Who Are You?!?
Posted by matt at about 7pm on Wednesday April 2, 2008Whenever I check our web stats I am stunned by the sheer number of people checking in with us. Whenever we publish a new story we literally have hundreds of hits within 24 hours.
Now a few of y'all are registered, which is cool and gives you some special functions in the site. As Telly Savalas once said about the Players Club: "Membership has its privileges". We have at least some idea who you all are.
However, the vast majority of you come and go like the wind. Most of you do not leave comments. When many people do leave comments they do so anonymously-- which is fine but super mysterious. Others I suspect try to leave comments, but have been frustrated by our authorization code thingy, which has been fixed by the way. In the end we look at the numbers and the countries of "hit origin" and wonder who in the heck you are.
So let's get down to it.
I would absolutely love it if everyone reading this would take a couple of minutes and leave a comment about who you are. Names are great, but not necessary. Stuff like what you do, where you live, what you think of our site and co-op, where you sit with the issues, whether you prefer the Stones or the Beatles, things like this.
Can I get a witness? Awww come on!
stu here
Hello,
My name is Stu. I am a student at IU in Bloomington and I buy your coffee at Bloomingfoods. I love your coffee and your work, I also voted for Darth Vader and am happy he won the poll,
Keep up the good work!
Stuart R.
From Dublin
It is late.
I am writing from Ireland.
Met you folks in Chicago.
Bye for now.
who am i
i just bought some coffee on the site and am awaiting shipment in pittsburgh...cmon brown....cant wait to try it,,i have been frustrated by the high prices and marginal quality of even the better coffees available in the supernarkets and the local roasters is a special trip...not always convenient..i look forward to getting a quality option at a price that allows me my little luxury and can explore the other varietals...btw does bulk coffee at the supermarket get mixed together all of it tastes about the same...not bad but barely distinguishable
I AM!!!
I am sitting here in Cafe Soleil in Madison enjoying your coffee.
Nice place, great coffee.
Thanks!
Edith Baxter
howdy from up nort'
Aaron here in Eau Claire. We started our revolutionary worker-owned cooperative local food store around the same time as JC, in the same state as JC.
We've been trying to upgrade our online presence and I always cite the JC website here as an example of what I'd like our site to do - educate, entertain, and hopefully provide some productivity. Great work. We're proud to sell coffee you've roasted and bagged!
Kent. I work at Centro
Kent. I work at Centro Hispano here in Madison. Did you see the front page of La Comunidad this week? Some students from Mecha were protesting Burger King for the Immokalee workers. Love the coffee.
i am...
I am
I am
I am Superman.
I know what's happening.
I know the feeling!
It is nice to put a face - with a comment and visit! That is one bad thing about feed readers - they are not personal!
Great work you are doing. I finally registered, not sure why I did not do it sooner.
..be bold
Jason Duncan
Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The H to the Izzo
Hello Just Coffee!
I work at a non-profit on the west coast that deals with Fair Trade issues and I have met some of you before.
I prefer Jay-Z and the Beatles together over the Stones.
Australia
Hi my name it Tim. I'm interested in growing coffee and agriculture so I read your site.
Cheers
Tim
http://www.nuganics.com.au
Who am I
Hiya! It's Chantal here, you know, that student from Montreal who tagged along to Guatemala. Just thinking about traveling to Nicaragua ;-).
Nicaragua delegations.
Hey Chantal!
So great to hear from you! How are you? I remember you fondly from Guatemala. I even hope to take you up on your offer to visit Montreal one day...although I am not sure when that might be at the moment. I've always heard that it is such a fantastic place for artists....and I dance.
Anyway, you mentioned that you are interested in Nicaragua and I wanted to let you know that I will be leading 2 delegations there, specifically to meet up with La Fem, all female coffee growing cooperative:
Nica 1. 22-27MAY
Nica 2. 25-30JULY
It will be a great delegation, with time spent in Esteli as well as out in the country side, sometimes traveling by horseback. I will have more information about these trips posted on the website (http://justcoffee.coop/en/delegations) by the end of the weekend. It would be absolutely wonderful to have you on a trip, so please let me know if we can make it a reality. I would like that very much.
Send me your email address if you like and I would be happy to keep you informed.
Take good care and please stay in touch. All the very best to you! Love,
Colleen
colleen (at) justcoffee (dot) coop
From Greece
Hi everybody in Just Coffee
Yes, you have people visiting your web site from as far away as Athens, Greece. We have started a solidarity trade cooperative two years ago, selling mostly zapatista coffee (like you do :-). Here is the info we have in english:
http://sporos.org/en
Well, just wanted to say i really like your web site, and what's more i really like what you say about fair trade and the way you actually practice it.
So, if any of you happen to visit Greece for holidays (Madison is pretty unlikely for us), send us a message!
info@sporos.org
ILias
ILias, nice to meet you, and
ILias, nice to meet you, and nice to see another Drupal-powered solidarity-oriented coffee-related website!
here are some others, i'm sure there are more
- http://www.starbucksunion.org/
- http://www.muskratcoffeeco.com/
I'll try to keep this list up-to-date as i hear about them.
-kev
Who I am
I am a guy doing some very prelinary research on exporting coffee to eastern Europe. Right now it is just some fuzzy plans scribbled on a napkin at a party. But it is a start and if I do decide to do such a thing, I am committed to doing it in a non-exploitive, fairly traded way. One of the first steps is finding coffee, thus you folks.
BTW, I like what I see.
homeschooling mom
Our family participates in a number of human rights activities. For instance, last year for Halloween we did reverse trick-or-treating, going door-to-door and passing out fair trade chocolate to our neighbors.
The chocolate / child slave labor situation is a big concern to our family, and for the past year we've boycotted all chocolate unless we are positive it's from a non-slave source.
We are interested in selling fair-trade chocolate as a fundraiser for the human rights educational group we are involved with, and possibly just as a side business.
That's how I found your site - looking for products to resell.
Hi Ya'll
Hey there from North Carolina. Found you several years ago after a friend introduced me to peace and social justice movements through the local Catholic church.
I was impressed that you published your contracts online so that we can see it is fair trade and few "middle men." Love the shipping in recycled boxes, the kraft bags (why did you go to plastic valves???), and the sustainable delivery (though not to me.... sorry!).
Hoping one day to see a store or restaurant in NC on your list! Keep up the great work!
a member of GRITS
(girls raised in the south)
Hello all, I just wanted to
Hello all,
I just wanted to drop a note saying how awesome you guys are. First of
all, it's refreshing to be able to buy products that are both 'eco' and
ethically conscience. It's a plus that your coffee tastes so good!
Secondly, your customer service matches your mission. A few months ago, I
had ordered some coffee online. It got sent, then promptly stolen off of
my front stoop. Not, realizing this, I called to see where my coffee was.
I was helped by Matt, I believe, who insisted that I be sent more coffee. When I went to give him my CC#, he refused, saying it was on the house. After a few more attempts at delivering the coffee, I got it. Another
employee suggested that I get my coffee from Swim Cafe, to insure that it
wouldn't get stolen. Everyone that I spoke to was gracious and patient
and very helpful.
Overall, I have always enjoyed your coffee and as someone in the customer
service industry, I completely appreciate what a great job you are all
doing in that department. Thank you! You can count on my loyal patronage
and referrals!
Sincerely Yours,
Meghan Kelly
East Timor Gardrning Project
Hi
The Stones or the Beetles? Hmmm- that was back in the good-ol days. Anyhoo- Just one question.
In the neighborhood garden Grupo Romit, do they grow any other vegetables besides Kang Kong? Gardening for food security is of great interest to me-
Thanks,
"Mystery Baby Boomer"
Grupo Romit
Dear Sgt. Pepper,
Thanks for your comment and question! Would you care to introduce yourself or are you just a man of wealth and taste?
Yes, the people of the Aldeia Romit do grow other food. Depending upon the time of the year they also grow:
corn, pigeon pea, snake beans, pumpkin,
which are planted at the beginning of the wet season;
eggplant, tomato, kove, chillis,
which are planted during the dry season;
and dry land kang kong which can be planted during both seasons.
They also grow bananas, papayas (paw paw), coconut, and there are a few mangos, pomegranates, and one large breadfruit tree. In some years giant taro is cultivated under the breadfruit tree.
Parsley and basil have also recently been planted as trials for potential sale to restaurants catering to the tastes of international residents in Dili.
Water is in very short supply in the adleia and the group has recently built a water tank to help alleviate daily shortages caused by an inability to store reticulated water which is switched on for around 1 hour each day. During the dry season this has often resulted in there being insufficient water for basic cooking and sanitation needs. This situation is common throughout the entire city of Dili despite considerable expenditure on the part of both government and international agencies in attempting to improve basic water and sanitation. Unfortunately, in many instances these efforts are hampered by corruption, inexperience on the part of internationals, and substandard development practices.
If you would like to know more, please roll up for the mystery tour this August 15-22! It is waiting to take you away!
Who are You?
I am David. Im a manager at The Fix Cafe in Chicago. We recently started getting your coffee here and its working out very well. We can't get over how cool this whole operation is. we are humbled and excited to be part of it.
peace
Paloma from Milwaukee writes...
Dear Col. Matt,
I just read you have been made a Col.... which explains why your emails say "Col. Matthew C. Earley" at the bottom.... Congradulations.
Just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate you throwing design work my way. You guys always give me so much creative freedom (which as a graphic designer, I'm not always used to) and make what I do fulfilling knowing that I'm helping a great cause, even if only in a small way. Since working with you, I check out the site often to see what kind of new things are going on at JC. It's really inspirational to see a group of people who genuinely care about what they're doing for a living...
I've tried to spread the word around Mil-town about what everyone at JC does.... and in the process, I've also gotten quite a few people addicted to your coffee.
Thanks again for everything!
Paloma