A very bare Community Media Lab at The Reporter headquarters in Lansdale. Photo by Andy Stettler

By Andy Stettler

Asst. online editor

Many have asked “What is a Community Media Lab?”

The answer: Whatever you need it to be.

Okay, maybe that’s being a little too broad but the fact is that The Reporter’s Community Media Lab is being developed to suit the needs of a growing physical and digital community.

In many cases, that may mean the lab will be a place to learn about blogging and using social media to increase your presence, your business’ or organization’s web presence.

In today’s digital world, very few organizations can thrive or survive if they are not consistently working to improve — or build from scratch — a presence on the Internet.

We believe, in the beginning, that this is what the lab’s primary use will be, to teach the community about how to build and improve a web presence. But we want the lab to do more.

So you tell us. What can this lab do for you? What do you want to learn? What could a coffee-house-style space be? How would you use it? Please, fill out the form below and help us build this Community Media Lab into something Lansdale, North Penn, the Indian Valley, whomever, will be proud of.

Because even though we use the term, “The Reporter’s Community Media Lab,” we know full well that in order for the lab to really be built for the community, it must be built by the community.

Do you decorate your home with outdoor holiday lights? Each year The Reporter maps out the area's neighborhoods light displays. We map everything from the grandest, brightest lights displays to the more casual "wreath and spotlight" displays. We want to see it all!

Most importantly, we want you to register your display so that  local families can get an idea of where to find the displays. Many families enjoy a ride around local neighborhoods to see the lights and get into the holiday spirit.

We're hoping our map will add to the holiday cheer.

To register a lights display  fill out the form below and we'll add your information to our Holiday Lights Map within 48 hours. Follow @LansReporter on Twitter? Tweet a photo with the geo-tag or typed-out location of your favorite holiday displays using the #LansLights hashtag. We'll see your tweets and add the information to our map.