HamletHub is a website that was built to unite communities through a central hub, and at the heart of that hub is the website’s founder, Kerry Anne Ducey. Created almost by accident in 2011, HamletHub has since grown into a huge local social network.
Kerry Anne, who I have had to privilege of working with for the past two months, is not only passionate about what she does, but is also very passionate about who she’s doing this all for: the people of her community, and the people of communities all over the world. Kerry Anne, aside from HamletHub, likes her family, loves dogs, and tolerates running.
Today, on my last day officially interning with this great organization, I got Kerry Anne to sit down with me for her first interview ever (!!), where we discussed how she got here, what HamletHub does for communities, and what this entire experience has meant to her.
How did HamletHub come to be?
I wanted to be a bigger part of the community, and there were a lot of untold stories that I thought needed to be shared. There were nonprofits needed help, businesses that had unique offerings and stories...we gave the community a local social network.
What was the path to HamletHub?
I have a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I taught elementary school for five years on Long Island before moving to Connecticut, where I taught at St. Mary’s Pre-School. Then I began writing for Ridgefield Magazine for several years, and I thank Geoffrey Morris for that amazing opportunity. I started (HamletHub) while I was still writing for Ridgefield Magazine, but HamletHub quickly became very time consuming. We grew from one town to five and five towns to fifteen and fifteen to fifty and it became a full time position. I have to thank one member of our community, Terri Garlick, who was instrumental in the launch of HamletHub. She contributed (and still contributes) as editor, publisher, confidante, and friend.
How big is HamletHub, and what are your goals for its growth?
It’s actually in 2,200 communities at the moment. If you type any zip code or town name in New England into (the home page of HamletHub), you will come up with either a full site or a smaller event site, EventHub. Our national expansion has begun with the goal of having full HamletHub sites with an editor at the helm, like Ridgefield, across America.
How many people does it take to run HamletHub?
We have editors in many of our communities, an amazing designer (Cynthia DiGiacomo) and some technical staff. But when we were building HamletHub, this office (which we are sitting in now - a relatively small office) was filled with probably thirty people. It took a lot to build HamletHub into a fully scalable platform that could go across the country. It’s built, it’s ready!
How many people are writing?
A lot of people, because we empower the community to tell their stories. Every day, there are pending articles in each Hub from people who are sending in content. This is from residents, people running non-profit organizations, people who are business owners. It’s very self-running at this point. Everything is submitted goes through a filter process where an editor has the opportunity to read it prior to publishing it. So, there’s a gatekeeper (if you will) at the helm of every town site to assure the content is appropriate and factual.
Do the HamletHub sites strongly unite their communities?
Absolutely, that’s the mission. We want people to feel proud of where they live; that’s what it’s all about. And, we want them to engage with their neighbors, business owners, non-profits. The community is the center of HamletHub, it's for them and about them.
What about this website and this whole experience is the most meaningful to you?
For sure making a difference in people’s lives, and the lives of those working with nonprofit organizations. We’ve introduced the community to volunteer experiences they probably wouldn’t have known about, we’ve invited them to be supporters of businesses, and encouraged them to shop locally.
Is there anything else you want to share with us today?
I feel privileged and honored to be able to share information with my community and communities all over. I never set out to do this. I was having some fun on the computer… never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine it would become a business. I guess it was a need that people had, and I feel privileged to have been able to fulfill that need by providing them this social platform.