Greetings from Switchboard Headquarters.
Today is a big day. We are excited to announce that in the coming weeks anyone will be able start a Switchboard. Want early access? Sign up here.
Here’s how this came to pass: Sean and I built Switchboard for our alma mater, Reed College. We wanted a place where students and alumni could ask for what they needed and offer what they had to give within a community they trust. We built Switchboard to solve our own problem.
Then this unexpected thing happened. Countless people contacted us and said,”We want to build a Switchboard for our community!”
For the last few months we have been working tirelessly to make that happen. We’ve heard from bike clubs, expat communities, churches and synagogues, montessori schools, neighborhoods, public health organizations, summer camps, hobby groups, non-profits, companies in search of a useful intranet, even circus performers. Really, I’m not joking. Circus performers.
This is the simple fact of the matter: every single person we’ve every talked to wants a Switchboard for a community in their life. It could be their book club, a poorly organized charity they volunteer for, their kid’s school, or their rural town in Washington state of 400 people. We’ve even heard from people with far-flung extended families who want to use Switchboard to create a centralized family network.
We believe everyone who wants a Switchboard should have one. And because Switchboard multiplies love, what better day to offer it to everyone than Valentine’s Day?
Today we are calling on all of you awesome, motivated community builders who are tired of listservs and groups and overwhelmed by likes and pages. We know you’ve been waiting for a simple way to connect with people you care about and share something real. The wait is over.
Sign up for early access here. Make it happen. Build a Switchboard. They will come.
With love,
Mara, Sean, and Team Switchboard