Universal Hub How to [1] - The basics on participating.
Universal Hub, started in 2005, is a community news and information site for the Boston area based on the idea that residents can help keep themselves informed. Combining reports from a pool of hundreds of local bloggers, photographers and tweeters, Universal Hub posts daily news and links, often before the mainstream media, and gives local folks a place to discuss the day's events - and to post news on their own.
No, it's not true that editor Adam Gaffin has no life. Occasionally, he gets out of his mountain fastness along the Roslindale/Hyde Park line to take photos, too. He also coordinates the Boston Blog Network [2], a promotional and advertising cooperative of Boston-area bloggers.
Gaffin has spent his entire adult life as a reporter and editor, covering everything from school-committee meetings to the Comprehensive Object Request Architecture for client/server computing (God, no, don't ask him to explain that, unless the sleeping pills aren't kicking in). In 1993, he set up the first Internet site in the country for a daily, general-circulation newspaper (using the then exciting new technology known as "gopher").
In addition to his work on Universal Hub, Gaffin consults with small media organizations and start-ups seeking to develop community-oriented news sites. See the Dorchester Reporter [3], the Boston Haitian Reporter [4] and the Watershed Post [5] for examples of his work, which includes everything from initial consultation and development of the sites on the Drupal [6] platform to helping expand and promote the sites once they're live.
Contact him at adamg@universalhub.com [7] (@universalhub [8] on Twitter). New Yorkers in need of a good lawyer might wish to contact Gaffin & Mayo [9].
What's the deal with the name?
We're an information hub for Boston, you know, the Hub of the Universe [10]. OK, OK, it's a wicked bad pun.
How can I get involved?
If you have a blog in the Boston area, let us know via this form [11]. If you don't have a blog, create an account here - you can then submit articles for possible posting on the home page.