Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle McCormack.
Michelle, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Secret Boston mission: Spread good vibes and cool content, only.
I started Secret Boston bored one night back in 2010. Since then it has grown into a community of over 150k young Bostonians. Originally a Facebook page, it is now spread over all social channels, a large, strong email list as well as many offline events. In 2015-2016, we even had a pop-up space in Jamaica Plain. Red Bull had a big party in there for their Flugtag event which drew hundreds of SBers as well as a big feature in Boston Metro.
In 2012, when Uber launched in Boston, Secret Boston was the first platform they advertised.
Over the years, and still today many global brands pay to reach the SB community due to our commitment to remain independent and ‘non-market-y”. We only partner with brands that align with our vision (young, cool, open-minded into art, fashion, music, comedy, etc).
In 2015, Bosinno voted us one of the “coolest companies in Boston”.
Last year, we even had a viral “incident”. U2 was rumored to be playing a secret show at The Burren in Somerville. We emailed it to our list as a rumor and posted it to social media. Hundreds of people showed up and every news station in Boston was there to cover it. Unfortunately, U2 did not show up, and in fact at midnight Bono himself tweeted that it was only a rumor and that they would not be there. The next day, Secret Boston was credited/blamed for the incident in every newspaper in Boston and even some in the UK. Rolling Stone and a writer from Esquire even got into a Tweet battle with SB that ended quickly since we do not believe in engaging in negativity on social media. It’s one of the reasons why we stay so successful.
When Facebook began throttling the brand pages forcing owners to pay to ‘boost’ we responded by creating a private Facebook group. In one year it has grown to over 30k active users.
Over the years, there have been so many amazing Secret Boston events sponsored by amazing brands like Red Sox, Celtics, Converse, WeWork, Sam Adams and more there’s not enough room to write and I doubt anyone would want to read! We were even featured on a national TV show called “StartUp”.
Today, we have plans to wrap the Secret Boston community around a very cool product that will be embedded in tech and that will make potentially make our community the coolest in the world. We are working with award-winning MIT developers who have already sold companies in the past and who believe strongly in the Secret Boston mission of spreading good vibes and cool content, only.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooooooth…
Actually, we have a reputation for getting parties shut down because when we send out an invite, hundreds show up fast. Verb Hotel coined it “The Secret Boston effect”
Secret Boston – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Secret Boston’s mission is to spread cool content and good vibes only.
SPECIALIZE
We are known for getting our community invited to really cool parties, often free with open bar, hosted by global brands with deep pockets. We are also known for curating very cool, relevant content on all our channels based on Boston-centric (only) music, art, fashion, etc (the cool subjects).
MOST PROUD
When Uber launched in Boston in 2012 Secret Boston was the first platform they advertised. Also, our brand partnerships with Red Bull, Sam Adams and more.
SETS US APART
I have a serious career outside of Secret Boston. I own a creative marketing agency called LoveTheCool. We specialize in brand campaigns for the fashion and lifestyle industry and fashion photography. For this reason, I have never had to lean on the community, economically. Although we make money, it has never been our priority, which has allowed us to remain an authentic community with thousands of loyal brand ambassadors.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I brought Fashion’s Night Out to Boston, as an official Producer, for Vogue Magazine. Vogue publicly stated the Boston raised the bar for FNO worldwide. I leveraged the power of the Secret Boston community to spread the word about FNO in a very short time. In three months, I secured official participation from The City of Boston, videotaped Mayor Menino’s endorsement, secured participation from hundreds of retailers including Barneys, Tiffany’s, Neiman Marcus and more. Had Newbury Street closed down for traffic, for the event, for the first time in 20 years, I introduced Mayor Menino on stage to kick off the event and secured financial sponsorship from RueLala, LunaBar, and Herb Chambers.
I was personally featured on the cover of the Boston Globe G Section and in every other media outlet in Boston.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://secretboston.net
- Email: crew@secretboston.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/secretboston
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretboston
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/secretboston
Image Credit:
Michelle McCormack
*About the image of the bouncer checking names at Good Life: we have 2,000 RSVPs for that party. It was Secret Boston only and they had to enlist 2 more bouncers to go through the pages of RSVPs because the line was around the block!
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
