DISCUSSION - November 17th - #1

 

Front Porch Forum: MWL background in small community water issues;  Moved to Five Sisters Neighborhood and wanted to get to know the other people in the neighborhood;  Shared cookies on good plates hoping the plates would return (did not); Started FPF to connect all the busy people in their neighborhood; Five Sisters named one of top neighborhoods and people cited FPF as one of the reasons; Expanded it to all of Chittenden County;  7,000 households signed up in first year; Social networking (like MySpace, FaceBook, etc.) brought to the neighborhood level;

 

Not enough to have a network, must have something to connect/draw the members; Boundary lines drawn by household count and geographical area; Some to be adjusted; Names found and argued over in some cases;  Many successes but the real plus is the fact that people are communicating;

 

Can you make a living;  Advertising - charging city/town organizations for messaging

 

Startup:  Make posters and stuck them in the neighborhood doors;  First were busy professionals and new folks;  Last to sign up were the older residence who did not see the need to get to know neighbors (their job to get to know me)

 

Expansion:  Adding Essex Jct. village - Officials interested in being a part of this and helping it grow and expand

 

How to reach a larger or otherwise focused group:  Secret to success (and why many participate) is the narrow focus of the participation (by neighborhood) - Government officials can join all the neighborhoods in their ward

 

 

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