Social Media | Ghost of Midnight

Bill McKibben covers FPF for Yankee Magazine

Posted on Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Amazing! It’s not every day that an author of Bill McKibben‘s statue writes a feature story about Front Porch Forum… let alone with a subtitle of “How New England can save the world!” But there it is… in the March/April 2010 issue of Yankee Magazine. Here’s a snippet…

Susan Comerford, a longtime community organizer and now associate dean for academic affairs and

Credit: William Duke

research at the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Services, calls it “the best community organizing tool that’s come along in the last 30 or 40 years.” To understand its importance, says Comerford (who started posting on the forum the day she needed a recommendation for a carpenter), you have to think about what’s happened in the American economy in recent decades.

“It’s not that people care less about community,” she notes. “It’s that the economy has shifted how much people have to work to keep up their standard of living. You don’t have one of the two partners home during the day making all those social connections, providing some sense of safety to the neighborhood. People have less disposable time than they used to.”

In a world like that, a system that lets you sit down for 10 minutes at the end of the day and learn what’s happened to your neighbors should, in Comerford’s view, earn Wood-Lewis one of those MacArthur “genius” grants.

UPDATE: The media coverage of Bill’s look at FPF is growing. Check it out here, starting March 1, 2010.

“Best advocacy tool in town!”

Posted on Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

How many people have we heard from who want to blast their political message across a wide swath of Front Porch Forum? Too many to count.

It makes sense. FPF has a huge local audience and Town Meeting Day is March 2… less than a week away. Candidates, political parties, advocacy groups… they all are working to get the word out about their issue, their campaign.

But at its core, FPF isn’t about blasting out a single message to thousand of local homes. It’s about neighborhood-level conversation. Any local resident may join the single FPF neighborhood forum where he/she lives and post to his/her heart’s content. (FPF is available in 25 Vermont towns.)

Most people are glad to read items from their clearly identified nearby neighbors… then continue the conversations on the sidewalk or at the local store or school. FPF members seem less excited about reading one-way bulk postings from non-nearby neighbors.

That said, FPF does offer a range of options around elections, spelled out in our FAQ. If you want to weigh in before Town Meeting, check out the guidelines and start posting!

Case in point… a Burlington resident who opposes a ballot measure to repeal Instant Runoff Voting. She asked FPF to broadcast her posting across many of Burlington’s nearly 40 online neighborhood forums. We declined and encouraged her to post it on her “home” neighborhood forum and ask friends in other neighborhoods to forward her message.

She took our advice and now we see her message popping up all over the city, and in each case it has a lead-in sentence from the friend stating their agreement with her position. So now thousands of potential voters are getting the message, each with an extra pitch from a nearby neighbor… very effective. “Best advocacy tool in town,” is how she put it.

And the original advocate had to convince dozens of friends across town to help her get her message out. This is democracy! Just the opposite of big money buying elections through mass media.

Indeed, I answered a knock on my door this morning and found a neighbor returning a borrowed pan. We took the opportunity to discuss the merits of the IRV-repeal ballot measure for five minutes, each getting a little more food for thought before our respective moments in the voting booth next Tuesday. A great use of Front Porch Forum!

HCR235 Honors FPF Members!

Posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 by Michael • 3 comments

Thanks to VT State Rep. Suzi Wizowaty and 23 co-sponsors for honoring Front Porch Forum users with HCR235!

House Concurrent Resolution 235
Congratulating Front Porch Forum on Its 10th Anniversary

Offered by: Representatives Wizowaty of Burlington, Aswad of Burlington, Bissonnette of Winooski, Donovan of Burlington, Frank of Underhill, Head of South Burlington, Heath of Westford, Jerman of Essex, Johnson of South Hero, Krebs of South Hero, Larson of Burlington, Lippert of Hinesburg, Lorber of Burlington, Minter of Waterbury, O’Brien of Richmond, Pugh of South Burlington, Ram of Burlington, Spengler of Colchester, Stevens of Waterbury, Till of Jericho, Waite-Simpson of Essex, Weston of Burlington, Wright of Burlington and Zuckerman of Burlington

Whereas, Front Porch Forum (FFP) has helped thousands of Vermont neighbors connect and build real community through its free, online service, and

Whereas, FPF now hosts 140 online neighborhood forums that blanket all of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, plus Starksboro, and

Whereas, more than 17,000 Vermont households subscribe to FPF, including in excess of 40 percent of dozens of neighborhoods and towns, and

Whereas, hundreds of local businesses and public officials use FPF to connect with Vermont customers and constituents, and

Whereas, thousands of Vermonters use FPF to find lost pets, report break-ins, organize neighborhood clean-ups and block parties, give away and sell household items, announce public events, debate local issues, and more, and

Whereas, FPF has been recognized nationally for helping Vermonters lead more civically engaged lives, and

Whereas, FPF looks forward to expanding its service to all Vermont towns, and

Whereas, today, March 30, 2010, marks Front Porch Forum’s 10th anniversary, now therefore be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives: That the General Assembly congratulates Front Porch Forum, Inc. on its 10th anniversary and its success in reinvigorating Vermont neighborhoods while building new online communities, and be it further

Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to Michael Wood-Lewis at Front Porch Forum, Inc. in Burlington.

Businesses connecting with neighbors

Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

Local businesses reach out to neighbors through Front Porch Forum every day in a number of ways.

Small start-ups simply post to their nearby neighbors letting folks know that they are open for business. Other companies purchase advertising. Nonprofits often ask their supporters to post event announcements, each on his/her own FPF neighborhood forum. Local institutions and municipalities are buying subscriptions that provide access to their area neighborhood forums.

And, of course, neighbor-to-neighborhood recommendations flow through FPF at a rapid rate… plumbers, roofers, mechanics, dentists, arborists, snow plow kings, and on and on. People like to ask their neighbors and FPF helps that to happen easily and with lots and lots of nearby neighbors all at once.

FPF staff are available to speak with business groups about all this. Indeed, we addressed the Burlington Referral Organization this morning. Tomorrow we’ll be at the CEDO Winter Business Fair. We’ve enjoyed sharing our message with several Chamber of Commerce groups, Rotary, VBSR, business school classes, leadership institutes, and more.

Here’s a note about the Feb. 11 business fair in Burlington.

Click Local! Vermont Telecom Authority

Posted on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 by Michael • 2 comments

Thanks to the Vermont Telecom Authority for pointing Vermonters to Front Porch Forum. While it makes sense for local folks to use online tools from the mega corporations — Goolge, Facebook, Craigslist, Yahoo, etc. — it’s reassuring when Vermont-bred dot.com services (iBrattleboro, Seven Days, Vermont Tiger, Green Mountain Daily, FPF, etc.) get a little recognition from our public leaders.

Indeed, while a growing number of people understand and support the idea of buying local, extending the same notion to online habits has yet to get traction. Just as sure as dollars spent in a local coffee shop add up to benefit the local economy more than the same money spent at a Starbucks, clicks on locally owned and operated websites contribute to a vibrant small-scale local alternative to the Wal-Marts of the online world.

Click Local!

Can’t please all of the people all of the time…

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 by Michael • 11 comments

But sometimes Front Porch Forum can come close.

We heard from a super-techie the other day. He was frustrated that his hometown, South Burlington, is covered by 20 FPF neighborhood forums… too many small groups he thought. Also, he wanted more bells and whistles… catchy pseudonyms for users, avatars, a rating system for postings, etc.

Well, that’s all understandable. And we recognize that we can’t please everyone all the time. What we do work on everyday, though, is fulfilling our mission in our pilot service region… to help nearby neighbors connect and build community.

So in South Burlington we host 20 neighborhood forums. On average, each one covers an area encompassing about 350 households, with 100 subscribing in each neighborhood forum so far. We hear wonderful comments all the time from South Burlington FPF users. Here’s one we got earlier today…

Last week I was at an educational session for reaching personal goals, offered at the South Burlington Library. The class was filled to capacity (with more on a waiting list) and everyone in the group (approximate age range 15 to 70) said they heard about it via the library’s announcement on the various South Burlington FPF. Keep up the good work. -Joanne Heidkamp, MS, RD

Any resident of the 25 Vermont towns in our pilot area (Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, plus Starksboro) can put Front Porch Forum to use too. Sign up, then post. Then ask your local network to do the same… each person in his/her own FPF neighborhood forum.

In a way, FPF has passed out small neighborhood-size soapboxes to 17,000 (and counting) Vermonters… anyone may reach dozens or hundreds of nearby neighbors through FPF. Some Web 2.0 gurus who know how to manipulate mega social media (Facebook, etc.) may grow frustrated that they can’t somehow use FPF to build a huge soapbox for themselves. So be it.

Debating the school budget BEFORE Town Meeting

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

The people of Westford, VT continue to do amazing things with Front Porch Forum… lots of voices weighing in about lots of topics. Here’s a comment about one topic gleaned from a blog today…

Principals like feedback, right? Well, we need feedback but it can be difficult to deal with at times. I’ve been thinking a lot about a new web 2.0 type of feedback has affected my school. Our little town in northern Vermont has a web forum called the “Front Porch Forum” and folks have been using it to discuss our upcoming school budget. There have been a wide range of opinions voiced on this forum. It has seemed a bit divisive to me with a range of opinions from “Teachers make too much money, they should take a pay cut” to “Our teachers work hard and deserve their pay.” So why does this seem different to me? People have always held these kinds of opinions. We used to have an annual meeting where people would openly discuss the budget before casting their vote. In my years as a Vermont principal, I have heard many similar comments go back and forth at the annual meeting, but comments stopped when the meeting broke for lunch. Now the comments go on for days in an open forum. And the comments seem a bit sharper – perhaps because you are not looking at your neighbors when you are typing on your keyboard. My superintendent and I have been talking about the urge to respond to these comments. Certainly, some erroneous information needed to be corrected, but many of the comments took care of themselves. When one person insinuated that we spent too much money on busing high school students, another person chimed in to say that she has to drive her child to high school every day because there is no bus. The conversations have died down now and I kind of miss them. We vote on our school budget in a few weeks and I want to know what people are thinking. Reading the forum was like lurking and listening to conversations at the gas pump or the parking lot after a ball game. While I didn’t like everything I heard, it was better to know what people were thinking and saying.

And my response…

Glad to hear that Front Porch Forum is proving valuable in your town. My wife and I started it about three years ago in the South End of Burlington where we live, and now it serves 25 northwest Vermont towns by hosting 140 online neighborhood forums (the one you mention is but one of them). Remarkably (to us at least!), 17,000 area households subscribe with more joining every day. Nearly half of your town subscribes to FPF now. And, as you know, each posting comes from a clearly identified nearby neighbor (not anonymous or distant folk). It’s our hope that this kind of communication helps neighbors connect and build community locally… that comments on our virtual front porch lead to real face-to-face conversations on actual front porches (and country stores, town libraries, sidewalks, etc.). Best wishes with the upcoming vote… hopefully more discussion up front (via FPF as well as face-to-face around town) will lead to the best results.

Help give FPF neighbor-connection work big boost

Posted on Monday, February 1, 2010 by Michael • 1 comment

Please take a moment to vote for Front Porch Forum‘s proposal to the Knight News Challenge. The Knight Foundation awards about $5 million each year to promising projects in the local news arena.

FPF’s application made it through the first round of judging and is now among about 200 finalists… exciting!

Click here to vote… then click on the right-most star… and leave a comment at the bottom.

Local Vermont Media Polling Citizens’ Needs

Posted on Monday, January 25, 2010 by Michael • Comments are off for this post

I’m looking forward to participating in a local media conversation in Bennington this week…

Shires Media Partnership Inc., the non-profit owner of radio station WBTN is convening a regional meeting at the Bennington (Vt.) Free Library on Thurs. Jan. 28 to gather public comment and advice on how it can meet the information needs of Southwestern Vermont. The session is inspired by the work of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities…

Amy Garmer, who heads journalism initiatives for the Aspen Institute, will attend the Bennington meeting, along with Michael Wood-Lewis, of Burlington, Vt., who runs Front Porch Forum, local online news sites, and gave testimony at the commission’s first public hearing, June 24, 2008.

UPDATE: Event organizer Bill Densmore provided these follow-up links…

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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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