Washington DC City Pages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Type | community network |
|---|---|
| Branding | DCpages |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | United States, worldwide |
| Slogan | "Washington DC's First Community"; "Free and Open to All"; "Surf our Nation's Capital" |
| Key people | Luke Wilbur, Douglas White, Jack Hurwitz, Ed Palmedo |
| Launch date | January 1, 1994 |
| Website dcpages.com |
|
Washington DC City Pages, usually referred to as DCpages, is an online community network founded in 1994. DCpages introduced the concept of online community publications in the Washington DC metropolitan area, and celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 1, 2004.[1]
DCPages.com has been recognized by Eric Hippeau, Chairman of Ziff-Davis as a highly effective tool for promoting organizations. DCPages.com is the proud recipient of the Community Award at the Annual Global information Infrastructure Awards.
As of 2006, DCpages sources of revenue are paid advertisements and directory listings.
DCpages.com's roots stretch back to 1994, when Jack Hurwitz, began connecting the community in his apartment by setting up a local Bulletin Board Service in Rockville, Maryland. In 94, Jack set up DCpages.com with the intention of linking up other services in the DC metropolitan area. The web site spread throughout the community as a local online resource.
Anthropologist and journalist Luke Wilbur began building a web club in his parents basement with the intention of understanding cyberculture. In 95, Luke and longtime friends, Clifford Bressler, Richard Lynch, Douglas White, established Infohall.com with the intention of promoting organizations around the Washington DC metropolitan area. Every Tuesday night dozens of Washington's local artists, writers, and programmers came together to learn about the Internet and build a community web site they named Infohall.
In 1996 Hurwitz met Luke Wilbur through a mutual friend, and while sitting in a booth at Dave & Buster's in Rockville, the two engaged in a life-changing conversation on the merits of community building and other philosophical topics.
"And then [Hurwitz] turned around to me and he sold DCpages to me for $1," said Wilbur, who still owns the Bethesda-based community site but says he prefers to think of himself as the Ringo Starr figure in a band of contributors.
In 2001 DCpages rode the bigger dot-com wave and was nearly acquired by San Francisco-based Craigslist (which has its own listings for the District). But the deal fell through, and DCpages remained independent and privately funded.
In 2006 DCpages announced the free use of all its advertising services to nonprofits and organizations truly in need.
Today, knowledgeable web users access the DCPages.com to find regional information on the District and surrounding areas. In addition, DCPages.com provides a host of tools, reports, and other information to help both members and readers.
In an online world where everything is global, DCpages mission is to connect people online to what others are doing at a local level. The organization provides the framework for the site that brings community resources and people together.
