Getting a community online
In Burlington, Vermont, 20 percent of the real-world residents have joined a new online service called Front Porch Forum. Here, you meet Michael Wood-Lewis, co-founder, and we talk about why he started the service and why it’s been so successful in his hometown. We met him at the Personal Democracy Forum, and I interviewed him at Google’s New York office.
Tags: Front Porch Forum, Michael Wood-Lewis, Personal Democracy Forum
June 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 am
[…] Robert Scoble of The Scoble Show interviewed Michael Wood-Lewis about his new online service, Front Porch Forum. He has, for the past 7 years, been running an online community for neighborhoods in Burlington, Vermont. He and Valerie Wood-Lewis have now launched Front Porch Forum. Front Porch Forum’s mission is to help people create healthy and vital community within their neighborhoods. Common sense and a growing body of research tell us that well-connected neighborhoods are friendlier places to live, with less crime, healthier residents, higher property values, and better service from local government and public utilities. Our service provides email forums for neighborhoods, based on a successful model six years in the making, and capitalizing on our founders’ many years of community development work. […]
June 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
[…] Getting a Community Online […]
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:44 am
[…] I don’t know how all of the logistics would work, but I do know that most people are willing to help each other out a lot more than is commonly thought. One striking example of this was recently highlighted on an episode of the ScobleShow where the community website Front Porch Forum was profiled, a service that aims to connect neighbors with each other. A young couple with a newborn baby was looking to move house, and sent out a request for help on the website. There were dozens of people that replied, and within a couple hours, everything in their old house was packed, moved, and completely unpacked at their new house - crib assembly and all. […]