We’re Getting FIT for Haiti

We like to get involved in local communities, especially since we’re partnered with Boston.com’s Your Town pages, so we jump on the chance to help local causes and initiatives. Over the last few months, we’ve attended 5ks, town celebrations, parades, and parties in the Boston area to help local communities celebrate their milestones. You might remember our Halloween trip to South Boston or our outing to Celebrate Milton.

We’re looking forward to a great charity event this weekend, and we hope you’ll join us if you happen to be in the Boston area tomorrow. FIT for Haiti is being held at the Boston Sports Club in Wellesley from 1:00 to 6:00, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to make a difference while also making good on those New Year’s resolutions. A $10 donation will gain you entry to a heart-thumping spinning, boot camp, or yoga class, and all of the money will go towards the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund. The organization is hoping to earn $20,000 for Haiti, and your health (and fitness!) can make that a reality.

We’ll be there working out and working hard for this cause, and we’re excited to be sharing some xtra xtra “swag” with attendees, too. If you’re not in the mood to work out, you should still stop by, as there will be food, fun, and prizes!

Learn more about the event by visiting their Facebook event page. Remember you can share your fundraising and community activities in a milestone at xtraxtra.com to get the word out!

Photo Source: Fit For Haiti Facebook Page

Newspaper Partnerships: A Goal for 2011

Last year, xtra xtra made news by creating an exciting partnership with Boston.com’s Your Town pages. That relationship continues today as we deliver local announcements to the neighborhoods and suburbs of Boston, but as we’ve mentioned before, one of our new year’s resolutions is to build at least six more newspaper partnerships in 2011.

We’re committed to that goal.

Newspaper partnerships are another step in our efforts to bring your favorite stories to you. We want our milestones to be where you are—as posts from friends on your Facebook feed, as tweets from your favorite followers, as emails from people who cannot wait to share their news, and as headlines from your most trusted news source. That’s why we’re eager to hit the ground running with more newspaper partnerships that help you make headlines while also finding the latest stories for your favorite communities.

We think stories that reflect peoples’ lives and achievements are at the heart of a community. Weddings, births, professional accomplishments, and other stories that celebrate members of a community are timeless stories that people will look forward to reading, so we are excited to help newspapers deliver more of these personal stories to their readers.

We’ll keep you posted as we pursue and develop these partnerships, and we hope to be in your community soon. Let us know if you want to see xtra xtra milestones on your local paper’s website!

Til next time,

CH

Snowy Photos of Your Community

Last week, 49 of the 50 states had snow on the ground (only Florida managed to be free of the white stuff). The southeast was stunned by 10-14 inches of snow on the ground, and the northeast was pummeled as the storm delivered 12-20 inches in some areas.

It’s interesting to see how snow can bring a community together. I looked out my window to see neighbors helping eachother with digging out their cars, and I noticed groups of men helping one young woman push her car out of a snow drift. Sure, we might argue over parking spaces or where to put the mounds of snow we’ve shoveled out of our driveways, but challenges like this can ultimately make us a bit closer as a neighborhood and as a community.

We want to know what you see outside your windows, whether it’s snowing, raining, sunny, or cloudy. The Local Photos section of our site is devoted to images from out and around the community; you can take pictures at a local event, share a photo of your pets and family, or snap a shot of your yard after a big storm. We have 12 unique categories for photos, and we invite every user to contribute to their local community albums.

Visit xtraxtra.com today and upload photos from your town to Local Photos. It’s free, and it’s a great way to share perspectives of your town with the rest of the folks in your community.

In the spirit of fun on a snowy Friday, we also want to share this cool video of last winter’s blizzard in Washington, DC. Watch 30 inches of snow pile up in only 30 seconds!

YouTube Preview Image

Til next time (and keep warm!),

CH

Celebrate with Cards, Candles, and the Community

January 19 is a big day for birthdays in history. Robert E. Lee, Paula Deen, Dolly Parton, Edgar Allen Poe, Janis Joplin, and Paul Cezanne all celebrate (or celebrated, of course) their birthdays on this date, and we suspect that many of you know people celebrating their birthday today, too.

It’s difficult to say how many people celebrate a birthday on a given day, but a good guess would be at least 18,889,109. That’s 1/365th of the global population, so if our birthdays could be divided evenly, that’s how many people are celebrating this special milestone today.

At xtra xtra, we think birthdays are something worth celebrating, for each marks a special milestone in a person’s life. It signifies another 365 days’ worth of challenges met and accomplishments created, and it demonstrates how much we’re achieving with the time we’ve been given. We mark these days with flowers, presents, cakes, and cards, but we can also celebrate them by sharing them with our communities.

We invite you to create a birthday milestone on xtra xtra today. Celebrate someone’s life by showing them you care. It’s easy to create an xtra xtra milestone. You can upload a picture, tag it to a few towns, and commemorate your friend’s achievements in a post for their big day. Turn your birthday wishes into an invitation for the whole community to join in the celebration!

Til next time,

CH

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day In Your Community

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and thousands of people use this occasion to volunteer and help with local organizations. Giving back and pitching in are great ways to celebrate Dr. King’s mission of togetherness in our nation. If you want to take action, here are a few ideas to get you started…

  • Make a Donation: Use your day off to go through your closet. Thousands of Americans are struggling to stay warm this winter. Do you have gently-used coats and clean
  • Give Blood: Strengthen your community by giving blood at a local Red Cross center. It’s a quick and simple way to save a life.
  • Offer to Help a Neighbor: Whether there’s snow to be shoveled or an errand to be run, offer to help your neighbor today. Mirror Dr. King’s goodwill by lending a hand.
  • Support Local Kids: The Boys and Girls Club does great work for children, and you can also get involved with after-school programs and local churches. Find a way to help a kid; you could make a difference by reading a book, helping with homework, or just playing a game.

If you’re short on time or working in the office today, there are other ways to make an impact. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted to lift our nation “to the solid rock of brotherhood.” Help make that a reality by brightening someone’s day on this special holiday. Offer a smile or hold the elevator. Even the smallest gestures can improve our communities to make them better.

Til next time,

CH

January is National Hobby Month!

January is National Hobby Month, so in honor of this particular event, we asked our friends and fans to tell us what they like to do in their spare time. Some of the responses are really unique, but all of them are celebrated in this special month. Here are some of the responses…

  • Bake!    –Brooke
  • I create collages for my friends.         –Bailey
  • Walk my dog!          –Rachel
  • Reading and writing             –Molly
  • I collect shot glasses from different cities and places, and my mom collects Christmas tree ornaments from the places she visits.          –Lauren
  • I take pictures; my kids and husband love when I include them!           –Lisa
  • We go to breweries and brew pubs and collect pint glasses… we don’t have regular glasses anymore!    –Rachael
  • Play with my daughter and try new restaurants with my husband.        –Holland
  • Does OCD count as a hobby? When I have spare time I color coordinate and alphabetize everything in my house!      –Terri
  • I play on the computer!      –Lori
  • Go for a walk and exercise.    –Kriste
  • Reading, watching movies, photography, talking to my sisters, day dreaming.     –Shikha
  • Knitting! So far, I can only do scarves and blankets, but one day hope to actually make something that connects to itself.     –Jenny
  • I run, check out history museums, ace exams, and win at life.     –Dale

Remember that you can find news, events, and updates for your favorite hobbies at xtra xtra. We have a special category devoted to clubs and hobbies, so it’s an ideal space for sharing the latest happenings with your favorite activities.

Til next time,
CH

Meet a Milestone: Aimee and Jason

Today’s “Meet a Milestone” post focuses on Jason and Aimee, the second couple to win in our JetBlue gift card contest. We’re helping them celebrate their engagement by asking about their story as well as their plans for the future!

Meet the Bride and Groom…
Aimee Bernard and Jason Rivera

Communities You’ve Called Home
Salisbury, MA; Newton, MA; Abington, MA; Quincy, MA; Newburyport, MA

How did you meet?
Through our mutual love of local live rock shows; what better way to get to know someone than amidst a crowd of people and over exceptionally loud music!

When and how did he propose?
After seven years there was no need to get on one knee and do what countless others do in the time honored “traditional” way. We pride ourselves in being unconventional and if he had done what many men before him have done I would have yanked him right up off his knee. For us, becoming engaged was just the next stage we wanted to take. We wanted it to be about us rather than the actual “act.” We came together and chose to design a ring of our own that we felt symbolized the love we share after almost a decade together. Some might find our way a little unorthodox but we like to call our relationship unique.

What are your plans for the wedding?
Something unconventional, non-traditional that shows our desire to be anything but main stream.  We don’t see ourselves as a numbered table with boxes of the same ol’ favors you see at countless weddings, hotel venue type of couple. We want to gear it toward something more intimate with a fun, casual reception vibe, reminiscent of the clam bakes his family had years at their beach house growing up.

What is your favorite thing about xtra xtra?
Being able to see not only my own family and friends’ milestones in their lives but to also share in the joy and happiness of others in our communities.

Where will you go with your JetBlue Gift card?
We would love to use it toward a trip back to Puerto Rico where his dad is originally from. Who knows–maybe we’ll elope!

You can learn more about Jason and Aimee’s plans by checking out their xtra xtra engagement announcement, and join us in wishing them good luck and a happy future in the comments section below!

Meet a Milestone: John and Kestrel

We have another entry for our “Meet a Milestone” series that introduces you to real people celebrating real milestones. Today we’re excited to talk with Kestrel and John, one of the winners from our JetBlue gift card giveaway! Together they tell us how they met, how they fell in love, and what they’re looking forward to in the future.

Meet the Bride and Groom…
Kestrel Homer and John Hegarty

Communities You’ve Called Home
Kestrel: Santa Cruz, CA; San Diego, CA; Columbia, MO
John: Greenville, SC; San Diego, CA; Columbia, MO

Schools You’ve Attended
Kestrel: University of California Santa Cruz; San Diego State University; University of Missouri, Columbia
John: Clemson University; San Diego State University; University of Missouri, Columbia

How did you meet?
We met in class at San Diego State. We had two classes together and Kestrel would sit behind me in both of them, but I never talked to her. She found out later it was because I thought she had a boyfriend (which she didn’t). At the end of the semester we started talking about the final exam and once the talking started it never stopped.

When and how did he propose?
On Christmas Day 2009. Kestrel slept in and once she finally woke up John and Kes opened the presents they had gotten each other. John went all out! He got Kes a new TV for the workout room, a really cool book, new scarves, and more. She did not realize how much more yet though. John asked if they could do stockings last, so finally the couple dug into their stockings. Kestrel worked her way down and at the bottom she realized there was a small jewelry box. “Oh my God!” She thought, “This is it!” Her heart beating faster and faster, and her palms starting to sweat and shake, she slooooowly opened the box…and inside was a beautiful oval necklace. Yes, a necklace. She tried to hide her surprise and not to act disappointed, because it really was a very nice necklace.

John helped her put it on and the two sat on the couch holding each other in front of the fire. “I want to love you forever,” John said. “Of course, I want to love you forever and ever.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the most beautiful perfect ring ever, and told her again that he wanted to love her forever, and asked if she would marry him. She laughed, and cried tears of joy, and maybe did a little dance. And it was truly the best Christmas ever.

What are your plans for the wedding?
We are having a destination wedding in Negril, Jamaica. It will be a smaller wedding at sunset overlooking the ocean with our closest family and friends.

What is your favorite thing about xtra xtra?
We love the variety of milestones that can be posted. We celebrate lots of things with our family and friends and it is nice to have a website that does not leave anything out J

Where will you go with your JetBlue Gift card?
We don’t know yet! It might help with our honeymoon? Or possibly to help fly family to Jamaica.

You can learn more about John and Kestrel by checking out their xtra xtra engagement announcement. We wish them the best of luck in their wedding plans and in their lives together.

Stay tuned on Wednesday for another “Meet a Milestone” installment from our second giveaway winner!

xtra xtra’s New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a new year, and that means it’s time for a new set of resolutions and goals. Our recent infographic demonstrated the successes and growth we enjoyed in 2010, and it also helped us identify what we hope to achieve in 2011.

As we look forward to what this year will bring for xtra xtra, we’re setting out to grow, expand, and excel in the new year. With last year’s lessons and this year’s goals in mind, we present xtraxtra.com’s New Year’s Resolutions for 2011…

  • Build six additional newspaper partnerships from across the country.
  • Increase the number of returning users to the site.
  • Nurture a significant and steady monthly increase in user-generated posts.
  • Develop more partnerships with schools, public relations firms, and other organizations with content that fosters local interest.

We hope you’ll work with us to achieve these goals by posting your milestones and encouraging your friends to do the same, and of course we appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm for xtra xtra. Here’s to 2011!

Til next time,

CH

  • Jan 7, 2011 by cooley
  • xtra xtra
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Growth in 2010: An xtra xtra Infographic

We had a big year in 2010. We formed an exciting partnership with Boston.com, welcomed many new users onto the site, and saw a huge surge in content being submitted to xtra xtra.

We have put some of our latest successes into pictures. The following chart demonstrates just three facets of our growth and expansion.

  1. We welcomed an increasing number of visitors to the site, and as that number grew, so did the number of postings submitted to xtra xtra. We hope to see both of these figures continue to rise in 2011.
  2. Our user retention rates continued an upward climb last year. Our new user rates were consistently high as more people discovered individual milestones that drew them to xtra xtra. Continuing to drive up the number of returning users will be a priority in 2011.
  3. People enjoy sharing their milestones on xtra xtra, and it’s interesting to see what they share the most. The pie chart reflects the types of milestones that were submitted to the 40+ “Your Town” communities in the greater Boston area. Sports, engagements, and weddings were very popular categories in 2010. We look forward to seeing what you have to share in 2011!

We’re encouraged by all that we achieved in 2010, and tomorrow we’ll be sharing our list of resolutions and aspirations for 2011. There is certainly room for growth, and there are plenty of challenges to still be met, but we’re excited about how far we have come and look forward to achieving our goals in the new year!

  • Jan 6, 2011 by cooley
  • xtra xtra
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