Building Community

Building Community

…[U]nderstanding why most sociologists view community in terms of social networks of relationships helps to inform online community development because it serves to indicate why some communities survive and others do not…As the Internet accelerates the trend of people moving away from interacting in physical community spaces, it may also help to integrate society and to foster social trust and increase social capital by making it easier for people to stay in contact and build new relationships.

Jenny Preece, in Online Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability

Fan crowd surfing - Green Day "21st Century Breakdown" Tour @ Copps Coliseum, Hamilton 7/16/09Summersault’s mission is “to build and sustain communities using the technologies of the Internet.”

That’s a significant undertaking for us — we don’t necessarily like that trend of “people moving away from interacting in physical community spaces.” The nature of the Internet is such that, in some areas, there’s a tendency towards isolation and independence, not forming the connections and interdependence that we think are essential to successful and happy living.

Even many website development firms will see projects and customers come and go without much personal connection.

At Summersault, we’re firmly invested in the idea that a successful business is one that cultivates long-term relationships…within the local community, between us and our clients and colleagues, and within the industry and online world in which we work. We hope you’ll enjoy learning more about our efforts to build a better world by facilitating these relationships and building communities.

Local Community Involvement

Our local community is in Richmond, Indiana and the surrounding Wayne County. We’ve lived here for many years and done business here since 1997. Despite being a small town in rural Indiana, Summersault has found it an ideal location to grow a technology business, make personal connections, and get involved in the community. As a company and as individuals, we’re proud of our location and our commitment to doing business here.

Summersault gives back to the Richmond community in a variety of ways, including:

  • Financial contributions to organizations that work to improve the community, including the Wayne County Foundation, Earlham College, the Cope Environmental Center and more.
  • Providing discounted and pro-bono consulting, development and hosting services to a number of local service organizations
  • Providing flexible scheduling and paid time for employees to engage in community activities that occur during regular business hours
  • Providing free or low-cost educational seminars on the technologies of the Internet and related topics
  • Maintaining membership in and support of various community building organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and WayNet.org.

Our Partners

The world of technology, and particularly the Internet and website development, is one of complex interdependencies. Summersault’s growth and success wouldn’t be possible without the incredible community of clients, partners, vendors, friends and colleagues that support us in so many ways. We’d like to use this space to recognize those people and organizations, and to say “thanks” for all that you do in your own communities.

  • The staff and board of the Cope Environmental Center
  • The Clear Creek Food Cooperative
  • The EDC of Wayne County
  • Whitewater Broadcasting
  • Ann Brooks / Harrington Hoch Insurance
  • Charlie Peck / Earlham College
  • Damon Hearne / Slabcreek Consulting
  • The staff of the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Derric Watson / Earlham College
  • Doug Bennett / Earlham College
  • Doug Goss / City of Richmond
  • Frank Cicela
  • Fred Aker / Systems Solutions
  • Gary Arndts / Marketing & Creative Services
  • Jason Whitney / Joe’s Pizza
  • Jenie Lahmann / Insites Design
  • Jim and Vicki Hair / Richmond Art Works
  • John Dalton / Indiana University East
  • Jon Thirkield / Floating Media
  • Joy Ann’s Bakery
  • Justin Simoni / Skazat
  • Katie McGuire / Katie McGuire Communications
  • Kelly Hale / Brady Ware
  • Mary Jo Clark / Contemporary Consulting, Inc.
  • Michael Gibbs / Augustin Printing
  • Newell Pledger-Shinn / Earlham College
  • Nick Fankhauser / DoxPop
  • Nick Zlonis / Figureground
  • Pat Heiny / Contemporary Consulting, Inc.
  • Phil Quinn / Harrington Hoch Insurance
  • Randy Kelly / Kelly Konstruction
  • Ray Ontko / Ray Ontko & Co.
  • Rich Cody and the staff of Parallax Systems
  • Rich Rankin / Wayne County
  • Rob Zinkan / Indiana University East
  • Richmond Power & Light
  • Sally Hutton, Mayor / City of Richmond
  • Sander Hicks / VoxPop
  • Scott Zimmerman / City of Richmond
  • Steve Borchers and the staff of the Wayne County Foundation
  • Tim Scales / Entrepreneurship Center at IU East
  • Tom Amyx and the staff at Tom’s New York Deli
  • Tony Foster II / City of Richmond
  • Tyler Vanderpool / RMD-Patti Insurance
  • WayNET, Inc.
  • All of our friends and family

Online Community

We may be a small business in small town Indiana, but our reach in the online world goes near and far. As a part of our work for Summersault, our staff is constantly staying up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies in the world of website development and beyond. We have a number of personal projects that use Internet technologies, and we’re always publishing information about new and exciting ways to do things. We always try to contribute back to the online community that has given us so much, including:

  • Publishing technical writings and research
  • Volunteering for various open source software projects by contributing code, writing documentation and helping with marketing
  • Maintaining various community websites
  • Attending conferences and related events that reinforce the personal connections we make in our online world
  • Providing financial support to software projects that we use to run our business
  • Donating website hosting and email services to organizations doing good work in their own communities