Category Archives: social capital

Borrow a car on short notice… no problem

Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008 by • No comments yet

Providing less than 24 hours advanced warning, Bonnie in Huntington posted the following the other day…

Hi Neighbors – My car died yesterday, and for the first time in years I’m without car. I must admit it’s liberating, but the only trouble is, that I need to get to work tomorrow, Saturday, June 28. I was wondering if anyone might have a car I would be able to borrow for the day? I leave at 8:30Am and return at 8:00Pm.

I figured this was too much to ask with too little lead time.  So I was pleasantly surprised to read her follow-up posting today…

Hi Neighbors – I’d like to thank you all so much, for the overwhelming response to my request to borrow a car for the day.

Work went well, and I got to drive around in Jim H.’s bright yellow Chevy.  I was a hit with every teenage boy in Burlington and Shelburne.  The car is for sale, if you know anyone that might be interested.

The Huntington Front Porch Forum is a great way for our community to continue to be the very special place it is.

Thanks much, Bonnie

“This person is MAD!!!!”

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

People often ask how Front Porch Forum has grown so rapidly in such a short amount of time… it’s almost all word-of-mouth.  Neighbor tells neighbor.  Here’s a posting from a South Burlington neighborhood forum today that serves as a good example…

Re the notice about the appraisal increase… one of my neighbors did receive a notice like this.  This person is MAD!!!! I am forwarding this to her, and encouraging her to join Front Porch Forum!

While we do see people come on board in reaction to a problem like this, it’s much more common for folks to join because they hear it’s a great way to connect with neighbors and plug into neighborhood news.

Is Front Porch Forum Nationwide?

Posted on Monday, June 23, 2008 by • No comments yet

Front Porch Forum subscribers frequently are surprised to learn that this free service was created right here in our corner of Vermont. It’s no secret… our start-up story has gotten decent local media coverage.

Here’s today’s example from a relatively long-time and active subscriber from Essex Junction…

First of all — will someone please tell me the “once upon a time” of Front Porch Forum. Since I’ve been a member, I’ve been singing its praises to family in Texas and most recently Oregon. But you know what!! I really don’t know where this started and I’m just now barely getting little hints and cues that this actually STARTED in VERMONT!!

Is this true?!! And if so, yet another reason for pride in this little state of ours.

Here I’ve been telling Texans and Oregonians — “Check out your own neighborhood. I’m assuming ‘Front Porch Forum’ is national, if not international.” Sooooo, if it hasn’t been done recently, I’d love to have someone fill in those of us who are in the dark. Or maybe post the “history” on the website under ABOUT US. Thanks in advance.

Second of all — I am indeed reaping the benefits of Front Porch Forum. I’ve established a weekly connection with a high school student who comes over and aids me with certain chores — recycle and trash out, groceries in, other lifting and tugging. He’s pleasant, dependable, willing, and courteous, and also a kindred theatre spirit by way of EHS drama program! He gets paid right away; and when he helped us with unloading and setting up our tag sale, he was able to earn more.

Knight Commission focused on Communities, Information and Democracy

Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008 by • 1 comment

I’m honored by a recent invitation to be one of a few people asked to address the initial meeting of the new Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy… June 24, 2008, at the new Newseum in Washington, DC… to be webcast live.

“The charge of the Commission is straightforward,” says Alberto Ibarg¼en, president and CEO of Knight Foundation. “Articulate the information needs of communities in this democracy; determine where we are today; and propose public policy that will encourage market solutions.”

I look forward to sharing some of what we’ve learned through Front Porch Forum with this august group. The full commission is listed here. And…

The Commission will be led by co-chairs Ted Olson, former Solicitor General of the United States, and Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Product and User Experience at Google. Peter Shane, a distinguished law professor at Ohio State University Law School, is the executive director.

The Knight Commission is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and organized by the Aspen Institute.

Serendipity in the Neighborhood

Posted on Saturday, June 14, 2008 by • No comments yet

Occasionally, someone will post a request on his/her FPF neighborhood forum the same day as a neighbor offers a solution to that request… unbeknown to each other.  So the next issue of their neighborhood forum is published with the problem followed by the solution… all neat and tidy.  Gotta love it.  Here’s today’s simple example on a neighborhood forum with about 400 participating households…

Hi there!  We were wondering if anyone might have a twin box frame floating around that they no longer need.  We would love to have it for use of our four year old’s new mattress.  Thank you very much! Sarah

The item above was posted at 4:00 PM followed at 4:01 PM by…

On the green strip in front of [our home on] Catherine St.:  twin size mattress, box spring, and wooden frame; come and get it before the rain comes!

Hope they connected!  Rain should be here soon!

Make every posting count… twice

Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by • No comments yet

Steve Yelvington posted today…

Knowledge@Wharton has an interview with Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, in which he highlights the importance of social interaction on the Web:

“So, the killer apps that have really worked on the web have always been about connecting people to one another. So, whether it is instant messaging and e-mail as communications to connect people to one another, whether it’s photo-sharing as a way to connect people to one another through photos, or blogging as a way to connect people to one another through the words, people have always been social and the killer apps that have really succeeded on the web have always been social.”

This got me thinking about a couple recent conversations with folks asking about huge powerhouse online companies that have outposts in Burlington, VT, where we operate Front Porch Forum‘s pilot. The gist was… “Wouldn’t people be better off selling their car on Craigslist Burlington, seeking plumber recommendations on Angie’s List Burlington, giving away their old couch on FreeCycle Burlington and just using Front Porch Forum to organize block parties and find lost cats?”

Good question and I encourage people to use multiple services when they have the need. But like Krause says above, it’s all about connection. While websites offering classified ads, reviews, give-away matching, etc. by location COULD help people connect in some meaningful way, I don’t think they do. My sense is that they help facilitate the immediate and direct need (selling a car, finding a plumber), but they don’t touch the other… they don’t capitalize on the opportunity to add a brick to the house of local community with each interaction.

That’s what Front Porch Forum is all about. We aim to take every posting by clearly identified nearby neighbors and cobble them all together to build real community among neighbors and townsfolk. Why give away your moving boxes to anonymous distant strangers when you can offer them to your nearby neighbors and actually get to meet some people who live near you? That’s tapping the real potential of the internet… as Google’s Joe Krause says… it’s all about connecting people.

Or, as Wolfgang reported a month ago…

Just wanted to let you know that we sold our Minivan today to a neighbor through Front Porch Forum. We had more people expressing interest and more people showing up to look at the van who found out through the Forum than the interest generated by Burlington Free Press, Cars.com and Craigslist combined. Thanks!

So, again, I encourage folks in our service area to post their messages on any site they like… AND to post it on Front Porch Forum. The results typically speak for themselves.

New Friends and Snapping Turtles

Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 by • No comments yet

Will just posted the following on his town’s Front Porch Forum…

Thanks to the Front Porch Forum for letting two would-be strangers recognize each other as a result of being FPF members. Last Sunday, while driving to town I saw a baby snapping turtle crossing the road right by the auto place on rte 2 between Richmond and rte 89. I parked where I could, jumped out of the car, grabbed some tools from the back of my car and proceeded to flag people to slow down as I approached the dazed turtle. A woman slowed and asked if I needed help, and I immediately said, “Yes!”

Though it was a baby, it was still about 14″ long and weighed about 30 pounds. So as I lifted the turtle, the woman who stopped to help steadied it while we escorted him across the rest of rte 2 and way up and over the other side of the railroad tracks. We bid him farewell and told him to NOT turn around! The kind woman and I exchanged names only to find that we recognized each other from the FPF. We had engaged in conversation through the forum, and I found it humbling to have actually known this person, though we had not actually met face to face. Thank you FPF for being an avenue for me to make new friends through! Hi Enid!

Multiply this story by thousands of times and you get what’s happening all over our little metro-area. Thanks for sharing Will!

Porch Parties a Good Start

Posted on Monday, June 9, 2008 by • No comments yet

The Detroit Free Press ran an article yesterday that caught my eye.  It opens with…

Christiane Lenz has lived in her Farmington Hills subdivision for six years and knows only a handful of her neighbors.

But that could change, as Lenz plans to host a porch party, an initiative of the Farmington and Farmington Hills Multicultural Multiracial Community Council. The parties, organizers say, are a way for residents to revive the tradition of neighborly, informal gatherings and hopefully spark new friendships.

“You don’t see people together,” said Lenz, 49, who is planning a September party. “Everyone keeps to themselves.”

There should be several parties held throughout the community in the summer, and at least six are already in the works. The gatherings are intended to be casual, with potlucks or dessert-only events among the party ideas from the council. The council also will provide talking points or icebreaker activities. Karen Bolsen, executive director of the council, said attendees should shy away from controversial topics such as race, politics and religion.

Bolsen said the porch party idea came about after community members said they felt disconnected from neighbors. The parties are a way for residents in Farmington and Farmington Hills to better understand their ethnically and racially diverse neighbors…

Sounds great!  I’d suggest to the organizers that while these porch parties will be a good start, they should use them as a starting point for something more… a monthly event, organizing a group to work on something (new playground, clean-up crew, stop unwanted development, traffic calming, etc.), or a service like Front Porch Forum.

Doing something once is good and relatively easy.  Converting that good stuff into sometime sustainable over time is much more valuable and takes real work.

People on the Move

Posted on Friday, June 6, 2008 by • No comments yet

People relocate… a lot.  This is apparent through our work with Front Porch Forum.  People contact us all the time to say that they’ve moved from one part of town to another and are eager to get plugged in to their new community via Front Porch Forum.

People move out of our service area too.  Some ask to be “grandfathered in” and stay on board their FPF neighborhood forum covering their former area.  Others say farewell… like Shawna just now formerly of Essex Junction…

I have moved out of the state.  I’m now in NH and wish my community had this!  Thanks.

Live Blogging Vermont’s e-Future

Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 by • No comments yet

Hey, hey… should be a good event tomorrow (May 29, 2008) at Champlain College (Burlington, VT)…

Fulfilling Vermont’s e-State Potential
Building Community in a “Connected Age”

Front Porch Forum will be among several community-building efforts featured. Lewis Feldstein from New Hampshire, who co-wrote Robert Putnam’s follow up to Bowling Alone, will provide the keynote.

Another fun angle… Cathy Resmer from Seven Days and Bill Simmon from Candleblog will be live blogging the event… so tune in, follow along, and comment as we go. I hope that blog comments will find their way into the live conversation at the event.

UPDATE: A good day! Read all about it…

And Bill even snapped some art photos… or whatever you call this one…

About Blog

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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