A guest post today from Front Porch Forum’s most recent hire, Jamie Seiffer. Take it away, Jamie…
For those of you familiar with De La Soul, y’all know that three is the magic number. For those of you unfamiliar, check this out. Three is the magic number for us because that’s how many pairs of tickets our friends at Higher Ground have graciously donated to Front Porch Forum. As a result, all of our neighbors (that’s you!) have the chance to enter a raffle for a FREE PAIR OF TICKETS.
Grammy award-winning hip-hop group De La Soul is performing at Higher Ground August 21. If you’d like a shot at a pair of tickets all you need to do is comment on this post.* You can post about whatever you want – how you use FPF, why you like De La Soul, an awesome show you’ve seen at Higher Ground, whatever – any comment gets you an entry into the raffle (limit one per person).
Here at FPF we use this blog to keep our neighbors (and everyone else in the blogosphere) up to date about Front Porch Forum happenings. These include unique success stories, updates about our progress/expansion, and fun raffles like this De La promo. La la la la lah, this is a D.A.I.S.Y. age.
*TO ENTER: Comment on this blog post below by 7 PM EST on Aug. 20. Comments on Facebook will not get your name in the hat… you must comment at http://frontporchforum.com/blog Winners will be selected at random on Thursday night and will be notified via the email address attached to your comment.
Thanks to our many supporters, Front Porch Forum is hitting some great milestones…
And FPF is growing. More people sign up every day, more postings flow through FPF to neighbors, and we’re expanding to more towns… stay tuned!
Thanks to the generousity of the Orton Family Foundation, Front Porch Forum is now available in Starksboro, VT!
Any and all Starksboro residents are encouraged to sign up for this free community-building service immediately. I see that we have two dozens subscribers there already… I guess word got out before the “official” launch.
Finally, thanks to the warm welcome this evening from the Selectboard and Art and Soul folks.
UPDATE: Here’s Orton’s news release (April 13, 2009). Already 20% of Starksboro subscribes to FPF!
Pew keeps cranking out the internet data. A recent report shows…
Of those online…
So, if I understand the data, Pew is saying that 26% of the 74% of American adults online participate in online auctions… that’s 19% of all American adults. So, here’s the list for all American adults (not just those online)…
Front Porch Forum aims to have as many residents of a neighborhood as possible subscribe and participate on the associated FPF neighborhood forum. In a sense, we host non-stop online block parties… and the more the merrier, as long as they live in the neighborhood.
Because FPF is an online service, we’re already limited, on average, to just 74% of the adult population. If we had selected a platform/distribution channel such as a Facebook application or instant messaging or Twitter… well, we’d only be able to get, at best, about one quarter of the neighbors on board. Of course, these numbers will change over time.
So, for now, we use email newsletters and a web-based archiving system. This allows us to reach, on average, 67% of the adults in each neighborhood. In our pilot region, more than 20% subscribe, with 40% on board in the City of Burlington. We’d never have been that successful if we had limited ourselves by going with one of these other, sexier platforms.
We’re proud to announce a new set of telecom specials made available to eligible Burlington Front Porch Forum members via Burlington Telecom. If you live in Burlington in an area served by Burlington Telecom and are interested in top-of-the-line internet/cable TV/telephone service options, please check this out. Also, existing BT subscribers can get special discounts via FPF on various upgrades.
As a recent FPF member said… “I can think of no reason not to sign up with Burlington Telecom as soon as possible… and now it’s even cheaper through Front Porch Forum.”
Every person who mentions Front Porch Forum when signing up or upgrading with BT will get their special deal and will earn a referral fee for FPF that will help keep our community-building service free of charge.
Congratulations to our 22 Front Porch Forum “Nine Words for 2009” raffle winners and thanks to our prize donors!
1. Michele Sandquist, Bolton — Higher Ground
2. Jeremy Brotz, Burlington — ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
3. Emily Eschner, Burlington — Sleepy Hollow Inn
4. Kurt Kaffenberger, Burlington — Vermont Frost Heaves
5. Krista Nickerson, Burlington — The Grass Gauchos
6. Susan Rutherford, Burlington — Gardener’s Supply
7. Zach Usadi-Henrickson, Burlington — Burlington Telecom
8. Laurel Maurer, Colchester — Seventh Generation
9. Colin McNaull, Hinesburg — The Grass Gauchos
10. LindaLou Parker, Essex Junction — Trading Post for Little Folks
11. Laurie Darling, Milton — Aikido of Champlain Valley
12. Patricia Bezalel, Shelburne — PhotoGarden
13. Lori Peckham, Shelburne — Woolen Mill Health Club
14. Peter Baldor, Richmond — Woolen Mill Health Club
15. Joe O’Brien, Richmond — ReCycle North
16. Tim Barritt, South Burlington — Sleepy Hollow Inn
17. Loretta Marriott, South Burlington — Higher Ground
18. Max Henson-Stroud, Westford — Trading Post for Little Folks
19. Chuck McGill, Westford — Sweet Clover Market
20. Kevin Stephens, Williston — Higher Ground
21. Liz Dallas, Winooski — Aikido of Champlain Valley
22. Petie Shea-Gamache, Winooski — Woolen Mill Health Club
You can say a lot with a little. Witness Hemingway’s short, short story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
To celebrate 2009 and have a little fun, we invite Front Porch Forum members (any resident of Chittenden County, VT is eligible) to submit postings to their neighborhood forum between now and Jan. 9, 2009. Any message that has EXACTLY nine words will be entered into a raffle for the following 22 prizes…
Don’t delay! Post your “car for sale,” “seeking snow removal” or “lost cat” message today… or share a neighborhood resolution, poem, joke, hope for our nation… you decide. Any nine-word posting received by Front Porch Forum between now and Jan. 9 will be entered in the raffle! An individual may enter the drawing up to twice a day.
UPDATE 1: Posting a comment to this blog will NOT enter you in the raffle! You must post to your FPF neighborhood forum to enter the drawing.
Thanks to our raffle sponsors and happy 2009! -Michael
P.S. Thanks to Champlain College Professor Tim Brookes for inspiration (hey, that’s nine words!).
P.P.S. Trouble posting? Read this.
UPDATE 2: Here are some of the entries that are flooding in. And more. And here are the winners!
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