Burn Ban in Effect. All outdoor burning is prohibited in Franklin County.
When MVNow quietly launched on March 1 our ambition was simple: to inform, to inspire and to connect our community through local stories. Eight months on and that's exactly what we're achieving thanks to the people who write for us, who read for us, who share for us and who support us.
Last week I put together a graphic for the board showing the process of preparing and publishing our articles and putting together the Thread (our weekly newsletter). It's a process of around 124 individual steps each week (before you get into the photography, the interviews and the constant work of building relationships across the community).
It's been a very busy eight months and it's been absolutely rewarding to take a step back, look at where we've got to and see what we're actually building together.
As of this writing, MVNow has:
Our site gets on average 1,600 to 1,900 unique visitors a month and that translates to around 8,400 page views per month.
Since launch we've had over 12k unique active users, 56k views and 152k interactions (readers actually interacting with our stories, sharing them etc). Our stories are reaching people right here at home, across the US, and as far as Sweden and Ireland!
Behind every number is someone who's got a story to tell, someone who's discovered something about Mount Vernon or someone who's just found a reason to get more involved in our community.
What started as an idea to meet a community need has now become a collective effort with increasing reach and involvement.
I'm very grateful to the MVNow board for their leadership and guidance, to our founding underwriters for their generosity, to our citizen journalists for the care and commitment they bring to their reporting and to our subscribers who look forward to the Thread every Sunday morning.
Each of you is vital to making this work possible. It's by combining our stories and experiences that we enable our neighbours to get a better understanding of one another and of the place we call home.
As we look to the future, you can help MVNow reach even more people. Share this update (the weekly Thread), or a favourite story with someone who's just as passionate about Mount Vernon as you are.
Thanks for being part of MVNow and for helping to write the next chapter.
