— by Margie Doyle —
Charlie Binford and Joe Boucher confer over the new social network www.IslandFare.com. Islanders are invited to sign up as members.
There’s an intergenerational triumverate at work on Orcas Island to bring “a place where islanders can gather — albeit via the magic of the Internet,” says octogenarian Charles Binford.
Together with the resources of 20-something Joe Boucher and Baby Boomer Gerry Baker, a new, interactive website — www.IslandFare.com — is being launched, and islanders are the first to be invited to become members of this group.
Binford, the professional “ex-pat”, having lived and worked in Japan, Australia, Vancouver and Manhattan islands plus South Korea and a few other places in the U.S., and who with his wife Valerie came to Orcas Island 20 years ago to establish The Place at Cayou Cove Bed and Breakfast, says, “The fascinating thing about islands is that each one is truly unique. There are as many things unique as there are islands and there are more than 18,000 of them that belong to U.S. and have names. How cool is that?”
IslandFare.com is a combination of Orcas Online, local internet service provider, and Sands of Time, Binford’s blog. The combined social website has been brewing for five years, and boiling on the front burner since this January. “We’re building a community; not a commodity,” says Gerry Baker. And unlike Facebook, whose customers are advertisers, there will be no data mining, just the exchange of ideas.
For example, Binford poses the question, “What brought you to your island?”
For himself and Valerie, he writes, “Was it the air? Lots of places have air that smells. The air in Seoul, Korea smells like kimchi. The air in Tokyo smells like auto exhaust fumes. The air in New York smells…well it depends on where you are in New York City. The air in Phoenix smells like dusty trails. But the air on Orcas Island smells new. And sweet. And when it rains, there is a smell that is somewhere between the majestic Fir and the beautiful Madrona that is like nothing else in the world.”
He also cites the comfortable balance of friendliness and the accomplishment of island artists, performers and writers in deciding that Orcas Island “just feels right.”
Charlie emphasizes they’ll walk before they run; and hope to expand one island at a time– and then beyond. Eventually the team sees development of distinct “neighborhoods” or “niches” in the IslandFare.com communities.
Joe Boucher, IslandFare.com operations manager, is also principal trombonist at the Coeur d’Alene Symphony. After growing up and graduating from high school on Orcas, Boucher studied at Eastern Washington University before moving to Spokane. There he free-lances music gigs, including performances with the “Celtic Woman” show last year.
Gerry Baker, along with her husband Stuart Baker and Rick Boucher, has run Orcas Online since 1998. She and “Charlie” Binford have been massaging the idea of an island-defined social network for years. She says that in describing the IslandFare.com social network concept, “I find the ‘subscription’ description helpful. It’s like subscribing to a magazine that is delivered to you periodically but instead of it coming in your physical mail box each month when the magazine is published, it is delivered to your ‘RSS Reader’ every time the site updates
“If we acquire 10,000 members over 12 months, we’ll be very happy,” says Baker, “we’re looking for like-minded individuals, not supporters.”
“As Islandfare.com grows, we plan to have some very exciting features: professional resumes and job posting; accessibility within IslandFare “neighborhoods; and store fronts featuring goods and products that are grown, put together and displayed on-island by islanders. People can market their goods, sustain a lifestyle, and speak to their community,” she says.
As members write for IslandFare, the principals plan for a written environment of professional courtesy; they will encourage well-written articles and discourage expletive-laden pieces. IslandFare’s “niche” will be a social network “with a little higher level of communication” that differentiates among its communities, similar to the LinkedIn site. Still, it will be a place where people of all generations are comfortable
Now they are ready to have people sign in and become a part of the IslandFare community. “Charter Membership registration and space to share your island with other islanders is really free,” says Binford. “We won’t sell your email address and we don’t do ads.”
Eventually they will implement fee-based subscriptions tied to increased access to features. But for now, they are inviting local islanders to “beta test” the social dialogue network across of all levels of membership without charge.
Binford says, “What we will have is a collection of information about islands not found anywhere else.”
