A chicken in every pot, a Somerville Scout in every mailbox

Today, a stack of a new quarterly publication entitled the Somerville Scout showed up in the lobby of my building. With print media on the approximate evolutionary trajectory of the pterodactyl, it's an odd time to launch a magazine. The editorial conceit of this one is "scouting the best of where to go and what to do in Somerville," and the mission statement reads "Somerville Scout seeks to inspire its readers to enjoy all Somerville has to offer." Actually, it's an advertising vehicle for local businesses, which is a good thing if it gets people to support them, but I can't help feeling manipulated as a reader.

Somerville Scout's content is fairly stale, consisting mainly of news that other publications like the Somerville Journal and Somerville News have already covered, plus lists of upcoming events and performances at Somerville venues, and a few profiles of local business owners. The obvious flaws in the quarterly publication schedule are that by the time the next issue rolls around, the news content is going to three months staler and any changes to the event listings will be lost. The only thing that will still be "fresh" is the ad content, which brings me back to the manipulation factor.

Don't get me wrong; I thoroughly support local businesses and urge others to do so whenever possible. I also applaud the chutzpah it takes for anyone to undertake the launch of a new magazine the same week the New York Times is threatening to shut down publication of the Boston Globe. I sincerely hope the Somerville Scout achieves its misleadingly worded aim and does bring more folks through the doors of our local business establishments. I just wish there was a greater percentage of worthwhile content between the ads. I guess we'll just have to see what issue #2 brings.

Somerville Journal reports on Give the Gift of Somerville

The Somerville Journal kindly published an article about my little Facebook application this week:

The unique gift of Somerville – now on Facebook
By Auditi Guha
Wicked Local Somerville
Posted Mar 24, 2009 @ 10:24 PM

You know you spend a lot of time on Facebook when you start creating your own applications. Thanks to Somerville resident Laura Slapikoff you can now gift your friends all kinds of Somerville things from the dreaded orange parking ticket to the historic Powder House.

“Give the gift of Somerville – a whole new way of sharing the City of Seven Hills with your friends” debuted Sunday and already boasts 185 users. “Wow, I am amazed!” the Spring Hill resident said when she counted it up. “It’s become very popular very quickly.”

There are 44 items available so far from historical landmarks and postcards to the plain wacky – a “suffocating Mary” or a garden statue of the Virgin covered with plastic.

An everyday Facebook user, Slapikoff, 44, came up with the idea because “I thought it would be a cool idea to send people Somerville things and because I know people who live here love Somerville.”

She aired her idea on online community Davis Square LiveJournal and set it up over the weekend with techie help from Dev Purkayastha, another local resident.

But that’s just where it starts. Slapikoff is working on using the application to raise funds for a local non-profit. She plans to approach area businesses interested in being a Facebook gift item to contribute for it and is working with Community Action Agency of Somerville to arrange the fund flow.

“I definitely want more people to use it so we can raise money for a cause,” she said.

Slapikoff grew up in Arlington and moved to Somerville in 1993. “I love that it is such a diverse community and love the support here for local businesses and artists,” she said. An artist, writer, web designer and recent blogger herself, she has embraced online social networks like Facebook and believes they can be used positively.