Alarm.com sponsors crime blog

VIENNA, Va.--Providing a community service, while reaching potential customers is the two-fold goal of Alarm.com's recent partnership with Backfence.com. Web-enabled wireless security systems provider Alarm.com (See "Alarm.com goes commercial" on page 50) on Aug. 15 announced that it would sponsor a crime blog on Backfence.com, a kind of "giant neighborhood watch" web portal for local communities. Backfence.com builds and operates community-focused Web sites. "One of the best deterrents against crime is to have legions of folks on your street looking out for you," said Pete Celano, vice president of marketing for Alarm.com. "We think also along with that comes a security system. Where the two intersect is Alarm.com's ability to knit in friends and family through notifications." Alarm.com will also supply expert commentary on the blog, which is backed in part by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and currently available in three northern California communities and seven metropolitan DC communities. Celano noted that Omidyar was a trendsetter in community building and that Backfence.com contributors are a particularly active set of web users, the same kind of home and business owners who would appreciate the wireless real-time notification features (via cell, email or text message) of Alarm.com security systems. "It's dead-on our demo. These bloggers are web dynamics and that's a strong fit with our core," Celano said. "If Backfence.com hits their plan, and they're well-backed and have a great management team to do that, Backfence.com will be in 60 cities nationwide," Celano said. "We will essentially have a nationwide crime blog that's hyper local. If you're in Indianapolis, you'll be able to learn general things about safety and security and also be able to drill down to find out specifics about your local community. It's a pretty provocative concept."