Thank you for reading The Merriweather Post! I started blogging about 2 months ago, and 33 posts later, I'm amazed that The Merriweather Post has over 500 Facebook likes. Seriously, thank you! I hope you all are enjoying reading the news as much as I am enjoying researching and writing it.
One of the goals of this site is that informing neighbors about what is happening in our community helps to instill a sense of community pride, and that pride, in turn helps bring neighbors together. With that in mind, if and when The Merriweather Post gets to 1,000 Facebook likes, it's time to party! So, keep reading, sharing, and telling your friends and family about the site and hopefully it won't be too long until we get to say hello, meet fellow readers, and chat about the neighborhood over beers at a local happy hour. And obviously, with coronavirus on the top of all our minds, it goes without saying that such a gathering won't occur until its advisable to do so.
And while I have you, a few housekeeping items:
A few people have asked me about the best way to be notified when there is a new post. First, I added an email subscription to the website that will automatically email you whenever a new post is made (don't worry, my plan is 2 to 4 posts/week). Also, I'm posting my articles to Twitter, just started posting photos to Instagram (where I just posted an only-on-Instagram picture of the turf that was just installed at Colorburst Park), and I have RSS feed support, so there a number of ways follow along.
It bears repeating that I am just a person on the Internet with a blog. I am doing this for free and have absolutely no connection to any downtown Columbia MD entity. I am not a secret agent for the Howard Hughes Corporation. The name of the blog is just a clever pun on the neighborhood I'm covering and a common newspaper name. What I am is a neighbor, husband, and father with a full-time job who loves local news and is excited about the development of Columbia's urban core.
The Merriweather Post is accepting sponsorship to display a banner ad or sponsor a post. As you saw earlier this week, The Kramer Hamet team of Cummings & Co are the very first sponsors! Thank you Missi and Libby! Note that I'll only be accepting sponsors/advertisements from local businesses or organizations looking to connect with local audiences about local things (No Google Adsense or annoying pop-ups! - just a few strategically placed ads along the right column of the website to bring in a bit of revenue to help offset website costs), so if you are or know a business or organization interested in supporting local news and is savvy enough to recognize the value of connecting with a local, well-informed, civic-minded audience, then please contact me to discuss options.
Finally, if you have any feedback on the site thus far, please feel free to share. Website features, articles you like or don't like, topics you like to see covered, etc. The Merriweather Post is all about community, so I want to cover what you want to hear about! And if you have any hot tips or come across some interesting news, definitely let me know. I'm also happy to consider publishing articles from guest authors and/or collaborate on joint projects. You can email me at themerriweatherpost@gmail.com, message me on Facebook, tweet at me, or just post below. Looking forward to hearing from you - and even more so, meeting you once we get to 1000! - Jeremy