Good Morning, Burlington!

It hasn’t been my custom to send a Buzz on Saturdays when I don’t have a Hive Roundup, but I did promise two things yesterday: A survey and a Friday Funny.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am trying to forge a path toward greater sustainability for my work at the Buzz, and as such I want to create some offerings that will be meaningful to paying Hive members. I primed you with some questions yesterday, and you can use this survey to respond to those questions. Thanks to those of you who already responded personally and who upgraded to paid Hive memberships yesterday!

Many of you have been around since the beginning, but many have also joined recently. So I’ll give a very brief version of the Buzz’s history and reason for being: The Buzz exists to increase awareness of, and engagement in, our local community. We began out of a need for greater awareness around civic issues such as elections, voting, and the responsibilities & actions of our elected and appointed bodies. From a single Facebook post, we’ve grown to a readership of nearly 1,200 subscribers and many more readers each day.

Candidates for local office have credited the Buzz for raising their awareness and encouraging them to get involved. Countless residents look to the Buzz with questions from “Why is this dude in my neighborhood with a chainsaw at 7 in the morning?” to “What’s the deal with the Cambridge Street repaving project?” (It’s delayed until at least this winter!) to “When will the MWRA connection be complete?” (Phase 2A is complete now!) and more.

In a media landscape where there is no newspaper dedicated to reporting on Burlington, the Buzz fills this need in an innovative way that reaches more community members, explains ongoing issues and their historical background in a way that is relatable and easy to understand, partners with local organizations to raise awareness of all kinds of issues and events, and connects community members with each other and with the people who represent them.

Also, it’s just me doing all that.

Thank you, once again, for your support. I appreciate you more than you know!

Here’s that survey link again.

Not-Friday Funny

As someone who started taking lessons at 4 and still can’t play a single thing without sheet music, I feel tremendously called out by this.

See you tomorrow, Neighbor.

Nicci