Just a reminder: The deadline to get your pix in for Swamplot’s first-ever group photo feature is this Thursday night at midnight!
Your assignment? Take photos near the corner of Kirby and West Alabama. Here are the details.
Interested in taking photos for Swamplot’s new group photo feature? Great! Here’s our streetcorner-photographing FAQ:
Okay, I’m at the corner of Kirby and West Alabama. What am I supposed to be snapping pictures of?
Whatever you want. Really. Anything that’s within 500 ft. of that intersection.
Swamplot is a real-estate site. That means you want photos of buildings, right?
Well, sure. But . . . really, it’ll be a little sad if that’s all we get. What else do you see going on near that corner?
I can already see everything I want in that area from my computer, using Google Street View. What’s the point of having us take more photos?
Try taking pictures of things you can’t see from Google Maps. Then we’ll see!
I’m not a particularly good photographer, but I can snap photos with my cameraphone. Do you want those?
Photos from any kind of camera and any kind of photographer are welcome. We all love to see spectacular images, but that’s not necessarily the point of this feature. We’re just trying to get a sense of a place. And sometimes quick-and-dirty snaps can do that better than polished portraits.
Interested in snapping some pix for Swamplot’s new group photo project — but feeling a little swamped for time?
No problem. By popular request, we’re resetting the deadline for this site’s inaugural group photo feature — giving you an extra week. Now you’ll have until midnight next Thursday, October 22nd, to post your photos! Just make sure they show a subject that’s within 500 ft. of the intersection of Kirby and West Alabama. Reader Mr. Kimberly has been nice enough to indicate the target area for you in the graphic above.
If you’d like to participate (and we hope you will!), be sure to read the instructions we posted last week. We’ll answer a few questions about the project here later.
Graphic: Mr. Kimberly [license]
If you are a talented photographer — or are trying to become one — Swamplot needs your help. And if you’re a reader who just likes to snap fun cameraphone pix, Swamplot needs your help too.
We’re trying out a new group documentation project, and we’re doing it one week — and one streetcorner — at a time.
Here’s how it’ll work: Each week, Swamplot will ask readers to document a particular location in the Houston area. If you’d like to participate, just visit the location, take some terrific photos, and send them in!
What’ll that get us? A new weekly photo feature, which we’ll run on Fridays.
Interested in participating? Here’s your first assignment:
Are you a photographer? Do you like exploring Houston? Would you like your photos to appear on Swamplot?
This Friday we’ll be announcing a new feature that will incorporate fun pix from our readers. And we’ll be handing out the first assignment then. If you have snap-happy friends who might enjoy this sort of thing, please let them know about it. And get your camera ready!
Today we welcome 2 new advertisers to Swamplot! Here they are:
Located in the Houston Heights, Habitation Realty is a full-service real estate company specializing in “inner-loop luxury and green properties.”
Barden returns as an advertiser with more information about her latest project: The Tree House, at 1608 Indiana St.
And who are our continuing advertisers?
We hope you’ll support these organizations and businesses, because they make Swamplot possible.
If you’d like to help support Swamplot and your own business — and reach this site’s large and growing audience of Houston real-estate fans — please contact our advertising department! (Here’s our rate sheet [PDF])
Sometime over the past weekend, Swamplot reached its second birthday. Look out: We’re now headed into our Terrible Twos.
This is as good a time as any to thank all of you: our readers, commenters, neighborhood correspondents, photographers, tipsters, top-secret tipsters, contest sponsors, and advertisers for making Swamplot a fun and happening place to check in on what’s happening around this town. We greatly appreciate all that you do.
No presents, please. But . . . do keep sending in those tips!
Why was there no Price Adjuster feature on Swamplot yesterday? Because we’ve run out of your submissions! Really, is every for-sale listing in Houston now perfectly priced? If not, send us an email and tell us which ones aren’t! For each property you tell us about, be sure to explain why you think it needs a price adjustment, and what price you think would be better.
We’ve been itching to give away 2 — yeah, count ’em: two — Houston. It’s Worth It. books now . . . for 2 weeks! The new HIWI: Ike book and the original HIWI book. And that HIWI brand “Hunkered Down” stencil kit. Really, one of you should win these great prizes.
But you’re going to have to do a better job of guessing to get it.
That’s right: None of your guesses have been close enough. Maybe if we extend the game one more day . . . until Friday? Will one of you get it then?
Sure hope so. Go add your guesses to the original post. If you’ve already guessed, go ahead and guess again.
And focus on this — just part of what you could win:
Swamplot is off for the long Labor Day weekend. Maybe play a bit, maybe do a little work around the house?
Photo of “Remembering Ike” community display, Baybrook Mall LEGO store, created by Texas LEGO Users Group member Matt S.: Anthony J. Sava III
We’ve got a great fresh new crop of advertisers over here at Swamplot! First, though, we want to thank our continuing advertisers:
Here’s the brand-new group:
The firm offers a range of real-estate related legal services from its offices in Bellaire.
If you find (and then lease) an apartment through ApartmentGiver.com, the company will donate $100 to a charity of your choice, for free.
The new book, HIWI: Ike, is now available! (HIWI is also sponsoring this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game.)
GlenbrookValley.com, put together by Robert Searcy of Texas Real Estate & Co. Realtors, features midcentury modern homes in . . . Glenbrook Valley!
The RDA’s fall 2009 lecture series, Getting High: Towers in Architecture begins September 16th.
We hope you’ll check out all these local companies and organizations. If you appreciate their support of Swamplot, please let them know! Their support is what keeps Swamplot going.
And if you or your firm would like to get some attention from Swamplot’s growing readership of Houston real-estate fans, contact us for information about advertising here! You can find our rate sheet here (PDF).
Some great local firms and organizations have already taken advantage of Swamplot’s limited-time-only lock-in-our-old-rates summer advertising special. How about you? Interested in putting your ads up on Swamplot at a last-chance price? Then hurry — this deal ends Monday! (Update, 8/31: At the end of the day.) There’s more info here.
Curious about advertising on Swamplot? Now’s a great time to look into it!
Just a reminder that there’s only a little more time to lock in last year’s rates. You can read more about our summer special here.
Here’s one thing all Swamplot advertisers have in common: They all started out as Swamplot readers. Eventually, each of them realized that if they’re reading and enjoying Swamplot, it’s likely a lot of their potential customers are too.
They are.
It makes sense then, for us to direct a few messages about Swamplot advertising to our general audience. Especially when we have something special to offer. And we do!
Swamplot’s advertising rates were last set a year ago, when this site had a significantly smaller readership. We’ve now raised them to better match our current numbers: More than 165,000 pageviews, from more than 37,000 absolute unique visitors, each month. All of them actively interested in Houston real estate, development, neighborhoods, home decor, and all that other Swamplot-y stuff we cover. They’re people like you.
So what’s the special? We wanted to give a chance to those readers who maybe hadn’t considered advertising on Swamplot to try it out — at our old rates!
You know those little 125×125-pixel “tile”-size square ads in the column to the right? We’ve got a few more of them to sell. For cheap. Ridiculously cheap.
Uh . . . how cheap?
To those of you who have already volunteered to serve as neighborhood correspondents for Swamplot: Thank you! If you haven’t heard back from us already, you will very soon.
Meanwhile, plenty of prime Houston neighborhoods are still looking for correspondents! If you’d like to use your photographing and reporting skills to help Swamplot cover real estate, design, and neighborhood issues better, here’s your chance! You’ll find a few more details about these very-part-time positions in our original request.
From heightslife (The Heights Life): RT @swamplot: Going Attractions: Hollywood Video Gives Up on the Tower Theatre http://twurl.nl/ly5csn
From GTello (Gus Tello): @Lennar Houston Real Estate Market Doing Much, Much Better Than Last October http://twurl.nl/t6uo7b (RT @HoustonPress @swamplot)
From HoustonPress (Houston Press): RT @swamplot: Houston Real Estate Market Doing Much, Much Better Than Last October http://twurl.nl/t6uo7b
From isthishouston (isthishouston): RT @swamplot: How’s That Corner of Harrisburg and Wayside Looking? http://snipurl.com/tay31From isthishouston (isthishouston): isthishouston Harrisburg & Wayside - http://isthishouston.com/2009/11/19/harrisburg-wayside/ - #houston @swamplot #eastend
From jenxer (Jennifer Mathis): I can hear it now: "Obsess much, Jen?" RT @swamplot: Comment of the Day: Demo Addicts http://twurl.nl/yf4twm
From kniemeier (Karen Niemeier): Attention East Enders! RT @swamplot How’s That Corner of Harrisburg and Wayside Looking? http://snipurl.com/tay31From jenxer (Jennifer Mathis): I need to quit reading @Swamplot's demolition reports. Seriously. This one breaks my heart. http://is.gd/4YfUZ
From TheLoopScoop (TheLoopScoop): Wow! Hope this works out! RT @GunsandTacos: RT: @swamplot: The Block Party’s Over http://twurl.nl/nxk320
From GunsandTacos (Jay): RT: @swamplot: The Block Party’s Over http://twurl.nl/nxk320