I have been wanting to write a Year In Review post for a while, and am just now getting to it. 2012 was a great year for LynchVegas - the idea started in late December 2011 and by March of 2012, we had launched. And as of last Saturday, LynchVegas turned 1 year old!

It’s not always been easy, but it’s been a whole lot of fun. In our first year, we’ve succeeded some, and failed just as much (if not more). But, as Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” With that in mind, we’re looking forward to what’s next in 2013.

Our team looks a little different than it did when we started. But, the changes have only been for the better! Reggie will be moving to a new type of role as Community Ambassador - he’ll focus on community events, meetups, etc. That’s his passion and he’s going to kill it. Dan joined the team several weeks ago and will be heading up content for the site and leading our writing team. He’s a great guy and we’re happy to have him on board. Andrew has been helping us for a while now with web development and backend support. He’s studying computer science and actually knows what he’s doing….whew. We’ll be introducing everyone in a little more detail in the coming weeks, so you can get to know our awesome team!

We’ve got a lot of exciting ideas for 2013. They won’t all be gold, but we’re going to do our best! Last week, presented our very first local deal at Taco Thursday - a lot of you came out and we had a great time. That’s just the beginning, though - there’s a lot more ahead.

Thanks to everyone of you that supports us, whether by checking out our site, liking and retweeting, or coming out to our events - we couldn’t (and wouldn’t) do it without you!

I look forward to what’s ahead.

-Robert

Photo provided by our very own, Reggie Leonard, from a recent Instameet with our friends, the Pilgramers.

Former Lynchburg resident Jeff Carl once penned the iconic lyrics, “In the battle for a good time, we’re on the front line.” LynchVegas is only as strong as its community, and that includes YOU. Whether you’re enjoying late nights at Rivermont Pizza, Phase 2, or the Texas Inn, playing disc golf at Peaks View Park, or climbing rocks indoors at Rise Up Climbing, you are the ones on the front lines of fun times had in our great city.

Since we’re a community, we would love for you to share those fun times with us, and with the rest of LynchVegas. We’ll be showcasing your photos and videos on the blog of you having fun around town. If you want us to feature some of your work, send your submissions (files or URLs) to blog@lynchvegas.com or use the #LVFrontlines hashtag. Also, tag your posts and photos with #LynchVegas and we’ll do our best to keep up with them.

*We cannot guarantee that every submission will be posted, but we can guarantee that none of your work will be used anywhere outside of our Tumblr without your permission. Show us what you’ve got! 

Unfortunately, Help Portrait turned out to be a larger task than we had expected. Without having the interest and resources needed to make this an event worthy of the people we would have served, we aren’t going to be able to coordinate a Help Portrait event this year.

Thanks to those who did contact us to help out - we wish things had worked out.

- The LynchVegas Team

As promised, we’re releasing what we think is a pretty cool iPhone wallpaper!

We’re lucky to have some great designers like Sui Tin Sung (who designed the wallpaper) and Scott Cole. They make us look good - real good.

The plan is to release some new stuff every month, so we hope you enjoy!

Click the images to download.

When I started LynchVegas, one of the things I wanted to do was make sure that we (LynchVegas) were giving back to the community; specifically, those in our community who are in need. Understanding that we, as a team, have been given some incredible resources (time, money, skills, etc.), I felt it important that we were using those not only to grow LynchVegas, but to give to someone who could use some help. Not only did I want us to give back, but I wanted us to provide others in the community the opportunity to give back as well.

So, we are going to head up an effort to host a Help-Portrait event in Lynchburg. If you’ve never heard of Help-Portrait, I encourage you to read their About Us page on their site. In short, the purpose is to take portraits of individuals/families who cannot afford a professional photo, and giving them a physical print to take with them; it may not seem like much, but imagine not ever having a family portrait.

Help-Portrait events are held in December in over 50 countries across the globe, in order to give less-fortunate families a timeless gift just in time for Christmas. Our plan is to have Help-Portrait | Lynchburg, VA on December 1, 2012. We want to have the event in or around the downtown area, as it’s centrally located and easily accessible. Aside from those details, that is all we have so far. We have a good bit of time before December 1st, but with so many parts needing to come together, the planning process needed to start early.

With all of that being said, WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need individuals and businesses/organizations to partner with us to make this event happen. We are a small group with limited resources, but by working together we can have a huge impact in our community. So, here are the current needs:

A venue: a large space in the downtown or surrounding area to host the event.

Hair/makeup stylists: many of the people who will be getting their portrait taken have probably never had a professional stylist make them look like a star, and we want to make them feel extra special.

Clothes: when I was growing up, I always got new clothes when picture time rolled around and we want our guests to be looking fresh for their portraits! It’d be great to partner with local boutiques/consignment shops to provide new or gently used clothing for our guests to wear for their photos and keep with them when they leave.

Equipment: it’s hard to take a professional portrait indoors without good lighting and backdrops. If you have any of these types of things, we could really use it.

Coffee/food: nothing is better on a cold day than a hot cup of coffee. It’s also a great way for people to sit and relax for a minute. Coffee, hot chocolate, and smaller food items for people to enjoy are great.

Churches/shelters/food banks: I’ll be honest, I don’t personally know many people who could benefit from this event. But I know that churches and shelters are meeting these types of needs on a daily basis. So, we want to partner with these groups to get the word out. Many of these organizations have programs directly targeting those in need.

Maybe you’re feeling that you don’t fit in any of these categories - that’s ok! You know people and have a network - Tweet it, Facebook it, email it - help us spread the word. 

I must emphasize, this event is not about us. It’s not about LynchVegas or any business that may help us out, so if you’re looking for some good PR, this isn’t the event for you. It’s about giving back.

If you’re still reading, thank you. This is a big task, but something that we believe strongly in. Hopefully, you’ve read something that causes you to want to help out. If this is the case, please shoot an email to info@lynchvegas.com for more info, then join Lynchburg’s Help-Portrait Community page to interact with others who will be helping out. Please bear with us as we try to piece together all of the moving parts - a large task, but a worthwhile one.

Thank you for helping us make Help-Portrait | Lynchburg, VA a huge success.

-Robert

It’s been a busy few weeks for LynchVegas. We’ve had some really great responses to what we’ve been doing and in turn have seen a lot of new visitors to the site. It’s been really cool to see LynchVegas grow from the very beginning stages, when we were excited to get 4 visits to the site! It’s been a lot of fun and we’re really excited about what we plan to do in the near future.

Since the beginning, this has a side project for all of us on the LV team - something we do when we’re not working full-time jobs and taking classes. And, as we continue to grow, we’re going to need more help.

So what do we need? Here’s just a few things…

- Contributors to write articles for the site

- Photographers to capture photos of local businesses, events, etc.

- Instagrammers to showcase Lynchburg in a new and exciting format

- Researchers to help us discover Lynchburg’s rich past and stay on top of
   what’s coming

- Volunteers to man information tables at different events around town

What kind of people are we looking for?

First and foremost, we’re looking for people who love the city of Lynchburg. We also want people who want to contribute to their community. We want creative minds who love to explore and try new things. And ultimately, we want people who want to join our team and help us continue to grow LynchVegas.

I’ll be straight up with you, we don’t pay. Not because we don’t want to, but because we simply don’t have the resources to do so.

So there you have it, my open invitation to join our team. If you think you might want to help out, get in touch with us! Shoot an email to our content director Reggie, at reggie@lynchvegas.com, and describe where you think you could be an asset to the team. And feel free to shoot us ideas that weren’t on our list - we’re always up for looking into new ideas! If you’ve contacted us before about helping out and never heard back, I’m really sorry. Shoot us another email - I promise we’ll get back to you this time.

Thanks for all the support.

-Robert

Here at LynchVegas, we know that people love their mobile devices. So we’ve been working really hard to make sure that the site is optimized for handheld devices. And today is the day that LynchVegas.com goes mobile!

All of the content on the site will now display really nice on your iPhone, iPad or Android device! You can even add a bookmark to your homescreen so that LynchVegas is always at your fingertips (see screenshots below)!

Cool right?

-Robert

There’s no app yet, but that’s definitely on the wishlist!

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