When Joanna Shebson immigrated to Jerusalem two years ago she discovered two phenomena: a plethora of children’s events in the capital and a plethora of people complaining about the lack of culture there. Noticing that there was not one place that comprehensively listed things to do for the young ones, she started compiling lists for herself and her friends. After taking a class in social networking – during which she realized that running a blog is less complicated than it sounds – she launched in June “Fun In Jerusalem,” an English-language Web site listing all events and activities for children in and around Israel’s capital.
“It’s just so unbelievable how many activities there are available for kids in Jerusalem,” Shebson told Anglo File last week. “This is such a kid-focused city, and I read in the newspaper that people complain that there is not enough culture in Jerusalem. From what I’ve seen there is not enough time to do everything that’s on the calendar.” Apparently, Shebson – who holds an MBA with a focus of children’s marketing – found a real market gap: more than 10,000 visitors surfed to FunInJerusalem.com, and over 100 people signed up for the site’s newsletter during its first two weeks. The 34-year-old Los Angeles native works to provide updated, detailed information about street festivals, mall openings or special events in museums or theaters. The site lists not only the what and the when but also answers questions such as what age group the activity is for, what buses goes there and what language will be spoken.
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