I renewed my membership--long story. This has alot of potential and I, mysefl, always try to buy from other local business owners. Today I was updating my information on the site and clicked on the member directory.
The first two businesses listed are from Arlington?? One of which is Samenfeld Consulting the designed of the Worcester Local First website.
Same Time Next Year
-
It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
23 comments:
Oof
An interesting read in Newsweek...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/200991
Harry T
Worcester,MA
The Worc. Chamber of Commerce uses a Kentucky based mapping company to market/sell Worc and Worc businesses to customers. I am not sure what the exact nature of this Kentucky company is but I know it exists and I know of someone who has rec'd a mass mailing from the Kennedytucky company...its like $350 per pop to be listed.
Maybe the chamber has a logical explanation???
The worst I have seen and the city prob has no control over this and it was publicized last winter.... the beetle tree crews are from Rhode Island(2), Lexington, and other distant locations and I have been told there are 5 or 6 crews in total.and I guess they'll be back this coming winter.....which sould allow local tree co's to ge tlined up for this federal gravy train.
Would have been nice to have local software company do the work. I own http://johnsonwebapps.com and we are located in Worcester.
Worcester Local is a good organization and I think it has alot of potential.
I agree Chris, there should have been a local designed hired to do the Worcester Local website.
Worcester Local First used Samenfeld Consulting, based in Arlington, to create and be the webmaster of our website because we are under the 501(c)3 umbrella of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston. At the time WLF was formed, Samenfeld Consulting was the webmaster for SBN, which has several other Local Firsts under its 501(c)3 umbrella, including Cambridge, Fitchburg, Pioneer Valley, Somerville, and New London, CT.
The Local Firsts under the SBN umbrella felt it made no sense for each of us to hire our own webmaster. This was because Samenfeld Consulting is based in Massachusetts, its owner has long been involved in the sustainability movement, and it charged all of us prices that were well below market rate.
In recent months, Samenfeld Consulting has not provided any services to WLF because we have not needed any. This is largely because I, as the administrator of the WLF site, have become familiar enough with Joomla to resolve issues on my own.
There may come a time WLF needs to add more Joomla tools to our website platform. If and when that happens, I will ask our Executive Committee whether it wants to hire either a Worcester local independent that is proficient in Joomla or return to Samenfeld Consulting, whose owner teaches Joomla classes.
Meanwhile, if you know of any qualified Joomla service providers in Worcester that are local and independent, please let me know. We may be able to work an annual membership/Directory ad- for-service trade with them.
Steve Jones-D'Agostino
508-930-8675
Thank for the clarification Steve. I looked through the website and it looks like the organization has a lot of opportunity.
My initial reaction is a group supporting local business would obviously use a local software company. I understand based on your comments that other circumstances apply.
(plug) Just an fyi... my company has completed 5 Joomla projects just this year.
I had to go to Falllon this morning for a minor procedure (frontal lobotomy....!!!)
When i was done they offered me a drink. When still 1/2 goggy I told them I wanted a frappe....!!!!........had to settle for a ginger Ale.........Polar Ginger ale???.............nope..................Schweppes.
Why isnt Fallon buying Polar beverages for those in the recovery room all the way to those in the cafetria......or maybe they have both Polar & Scheppes and I just happened to get Schweppes?
Steve:
Thanks for the response. Who says nobody reads the blog?
Local First is a great organization and has tons of potential in Worcester. Sorry, don't think it is right for the first two businesses listed in the membership directory.
I think they should be taken out and you should hire a local company to handle the website.
Bill
Bill, when (if??) the PIP shelter ever closes should it be listed under our list of closed Worc. Business and should their new (planned) Triage Center be listed as a new business in Worc.
I meant to comment this past weekend on the story about how the end of the PIP is near. Frankly, I found lacking it in detail as to exactly where the PIP people will end up? PLaced in housing exactly where? What happens on a cold January Saturday night when 61 drunks all need a place to sleep for that night and all we have is a triage center for 20?
I think our neighborhoods are going to need triage centers after this plan comes full circle and we end up with 10 or 12 more 1/2 houses dotting the Worc Landscape.
Harry T said, "An interesting read in Newsweek...
http://www.newsweek.com/id/200991"
Harry,
Just getting caught up with this, I'm originally from McKees Rocks which is just 3 miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh’s golden triangle.
I can remember the days when my grandfather would pick us up (we didn’t own a car) and he would have his headlights on due to the smog from all of the steel mills in the middle of the day. The only thing I regret from the loss of the mills is good paying jobs for the thousands of blue collar jobs that were lost forever.
However, the changes in Pittsburgh are nothing short of amazing. Their downtown, wedged between the Monongahela and Allegheny at the confluence of the Ohio River, is nicknamed “Little Manhattan” due to the concentration of office buildings and many national company headquarters. Even though they have had their share of struggles like most downtowns with store closings (especially their heritage locally owned department stores), the vibrancy can be felt everywhere.
Older office buildings are being converted into 1st floor retail with apartments on the upper floors. Yes, some of them are even affordable housing along with luxury apartments. Their first downtown supermarket has opened now that they have the population to sustain the store. And the development is not just confined to downtown. Here is a link to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the redevelopment of the East Liberty neighborhood – http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09159/975799-53.stm
Much of Pittsburgh’s turnaround can be attributed to public/private partnerships and a strong commitment from the Universities and Hospitals to enhance their neighborhoods.
I truly believe the same thing can happen in Worcester albeit on a smaller scale. It’s not going to happen overnight for those of us who are boosters of Woo Town. Just look at Pittsburgh.
Bill,
I agree that the first two businesses listed in the WLF Marketplace section should not be ones based outside Worcester. However, I have no idea how to set those two listings so they appear elsewhere within Marketplace section. This is one of the reasons WLF needs a Joomla-trained webmaster.
If you have any experience with Joomla and know how to change the locations of Marketplace listings, please let me know. I'd greatly appreciate it.
Regarding the activity on this blog, I came across it because I have "Worcester Local First" set up in my Google Alerts. So watch out what you say about us! We're listenin' ;-)
Hope to see you at tonight's WLF Networking Party at O'Connor's. Complimentary hor d'oeuvres (or whatever they're called in Ireland) and a cash bar. Open to current and prospective WLF and North Worcester Business Association members.
Locally yours,
Steve
508-930-8675
Jahn: Good point about Fallon, keep in mind though... they may have some Polar products there as Polar bottles some national brands:
http://www.polarbev.com/PRODUCTS/PolarPartnerProducts/tabid/62/Default.aspx
Harry T
Worcester,MA
Dave:
All good points about Pittsburgh! Thanks for the thorough detail. If Worcester ever does mimick Pittsburgh's success, whould we judge it by having a local Primanti's franchisee?
http://www.primantibros.com
Harry T
Worcester,MA
Steve - You found your local company to make the change. I'll try to make it tonight.
Another problem resolved on the Worcester Blog.
I want a picture of Steve and Chris at tonight's meeting for my blog tomorrow. Entitled "Steve welcomes new Local Webmaster to Worcester Local".
I love this!! If only our council could solve problems this quickly we'd be all set!! Chris of Johnson Web Apps did the Worcester Citizens for Business site and it is awesome. He has since set us up on Twitter and managed to even get the attention of the governor's office with the WCB 'tweets' (?). I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Chris and I think it's great that his talent will be used by WLF.
Beth Proko
Worcester Citizens for Business and WLF Member
Some more bragging rights for Pittsburgh from today's Post-Gazette:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09161/976252-53.stm
hmmm...Pittsburgh!
Wild Will...what was the first city I mentioned to City Councilor Rosen over breakfast last week when chatting about cities that have turned around
"Pittsburgh"
yes paul it was
Can we have the minutes to this breakfast meeting with a city councilor?
no minutes taken other than I may note that I got the same that CC Rosen ordered for breakfast..and we all paid for our own breakfast at The Pickel Barrell:>)
The jist of the conversation was that I mentioned that old industrial cities are turning themselves around and many are not...CC Rosen mentioned that it is not easy and I agreed but stated that it was happening and that Pittsburgh was a prime example.
WooTown needs to start identiying its strengths and education is one of them..the main one and it should be working a lot closer with these institutions
Pualie ther CC is working closely with the colleges................basically jacking them up against the wall like the colleges were Winter Hill thugs or something and then black mailing them for for Pilot Payments...........Palmieri it appears is the primary enforcer/knee breaker for Pilot payments............or at least he thinks he is..........
Just think what a great industry education is to have.....and the worst teh city has to put up with is a few rowdy beer parties in the spring and the fall.........most mid sized would be on their knees to the college industry........not in Mass -hole - achusetts though.........or in Worcester........here all we do is berate them and enact laws that preclude 4 unrelated college kids from living in an apt.......and then teh city gets their ass sued over what Martha Coakely says is an unlwful law...........stay tuned..........a GA. Fed'l court says similarly ........next up?? push cart vendors suing the city..............and after that developers will sue the city re: overpriced (and illegal) water & sewer hook up fee.........
BTW folks.....who is responsible for mowing the grass on the 4 or 5 ft strip of land between the sidewalk and curbing?.......or if u dont have a sidewalk..... the 10 ft strip of grass between your front lot line and the curbing?
Did you guys ask CC Rosen how many times this winter he pulled a "Palmieri" i.e. didnt shovel and/or didnt TIMELY shovel his sidewalk? Do short men have Napoleon issues with snow shoveling.........i.e. is their masculinity is threatened by the height of a snow shovel?
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