#good hq

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[Updated: Challenge #2] Let's Make a Neighborday Documentary Together - GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring, Community and Film

Hey GOOD Community,

We want your help documenting the awesomeness that is Neighborday. We’ll be issuing four video challenges leading up to the big event, in an effort to chronicle all the cool ways you’re gearing up for April 27th. Then, once we’ve collected all the footage, we’ll use it for a documentary we’re releasing in May about Neighbordays across the globe that you can share with your friends and neighbors.

Unleash your inner Wes Anderson while filming the look and sound of your neighborhood. Go out into your street, find some cool shots, and just let the camera run for 5 or 10 seconds on each. You can keep the camera fixed, or you can pan around; now’s your chance to show off that artistic side of yours.  Capture a street sign, a row of houses, or even a hallway if you live in an apartment building -- it’s up to you!

When you're done, remember to Go HERE to submit your video!

This one’s easy, folks.  All you need to do is introduce yourself on-camera, including your name, what neighborhood and city you live in, and that you’re hosting a Neighborday. Something like this: "Hi, I'm Casey. I live in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and I'm psyched to be hosting a Neighborday this year. Also, I love chocolate.” If your name isn’t Casey and you don’t live in LA or like chocolate, then feel free to change the script accordingly!

THEN WHAT?

Go HERE to submit your video!

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'The American Dream Starts With the Neighborhoods': Why Harvey Milk is the Patron Saint of Neighborday - GOOD HQ wrote in Living, San Francisco and Cities

You may have heard we've declared the last Saturday of April "Neighborday" and we're encouraging you to spend some time that day getting to know the folks who live near you. April 27 will be a celebration of that basic human inter-connectedness that powers great neighborhoods—the kinds of places where we all want to live. 

Overlooking Duboce Park in San Francisco sits the Harvey Milk Center for the Recreational Arts, a monument to a man devoted to creating thriving communities, one block at a time. One of the outside walls of this building contains a fragment of a quote from a little known speech he made in the early days of city politics: "The American Dream starts with the neighborhoods."

Continue reading on good.is

Illustration by Jessica De Jesus

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Your Neighborday Toolkit is Here - GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring, Neighborday and Culture

Introducing a holiday to people you barely know is easier said than done. Regardless of what you think of the people living in your neighborhood, we hope you can find something useful among these following resources that will add value to your Neighborday participation.

What type of Neighbor are you?

See the full toolkit on good.is

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Let's Make a Neighborday Documentary Together - GOOD HQ wrote in Community, Film and Documentary

Hey GOOD Community,

We want your help documenting the awesomeness that is Neighborday. Over the next four weeks, we’ll be issuing four video challenges leading up to the big event, in an effort to chronicle all the cool ways you’re gearing up for April 27th. Then, once we’ve collected all the footage, we’ll use it for a documentary we’re releasing in May about Neighbordays across the globe that you can share with your friends and neighbors.

This one’s easy, folks.  All you need to do is introduce yourself on-camera, including your name, what neighborhood and city you live in, and that you’re hosting a Neighborday. Something like this: "Hi, I'm Casey. I live in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and I'm psyched to be hosting a Neighborday this year. Also, I love chocolate.” If your name isn’t Casey and you don’t live in LA or like chocolate, then feel free to change the script accordingly!

THEN WHAT?

Go HERE to submit your video!

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Infographic: Do You Know Your Neighbor? - GOOD HQ and Oliver Munday contributed in Culture, America and News

Being neighborly isn’t just giving a smile and nod to your neighbors when you see them on the street. It’s a way of life—a way to build a real social network that can connect you to hyper-local current events, political action, and groups you can join to make your community a better place to live and work. What are ways we can improve how we engage with our communities?

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This Is Neighborday - GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring and Cities

Admit it, your neighborhood isn’t like Mister Rogers’. You don’t know the name of your postal carrier or beat cop, or even the person who lives next door. But why shouldn’t you? These people who occupy the orbit of your house have the potential to turn an otherwise dull domestic existence into the rich experience we used to know as community. 

We’d like to help return some of that richness. Henceforth, let’s make the last Saturday in April (that’s April 27th this year) Neighborday, a global celebration of the people with whom we share space. It’s about potlucks and having face-to-face interactions with the people around you. It’s about taking care of your streets and supporting your local shops. It’s about getting to know the people around you that you may not notice every other day of the year. Think of it as a holiday of the GOOD community everywhere. 

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Here’s how it breaks down:

1.

Sign up to celebrate Neighborday this year (4/27/13) by going here. Will you host a dinner? Start a lemonade stand? Stage a barn raising? It should be a day of block parties, yard sales, trading stuff, and barbecues. It should happen on sidewalks, front lawns, and on side streets. No traveling allowed; the idea is to know and enjoy the company of your immediate neighbors. 

2.

Once you click “Do it,” our community manager Hannah will email you and introduce herself in case you have questions. (She’s really nice.) 

3.

While Neighborday is on your mind and you’re still at your computer, let your friends know about it. Share it over email, on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, MySpace, wherever you like spreading the word. Here’s some helpful stuff to get you started on that.

4.

Keep a lookout for a weekly email from us on Saturdays. Theyll include helpful tips, new ideas, and all sorts of ways to make sure Neighborday is off the hook.

5.

Get outside and talk to your neighbors. Download a sample set of invitations that you can print and start giving out to the people next door. Or feel free to create your own, and let us know what it looks like by emailing it to [email protected] or tagging it online with #neighborday.

6.

Document your own neighboring, and collaborate with us on the Neighborday documentary (we’ll be sharing more about that next week). Capture video, take photos, share thoughts and experiences in the comments. 

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Got questions? Email us at [email protected]. It’ll likely go to Hannah.

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N.B. Neighborday was first proposed to GOOD as we were putting our Neighborhoods issue of the magazine together in the Spring of 2010. Someone named Gene Benjamin Baker suggested it to us on our Facebook page. We’re yet to track Gene down again, but if you know him, tell him thanks or give him a high five, and feel free to let us know how to get in touch if you’ve got any leads.  

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For the month of April, we're doing a special tumblr takeover in support of Neighborday — a global celebration of the people with whom we share space. 

Each day, we'll be sharing helpful tips, tools, and updates leading up to the inaugural event on Saturday, April 27, 2013.

Want to know more? Start by adding Neighborday to your To-Do list and following along at good.is/neighboring.

Stay tuned for more...

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Host a Neighborday Celebration on April 27 - GOOD HQ shared something to do in Neighboring and Neighborday

It’s crazy how few of us know our neighbors: their names, their phone numbers, what they’re about. The explosion of online "social" networking has only made it easier to avoid face-to-face contact in the real world. What might we be missing? Collaborators, friends, emergency contacts, sugar? What does this mean for society? As Harvey Milk said, "If we wish to rebuild our cities, we must first rebuild our neighborhoods." So, on April 27, the GOOD community will host 1,000+ Neighborday parties globally. Click "DO IT" to pledge to host a Neighborday with all of us on April 27, and we'll keep you up to date with everything you need to know to make this happen. For more Neighboring inspiration, follow along at good.is/neighboring.