Stefanie Airey was visiting her boyfriend in Stamford on Wednesday afternoon when she took time out from a break at Starbucks on Broad Street to make another visit to TheDailyStamford. It was her first time experiencing our online community news site.
Its colorful. I like the colors, said Stefanie, who is from Washington Heights, N.Y. The site is definitely a busy online destination, she said. Its individually boxed out. Theres a lot of information, so its good.
The features that Stefanie likes, along with other unique characteristics, have been continuously attracting readers inside and outside of Stamford. This week, TheDailyStamford.com and its nine sister sites in southern Fairfield County passed a milestone. A total of 1 million visits have been logged since the companys initial site launch nine months ago. In addition, Main Street Connect, parent company of all the sites, just signed its 100th contract with local advertising partners.
At the rate we are attracting readers, we will hit 2 million visits by May, says Carl Lavin, managing editor of MSC. Starting next week, registered readers will be able to sign up for daily headlines delivered directly to their email.
Cumulatively, readers have spent the equivalent of almost five years reading their local news on MSC. Thats an average of 2.39 minutes a day, as reported by the data-gathering service Google Analytics.
MSC also gives back to the community while building site awareness. Its fall Better Schools Bonanza contest awarded $35,000 in checks to Parent-Teacher Organizations. Local nonprofits won $20,000 as part of the Santas Wish List competition. The Valentines Day promotion, Close to My Heart, closes this week. The company will award $15,000 to the winners.
Carll Tucker, MSCs editor, publisher and CEO, is dazzled by the reception of the companys first 10 sites. We work hard to provide a rich offering for readers and an opportunity for advertisers to bring their message to their most likely customers and clients, he says.
MSCs Fairfield County sites are the first step toward bringing useful and engaging local news to communities all over the United States, Tucker says. Our towns are good places to live and bring up families, and we want to show that. Were grateful to all the readers and advertisers who have given us such a vote of confidence.
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