Front Porch Forum | Ghost of Midnight

#VT Media and Civic Engagement

Posted on Wednesday, May 11, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

I’m looking forward to participating on a couple of panels this month. Please join the discussions!

VBSR 2011 Spring Conference
May 12, 2011
Burlington, VT, UVM Davis Center

Changing Media Landscape Brings Challenges and Opportunities for Vermont Businesses

John Curran, Associated Press Vermont Bureau
Erik Filkorn, Richmond Selectboard
Anne Galloway, VTdigger.org
Angelo Lynn, Addison Independent
Michael Wood-Lewis, Front Porch Forum
moderator: Julia Andrews, Spike Advertising

There’s no question that news media are at an interesting crossroads. Many people are sitting in a news netherworld, not wanting to spend an hour reading the local paper but left wanting more by the 24-hour national news cycle. Across the country, new and interesting models are cropping up to fill the need for relevant and easily accessible information, and Vermont is no exception. Panelists will talk about how their organizations are combining modern media with Vermont’s old-fashioned values to fill the information gap, keeping Vermonters informed and connected, and helping them get involved in their local communities.

Citizen Leadership in a Connected Age
May 21, 2011
Vermont Technical College, Randolph, VT

Online Tools for Real World Communities

Helen Labun Jordan, Director, e-Vermont Community Broadband Project
Michael Wood-Lewis, Front Porch Forum
Susan Clark, Author, Middlesex Town Moderator, Middlesex Solutions Committee Chair
Christopher Grotke and Lise LePage, Owners, iBrattleboro

Many of us have high hopes for what online tools can do to strengthen our community, but we also have worries about the pitfalls of virtual life. Will online gaming replace a game of softball with friends? Will anonymous complaints replace constructive conversations? Learn about strategies you can use to foster virtual connections that spill over into the real world. Session will combine short panel presentations of what has worked in some Vermont towns with discussion and ideas—sharing by the audience.

unofficial green-up was simple and quick to organize #VT

Posted on Monday, May 2, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Erin Kranichfeld wrote a great piece for Sunday’s #BTV Free Press. She opens with…

I’m not a Green Up Day organizer, and I never have been. And this year, there was no way: I had a previous engagement and just couldn’t do it.

But about two weeks ago, when the snow started melting in my neighborhood — around Hyde Street — I noticed a lot of really nasty trash everywhere. I decided to do something about it. I posted an appeal on Front Porch Forum and instantly got responses from about 10 people.

I didn’t have a plan; I didn’t have maps. I went out to the drug store and bought garbage bags and some latex gloves. About 12 people showed up that Saturday at the Hyde Street triangle. In three or four hours we covered streets between North Willard Avenue and Rose Street; along North Winooski Avenue down to Pearl Street.

We filled 24 big garbage bags with trash.

That’s great! Good for her and her neighbors. She also wrote…

Our unofficial green-up was such an easy thing to do; something I just decided at the spur of the moment. Obviously, it wasn’t something I could do on my own. But it was simple and quick to organize.

We hear this feedback again and again from people who use Front Porch Forum to pull people together — whether it’s for politics, helping someone in need, organizing a block party, getting potholes filled, or cleaning up the neighborhood — getting neighbors informed and organized is much easier once FPF arrives and is embraced.

Flooding brings out the best in #VT neighbors

Posted on Sunday, May 1, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Dear Neighbors: My husband and I had to evacuate our home on the lake shore yesterday (Friday) morning, not a simple matter with me in a wheelchair. We woke up to water that was 20 inches deep on the road and our plumbing stopped working. Our truck, already on high ground up the road, could not get to us, so my husband called the owner of the local hardware store for help… what a wonderful man! He came with terrific two men and, along with our neighbor (another wonderful man), they set up ramps to get me and my chair out onto our rolling aluminum dock. Then, they rolled me and the dock up the road to neighbors on dry land and set up ramps again. I rolled off onto the neighbors’ driveway. Thank goodness no one had a camera! And, thank goodness we live in such a wonderful town, where neighbors watch out for one another.

Lakeside communities in Vermont are struggling now… recording-breaking lake levels, flooding, pounding waves… awful. The note above appeared on the South Hero Front Porch Forum today. It provides evidence of how neighbors rally during crisis to help each other.

Adrian Holovaty on who’s winning hyperlocal…

Posted on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

I think Front Porch Forum is winning. They’ve managed to get 90% of households in a #VT neighborhood to sign up for it, and the community contributions are high quality, useful and interesting.

Beyond that, there are a bunch of great neighborhood blogs in various pockets in the U.S., like West Seattle Blog and Uptown Update here in Chicago.

And finally, I’m biased, but I think EveryBlock is genuinely interesting and useful, especially with our recent community-focused relaunch.

Thanks Adrian! That’s great company for FPF to keep. (See StreetFight for the full interview.) As I’ve said before, EveryBlock’s relaunch is a powerhouse.

Albert the Wanderer back home in #BTV #VT

Posted on Friday, April 22, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

This afternoon Albert the cat appeared back at our door. We’re very happy to have him home and we’re very appreciative of all of the people who provided tips and support–we’re very fortunate to live in such a neighborhood. Moreover, we feel very fortunate to have Front Porch Forum as a resource to turn to in these kinds of situations. I had put up several signs around the neighborhood, but the net result of that seemed to be zero–FPF is where it is at for getting out this kind of news. Be sure to support FPF during their next fund drive! [Which is now!]

Good news from Burlington’s Old North End today! Welcome home Albert the Wanderer.

What are you, underneath it all?

Posted on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

“I see FPF as a place where every day we demonstrate our commonalities & our willingness to get along together & even help each other – regardless of what sort sort of shitheads we might be underneath it all.”

A lovely sentiment from a Front Porch Forum member in Middlesex, Vermont.

Front Porch Forum open to #VT expansion

Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Several sponsors have stepped forward to bring Front Porch Forum to their Vermont communities. These include a local chamber of commerce, a town, a college, a telecom, a family foundation, and a consortium of agencies and nonprofits.

WCAX asked me today if FPF was open to further expansion in Vermont, beyond our current 60 towns. Short answer… yes!

If you’d like to see FPF come to your town, join our waitlist. Additionally, if you’d like to help make it happen, contact us with ideas about funding sources and local boosters.

Connected Citizens – New Report

Posted on Friday, April 8, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

From Mayur Patel at the Knight Foundation this week…

Arthur Goyette knows the value of good neighbors. While his wife Betty was battling cancer, they brought countless meals to the Goyette home. When the neighbors learned that Betty had always wanted to ride in a convertible, they surprised the family with a loaned Chrysler Sebring. The couple drove down the block with the top down, surrounded by people waving and taking pictures.

Arthur marvels that he might never have met these people f it weren’t for the Front Porch Forum, an online network of neighbors.

The forum is a great example of how digital media and technology are changing how we connect to information and each other. The way we engage in public dialogue, coordinate, solve problems—all of it is shifting.

Networks themselves are as old as humanity, used by activists from Mahatma Ghandi to the Tea Party to impact society. Today, though, technology is enabling networks to emerge in new ways.

So Knight Foundation and Monitor Institute set out to look at the impact on communities, and ask, what do these emerging networks mean for community change? And, how can funders leverage them for good?

The result is our new report, Connected Citizens: The Power, Peril and Potential of Networks. Through more than 70 examples, we found networked communities pushing for open government, banding together to care for the elderly, enlisting volunteer coders to make online aid maps for earthquake ravaged Haiti, and more.

The report is a compelling read… lots of excellent examples and points. A couple snapshots…

How to start local theater company in 5 minutes

Posted on Friday, April 8, 2011 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Another local success story brewing in #Bristol, #VT, where Front Porch Forum opened shop several months ago. Justin Bouvier posted a compelling item two days ago on FPF that opened with…

As many of you know, I travel to Middlebury frequently to partake in the theatrical scene there, as Bristol’s is less then thriving. Over the past 5 years or so, there are an increasing number of 5-Town residents that are traveling with me, and it got me thinking, that perhaps Bristol needs a theater company…

He went on to ask for 24 founding members, plus donors at $500 a pop. Today he posted again…

I wanted to take an opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the 11 incredible individuals that have pledged money for a new theater company, here in Bristol. It is individuals like these that are helping to make a dream come true, not just for me, but for our entire community. In the 2 days since my last post, I have received 48 emails from members of our community, stating congratulations, begging to help, volunteering time and energy, etc… and again, I cannot thank you enough. I guess it was one of those, “Right place, right time” kind of ideas… I am working feverishly on setting up bank accounts, establishing a non-profit status, etc…

A great response to a compelling ask. Justin was able to reach about 40% of his neighbors in this small Vermont town via FPF. Congratulations Justin on a fantastic start. People do wonderful things for their community when the tools are within easy reach.

A special thanks to e-Vermont for bringing FPF to Bristol! Other Vermont towns interested in launching Front Porch Forum should contact us.

FPF now in Johnson, Hubbardton, Walden, Worcester #VT

Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by Michael • 5 comments

Front Porch Forum continues to expand its community-communication service in Vermont. Today, Johnson FPF launched and already 50 local households are on board. Other recent additions include Hubbardton, Walden, and Worcester.

See the full list of Vermont towns where FPF operates here.

FPF helps nearby neighbors connect and build community by hosting regional networks of online neighborhood forums. More than 25,000 Vermont households participate, including greater than 40% of many towns and neighborhoods.

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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

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FPF now in Johnson, Hubbardton, Walden, Worcester #VT

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