Category: Blog

Earth Day: Community Gardens

Josephine ButlerBlog, In Our Community, Sustainability, ,

We can’t stop talking about our client, Briar Chapel! In addition to announcing the winners of the Best Buddy Contest, we’re looking forward to the community’s Earth Day celebration, which will be held this Saturday, April 21 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Stay tuned as we reshare posts from the Briar Chapel Blog with more information about the upcoming festivities.

Did you catch our recent blog, Harvesting Community, where our Briar Chapel Best Buddy contestant Emmo Pike shared a video (see below) about the Green Thumb Committee? These individuals are dedicated to keeping things up and running in our community garden, the Briar Patch. Like so many others across the country, the residents at Briar Chapel are reaping the benefits of a community garden, and just in time: it’s almost Earth Day!

In honor of our favorite holiday, we’d like to share a few reasons why community gardens are so great for the environment, community and folks just like you! Here’s an excellent list from the American Community Gardening Association:

  • Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
  • Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
  • Stimulates social interaction
  • Encourages self-reliance
  • Beautifies neighborhoods
  • Produces nutritious food
  • Reduces family food budgets
  • Conserves resources
  • Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy and education
  • Reduces crime
  • Preserves green space
  • Creates income opportunities and economic development
  • Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
  • Provides opportunities for intergenerational and cross-cultural connections

Feeling inspired? Be sure to check out the Briar Patch this weekend during our Earth Day celebration. Members of the Green Thumb Committee will be at a booth in Briar Commons to answer any of your questions, including Emmo, who is one of the founding members of our garden. She recently professed her love for Briar Chapel on her blog, greenchathamliving.blogspot.com, and we’re sure she’d love to share even more reasons why she loves Briar Chapel with you.

We can’t wait to see you there!

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Square Your Points with Foursquare!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , ,

If you’ve been following our blog this week, then you’ve been finding out easy ways to score points for the Best Buddy Contest. Our client Briar Chapel, the Triangle’s largest green community, is hosting the contest in hopes of rewarding fans for their engagement across a variety of social media platforms including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. What’s in it for you? A Buddy Scooter!

Are you on Foursquare?

With the emergence of smartphones came the emergence of location-based social networking sites like Foursquare, our very favorite of the bunch. By downloading the Foursquare app on your phone (it’s free) and checking into locations when you’re on site, you have the opportunity to score even more points for Briar Chapel’s Best Buddy Contest! Here’s how:

10 pts: Check in at one of the designated Briar Chapel locations. Examples are:

Remember to keep your eyes peeled. Each week, Briar Chapel will announce additional point opportunities around the community and the surrounding area. Where will they ask you to check in next?

Stay tuned…

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Green Thought Thursday: YouTube is Awesome!

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, Sustainability, , , ,

In lieu of our usual Green Thought Thursday, we’d like to continue sharing ways for you to get in the running to win the Best Buddy Contest. If you’ve been following our blog this week, then you’re already aware that our client Briar Chapel, the Triangle’s largest green community, is hosting the Best Buddy Contest with the idea to reward fans for their engagement across a variety of social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. So what’s in it for you? A Buddy Scooter!

We love YouTube for so many different reasons. First off, there are plenty of hilarious videos to go around. Secondly, it’s a great educational tool. And last but not least, it’s a great way to rack up tons of points during Briar Chapel’s Best Buddy Contest! The point break-down goes like this:

  • 5 pts: Subscribe to the Briar Chapel community on YouTube. Super quick and easy.
  • 25 pts: Upload an original video and use the words “Briar Chapel Best Buddy” in the title. Need some inspiration, see below. And encourage your friends to check it out! For every like or view, you’ll receive an additional point, and for each comment, you’ll get two!

We love what this fan did in her video about how to use the compost bins in the Briar Chapel community garden (also known as the Briar Patch). Check it out:

How will you get creative on YouTube?

 

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Who is Briar Chapel’s Best Buddy on Twitter?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog this week, then you’re well aware that our client Briar Chapel, the Triangle’s largest green community, is hosting the Best Buddy Contest. The idea is to reward fans for their engagement across a variety of social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. And what’s in it for you? A Buddy Scooter!

We can’t get enough of @BriarChapel!

We’re big fans of Twitter (in case you’re not following us already, you can find us here). We’re even bigger fans of Briar Chapel’s Twitter page – the folks there are always tweeting about local businesses, yummy food and all things green!

Here are some easy ways to get points for the Best Buddy Contest using Twitter:

  • 5 pts: Follow Briar Chapel (@BriarChapel) on Twitter. A super easy way to get one point!
  • 5 pts: Hashtag @BriarChapel for #FF (Follow Friday). Here’s how #FollowFriday works.
  • 3 pts: Share a Briar Chapel-related photo. We recommend using Twitpic or something like it.
  • 2 pts: Tweet @BriarChapel. Don’t have anything to say? Try sharing a green living tip or your favorite thing about the community!
  • 1 pt: Retweet a @BriarChapel tweet. Easy as pie!

Also, don’t be afraid to encourage your friends to re-tweet your tweets. You’ll get extra points for every person that does. Now get out there and start tweeting!

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Briar Chapel Best Buddy: Are You Pinterested?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

If you read our blog yesterday, then you know that our client Briar Chapel, the Triangle’s largest green community, is hosting the Best Buddy Contest. The idea is to reward fans for their engagement across a variety of social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube. The prize? A Buddy Scooter!

So many pins, so little time.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about Pinterest, the Internet’s newest social network sensation. Not only is it highly addictive; it also has a huge following (the site hit 10 million unique visitors faster than any standalone site ever). If you, too, are caught in the Pinterest craze, there’s good news: it’s easy as pie to rack up points and put yourself in the running to win the Best Buddy Contest! Here are a few ways to do it:

  • 2 pts: Create a pin of a Briar Chapel home, amenity or green feature. The name “Briar Chapel” must appear in the title.
  • 1 pt: Repin a Briar Chapel pin.
  • 1 pt: Like a Briar Chapel pin.

We guess the only real problem here is this: once you’ve pinned one thing, you can’t stop. Happy pinning, everyone!

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