Washington DC City Pages
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| Type | community network |
|---|---|
| Branding | DCpages |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | United States, worldwide |
| Slogan | "Washington DC's First Community"; "Free and Open to All"; "Surf our Nation's Capital" |
| Key people | Luke Wilbur, Douglas White, Jack Hurwitz, Ed Palmedo |
| Launch date | January 1, 1994 |
| Official Website | dcpages.com |
Washington DC City Pages, usually referred to as DCpages, is an online community network founded in 1994. DCpages introduced the concept of online community publications in the Washington DC metropolitan area, and celebrated its 10th anniversary on January 1, 2004.[1]
DCPages.com has been recognized by Eric Hippeau, Chairman of Ziff-Davis as a highly effective tool for promoting organizations. DCPages.com is the proud recipient of the Community Award at the Annual Global Information Infrastructure Awards (previously known as the NII Awards).
As of 2006, DCpages sources of revenue are paid advertisements and directory listings.
DCpages.com's roots stretch back to 1994, when Jack Hurwitz, began connecting the community in his apartment by setting up a local Bulletin Board Service in Rockville, Maryland. In 94, Jack set up DCpages.com with the intention of linking up other services in the DC metropolitan area. The web site spread throughout the community as a local online resource.
Anthropologist and journalist Luke Wilbur began building a web club in his parents basement with the intention of understanding cyberculture. In 95, Luke and longtime friends, Clifford Bressler, Richard Lynch, Douglas White, established Infohall.com with the intention of promoting organizations around the Washington DC metropolitan area. Every Tuesday night dozens of Washington's local artists, writers, and programmers came together to learn about the Internet and build a community web site they named Infohall.
In 1996 Hurwitz met Luke Wilbur through a mutual friend, and while sitting in a booth at Dave & Buster's in Rockville, the two engaged in a life-changing conversation on the merits of community building and other philosophical topics.
"And then [Hurwitz] turned around to me and he sold DCpages to me for $1," said Wilbur, who still owns the Bethesda-based community site but says he prefers to think of himself as the Ringo Starr figure in a band of contributors.
In 1997 Axel Martinez was hired by DC Pages to contribute to what is now the DC Pages Directory. Martinez worked with Mr. Wilbur on creating photo galleries of the various events in the DC metro area. One of the most famous was his contribution to the Cherry Blossoms daily pictures gallery.
In 2001, Craigslist attempted to acquire DCpages, but the deal was not completed.
In 2006 DCpages announced the free use of all its advertising services to nonprofits, musicians, artists and organizations truly in need.
