Local Resident Invents Virtual Village

Sleet, torrential rain and thunderstorms don't usually inspire people to create new websites, especially ones that specifically cater to small businesses in the Three Village area. Unless, of course, you're local resident Wendy Martin and for the umpteenth time a surprise storm has foiled your attempt to get your artisan wares to market.

"I joined a number of craft fairs to sell my handmade knitted goods and soaps," she said. "I came to realize how weather dependant the whole business can be."

Inspired by adversity, Martin – an illustrator and graphic designer who runs a graphic design company that provides services for small start-up companies – dreamed of a better way to get her products to the public, and ThreeVillagePeople.com was born.

ThreeVillagePeople.com is a virtual village done up in colonial style befitting the area's historic roots. The homepage looks like a quaint village with renderings of houses and shops specially designed by Martin, each under a different category populated by links to local business listings.

"I wanted something like my home parties," she said. "But with a Web presence. And the weather could do what it liked."

Martin is a native of the United Kingdom who fell in love with the Three Village area after settling in Stony Brook in 1985 with her husband, a Stony Brook University Professor of Anthropology and Dean of the Graduate School. They both became U.S. citizens in October 2008.

ThreeVillagePeople.com was designed to give small businesses a fighting chance in a climate where mega stores threaten their very existence, a place where visitors can find all the things they need on a day-to-day basis. Since launching her website in April of 2002, Martin says the virtual Three Village has ballooned. In fact, she experienced a little guilt when she had to expand her map.

"When I started most of the map was covered in forest," she said. "Although I'm an environmentalist I had to do some deforestation to make room for the new buildings."

To bring ThreeVillagePeople.com further into the real live Three Village community, Wendy hosts a monthly series of "Networking Nights." They're either formal networking event like the ones she holds at the Three Village Inn or informal gatherings at other places around town like the Velvet Lounge, Raga, and Pentimento. She's even gotten some of the folks to unplug altogether and meet at one of the many beautiful parks in the area for networking walks.

"It's an opportunity for people to talk and meet one and other in real life," Martin said.

Since people tended to stick around in the parking lot swapping business cards and talking after the walks, Martin proposed extending the event to a local bar or restaurant for lunch afterward.

"It's become a community that's like a family of people," which was her intention when she first dreamed up the website, she said.

As for the future of ThreeVillagePeople.com, Martin will only say that she has some things planned, including a possible updating and organizing of her famous patchwork map.

"We have new ideas in the works," Martin said.

You can visit the website at www.ThreeVillagePeople.com. For more information, send an email to Wendy at info@threevillagepeople.com.