Social Networking | Ghost of Midnight

FPF Neighborhood Forum Headlines

Posted on Thursday, January 31, 2008 by Michael • 7 comments

Neighbors have lots to say across Chittenden County, VT, as seen on the 130 neighborhood forums hosted by Front Porch Forum. Here are sample headlines from the past week…

• 2008 Trees for Local Communities Grant Announced
• 3rd Annual Friends of WHS Calcutta Feb. 17
• AFTERSCHOOL CARE OPENING
• Alternative Teacher Certification Feb. 19
• Another Neighbor Joins Forum
• ANR Solid Waste Report Available
• Apartments at Mt Philo Inn
• Appletree Development Meeting Jan. 27
• APPLETREE POINT DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
• Appletree Point development scale model
• Baby formula offered
• Babysitter available
• babysitting mingler at UVM
• Babysitting Services Available
• Backhoe and Sugaring Resource
• Backhoe operator recommended
• Barnes Basketball Volunteer Clarification
• Beatiful home for rent
• BELTLINE INTERSECTION INFORMATION
• Beltline intersection question
• Big Chili Republic Delivery
• Bill McKibben community comments
• BOGGLE OR SCRABBLE, ANYONE?
• Boston Lodging Recommended
• Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening
• Broadband Contact Person
• BT problems and appreciation
• Burlington Permaculture – Winter Workshop Series
• Burlington school tours
• Burlington Telecom Cable TV Update
• Burlington Telecom Experience
• BURLINGTONIANS WANTED FOR ORAL HISTORIES
• Business of Being Born Feb. 15
• Canada goose sighting?
• car for sale
• Car Repair/Inspection recommendations?
• Car Share Open House Feb. 13
• Cats in Need
• cats seeking temporary home
• Champlain School Equal Exchange Fundraiser
• Clean-up brigade Appreciation
• Climate Policy Workshop Feb. 1
• Closing the high school – Question
• Community Sing-Along Feb. 3
• Condo for Sale
• Contractor Recommended
• Dem. meeting Feb. 11
• Development on Appletree Point – Meeting Jan. 27
• different perpective on Appletree development prop…
• Dion St Speed
• EJ Prudential Comm. Budget Meeting Schedule Change…
• Equal Exchange Fundraiser for Champlain School
• Events and Classes at Heineberg Center
• Events at your Library
• Eye Doctor Recommended
• Family History Open House Feb. 9
• Feb. 18 – Full Day of School (CCSU)
• Females in sports day Feb. 2
• Fishing Access Dock Proposal – last opportunity fo…
• Five sisters single family house for rent
• Forest Walk Feb. 2
• Former Vermonter Seeking Mold-free Housing
• Forum Casting Call Feb. 1
• Forum Discussion, School, Downtown, Taxes
• FORUM FEEDBACK
• Forum Question
• Found Cat is Male not Female – oops
• Found Laundry baskets… yours?
• Fox in the Quarry
• Free Community Science Night at ECHO Feb. 6
• Free Radon Test Kits
• Garbage Brigade Rain Date
• Garbage Brigade Strikes Again – Jan. 30
• Girls’ Survey critique
• graffiti for Moran Plant
• great APARTMENT for rent – March or April
• Group yard sale support
• Have you used Peregrine Construction?
• Health Care Event On Channel 15 Again
• Heineberg Center Annual Meeting Feb. 6
• High Speed Internet Agreement
• Historic Markers for Houses
• Hobby-size evaporator for sale
• Home for Rent across Park
• Home for rent at 96 Linden Terrace
• Homeownership Discussion Feb. 5
• House For Sale
• House for Sale and Moving Sale
• Howard Coffin on VT Civil War Sites Jan. 30
• I Ain’t Marching Anymore Concert
• Impact of Proposed Senior Housing Development
• Internet Safety for Children Jan. 29
• Invitation to Join Website Discovery Network
• Jericho Broadband Plight
• Jericho School Board position open
• Kenmore Electric Laundry Center For Sale – Great S…
• Local Fiber Optic Background
• Local nonprofit Seeks Temporary Hire
• logging with draft horses needed
• long windedness
• LOOKING FOR BARNES SCHOOL MEMORABILIA
• Looking for Christmas decorations
• Looking for sap buckets
• LOOKING FOR THINGS AUSTRALIAN
• Looking for Work Nearby?
• loose dog on crescent road
• Mail Tampering
• mattress for sale
• MEET APPOINTEE POLICE CHIEF MICHAEL SCHIRLING
• Mercy Connections Spring Calendar
• modeling workshop Feb. 3
• moran plant graffiti
• moran plant proposal
• Moran Plant Proposal – Alternative View
• Moran Plant Proposal Objections
• Moran Redevelopment Comments
• More about Appletree Point Housing Proposal
• More about Senior Housing Proposal
• More Dance Classes!
• More Forum Feedback
• More Neighbors Join Forum
• More on Minutes, Dock Proposal, FPF, etc.
• More on Senior Housing Proposal
• MUNI. PLAN AND ZONING ORD. GOVERN DEVELOPMENT
• National Girls and Women in Sports Day Feb. 2
• need a babysitter?
• Neighborhood Gathering Ideas
• Neighborhood Party Location Recommended
• Neighborhood Watch Comments
• New Business on Shelburne Road
• NEW DEVELOPMENT MEETING JAN. 2…
• New Local CarSharing Program to Launch
• New Neighbor Joins Forum
• New to Forum – Porch Theft
• North End Studio Events this Weekend
• O.N.E. Arts and Business Networking Event Jan. 31
• Opportunity for Young Writers
• Opportunity to Meet with New Police Chief
• Optometrist Recommended
• Owl Camped Out on Caroline St
• Painter Recommended
• Parents Night Out on Valentine’s Day
• Peace and Justice Center concert
• Penguin Plunge
• Peter the MusicMan for Preschoolers
• Phil Ochs Song Night March 7
• Phil Ochs Song Night!
• Photo Exhibit Opening Feb. 1
• Play about VT Murder Feb. 4
• Public Meeting Feb. 4
• Questions for future Chief?
• Recruiting for a study!
• Regarding Barnes B-ball Volunteers
• Remodeling Open House Invitation
• RESIDENTS MEETING JAN. 27
• Respecting opinions
• Richmond Pre-School Discussions
• Riddle me this Batman – School Questions
• Ride Offered to Boston
• Sap Buckets for Sale
• School Athletic Facilities Meetin Jan. 29
• School Board Opening – Petitions due Jan. 28
• School Bottle Drive Feb. 9
• School Budget – Proof in the pudding
• School Budget Comments
• School Facility Tours
• Seeking American Girl clothes
• Seeking Backhoe to Hire
• SEEKING BARNES MEMORABILIA CIRCA 1957
• Seeking Boston Lodging Suggestions
• Seeking Exterior Painter Recommenedations
• Seeking goat or sheep milk
• Seeking Home birth experience
• Seeking housecleaner recommendations
• Seeking ice skate sources
• Seeking interior painter recommendations
• Seeking large pots
• Seeking long-term lake iroquois rental
• Seeking lost dog
• Seeking Lost or Stolen iPod Touch
• Seeking Lost Wallet on Catherine St.
• Seeking missing stroller
• Seeking New Kitten
• Seeking Painter Recommendations
• Seeking Pellet Stove Advice
• Seeking plumber recommendations
• Seeking Responsible House and Pet-Sitter
• Seeking snowplow service recommendations
• Seeking tiger kitten
• Senior Housing Comment and Question
• Shameless Plug
• Sidewalk Plowing and mailboxes
• Sled Hockey game Feb. 3
• Sledhockey Competition Feb. 3
• SMUGGS DISCOUNT SUNDAYS
• Sneior Housing Proposal Comments
• Soup of the Week
• speaking for trees
• Speeding Comments
• Speeding Solution needed for Dion St.
• Staniford Neighborhood – elder housing
• Statewide Health Survey
• Stray Cat Question
• Sugaring Supplies
• summer job opportunity
• Support DREAM Kids at Franklin Square
• Support Group Forming
• taking sides
• Temporary Housing Needed
• Theft at Leddy Parking Lot
• Tools for sale
• Tour Burlington Schools
• Train table looking for new home
• Tribute Concert Feb. 2
• upcoming community events
• UVM baby sitter mingler
• vermont outdoors women -VOW January Newsletter
• Voluntary Simplicity Study Circle
• Volunteers Needed for Reading to End Racism
• Welcome to New Neighbors
• WESTFORD BROOMBALL TOURNAMENT
• Winooski LIVE! community TV show
• Winooski LIVE! February show
• Winooski School Budget
• Winooski Schools Comments
• Winooski Wednesday
• winter get together feedback
• Winter Get-together — Priced out of the market?
• Winter/Spring Drama Class Offered
• Yard Sale – Let’s Do it!!!!
• Yard Sale Comments
• Yard Sale Parking and Promotion
• Yard Sale Planning Party?
• Yes to Dion St. Speed Control
• Yes to Neighborhood Game Night
• Yes to Yard Sale
• Your AVON Products are Here

MocoSpace Raises $4M B Round

Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

Congratulations to Justin (Front Porch Forum member) and his MocoSpace team. From Erick Schonfeld on TechCrunch…

Mobile social networking startup MocoSpace raised a $4 million B round from existing investors General Catalyst, Bob Pittman’s Pilot Group and former eBay exec Michael Deering. The previous A round was $3 million in January 2007. MocoSpace is a mobile-only social network with two million members and serving one billion pageviews a month (from mobile phones). When we last wrote about MocoSpace in August, it had half as many members and pageviews.

Associations and Online Social Networks Working Together

Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

A national federation of U.S. “green” business groups ran a blurb today. From the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) e-newsletter…

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility is experimenting with Front Porch Forum to increase traffic to member job listings on the VBSR site while increasing interest in socially responsible businesses.

VBSR is a sponsor of FPF and its first ad will run on FPF’s neighborhood forums in Chittenden County next week. The ads will encourage FPF’s subscribers to check out VBSR’s online job listings. Smartly, VBSR alerted its business members to freshen up their job listings on VBSR’s website before the ad run starts on FPF. A small step on a modest campaign, but a smart one.

Ning does neighborhoods too

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

Marc Andreessen (go UIUC engineering!) writes today about a group of neighbors in Seattle creating an online social networking using Ning to address concerns over a recent crime wave…

From Bill Gossman and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

“I’ve lived here 11 years and never seen anything like this,” said Bill Gossman, a Magnolia resident who about two weeks ago started a neighborhood Web site [on Ning] that he dubbed sleeplessinmagnolia.ning.com.

The social network, Gossman said, has received 55,000 page views and brought together 550 block-watching neighbors to share information, tips and experiences…

That’s great. It’s an example of the kind of thing that people are doing with Front Porch Forum all across our pilot city of Burlington, VT (30% subscribe already). Crime and neighborhood watch activities are common… as well as lots of other uses.

Ning, in addition to having amazing resources, provides “white label” social networks… that is, build your own. While Front Porch Forum provides the network/forum for 100% of the neighborhoods in its service area… and it’s designed to address the real problems of isolation and individualism by helping nearby neighbors connect.

Bill McKibben on Community and FPF

Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

Good to read this posting today on my own neighborhood’s Front Porch Forum by Carolyn…

I had the glorious pleasure of listening to Bill McKibben speak this week at an AIA meeting. He is the guru on global warming, and has chosen to live in Vermont, too!

While he was answering questions about great things happening, he said that the Front Porch Forum was just the absolute best thing to happen, anywhere.

That it brought people back together, communicating with each other, in a terrific way. The very best way. And that most important thing to do is to get communication and neighborhoods back together, instead of the “dream house” where everyone lives in their own isolated internet cubby, and parents have dual bedrooms, and live miles from anyone.

I can only say ditto to this. Having lived here for many years, in this neighborhood, I knew a few people who had dogs, or lived next door. Now I feel connected to the entire neighborhood and I know almost everyone on my street, and neighboring streets. And this place really really feels like my home in capitol letters. (And yes, I was born in Kansas).

And this way, not only is there better communication, there will be less driving, more car pooling, more local jobs, …. more local shopping.

Bill’s most recent book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, is a fascinating read.

Rant and Rave vs. Neighborhood Miracle

Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 by Michael • 1 comment

Feedback from Front Porch Forum subscribers is overwhelmingly positive. So today’s complaint submitted by a member in Burlington’s Old North End got my attention…

Every day it seems as though Front Porch Forum, well all of us that subscribe, continue to become more and more like the “Rant & Rave” section of craigslist – as a result Front Porch Forum is increasingly more petty and negative. It seems as though everyone climbs on a particular stream and loudly wines – Burlington Telecom is our latest victim of this electronic faceless diatribe.

So I bid FP adieu and cancel my account. The incessant complaining is just too much for me.
Bye.

Well… that’s regrettable. I take this feedback seriously. I also think that a thick skin is required to engage in public discourse. And, frankly, the tone on the FPF neighborhood forum in question is nothing like the nastiness of many online comment areas… no name calling, e.g. Several recent postings in the neighborhood forum in question have been complaints about city services, litter, crime, etc. But I’ve seen them as primarily constructive and civil… but I guess that’s subjective.

For the record, the other four postings this morning to accompany the one above in that neighborhood are… two follow-up points about local telecom options, a call for volunteer basketball helpers at the neighborhood school, and this gem of a follow-up of an earlier post from Matt…

Last night a miracle happened. 7 people, strangers until last night, put aside their excuses and braved the cold Vermont winter night to clean up our neighborhood. We walked south on Elmwood, west on Peru, north on Champlain, then back to Elmwood by way of North. Along the way we collected and disposed of 10 bags of garbage. Despite the cold it was a good time. Tara’s brownies flowed like a chocolate river in high flood. The laughs were continual and of a high quality. No cheap jokes in this bunch. Just straight shooting zingers all the way.

Next time we’ll do a different block. Next time we’ll have even more people, and I’ll bring prizes for the best find.*

*Prizes may consist of a high five, but it will be quality. Seriously I have a no miss system, yes it cost me, and yes the price was worth it.

Definitely not “incessant complaining”… makes me proud to be associated with FPF’s members.

Neighbors Rain Down Canoes on Local Girls

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

I received a wonderful note recently from Sharon, a Front Porch Forum member in South Burlington, VT…

I have a FPF experience that might be worth sharing. For her 14th birthday, my daughter wanted to do a day long canoe excursion with several of her friends. I had noticed during my walks through our neighborhood that several of my neighbors owned canoes (some that did not appear to get a lot of regular use). I decided to put-out a request to see if folks would be willing to lend-out their canoes for a day. I needed about 4.

I was so excited, as I received more offers than expected. Several folks let me stop in at my leisure to pick-up and drop-off the canoes. They also lent me paddles and life vest. My daughter and her friends had a great time. Also, thanks to my neighbors and FPF, we saved about $200.00 in canoe rental costs!

And coincidentally, Sharon won a gift card at a local kids’ store in a Front Porch Forum raffle. She wrote in to say…

Thanks to my big Kid’s Town win, I’m somewhat a celeb with my neighbors as well as with friends from other neighborhoods who participate in FPF. It really is pretty amazing how FPF connects so many folks on a neighborly level.

Orton Family Foundation Interview

Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

I was pleased to be interviewed recently by John Barstow of the Orton Family Foundation regarding “innovation in place.” The Orton Family Foundation is and has been involved in some fascinating work. John asked insightful questions about Front Porch Forum.

Winooski: Scale and online conversations

Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 by Michael • 2 comments

Great things are happening through Front Porch Forum in much of our pilot area of greater Burlington, VT. That said, our initial model is not an ideal fit for some communities. We’re working on adjustments and always welcome input. One such challenge is the small city of Winooski.

Winooski has nearly 3,000 households and is covered by four FPF neighborhood forums. About 12% of the city subscribes. Unfortunately, Winooski doesn’t have clear cut actual neighborhood boundaries that jibe with our target scale of several hundred households. So the FPF neighborhood forum boundaries feel arbitrary to many residents.

Couple that with the fact that Winooski is underserved by local media… no city newspaper or blog, etc. Front Porch Forum is the one thing getting any traction that I’m aware of.

All this adds up to several people calling for FPF to combine its four Winooski neighborhood forums into one large citywide forum. I’m reluctant. FPF is all about small groups of nearby neighbors connecting online… and that spilling over onto the sidewalks and into the cornerstores… from the virtual to the actual front porch.

One supersized forum, I’m afraid, will be dominated by a few loud voices focused on larger issues and official pronouncements. Gone will be the small voices and the “need to borrow a ladder” and “my teenager is available to babysit” postings.

So it was hard to read a posting the other day from a member who concluded her request for one citywide forum with a promise to boycott FPF’s advertisers until we complied. Oh dear. We’ve got to come up with a reasonable solution to this.

Enter Winooski resident Cathy Resmer…

I just read your comment on Front Porch Forum about wanting Winooski to be one neighborhood.

I, too, wish we could have a way to communicate to the entire city.

However, I know Michael Wood-Lewis, and have talked with him at great length about his service, both as a reporter (in the past few years), and more recently as a representative of a company that sponsors the forums (Seven Days).

I can tell you that Michael understands Winooski’s need for one forum. But the service he provides (for free) is based on a model that’s built to encourage neighbor interactions. He believes — and his research shows — that if he increases the size of the forum to include the entire city, he will damage the neighborhood interactions that the forums are meant to encourage.

Please, ask him to explain it to you. He’s very articulate, and, I believe, an honest and trustworthy guy.

Yes, it is *extremely* frustrating that we get so little media coverage in Winooski. I do what I can to cover stories or get them covered in Seven Days. I ran the Winooski Eagle for nearly a year — essentially by myself, and at great personal cost — because I believed that the city needed its own paper. I still believe we need it, but frankly I can barely keep up with this outrageous tax increase, much less idealistically underwrite the city’s struggling newspaper.

So I understand your reaction to Michael’s refusal to create one Winooski “neighborhood.”

But I urge you to reconsider your pledge to boycott the businesses that support the Forums. Michael is providing a great service to us. It’s not exactly the service that we want, but it’s still better than what we had before, which was *nothing.*

The bottom line is that FPF is not, and will never be, a substitute for a Winooski newspaper. But it’s got me talking to you — and our neighbors listening in. I think that’s a good start. And it’s worth our support.

If we need that one Winooski forum, let’s find a way to create it instead of tearing down the forums we’ve got.

Respectfully,
Cathy Resmer, Online Editor, Seven Days

Wow! Thanks Cathy. I look forward to sorting this out.

Seeking horse playdate…

Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 by Michael • No comments yet

Some folks are surprised to hear that Front Porch Forum works well in rural settings, in addition to more conventional neighborhoods. Huntington, VT is a great example… about 25% of this rural town subscribe and the conversation is steady. Here are couple posts from today…

My 2 1/2 year old quarter horse, Koko, would absolutely love to play with someone his own age. His lovely companion is 18, and will occasionally run around with him, but he’s really looking for something more fun.Do you have a youngish playful horse in Huntington that can come over to Koko’s pasture for a play date every so often? And a way to bring him/her over (I don’t have a horse trailer/truck yet)? Thanks!

And…

Greetings! We’re looking for someone to fix our propane backup generator. We live off-grid and really rely on the generator during these less than ideal solar power times! Any suggestions on who we could call? Thanks!

Of course, on the actual forum (open only to Huntington residents), each posting includes the writer’s full name and road they live on. I’m willing to bet they both get multiple responses to these requests… and get to know more of their neighbors along the way.

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