Front Porch Forum has enjoyed a surprising level of success facilitating neighbor-to-neighbor connection. In our first half-year, 20% of the City of Burlington has subscribed and put our free service to great use. Thanks and congratulations to the thousands of people who are making it all happen.
Now, we’re focused on developing a local-business-to-neighbor component… our new sponsorship program. We intend to provide snippets about local businesses largely not available elsewhere, AND, in the process, we aim to generate enough income to cover the expenses associated with hosting 130 neighborhood forums across Chittenden County.
We’ve been working on this (and posting updates on the various neighborhood forums) for the past few months. Now, this week, we tested our first sponsor message from Seven Days, the local free weekly newspaper (Cathy Resmer blogged about it)…
SPONSOR MESSAGE
By Seven Days, http://sevendaysvt.com, web@sevendaysvt.com
Wed, 16 May 2007Should Zoe Christiansen be allowed to play her clarinet on Church Street? Find out why this young busker was banned from the Marketplace. Listen to her music and tell us what you think at http://sevendaysvt.com.
We’re sensitive about balancing this new program with the desire to keep each neighborhood forum focused on the neighbor-to-neighbor conversation, so your feedback will be much appreciated. We’re excited about the sponsorship program because it will support (hopefully!) Front Porch Forum as we move forward AND it will give local businesses and nonprofits a chance to connect with various neighborhoods.
We’re still in an early testing phase, so we’re only working with a few sponsors. If your business, nonprofit, agency, special event, etc. is interested in sponsoring a few to all of the neighborhood forums in and around Burlington, please add your information to our sponsor wait list. If you already have joined that wait list and would like to join Seven Days and others in our initial test, please contact me directly. Cheers! -Michael
Posted in: Front Porch Forum, Small Business Advertising, Updates and Admin
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
We’ve heard from several members about our sponsorship plans. A few folks have voiced the desire to keep their forum “neighbor only,” while others have been open to learning more about local businesses and programs. Here’s a comment just received from a member of the Farrell Street Neighborhood Forum…
“I think the sponsorship program is a great idea and I enjoyed the first post by Seven Days seeking input to the issue of Zoe C. performing on the Marketplace. It really seems like it can offer a way to participate in the larger Burlington community’s quality of life. Speaking for myself, it is also a great reminder of where to buy/exchange/seek local items and services.”