Jon Marcus is a man of many talents. He has written books, teaches classes at both Boston College and Boston University (unfortunately, I could not get him to profess his BC loyalty), was the editor of Boston Magazine, and now writes freelance for multiple publications. On top of it all, Marcus is the co-creator of MySecretBoston.com — a website that reveals all of Boston’s deepest, darkest secrets.
The website celebrated its first anniversary this past week, on February 10, with a party at Boston’s own Church — a lounge, bar, and late-night club located in the heart of Fenway. This party, featuring three live bands, celebrates a significant landmark for the MySecretBoston crew, because their website has made it over the one-year hump.
“It’s a big milestone, because two-thirds of websites don’t even make it through their first year. And on top of making it, we’re doing really well,” Marcus explains.
And there’s proof of the website’s success; they have already expanded. This past summer, the team added MySecretCapeCod as well as MySecretMartha’sVinyard. And this Memorial Day, they will be finishing off their conquest of the Cape and the Islands when they add MySecretNantucket to the mix. (Students take note: spend your summer on the beach while writing as an intern! Deadline March 15, details on the site.) These additions are great, not only for vacationing families, but for the Boston collegiette™ — what’s better than getting tips throughout the year while you’re in school, and then retiring to the beach for the summer and discovering a whole new set of secrets?
The college crowd wasn’t originally the planned demographic according to Marcus, but the younger crowd has become a major follower of MySecretBoston. Though the site’s biggest demographic is 25-34 year olds, college-aged visitors are a close second. “We offer a lot of cheap deals and free things to do,” said Marcus, “It’s great for them.”
Above all, it offers just that — things to do. What college student isn’t looking for something new and fun to do on weekends? There’s only so many times a person can go shopping on Newbury Street or go eat in Coolidge Corner. This site gives us options. There is a food blog, a shopping blog, a music blog, and a humor blog, among others. And with the site changing every day, there’s always a new adventure to discover. And since its MySecretBoston, we have access to all of them!
“That’s the fun thing about this,” says Marcus. “We only feature really local places that work hard, and they really care.”
Whether it’s the military museum in the attic of Faneuil Hall (which Marcus has dubbed the best-kept secret), or the Plumbing Museum in Watertown, all of these places can be accessed by public transportation. And even better, the “By T” tab under every destination let’s you see all of the other secrets to visit on your route. “This is the coolest feature, because no other site has really done this before. You get to see all of the different things you can do.”
Aside from all of the cool features the site has (they even have a weather and traffic tab from Boston.com so travelers can plan accordingly), it really comes down to the overall content. The site took such a basic idea — cool places to go or things to see — and turned it into completely useful guide for natives and visitors alike. Everything on this site has a cool new twist that you probably never knew about, and wouldn’t know about without the help of the MySecretBoston team.
“It’s not hard to decide on the places we pick. It’s hard to find them, but it’s not hard to decide. You know when you’ve found something cool,” Marcus says. Enthusiastically adding, “Like, how can you resist the plumbing museum?”