How to Get Involved: We need your help!

Are you ready to get involved? I hope so! By now you may have had the chance to read “Behold the Booming Blog!” and “Thank You, Essex Blog Readers, Writers and Boosters,” the first two installments in my 2013/2014 state of the Essex blog series. Long story short: Essex on Lake Champlain – the community blog for Essex, NY – is thriving, and I’m incredibly grateful to every one of you who is making it possible.

This afternoon I want to focus on how you can get involved in the Essex blog, and why your help is paramount. I really appreciate your taking the time to read on and learn more. Please contact us with any questions.

We Need Your Help

I’m profoundly grateful to everyone who made 2013 such a success story for Essex on Lake Champlain. Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you. We can’t do it without you!

As we tiptoe into 2014, I want to invite all community members to become more directly involved in this project. Sustaining and improving a thriving community media presence for Essex excited me beyond words, but I am increasingly aware that it depends upon you. Fortunately, participating in success of the blog is fun and easy, and there are many different ways for you to become involved. I will outline a few now, but if I’ve overlooked the perfect way for you to participate, please let me know. Email me directly at george [at] essexny [dot] us and I will get back to you right away to custom tailor a suitable role for you.

“When you do nothing, you fell overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” ~ Albert Einstein — Get Involved! (Quote PhotoGraphy)

Follow the Essex News Stream

The most important (and enjoyable) way to participate in the Essex blog is to read and share daily posts. Unless you’re online 24×7 (as some of us admittedly are), subscribing to the daily and/or weekly Essex newsletter is the best way to keep track of new posts. And if you use social media, our Facebook page and Twitter stream will also notify you whenever new content is available, literally the moment it is published.

Please invest a few minutes each day to read and learn about Essex area happenings, heritage and history. And better yet? We would be thrilled if you would forward the newsletter, “share” Facebook posts and “retweet” Twitter messages. This is the power and ease of social media, and it helps us spread the word to new readers who you consider a good match.

Become a Content Creator

Do you have any old Essex postcards, photos or other artifacts? Share them on the blog like we did with this photo of the Essex Motor Boat Station! (Click for the story.)

An even more exciting way to participate in the Essex blog is to contribute content. Did you enjoy a delicious meal or watch a memorable concert in Essex? Submit a review! Do you have interesting historic images or artifacts that will transport website visitors back in time to an earlier Essex? Let’s figure out how to showcase them on the website so that people all around the world can access them. Do you run a business in Essex or organize local events that are not yet represented on the website? Let us know and help us develop content to help residents and visitors learn more.

I will be hosting a couple of workshops this winter for anyone interested in learning how to contribute to the Essex blog. Watch the blog for more information or contact us and let us know you’d like to be notified when the dates and locations are set.

Remember, this is your community blog, your media outlet, your opportunity to help tell the Essex story. It’s easy and fun to create timely Essex content, and it provides virtually universal access to residents, visitors, travel planners, journalists, and social media influencers (who help amplify your story) so that our local enterprises can thrive. We’re stronger together!

Help Support the Essex Blog

Last but not least, if you have benefited or felt inspired by Essex on Lake Champlain in 2013, please consider helping underwrite the effort with a modest subscription or donation. I have invested time, finances and creative resources into this labor-of-love ever since launching it 30 months ago, and for the first time I am appealing to readers to help with our mission. If you are receiving good value and if you want to see our site endure and grow, then I invite you to support our work with one of these donation options.

1. Monthly Subscription Join other loyal readers who make Essex on Lake Champlain possible with an automatic monthly subscription.

2. One-Time Contribution Patrons preferring the flexibility of a one-time gift can use the “donate” button below to make a non-recurring contribution.

Thank you in advance for your support. You are making Essex on Lake Champlain possible. Your gift will be invested directly back into the Essex websites by helping pay our superstar blogger/editor, Katie Shepard, and our wonky developers. And it will keep our servers humming, our backups caching and your experience user-friendly and reliable. Thank you!

If you’re feeling strapped post-holidays, there’s another way to help defray our costs. If you make a purchase after clicking on an advertisement or an affiliate link (such as a link to a book on Amazon.com) the blog receives a small advertising fee. If the opportunity presents itself, please don’t hesitate to help us out by supporting our advertising partners.

Coming Soon: 2014 Resolutions

I am indebted to you for reading the first three installments of my 2013/2014 state of the Essex blog series. If you’ve missed anything, here are the links:

2013 Year in Review: Behold the Booming Blog!
Readers, Writers & Blog Boosters: Thanks, Blog Community!
How to Get Involved: We need your help!
New Year’s Resolutions: Our plans for 2014!

I’ll wrap up tomorrow with a look into the next twelve months. We have all sorts of exciting plans including a complimentary visitor map of Essex sights, merchants, etc.; the first volume of our Doodler’s Guide to Essex, NY series, fine-tuning the Essex Events Calendar, and welcoming new bloggers into the fold. I can’t wait!

Essex, NY Not Just A Summer Town (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Postcard: Essex Bay (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Postcard: The Old Dock Coffee House, Essex, NY (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
2013 Year in Review: Behold the Booming Blog! (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Thank You, Essex Blog Readers, Writers and Boosters (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Geo Davis

Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.