Digital technology has evolved dramatically since the mid-20th century, transforming from early computers and the inception of the internet to the widespread use of smartphones, social media, and connected devices today. Its integration into daily life has revolutionized communication, entertainment, work, and social interactions, making digital literacy and technological fluency essential skills in the modern world.  The rise of the digizen can be traced to the increasing accessibility and importance of digital technology in everyday life. As more people became adept at using digital tools and platforms, a new generation emerged, seamlessly blending digital engagement with real-world interactions, and championing the spread of digital literacy and positive online behaviors.

The Core Principles of the digizen culture are:

  • Digital Literacy: The importance of being knowledgeable and informed about digital tools and platforms.

  • Online Safety: Understanding and practicing safe internet habits.

  • Responsible Online Behavior: Ethical and respectful conduct in digital spaces.

  • Privacy and Security: Protecting personal information and respecting others' privacy.

  • Community Engagement: Contributing positively to online communities and promoting digital inclusivity.

A digizen also realizes that these principles has some challenges:

  • Misinformation and Fake News: Identifying and combatting false information online.

  • Cyberbullying and Online Harassment: Addressing and preventing harmful behavior.

  • Digital Divide: Bridging the gap between those with and without access to technology.

The focus of the Digizenburg Dispatch will be:

  • Cultivating Local Resources: leveraging existing meetups, events, and resources to enhance digital skills of Central PA.  This includes making it easier for the community to find these resources and facilitating the creation of new ones by acting as an aggregator.

  • Education – helping the community stay up to date with the latest technology trends

  • Highlight Local Technology Companies and Workforce – While many digizens work remotely, it is important to nurture our own Central PA-based companies and workforce

Central PA Digital and Tech Groups

Here is a list of the technology groups I’ve found so far. I am also creating a Google Calendar that will have all the meetings. This way everyone has easy access to know what is happening in our community. I’ve dividing Central PA into 4 areas, Lancaster, Harrisburg/Hershey, York/Gettysburg, and West Side (Mechanicsburg and Carlisle)

Lancaster Area Groups

Tech Lancaster Meetup

Pubforge - 24 E King St #42 · Lancaster, PA

Every Fourth Thursday at 6:30PM https://www.meetup.com/tech-lancaster-meetups/ 

Open Coffee Club

Mean Cup - 398 Harrisburg Ave #200 · Lancaster, PA

Elastic Lancaster User Group

Pubforge - 24 E King St #42 · Lancaster, PA

Lancaster Linux User Group

Virtual Meetup

Every Third Thursday @ 7PM https://www.meetup.com/lanclug/

Pub Standards

Tellus 360 - 24 East King Street Lancaster, PA 17602

Second Thursday 6:00PM https://www.pubstandards.us/

Harrisburg/Hershey Area Groups

Tech Council of Central PA

Virtual meetings and a quarterly in person meeting that rotates between locations

TechNet (in person) - https://www.tccp.org/technet-2/

Project Management Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/project-management-peer-learning-group/

Digital Transformation Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/digital-transformation-peer-learning-group/

Sales and Marketing Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/sales-and-marketing-in-tech-peer-learning-group/

Cybersecurity Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/cybersecurity-peer-learning-group/

Agile Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/agile-peer-learning-group/

Veterans in Tech Peer Learning Group (virtual) - https://www.tccp.org/veteransintech/

Harrisburg University CIE (Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship)

Various events not on a regular basis

York Area Groups

New Tech Meetup of Central PA

King's Mill Depot - 410 Kings Mill Rd · York, PA

Keystone Merge

First Thursday of every month rotating between York, Lancaster, Harrisburg 5PM start https://www.keystonemerge.com/

Westside Area Meetups

PAHackers

No meetings since August 2024

Digizen Bits

Blurring Boundaries: The Evolution of Our Spaces

We've all heard of the First Place (home), Second Place (work), and Third Place (where we socialize). But over the past decade, these boundaries have started to blur. Working from home has merged our First and Second Places, while coworking spaces like WeWork and local coffee shops have combined our Second and Third Places.

The Third Place has always been a hub for exchanging ideas and knowledge. However, COVID-19 disrupted these traditional spaces, pushing many of us to turn to digital or virtual spaces for socializing. Just before the pandemic in 2019, Arnault Morrison introduced the concept of a Fourth Place, where all three places intersect. In the knowledge economy, or Digital Era, these places increasingly overlap, creating a Fourth Place. Here, the lines between social and private dynamics, work and leisure, networking and social interactions, and collaboration and competition blur, making it the ideal space for the knowledge economy.

While most of us don't live in large cities with enough people to create a physical Fourth Place, many of my connections work from home, at least part of the time. This shift has led to a loss of natural socialization that typically happens at work. It made me wonder: How are you blending your First, Second, and Third Places to create your own Fourth Place.

Here is a link to the origin of the Fourth Place idea - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3056754

Subscription Shenanigans: A Cautionary Tale

We all have them—subscriptions. They're so easy to sign up for but a real pain to cancel. And those sneaky auto-renewals can hit your wallet hard! I got a harsh reminder of that this week.

I use Privacy.com for all my subscriptions (it’s a lifesaver!). For annual ones, I generate a one-time credit card number, so when auto-renewal hits, it gets denied and I need to manually renew.

So, this week, my Business Insider subscription tried to sneak through a $150 charge for another year. No thank you! I’ve got other news sources for much less. I went to cancel, and what do you know? They immediately offered me another year for just $40. That's an incredible price drop!

Lesson learned: it pays to make it hard for subscriptions to auto-renew.

Digizenburg Events

Normally would put the events coming up over the next 2 weeks, but given we just reviewed all the local meetings, I’ll skip it for this edition.