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BigTent Beautifies Bridges in McLaren Park

BigTent — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:22:06 +0000

Late last month, the BigTent staff completed a volunteer project with Hands on Bay Area (HOBA). Decked out in our grunge wear, our team carpooled to McLaren Park, the second largest park in San Francisco. After breaking into groups we put our painting skills to the test. We spruced up several bridges in the park, while rocking out to Laney’s tunes, noshing on granola bars, and catching some rare sun on a warm San Francisco day.

Sara and her daughter, Maya, paint hand in hand.

Hats off to Pearl, resident QA guru and a seasoned social manager from her days at Stanford, for organizing this volunteer activity. Our whole team agrees that is was a great opportunity to bond and give back to our local community. There’s no denying it – it just feels good to do good! And we’re mighty fine painters, if I do say so myself.

Some team members strut their painting garb on a freshly finished bridge.

- Mary Liz McCurdy, Summer Intern

Extra, extra! Community Coach wins award in Hollywood

BigTent — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:05:08 +0000

The reasons for celebrating keep rolling in! This time we’d like to applaud our team’s very own Jaine Murphy, who was honored as one of Nabisco’s 100 Extraordinary Women this past weekend in Hollywood. The national contest sought out women who strive to improve their surrounding communities, and Jaine received the award for founding Moms and Tots San Diego (MTSD), a large parent support group in San Diego, Calif.

“Being chosen was a total shock,” said Jaine. “While my members always send me notes telling me about how the group has touched their lives (which is validation enough), it felt really nice to be spoiled a little in recognition for all my hard work.”

Jaine started the group in May 2006, anxious to find support from other moms adjusting to their lives as caretakers for fragile newborns. Today, Moms and Tots has 675 members on Big Tent, connecting 24/7 to chat and share advice. In fact, Moms and Tots members generated over 5000 discussion messages in June alone!

Accompanied by her husband, Brad, and their toddler daughter, Alexis, Jaine jetted off to L.A. for a weekend of pampering and fun. Somewhere between photo shoots, a private screening of Phoebe in Wonderland, and dancing a conga line with two nuns (who also won the contest), Jaine also managed to squeeze in some fine dining. According to her, “The chocolate dipped strawberries with cheesecake filling were to die for!”

Jaine is now back in San Diego, single-handedly (wo-)manning MTSD and helping BigTent launch new groups in her role as a Community Coach. Reflecting on her weekend, Jaine says, “I was truly humbled and proud to be in the presence of so many great women.”

Look for Jaine and her 99 extraordinary cohorts in an upcoming edition of People magazine.

Jaine and Alexis, watching Daddy guest star as a dinner show pirate

Jaine with Bill Pullman, who’s starring in Phoebe in Wonderland

Jaine on YouTube, selling the benefits of Moms and Tots (and a very vintage version of BigTent!)

Celebrating National Volunteer Week

BigTent — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:44:57 +0000

Mark your calendars! Next week (April 27 – May 3) is National Volunteer Week. In honor of the upcoming event, BigTent would like to recognize some of the devoted volunteers from the great groups we support. Here are a few of their reasons for giving back:

Anita Owens, Vice-President of Anne Arundel County Council of PTAs. “I wanted to be involved in my children’s schools. The people I meet and the work I do for all children are what keep me going, even when I want to quit. There are children in our schools that have no one to speak for them, and that is the job of the PTA — to speak for all children, not just your own.”

Jamie Heston, Co-Director of F.U.N. Mothers’ Club. “After I had my second child, I got eight meals delivered through our in a pinch program. I felt I had to give back for that, so I started delivering meals to other moms. I got such a good feeling from helping others the way I was helped. I continued to take on more and more volunteer roles in the club, as I suddenly felt this huge responsibility to let other moms know how great the club is, what resources we have, and how it gave me a great social life for me and my kids.”

Steve Teffenhardt, Vice-President of Ohio State University Aviation Alumni Society. “I originally got involved because at an early age, I figured out that you don’t get until you give first. I saw a professional fraternity as my first chance to make a difference, get to know people, to network, and to build something that I would be proud to be a part of.”

Kristen Geary, Membership Chair of Double Joy Mothers of Multiples. “I loved coming to club meetings and learning the answers to many questions that a new mom of twins might not necessarily know to ask. Everyone was friendly, helpful, and understanding. I just wanted to be part of a great group of ladies who helped me realize what a blessing I’ve received by having two babies at once.”

What inspires you to volunteer? For more information on National Volunteer Week, visit the website for the nation’s two largest volunteer networks, the Points of Light Foundation and the Hands on Network. You can also check out 1-800-volunteer.org for opportunities in your own backyard.

Raising the Tent

BigTent — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:14:26 +0000

We’re excited to start our company blog today! As a quick introduction, I am Laney Whitcanack, a founder of Big Tent and likely frequent contributor to this blog. We started BigTent to make it really easy for trusted groups—the people and the communities you care about and interact with on a daily basis—to connect online. Our platform provides these groups with a safe and secure place to continue the conversations that start in monthly meetings, on the playground, or in the front yard. We’re excited to have you join us here on our new blog, in a new conversation about what it means to have trusted communities communicate and connect online.

We hope that this blog can be a place for considering what it means to build, sustain and grow trusted groups online and off. In the future, Big Tent community members of all stripes, from group members, to product developers, even to Big Tent advertisers, will have a turn at the mike. Of course we’ll have the obligatory announcements and discussions of cool new features, but we also want this blog to be a place where we share experiences and reflections on community building in these exciting technological times.

We’re glad you’re here.

And that’s what’s new under the Tent today.

–Laney