Greetings,

I'm writing to present folks with a chance to give input on the future
of data that we'll have available for our local communities.

A a liaison with the U.S. Census Bureau, many of you may have heard me
speak about a new data program called the American Community Survey
(ACS), which will take over most data for our cities and towns starting
in 2010.

We have some major concerns with the ACS and the quality and usefulness
of the data that it will produce for our local communities.

In DC in early October, the Director of the Census Bureau met with me,
and requested that we hold a focus group in Vermont to react to samples
of the data that we can expect for our towns in 2010.  This would be the
first-ever chance for us to see what the data could look like and for
the Census Bureau to hear directly from us.

We need to pull this together quickly!  I have two prospective days and
locations for this focus group: 12/2 in Burlington and 12/4 in Berlin.
If you are interested, please let me know ASAP of your availability for
these days and any times of day that DON'T work for you.

We especially want local decision-makers (e.g. Selectboard members,
managers, administrators, planner, etc), but we'll consider all comers
at this point.

I need to get an initial count of those interested to the Bureau
tomorrow.  Please get back to me, and I'll keep you in the loop.

Thank you,
Chip
____________________
WILL SAWYER
Manager
Vermont State Data Center
at the Center for Rural Studies
http://crs.uvm.edu/census
207 Morrill Hall
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone: 802.656.0892
Email: [log in to unmask]