Ghost of Midnight
… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum
Librarian rescues Robin Hood from roof…
#VT – Posted on FPF by a town librarian…
Folks may weary of seeing missing animals on the Starksboro Front Porch Forum, but after this evening I can report that they can be worthwhile. Thanks to a listing on FPF we were able to reunite a missing cats with his owner. He was a mile from home and on the roof of the town offices — most likely trying to get high enough to see how far he was from home!
And from the climbing cat’s owner…
Ohhh Happy Days!! Thank you so much to all who helped with the rescue mission!
I received a call asking what my kitty looked like as there had been a cat perched on top of the town offices all day, and they had fetched a ladder and had retreived him from the roof and had him safely in the library.
Thank you so much to everyone who helped Robin Hood return safely home!! I am in heaven! Thank you FPF!
Danby brings FPF to town…
#VT – Thanks to the Danby, Vermont, selectboard, citizens in this small Rutland County town may now join Front Porch Forum!
Please spread the word to anyone you know in Danby.
FPF is now available in about 85 Vermont towns. Here’s a full list and map.
Middlebury Front Porch Forum Launches!
#VT – Please tell your friends in Middlebury, Vermont, to sign up for their new Front Porch Forum! A special thanks to the Vermont Gas Systems for their generous support in getting this going.
FPF is now available in about 85 Vermont towns. Here’s a full list and map.
Northfield joins Front Porch Forum
#VT – Folks in Northfield, Vermont, may now join Front Porch Forum! A special thanks to the Northfield Rotary Club for their generous support in getting this going.
Please spread the word to anyone you know in Northfield.
FPF is now available in about 85 Vermont towns. Here’s a full list and map.
Smash for Hurricane Sandy Relief in Richmond #VT
On Sunday, November 11th, from Noon to 3:00pm, the VYCC and Vermont Foodbank are partnering to host a Hurricane Relief event, Smash4Sandy. Participants who donate to the VYCC’s relief efforts will be able to throw a pumpkin out of the West Monitor Barn at a variety of targets below to win fun prizes. The funds raised will be used to distribute produce from local Vermont farms to victims of Sandy. The in-person Smash4Sandy event kicks off an online fundraising effort, with a goal of raising $25,000.
Stop by the VYCC on Sunday; make a donation to one of the teams; or better yet, create your own team and set a goal. Join a growing group of individuals and organizations who are coming together to support our neighbors to the south. Event details can be found at http://www.smash4sandy.wordpress.com, or call Thomas Hark directly at 802.922.0266.
Share this on your Front Porch Forum and other ways.
Kids tuning in to community conversations?
#VT – … my kids, reading over my shoulder, decided they too want to be in-the-know. So they’ve both signed up for FPF, without assistance from me.
My 14-year-old daughter wants to help find lost cats for neighbors; my 11-year-old son looks forward to finding out about yard sales where he can find electronics bargains.Maybe they’re not unique, but I thought it was a tribute to what you’ve created that these members of our youngest generation have added your service to the few they subscribe to — and one that, as a parent, I trust is “safe” for them to read!
From a mother and Front Porch Forum member in Essex.
How to Build Community
#VT – A classic poster from Syracuse Cultural Workers…
Word-of-Mouth primary driver of local business
#VT – Need a recommendation for a plumber? Best burrito in town? Slate roof repair? People turn to Front Porch Forum again and again in our coverage area. Now a new study offers some insight (below). People use FPF to get a recommendation from a neighbor, to read reviews in the archives, and to see the ads from our local sponsors. FPF is word-of-mouth accelerator for local businesses.
A new Street Fight poll finds that even with a slew of new locally targeted marketing platforms at local merchants’ disposal, word-of-mouth is still a primary driver of local consumer behavior.
The poll of 500 U.S. consumers found that 43% of consumers are most likely to shop or dine at a local business after a recommendation from a friend or colleague. 30% are primarily motivated by daily deals, 15% after seeing a locally or behaviorally targeted advertisement, and 12% after reading a positive review about the merchant online. The poll was conducted on behalf of Street Fight by third-party opinions platform Toluna QuickSurveys.
Are you more likely to shop at a local business after…
Morning Edition covers FPF
#BTV #VT – Kirk Carapezza aired a segment about Front Porch Forum today on VPR’s Morning Edition. Listen here. In part…
… “I think it’s a better world when we know our neighbors,” says Michael Wood-Lewis, the founder of Front Porch Forum. “I think that’s changed in the last couple generations.”
Wood-Lewis aims to get back to that tradition with a very contemporary tool. He’s the founder of Front Porch Forum – a sort-of digital bulletin board that brings people together in a particular town or neighborhood.
Wood-Lewis talks about his business with a certain passion. And at 46, he still carries the boyhood idealism that he carried years earlier, delivering newspapers in his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
“I had a paper route as a kid,” Wood-Lewis recalls. “I knew everybody up and down the street. We all went to the same school. It was a different kind of world. Now it’s hard to know your neighbors. And Front Porch Forum helps people connect in that way.”
Here’s how it works: only people who live in your neighborhood can read or post comments on Front Porch Forum. It’s free, and individuals use it to announce yard sales or declare a lost pet; to exchange political views or just share gossip.
Michael Wood-Lewis says in a small, rural town like Plainfield, one online forum is enough. But in a larger city like Burlington, he says “it would be a dozen or two dozen neighborhood forums.”…
Since Wood-Lewis and his wife founded Front Porch Forum six years ago it has spread quickly – to 80 towns and more than 40,000 households. So far, five cities and towns have agreed to pay for the service, including Vermont’s second largest town…
Back at the bakery in Burlington, Michael Wood-Lewis maintains that Front Porch Forum is one of the most effective ways town officials can communicate with Front Porch Forum and they say, “˜Oh, I don’t pay attention to local news, but I do care what happens up and down my street.'”
Helping neighbors talk and direct democracy…
#BTV #VT – As I walk around our vibrant community knocking on doors and hearing what’s on your minds, the one piece of feedback I receive over and over again is how much people appreciate my communication on Front Porch Forum. This is, of course, very encouraging to hear on a personal level and something for which I am humbly grateful.
It is also a testament to the power of Front Porch Forum as a tool in making our democracy more direct. FPF allows those of us elected officials who are fortunate enough to have it at our fingertips a fast, effective way to reach those who want to be engaged – and even brings unsuspecting folks into the conversation who just thought they were getting recommendations for a roofer!
FPF supports me in my efforts to give you all the latest news from Montpelier and get your comments and concerns in real time, and so I am happy to support FPF. Please consider becoming a supporting member today.
– Kesha Ram, State Rep., Burlington
Thanks Kesha!
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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