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A Grass Roots Effort by Internet Industry Altruists
by Nancy Norstad for the San
Francisco Spectrum
Hillgirlz.com is a casual, creative website for women that includes
a Women At Work section with a broad variety of categories of skill
and talent, were one to feel more comfortable hiring a woman plumber
or attorney. Hilgirlz.com also has restaurant reviews, a calendar
of events, an astrologer, music links to favorite woman artists,
an online advice column and numerous photo albums of events and
friends. Hillgorlz.com also offers 'eventmail,' a service that alerts
its members to various regional events.
Stirred by a recent email that sounded like and SOS from the site's
author, Alison Terry-Evans, SF Spectrum decided to see if there
was anything we could do to help spread the word in the community.
The following is an interview by North Bay Editor Nancy Norstad
and Hillgirlz founder, Alison Terry-Evans
NN: How did Hillgirlz.com get started and how long
has it been online?
ATE: Hillgirlz.com has been online for two and
a half years and now gets nearly a million hits per month from about
16,000 visitors. The site was created because it was very apparent
that we needed a resource that was a focus just for the needs of
queer women, rather than queer women being the small L in the alphabet
overshadowed by the large G.
NN: What does the Hillgirlz.com site feature that
our community should know
about?
ATE: A very important area on the site is the
Calendar, which features an average of 600 listings per month. There
is no other place online, or in print, that shows everything that
is happening; from theater, clubs, dances, hikes, workshops, professional
sport, open mics, café socials, sex clubs, comedy, knitting
groups, book readings, opera, live music, art shows, etc. The list
goes on and on because there really is a lot going on for lesbians
in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Women at Work pages is just that. Women only. Women really
can find a woman for the job.
We have photographers who go out to events and take pictures which
can then be sent as e-cards. Thousands are sent each month. There
are also pages and pages of very fun e-cards of pulp novel covers
and other images.
Jane Majhid reviews women owned restaurants on Food Faves; the
astrologer, Stella Fortune does Star Shards, and Betty Faux Queen
gives advice which is actually really funny.
NN: Are there other local websites you consider competition?
ATE: No, I don‚t consider any other local
websites as competition for hillgirlz.com, and I don't think that
any other website is attempting to compete with us as they cater
to the LGBT community as a whole or mostly focus on gay men, with
women getting only peripheral attention.
NN: What is it about Hillgirlz.com that is totally
unique and innovative?
ATE: Hillgirlz.com is interested in embracing
the diversity of the queer Women's community. The photographs on
the PICTURES pages reflect our audience and reflect their diversity
of color, age, gender, sexuality and style. It isn't meant to reflect
those who produce it, but rather those who use it as a reliable
resource.
NN: What features would you add to the site to make
it fully sustainable?
ATE: The non answer to that question is that we
don't want to succumb to allowing the visitors to the site to become
the targets of advertising focused at an audience that is being
sought out by corporate advertisers interested in the lesbian dollar.
We would like to see the site sustained by those who benefit from
it.
All the producers of the events that go on the Calendar and the
users who plan their social lives with the Calendar, the women who
put free ads on the Women at Work pages could upgrade their ads
for a mere $79 a year and get better exposure for themselves while
giving financial support. Hundreds of e-mails we receive talk of
countless ways that many women benefit from hillgirlz.com Some women
have become Sponsors. Their names are on the Sponsor page. All Sponsors
are equal regardless of what amount they are able to give. It's
always deeply appreciated. We just need more women to give an amount
appropriate to the value that hillgirlz.com has for them. Obviously,
there are also other more economically fortunate women who might
want to give a greater amount. There are details of payment methods
on the Sponsors page. We do have some very economical advertising
options for women that can be seen on the Advertising page. We are
approached more and more by women who recognize the benefits of
this exposure.
NN: I've received several eventmail messages that
include contests of one sort or another. Tell me about that?
ATE: We have about 6,000 subscribers who receive
an eventmail contest every couple of weeks. We've given away thousands
of prizes such as books, CDs, gift certificates for restaurants,
tickets to the theater, opera, symphony and winery concerts, passes
to clubs and workshops as well as massages and women‚s health
services.
NN: Where do they send the check, and how do they
make it out?
Hillgirlz.com,
Suite 1, 730 Church Street, San Francisco 94110
NN: Do you take PayPal?
We do take Paypal. The address for payment is events@hillgirlz.com
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