99 bottles of Manischewitz on the wall… or in other words, our 99th post

We're one blog post away from our century posting, so in following the tradition of celebrating a significant birthday milestone, I’ve taken inventory of our past by asking the big questions… Why a blog? What’s the purpose? Why now? What are we trying to accomplish with it? How can I attract the more people to post to it and read it? Is this good for the Jews? ;-) Let’s start from the beginning. Soon after being appointed webmaster of the Federation’s website, http://www.sfjcf.org/, I realized that as informative as the site was, it was missing the component of having an interactive platform to voice the Federation story. Sure, we highlighted our accomplishments and updated donors on how their gifts help so many, but I felt that the site lacked the first-hand timely accounts of stories reflecting all the people, organizations, and events that make up the collective Federation. Thus, our blog was launched the spring with the help of our Israel@60 Mission participants. While jet-lagged and in a foreign land, they updated us with great trip stories, poems, and over 3000 photos! They also produced the most successful month to date. During the last days of their journey, the blog had over 500 visitors in a single day.

As we've learned in the months that follow, the blog is only as good as its contributors. Although I’d like to report on every event, meet every student that gets a scholarship, visit every person overseas who benefits from our Bay Area donors generosity, I can’t cover even a small portion of Federation activities myself. So consider this 99th posting your formal invitation. Whether you’re a donor, grant recipient, beneficiary agency, staff, or lay leader – anyone involved with Federation has the opportunity to participate in this conversation and present their Federation story. We want to hear from you. If you would like to join our roster as a regular contributor or as a one-time author, please send me an email. Knowing how to produce a decent photo, story, or video is a plus. Technical skills beyond sending an email are not required. All blog posts are subject to editorial discretion.