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Observer celebrates one-year anniversary at South Side Parade
Submitted by Michael Fielding on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 8:49pm.
The Southwest Observer is commemorating its one-year anniversary, kicked off by the annual South Side Irish Parade.
West Beverly native and professional journalist Michael Fielding and Web designer Steve Delmont joined nearly 120 other entrants in the 30th annual South Side Irish Parade, marching proudly down Western Avenue before more than 250,000 onlookers March 9.
Launched in March 2007, the site serves as the local resource for neighbors who want to have a voice in the community. It gives them a place to talk about anything that is important to them, from heady subjects such as the state of our schools and economic development to lighter fare such as the best-tasting pizza and the variety of local entertainment.
Nearly 150 neighbors have become registered users to take advantage of some of the site’s features such as free classifieds and Web log services and also to add their own unique insight to news stories and forum discussions.
An average of 2,000 unique visitors – 95% of whom are from the area – lands on the pages of the Southwest Observer each month, accounting for nearly 10,000 page views.
The Southwest Observer has been proud to participate in a variety of local events in the past year, including sponsorships of the Beverly Hills Cycling Classic and the Chicago Irish Film Festival as well as charitable contributions to the community (we've assisted the Billy Grant Family Memorial Benefit, showcased the Beverly Breast Cancer Walk and participated in Br. Rice's annual Career Day).
30th annual South Side Irish Parade
The site delivers news and event information to our neighbors in Mount Greenwood, Beverly and Morgan Park, but its also gives its registered users the opportunity to comment on stories, create
their own Web logs to tell their own stories, contribute their own event notices and begin discussions in community forums.
A local tip line at (773) 432-4137 is available to all residents to quickly send news tips or to ask questions they'd like our staff to hunt down the answers.
To foster productive dialog and enhance the quality of the site, the publishers have a policy of requiring registered users to provide their full name, address and phone number. That information is kept private and never sold or revealed to any third party for any reason, but the publishers maintain that readers must own their contributions rather than hide behind anonymity.
Other features of the site include:
• Local perspective - Editor Michael Fielding is a native of West Beverly and current resident of Mount Greenwood.
• Photo galleries - Photographers capture local events, upload photos and offer them for browsing and resale.
• Free classified ads - Free ads for garage, yard and estate sales - or nearly anything else neighbors would like to sell. Add photos, audio and video to ads for no charge.
• Display advertising - High visibility, professionally designed ads for local businesses to a highly targeted audience.
• Event calendar - An overview of all local goings-on. Registered users are encouraged to add their own events as well.
We thank all of the visitors to this site for a successful year and encourage you to continue to turn to us as the resource for all things Mount Greenwood, Beverly and Morgan Park.
Click here to see more photos from the parade as well as other noteworthy neighborhood events of 2007.
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