About
Portland On Fire is a daily discovery of PDX people. The site introduces you to a person in the Portland, Oregon (PDX), area every day. Reach out and connect. The site was created by Raven Zachary and launched on January 1st, 2008. Early profiles will tend to focus on individuals in the tech and creative arts communities in Portland, but there is no reason why it must stay focused in these areas. The talent pool in Portland is large and diverse, and this site hopes to make this fact evident.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why are you doing this?
Current online social networks are ineffective channels to meet new people. This site will help to facilitate networking. I was working on a project in the late 90’s called ‘Great Minds’ - a global profile site of amazing people. This is an implementation of that idea focused around the amazing people in the Portland, Oregon, area. A blogging platform, such as WordPress, makes this effort much easier.
Why is the site named Portland On Fire?
Portland is ‘on fire’ with amazing people. In addition to this, good domain names are hard to come by these days - the domain was available. The name also ties back into Ignite Portland with the fire metaphor.
How do I get listed on this site?
Take a look at the Participate page.
How do you decide who to include?
The selection process is entirely subjective. I started with myself, so that readers could get to know the creator of this site and because I needed an example profile to share with the early participants. After posting my own profile, I emailed twenty people I knew in Portland, asking them each to submit a profile and recommend five additional people. This gave me a large potential group to start with. This is also coupled with reader submissions, which will increase as the site grows. I look through all the submissions and recommendations and queue people up for inclusion. This is not a popularity contest nor is it my local social network, and I plan to include many people I don’t know personally. Please be patient - participants will grow to outpace the daily posts and it may take months for a profile to be posted to the site.
Do you really plan to profile a person every day?
Yes. In a metropolitan area with over one million people, I don’t think 365 people a year is going to be a problem. I have a queue of profiles ready so that I don’t miss a day. Help me meet this daily goal by participating and recommending others.
Why are you only posting one profile per day?
It’s easier to manage and it focuses the attention on a single person for a bit, which is a good thing. Have you heard of the slow food movement? This is the slow social networking movement.
How do I view the past profiles?
Visit the Portland On Fire home page and use the archive navigation links. I may add an archive page in the future, as the site grows.
Why are comments disabled?
It’s not that type of site. If you want to connect with a person, connect directly via the profile links. Profiles aren’t something I want open to comments, as they open the door to rude and inappropriate remarks (which I’d have to moderate). Add to this the fact that blog SPAM management is time-consuming.
Do you plan to expand this concept beyond Portland?
It’s certainly under consideration, but that would be a different project with its own site and identity. As I mentioned earlier in the FAQ, I was working on this a decade or so ago. The concept applies itself well to other geographies or the whole world. Let’s see how things go for Portland first and I’ll take it from there.
Is this a for-profit effort?
No. Generating revenue is not the purpose of this site. However, I do have Google AdSense running in the sidebar right now, and may look for sponsorships in the future. Ads and sponsorships help pay for hosting, bandwidth, online services, my time, etc.
Do you need any help?
Spreading the word is always appreciated, as is participating and recommending others.
How do I contact you?
raven@portlandonfire.com. If you wish to be profiled on the site, please visit the Participate page instead of emailing me directly as it uses a form to make the process easier for us both. You can use my email address listed here for anything other than a submission.