The eNeighbors website went down at approximately 2:40PM CDT on 5/24/2011 and is currently unavailable. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We do not currently have an ETA but will post an update as soon as we’re back online.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience that this has caused.

If you would like an email sent to you when the website is back online, please email support@eneighbors.com.

UPDATE: (6:53PM CDT) We are in the process of replacing the failed hardware and should be up and running this evening.

UPDATE: (7:06PM CDT) Service has been restored temporarily. We expect several interruptions for the next few hours.

UPDATE: (7:50PM CDT) Service is stable. Further equipment replacements will occur at a later date.

The meeting is on Monday, May 9th at 6pm at the Holiday Inn on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.

I have a short 10 minute presentation prepared where I’ll provide a quick overview of our services and some tips for generating participation on your neighborhood website. You can also meet with me after the presentation and I can answer any questions that you have in person!

If your HOA is managed by Curry, please be sure to attend, I would love the chance to meet with you.

If that’s not enough, we’re also giving away some gift certificates to Jack Stack BBQ to a few lucky winners.

They received applications from 1,100 communities across the US, including a number of nominations from our own neighborhoods in KC.

Since the beginning our goal has been to help residents save money on products and services, while at the same time, helping local merchants thrive.

I’m happy to report that we’ve already saved homeowners $188,101 and helped to generate $100,271 in revenue for local businesses.

To date, we’ve run 30 deals from local merchants such as:

1. Sprinkler Blowout
2. Lawn Fertilization
3. Window Cleaning
4. Furnace Tune-Up
5. Dry Cleaning
6. Restaurants
7. Tree Trimming
8. Mulch

If you’re a Kansas City merchant interested in offering an eDeal to our neighborhoods, please visit http://www.eneighbors.com/edeals/.

Here are some examples of our deals:

Learn more about eDeals at http://www.eneighbors.com/edeals/.

My favorite talk (and I think the crowd favorite) was Brad Feld’s talk on his “Quarterly Week Off the Grid” – a simple idea that he credits to saving his marriage where he and his wife completely disconnect from the world (no phone/no email/etc) and go on vacation. I brought my wife to the event and needless to say she was a huge fan of the concept. I also got a chance to introduce myself to Brad who is a super nice guy.

If you don’t know TED you should start watching the talks now. I watch two talks from TED every day over lunch. I find them incredibly valuable to opening my mind to new ideas and gaining exposure to areas that I otherwise would never have access to.

UPDATE: Photos of the event are now online.

UPDATE 2: Video of Brad’s talk is now online.

“I’m so impressed with the effectiveness of the eNeighbors system, and the care and concern of our neighbors. Using technology to strengthen a community and to help neighbors is a good thing!” – Janet G.

(A screenshot of the full comment is below.)

“Neighbors Online,” a new study from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, has found that 20 percent are using digital tools such as email, texting and social networks to communicate with their neighbors. Twenty two percent have signed up to receive local issue alerts via email or SMS.

Be sure to check out the study from Pew.

The list below is for neighborhoods in the Kansas City metro area only (Kansas and Missouri). To see if your neighborhood is online, go to www.eNeighbors.com and search for your neighborhood by zip code.