Ghost of Midnight

Greg Sterling reports today about two spending forecasts for online geotargeted advertising.
eMarketer
2006 $2.1B
2011 $7.8B
30.0% annual growth
VSS
2006 $6.4B
2011 $19.2B
24.6% annual growth
I don’t know why the two estimates differ as much as they do. However, they both show a sizable industry getting bigger. I take this as encouraging news for Front [...]

No shortage of lessons regarding social networking sites…
1. Mark Glaser at PBS.org offers a history and overview of major social networking sites.
2. Greg Sterling reports about a piece written by Jacqui Chew for iMedia about “how community and social media functionality are helping some newspapers grow and retain audiences online.”
3. And [...]

Rebecca of the Five Sisters Neighborhood Forum chimes in today…
BTW, thanks for all your work on this forum. I do a lot of travel in my job, and it’s fun to be out of the country, often in the third world, tracking down an “internet cafe” - and I use that term lightly for some [...]

Last school year we had many college students sign up with Front Porch Forum. Now, with a new school year kicking off, we’re seeing dozens of them registering each day this week… University of Vermont, Champlain College, St. Michael’s College, Burlington College, etc.
That’s great! Burlington has its share of town-gown challenges, including a [...]

Burlington’s creative economy rarely ceases to amaze me.  And I’ve got a great view as the local Front Porch Forum moderator.  Here’s today’s entry from a member of the ONE East Neighborhood Forum in Burlington…
Hi Neighbors - I’m considering a weekly soup delivery to wherever you want it, home or office. It can be a [...]

Acquisitions in the social networking space continue. This from paidContent.org…
The baby and mom-focused BabyCenter, owned by J&J, has made its first acquisition in its 10 years of existence: it has bought Maya’s Mom, a Palo Alto-based social networking site for mothers. Last year MM raised angel funding from some high profile names, including Flickr [...]

Here’s another great use of Front Porch Forum… this time by the City of Burlington’s Parks and Rec. Department…
The Department of Parks and Recreation has received funding in the new fiscal year 2008 budget to replace the playground at Schmanska Park on Grove Street. With input from the Front Porch Forum, we have completed [...]

Not sure what to make of RottenNeighbor.com. It’s…
the first real estate search engine of its kind that helps you find bad neighbors before you move so you don’t regret the purchase of your new house, home, condo or apartment.
A different approach than Front Porch Forum to say the least.

Grayboxx has been generating some buzz online recently with its impending launch… which happened today. And lo and behold, its first target is our very own Burlington, Vermont. From its press release…
Grayboxx Inc., a Silicon Valley-based online local search firm, today announced that Burlington is the first city to gain access to the [...]

Phyl Newbeck wrote an interesting piece for the Burlington Free Press on August 21, 2007 about a local online effort within Front Porch Forum’s initial pilot area.
Jericho and Underhill collaborate in ways that few Vermont towns do.
They share a library district, a park district and a land trust. The two towns go even further in [...]