For every errand completed this Holiday season, RunMyErrand will donate a toy to a very special organization called Room To Grow.  a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development. Room to Grow supports the Boston community and we wanted to give back to them as well.

If you have anything you wish to donate to Room to Grow, we can collect it for you. Here is a list of items they accept.  Have a runner help facilitate the donation, by posting it as an errand on the site.  We would be happy to help!

Let RunMyErrand trusted neighborhood Holiday Helpers do your shopping, shipping and running around. Post your to-do’s now so you can spend your time doing the things that bring you joy this season.  It’s so easy. Try us this season and you’ll wonder how you ever got through the holidays without us.

Holidays are hectic. We can help.

• – Need flour to make your famous dessert?
• - Stop standing in line at the post office or at UPS.
• - Holiday lights too tangled to untangle? Get new ones.
• - And so much more.

To top off the joy: your first errand is FREE (a $15 value) and for every errand posted this holiday season, we will donate a toy to Room To Grow.  Room to Grow is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout their critical first three years of development.  Room to Grow supports the Boston community and we wanted to give back to them as well.

The word on the street is true, RME closed a $1 million financing from West Coast firms, including Maples Investments and Baseline Ventures.  Team RME is just thrilled.  Both have impressive portfolios including Twitter and Digg, and we are excited to be working with these two firms because of their expertise in the field.

We’ve got a lot of work to do, but it is very exciting to think about all the possibilities and potential that lie ahead.  We will be focused on aggressively scaling the business here in Boston, and plan to open an office in San Francisco in due time.  Many, many, people along the way have helped us get to this point, and especially the current RME community of Senders and Runners have been fantastic supporters.  We are so grateful to have such wonderful users, who want to help this business succeed.  Doing simple things like telling their friends, writing in blogs, wearing their RME t-shirts, or passing around post cards, have all helped … so thank you very much for your support!

As I wrote in my personal blog, I love what @dharmesh had to say about raising another $16 million for Hubspot: “Startups: Closing a funding round is not value creation. It’s the *opportunity* to create value.”

We have an exciting opportunity ahead of us, and we look forward to continuing to pioneer Service Networking!

Thanks to Xconomy and Mass High Tech for the stellar write ups!

Hi, its Rebecca, Marketing Guru at RME. I think of myself as a very busy person (hence the recent lack of blog posts) but I was humbled and put to shame by the entrants who participated in the 2 contests RME sponsored. One was the “Busiest Mom in Boston” contest we developed with Boston.com and the other was to find the “Busiest Elite Yelper” in Boston. We received hundreds of entries, rich with detail about day-to-day life,  and filled with funny anecdotes, frustrations, hopes, empathy, surprises and gratitude.

Beneath the frantic typing was the sense that although life is busy, our entrants would not want it any other way. Almost all ended their 250 word limit by declaring that life is busy, but happy. “My life is crazy and hectic, but I wouldn’t change it for anything, I would however, love a little help!”

Many applied on behalf of their moms, wives, co-workers, daughter-in-laws and sisters. I hope those nominated were able to read what their nominators said about them. Stories of inspiration and awe and love and admiration. Many deserving women, all in need of the RunMyErrand community and a spa treatment or two! And one husband, on behalf of his wife, lovingly wrote that after cataloging her day for our contest he “does not know how she does it all.”

Our Yelpers were equally busy leading hectic professional and social lives all over Boston. One entrant works full time, is studying at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts at night, practices cooking techniques, completes homework, plays in a band, volunteers at The Boston Food Bank, got married a month ago and tries to see his mom and his in-laws as often as possible.

Reading the stories of busy Bostonians made me wonder what else I could fit into my day. How else could I contribute to not only the enrichment of my life but of others as well. I am encouraged by their ability to squeeze every moment out of their long days but discouraged by their belief that help is a luxury. It is not a luxury – it is widely available!   That is the essence of the RME community — lend a helping hand, be a good neighbor, support those in need.

To the busy Bostonians who entered the contests and those who were even too busy to enter… ask (for help) and  you shall receive!

Last week, I caught up with Founding Runner Michael U, who was gracious enough to fill me in on what got him started working with RME.

He joined the site because he moseyed on over to runmyerrand.com and was impressed by Leah’s idea and wanted to help get this ’small business’ of sorts going. As a professional with an IT and legal background, Mike has worked with a handful of small companies and businesses, and was interested and excited to join another start up effort.

We reminisced about favorite errands, crazy errands we’ve run, and even crazier ones that we were surprised anyone ran at all…all the while, connecting because our common link is that we run errands for RME when we have the chance, and we’re truly enjoying making things easier for people in our community.

Mike also had some awesome suggestions on how RME can further develop this site to become more of a web community. As we continue to grow(psst! calling all developers!), one of his ideas was to allow runners to include skills or job types in their profile, so that errand senders can “Select a runner” based on their strengths.

Mike himself would specialize in computer-related errands, such as document formatting, HR/Payroll-related jobs, and quick deliveries; he shares a car with his girlfriend, but during specific day parts, he would be able to get items where they need to go, fast.

So, if you need any of the above, you can add Mike as a favorite runner by clicking here!

Stay tuned to learn more about our errand running team, and as these fall days find us busy with work or too tired to cook when we get home, remember that we can help by running those errands you just don’t have time to get to!

Cheers,

allison r.

So, about this whole ‘community’ thing.

I took advantage of a slow day at the office to sneak out to a mid-day yoga class, and as we were lying in savasana, my mind drifted to thoughts of community. A room of about 20 people were lying flat on their backs devoid of any stress in their bodies, empty of tension, as they rebuilt and prepared for the day ahead following sixty minutes of moving and breathing together. Some moments were serene, others impossible, but together, we completed the task at hand.

I thought about what I take from that community, and how vested I am in it. I enjoy the occasional-to-frequent practice to stay in shape and distract myself from everyday stresses. The studio offers intensive sessions, and regulars are chatty with the instructors, but I prefer to linger more on the outskirts of this community, popping in as I can, and enjoying the somewhat annonymity I can achieve by blending into a crowd of sweaty bodies as I make each class my own challenge.

I realized that my own level of commitment to this community almost frees me to dabble in many others. I made a short list of a handful of the communities to which I belong: yelp, my office, my Starbucks coworkers, varying circles of friends, the regulars at a Somerville dog park,the career networking on linked in, and, of course, Run My Errand.

Each of these communities gives me something different, exposes me to different people, and engages me in different levels of involvement. So, what is RME doing for me?

As an errand runner, I’m able to make a few extra bucks here and there when an errand pops up that is local/convenient for me. But I’m also tuned into the site’s community in a whole new way: I’m seeing who the errand senders are, which areas of the city seem to utilize our service most, what types of errands are common, and what types are not immediately successful. I’m informally filing this data for now.

What will RME do for me in the future? As the community continues to grow, I hope I can lend my creativity and event planning skills to help unite this community with local events, be it a fundraiser, a social meeting to thank members and senders for taking part, or training sessions for other runners as we continue to grow. As the programming team grows the website itself and helps us build an online community, I want to take it further and focus on the human interactions.

It’s so rewarding to complete an errand, like a cake I delivered to the Zipcar office, probably last April, and leave the sender, your single-serving employer, with a smile on her face, knowing you’ve done a favor and made a positive connection.  I want to see those connections begin on this site and extend into the ‘real world,’ so that we can all take what we want from this community.

Maybe you need a permanent dog walker, and that errand runner who helped you in a pinch becomes a new contact. Maybe you were just sick of the same old delivery chinese, and really appreciated your runner’s suggestion of a new spot to try. Run My Errand is building this kind of community, where chance interactions will make your life better.

We hope you’re enjoying the journey there.

Hello, fans of Run My Errand!

I’m allison r, a self-designated “Super runner,” here to help introduce you to me, and other members of the Founding Runners team.  Who are the Founding Runners, you ask? We’re the ten or so crazy kids (and adults) who jumped on board with Run My Errand pretty darn close to its inception, and have been running errands with gusto ever since. We’re constantly suggesting new features to Leah, we can post our own runs(like trips to Home Depot and Target), and we even have a super secret handshake.

Going forward, check this blog compulsively for profiles of and interviews with our fabulous Founding Runners. For today, though, you’re stuck with some interesting facts about me!

I’m a 25 year old graduate of Bowdoin College with a BA in German and Film Studies trying to find my niche in the working world. I’m really good at driving places fast, picking up stuff, buying stuff, delivering stuff, and coordinating times to pick up, buy, and deliver stuff. Enter Run My Errand, the perfect outlet for my (until now) unused talents!

Seriously, though, I work a couple of part-time jobs, so I have a flexible schedule, and I’m all over the city. Living in Somerville, working in Watertown and Brookline, and making frequent trips to Metrowest makes an errand in almost any corner of the city feasible for me.

My favorite errand to date, though, was an Ikea run for a man who runs a home improvement business in Somerville. The errand required much haggling over the fee and the enlisting of a friend with a Subaru to make the trip to Stoughton to purchase and deliver over $1500 worth of kitchen cabinetry! We had to wait over an hour for Ikea to even pull the items from their onsite warehouse…good thing they have a great food court with 50 cent hot dogs, and lots to browse to pass the time!

Neither party anticipated the errand would take as long as it did, but I didn’t mind, and Brad (the Sender) was very understanding, and grateful we completely his mammoth errand! My friend and I left sweaty, tired, a few dollars richer, and glad we were able to help. Because that’s what it’s all really about, right? We’re a bunch of young professionals who are enterprising, creative, tuned into the community, and here to make your life easier. Rock on!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more runner anecdotes, top-secret Run My Errand tid-bits, and maybe even some chances to get hooked up with cool RME gear!

Cheers,

allison r.

Here at RunMyErrand we are all about community. That’s why we’re proud to have partnered with some of the best local businesses serving Boston’s communities. Below are four new featured partners, who are enjoying FREE advertising on the front page of RunMyErrand.com.  Whether it’s picking up your hound from the groomer or delivering roses for an anniversary, our runners can help individuals and businesses crowdsource their needs.

The Boston Neighborhood Network calls our work with small business partners a “no brainier”. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your small business, drop us a note at biz@RunMyErrand.com or check out our business page on RunMyErrand.com.  It’s no commitment, no obligation, and takes about 30 seconds to get started!

Brookline Booksmith

As the name implies, the Brookline Booksmith is located on Harvard Street in Brookline. This independent book store has been around since 1962 and was named “Best Bookstore” by Boston Magazine in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008. With a large collection of both new and used books as well as a gifts section, this local bookstore took on Barnes & Noble…and won! If you’re in Coolidge Corner, definitely check this place out!

Four Preppy Paws

When Heidi Barraza had trouble finding a collar for her “preppy” dog Cuchufli, she started Four Preppy Paws, a store for high quality, durable pet supplies. Today, Four Preppy Paws sells collars, leashes, harnesses, and even matching belts for owners! The store also has a “Paws for a Cause” collection whose proceeds go toward charity.   If you have a preppy dog, you can find Four Preppy Paws merchandise online, in boutiques across the country, or right here in Beacon Hill.  They also carry a wide variety of specialty dog food, and who wants to carry that 40lb bag home, when you can just have it delivered?!

Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon, Inc.

Even dirty dogs like to feel pampered and Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon is the place to bring them. Located in Cambridge, this groomer promises a fun and social atmosphere for your pooches and kitties that keeps them relaxed and comfortable during their beautification. The experience and quality service makes owners feel great as well. After an appointment at Jeana’s Dirty Dog Salon, your pet will leave feeling as good as he or she looks.

Central Square Florist

Family run, Central Square Florist has been serving Metro Boston for 80 years and 3 generations. This local shop offers an arrangement for every occasion, personal taste, and price. Deliveries are made 7 days a week and hours are extended during holidays. Show your Boston sweetheart you care and order from Central Square Florist.

Another nice email we received from Donna.  If only she had known about RUNmyERRAND a couple of months ago!

“Hi, I read about you in the article in this Sunday’s Globe. Just a couple of months ago, I was looking for a business like yours to help me in my hour of need. I had knee surgery and found it difficult to do the basic daily needs like make a sandwich for myself and carry it to the table. I wondered what people do when they don’t have a support system such as a husband to help with daily chores. And then how would you find help if you needed it? ”

We’re always looking to connect people in a community.  RUNmyERRAND can help.  Please keep the emails coming.

Why we go online

According to Ruder Finn, 100% of US Internet users surveyed in Q2 2009 went online to pass the time.  Learn more.

Look at the number of us going online to “connect with others”, “share” or “be a part of a community”. The wonderful part of RME is that you can connect, you can be part of a larger community and you can also be productive so that your offline world is more balanced, more manageable and more pleasant.

Do you think this survey is accurate? Do you find yourself online for these same reasons or is it something else?