Today I am reviewing the blog Athens Farmers Market. It is another Blogger site written and run by Sarah Conley, the manager of the Athens Farmers Market. This blog has some great content. Looking through some of the more recent posts I noticed recipes, announcements from the vendors and management, guest blogs and some multimedia content such as recordings and pictures.
It think the mission of the blog is to relay information from management to customers. What sorts of products are available this weekend? What are some upcoming events that will be hosted by the market? This blog answers those questions, and it does a fine job at. But also it is just a great resource for anyone interested in the motivating aspects of a farmers markets everywhere including the sustainability of the local economy, the growth and preparation of healthy and uncontaminated foods and
One noticeable caveat, however, is the fact that the site doesn't have any videos. I find video to be one of the most explicit ways to capture the personality of place without actually being there. This site doesn't do that, and I think that is a huge pitfall that a lot of blogs fall in to. This might be too nit-picky, but I would like to see the site hosted outside of Blogger. I know the farmers market is a not-for-profit entity, but I think to further its professional reputation, the domain name should be bought (if it isn't already taken) and a stand-alone Web site should be erected in the mold of what has already been established at the blog.
The blog also should try to garner more of a community feel. What I mean by that is they should encourage visitors to the site to post comments about not only the posts, but the farmers market in general. What could they do better? What sort of foods do customers want to see or see more of? Most of the posts have no comments, and the ones that do have one or two. There is little discussion on the site, which either means people don't visit the blog much, or the people who do visit the site don't feel comfortable enough posting. Either way, something needs to change. Dialogue is key to any blog, and even more so with community-based sites, which this one very much is. I think that a lot of people would be interested in airing out their thoughts and ideas on this blog, and it could further the sense of camaraderie and conversation that is so prevalent at the physical market.
That being said, the site does provide an interesting and informative view on the market. There is a link to the site in the blogroll on the sidebar of the page.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment