Good looking publication recently released from Vermont Technology Alliance, Vermont Technology Council, and Vermont Biosciences Alliance…
Tapping Tech 2.0: Transforming Vermont’s Economy
See pp. 16-17 for a write-up of Front Porch Forum.
Category Archives: Local Online
Pretty antique books
#BTV #VT - Posted today by K.K. in downtown Burlington…
Sometimes I’ve worried that hard copy books will become obsolete, but I received 30 responses to my offer for my antique books from FPF members. They have found a new loving home and I thank everyone for their interest. Go Front Porch Forum!
Vermont’s digital future, social media, social responsibility, local politics…
#BTV #VT - Three compelling events over the next week in Burlington, Vermont…
May 7, 6 PM
#BTVMayor: How Social Media is Redefining Politics
Maglianero Cafe, 47 Maple Street
Front Porch Forum will be featured on the panel.
May 8
Vermont’s Digital Future Conference
Champlain College
FPF will be on the Connecting Communities panel.
May 15
VBSR 2012 Spring Conference – Creating Pathways for Vermont’s Next Business Generation
UVM Davis Center
FPF is proud to be a conference sponsor.
Calais collective community diary…
#Calais #VT - Published on the e-Vermont site today…
Front Porch Forum Helps Calais Neighbors Connect
What if nearly every household in a small rural town were in daily communication with each other? What would change?
e-Vermont partner Front Porch Forum provides towns and neighborhoods with a virtual town green and bulletin board. Once FPF is set up in a town, it opens unlimited possibilities to connect
Calais is a great example.
Out of the 680 households in town, 570 people are members of the Calais Front Porch Forum, and they’ve shared 2,300 postings with neighbors since it began fifteen months ago.
Dozens of lost pets have been reunited with owners, cars sold, used strollers given away, mechanics recommended, break-ins reported and much more. Adoption has reached the point where most local institutions have come to count on it as well, as seen by this posting:
“I do not know if this will work, but my pastor referred me to this FrontPorchForum.com. My car died on me. I am trying to find a ride to work for 10am. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.” -Danielle Duprey
In addition to transactions and news sharing, Calais citizens use their FPF to debate local issues, including exchanges about road conditions, WiFi in the school, and more.
“You know, Front Porch Forum at times may sound more like a lively Town Meeting than neighbors talking while they rock on their front porches, but in the end we seem to have arrived at a pretty good place.” – Elizabeth Davis
Each posting, almost regardless of the topic, weaves an additional strand in the web of community.
“I woke up this morning thinking about FPF… our collective community diary that records where we have been and help us work together where we are going. Thank you everyone for broadening our community, giving us a way to better understand each other.” -Peter Harvey
Top ten reasons neighbors no longer know each other
#VT - From Karen Wyman in the Williston Oberserver…
I remember growing up and knowing everyone on my block, including their pets. All of us neighborhood kids would go on epic bike rides (sans helmets of course) or play group games such as “Manhunt,” “Ghost in the Graveyard,” kickball or Wiffle ball. As darkness fell, we waited until our parents yelled our names before we even thought about heading home.
Some of my favorite memories were created with my childhood next-door-neighbor. Her parents owned a furniture store, and we would spend hours playing “house.” No dollhouse could ever compare to those life-size decorated rooms. I remember calling each other on large rotary phones every morning to see what adventures lay ahead of us that day…
Front Porch Forum is a great way to get recommendations, communicate important information or to simply connect with neighbors for a common interest…
Here are the top ten reasons I believe why neighbors no longer know each other:
#10. Lawn services
Back in the day, the only people working on lawns were the homeowners. This created a great opportunity to run around with the neighbors while Mom and Dad were outside working. Today, hanging out with the TruGreen guys just isn’t the same.#9. Decline of the front porch
This is another social tie that has gone by the wayside. People now hang out in their backyards on their decks. They probably don’t even know what kind of cars their neighbors drive or what time they get home from work. I used to be able to tell that it was almost supper time when I would see Mr. Whitcomb’s car pull in. Likewise, when I heard his car start up in the morning, I knew it was 7 a.m. without even looking at the clock. Today, if I wanted to be aware of my neighbor’s coming and goings, I would have to follow him on Twitter.#8. The Internet
Many people can now work from home, do all of their shopping online and even have their groceries delivered. You can conceivably never leave your house.#7. Gym memberships
Health clubs weren’t really around when I was younger. People would get their workout the old-fashioned way — walking/jogging/biking around the neighborhood. So, if you were out on your front porch or doing your own yard work, you would see them. Today, people head to an out-of-town gym or work out in their own homes with a slew of fitness DVDs. In the past, there were only so many times we could rewind those Jane Fonda VHS tapes before we gave up and headed outside for a walk.#6. Dual-income families
There are simply fewer people home during the day. The adults go to work and the kids — and even the dogs — go to daycare.#5. No free time
We have so many “time saving” advances, yet we don’t seem to be any more efficient. You’d think not having to get up and walk across the room to change the television channel or adjust the volume would give us at least an extra hour a week!#4. Fear
The media has scared us so much that we may actually fear strangers. They constantly remind us there could be predators or meth labs right next door to us. This doesn’t really encourage people to bring a fruit basket to a new neighbor.#3. Laziness
If we get to know our neighbors, they may actually (gasp) ask us for a favor. We don’t want to water their plants while they’re away or help them finish their basement.#2. School bus stops
It seems like the buses these days stop at each child’s house. We had one stop that the entire neighborhood walked to. That’s where we always met the new kids and got to know each other’s parents.
Are condos and community mutually exclusive?
#VT - Some people assert that residents of condominiums and apartments are less inclined to be neighborly or care about community. I disagree. While these areas may have fewer postings on Front Porch Forum than some single-family-home dominated neighborhoods, many of their residents still value community. Here’s a note from Robynn today, writing from a condo development in Chittenden County to FPF…
…a commendation to you and your staff! What you produce is top quality, first class. I LOVE FPF! It’s how I found my eye doctor, was able to donate notebooks to a worthy cause, way to volunteer in the community, and even though my recent bike posting did not net a sale, it felt good to try and sell it before it heads to Earl’s bike swap on Thursday. I feel more connected to my community because of our FPF. Thank you for what you do for our community and all others in VT!!
FAQ: Can I trash my neighbor on FPF?
Melissa in Underhill answers this question today on her FPF…
I love Front Porch Forum: I’ve bought a juicer, learned about fuel pricing, got free lily of the valleys and met new neighbors in the process!
FPF is a great place to stay informed about all kinds of issues, and positive debate addresses just that: the issues, not necessarily the individuals.
Furthermore, if you truly have something to get off your chest with your neighbor, then please do it in person. So much of communication is nonverbal and all of this is lost in an email. Got a problem? Have the confidence to go talk to your neighbor.
Borrow a hole saw?
#VT - Greg on the Underhill Front Porch Forum…
Wow. I’ve received so many offers to my request to borrow a hole saw. If I wrote a note of thanks to each of you individually, it would take me a week! So please accept this FPF posting as my note of thanks to each of you. This is a great community!
Argyle, NY… neighbors connecting via FPF
Some good folks in Argyle, NY knocked on FPF’s door awhile ago and asked that we bring our service to their town. Well… they wouldn’t take no for an answer, and now two months after launching there, they’ve got 200 neighbors signed up (out of 1,500 households)! And, wow, do they put their FPF to good use. Thanks to Diana for her lovely posting today that she shared with neighbors…
You know one of the reasons I love Front Porch Forum? Ken and I had a cold frame we were no longer using and instead of letting it sit until it deteriorated, we offered it up on FPF and, no kidding, within minutes after it was posted we had someone who wanted it. Not only did we give away something that was still usable, we also met a ‘new neighbor’ to Argyle. This was one of the things I loved most when I was town clerk – meeting the people in our wonderful town. Thank you to all who have made this forum possible.
That’s the ticket! We love to see people use FPF to solve a problem AND meet some neighbors in the process. Go Argyle!
UPDATE: And Linda just posted…
I am amazed at the number of people who are part of Front Porch Forum. This is the greatest idea since sliced bread! I have lived here for many years and am familiar with a great many people but it’s also amazing to hear from others that I don’t know. We live in a wonderful town and it’s great to know that we are all, in a sense, neighbors.
Baltimore Sun covers emerging neighbor-connect online space
#VT - Jamie Smith Hopkins paints a vivid portrait of the quickly emerging online space where neighbors connect in tomorrow’s Baltimore Sun…
People looking for an online neighborhood forum used to have few free choices beyond discussion sites such as Yahoo groups or email lists. Now options are popping up left and right. Besides Nextdoor, which launched nationally last fall, there’s Home Elephant, My Virtual Neighbor, Neighborland, Yatown and Hey, Neighbor! — to name a few. Some are available in just a handful of cities so far.
“There’s probably 20 startups in this space,” said Michael Wood-Lewis, chief executive and co-founder of another site, Front Porch Forum. His company launched eons ago, in Internet terms — 2006…
Neighbors write in with questions, problems, ideas or needs — “Urgently seeking lost dog,” for example — and the company compiles everything into an emailed newsletter that comes out as often as there’s sufficient content.
In Burlington, Vt., 10,000 of the city’s 16,000 households have signed up. In Westford, Vt., residents used Front Porch Forum to start a food pantry. And in tiny Moretown, one of the Vermont communities hit hard by Tropical Storm Irene last August, neighbors reported that having had the e-newsletter for a year beforehand turned out to be a big help.
“During that year, book clubs were formed, dog-walking groups got together, the school’s PTA got stronger, more people were showing up for events,” Wood-Lewis said. “So when a disaster hit, it wasn’t a bunch of kind of vaguely familiar strangers who weren’t sure how to reach each other. They were living in a community.”
Atlanta-based Home Elephant, which launched last year, allows users in the same neighborhood to share news, chat and pass on alerts. People can sign in through Facebook and let the company suggest neighbors to “friend.” Nearly 6,200 neighborhoods in more than 70 countries — including some areas in Maryland — are using it.
Chandler Powell, a Home Elephant co-founder, said… he feels like the David to Nextdoor’s Goliath, because Nextdoor is a Silicon Valley startup with venture capital money. Home Elephant — so named because elephants are social creatures — has no marketing budget and is a nights-and-weekends labor of love at the moment, Powell said.
Nextdoor, with its Facebook-like feed for neighborhood conversations, has an immediately familiar look. It also has designated spots for recommendations, resources, photos and the like, along with a map showing where participants live. And users can receive neighborhood “urgent alerts” sent as text messages to their cellphones.
If there’s no Nextdoor site in your neighborhood, you can start one — but only if you get nine other neighbors to sign up within three weeks. The company is trying to avoid ghost-town websites.
To join, you have to prove you live where you say you do — providing your home telephone number for a verification call, for instance. Or a vetted neighbor can vouch for you, which is how Nextdoor said most people end up joining.
Of the approximately 2,000 Nextdoor neighborhood sites, 20 are in Maryland. Seven more are in the pilot stage locally, waiting for enough sign-ups.