Making My Pitch

You’ve seen this, right?

Facebook has created a way for us to monetize our birthdays for charity and it has caught on. Sometimes I give, sometimes I don’t, depending on the cause, my relationship to the birthday person, and my current financial situation. Some folks find these annoying - - I wouldn’t have been buying you a present in any case, so why are you soliciting me? - - but, like it or not, they have become a part of the social media scene.

You know what’s coming, right? My birthday is Monday and I’m making my pitch.

Take a deep breath. It’s not money I’m asking for. I know my readers are doing the best they can with what they have right now. I’m asking for a different sort of present this year.

Presence. 

That’s right, birthday presence. I’m asking you to share the Facebook page for my blog and invite people to Like it, with the goal of surpassing 500 Likes. 

Here’s the page: https://www.facebook.com/VillageGreenTownSquared/?ref=bookmarks

 I’ve been writing the blog for almost ten years now. I’ve written on everything from Downtown Development, Columbia Association and Village Elections, HoCo Politics, the Howard County Schools, issues of race and equity, the local arts scene and the importance of arts education, local philanthropic initiatives, and any number of Columbia/HoCo events, businesses, and causes. 

Sometimes I go big and address issues outside the Bubble. Sometimes I get personal. 

Like today.

The way that Facebook works, the greater the number of “Likes”, the more likely that people will see the daily posts come up in their feed. That increases the likelihood that they will read it. That in turn increases the chances that they will Like and/or Share it. And that means one simple thing: increasing presence. 

Increasing presence means more chances to share ideas and have more local conversations. Village Green/Town² uses the explainer: where Columbia and Howard intersect. That intersection doesn’t happen at one particular point, but at many, many different points. Including the people and ideas from those many points makes for better conversations. It will make for a better blog.

You can make me more visible so that can happen. What better time than now when most of us are homebound and on the Internet more than usual? You don’t need to buy a card or a gift. You don’t need to make or solicit monetary contributions. You simply need to ask the folks you know to take a look at my blog page and click “Like”.

I look forward to celebrating my birthday with you and your friends. And their friends. And, well, you know. We’re better together.