Press

Can you keep a secret?

Well, more than 10,000 Wellingtonians can’t and they’re spilling the beans daily on Facebook’s new Secret Wellington page.
Members share photos of their favourite haunts and tips on the best places to shop, eat or where to park their cars cheaply on the social networking website – in an effort to discover the capital’s hidden gems.
Secret Wellington was the first of six such Facebook groups created by Graham Foster-Brown, a Brit now living Down Under.

Graham Foster-Brown

Since then, hundreds of others in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and most recently New Plymouth and Palmerston North have caught on to his idea, signing up to their respective Facebook pages.
All six groups are connected to his parent website Secret New Zealand (www.secretnewzealand.co.nz), which offers the latest news, a forum for all participants, a store and special deals.
Foster-Brown says the point of each group is for its members to inspire one another. He asks them to reveal the “lesser-known” parts of their hometowns and what makes them so special – but it’s not just about location, he’s also keen to highlight budding artists, poets, designers, musicians and actors.
“Wellington is brimming with unknown talent and we want to know about it.”
He got the idea from the more than 800 other Secret City sites populating the Internet, beginning in January 2010 with Secret London which was the brainchild of Bristol University graduate Tiffany Philippou.

Secret London was her entry in a competition by international advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to win a unpaid, summer internship.

Secret Cities London Development Team

In the space of six months, it has gone from a typed proposal to a hugely successful Facebook page with nearly a quarter of a million fans and now a burgeoning Internet start-up, with its own site and independent community.
Philippou, who remains Secret London’s Facebook group administrator, says her members post information “not just on what to do and where to go but simple things such as their favourite park benches and undiscovered art galleries”.

Words On Stone around Wellington

Her concept’s explosion in popularity is reflective of the online generation, she explains. “Everyone of my generation is on Facebook. I’m 21 and have completely grown up in the online evironment. [Long-running British entertainment website] Time Out doesn’t really connect with me on the net. Things like crowd-sourced content do.”

Secret Market

Thanks to that crowd-sourced content, each Secret City locale is listed on the website www.secretcities.com – and will soon include all of Foster-Brown’s groups.
When he first established Secret Wellington, “it quickly gained about 200 members, then sat there for about a month or so”.

However, over the last month it’s gone “crazy”, he adds.
“It was going up by 500 members every day and just last week it passed the 10,000 mark.”

Secret Views

Obviously his clever New Zealand ‘start-up’ is now the talk of the town.
If you’d like to talk to him about the concept or for more information, contact …

Thanks someone stepped up!!
Is there a public relation /press agent type out there in the members, that could do me a huge favor and write a short release to send to the media? I want to continue to raise the awareness of the Secret Cities Groups to benefit all users. If you can help email me at
gnfb@secretnewzealand.co.nz
Thanks Graham