Wondering what fireflymag.com is all about?

“It’s the first Web site dedicated entirely to Vermont teens and young adults,” said Barre native and UVM grad Sue Duke, one of the creative forces behind fireflymag.com. 

Fireflymag.com—designed by the graphics team for Xbox, Burton, and various iPhone apps—launched in January.

 “We want to not only provide you with local stories and things going on in Vermont, but also let you have fun and upload things,” said Pat Bausemer, marketing and sales rep for fireflymag.com, who recently graduated from Champlain College.

Some key features of the site include high school sports scores from across the state— gathered by local sports correspondents— and a calendar of events, where you can not only find out what’s going on every week, but also submit your own events.

In fact, the majority of content will be provided by people like you.

“Fireflymag.com is a place where you can upload, share, connect with other people your age—there’s nothing else like it,” Duke said.

That’s why we have “submit your stuff” plastered all over the site— we want you to, you know, submit your stuff.

You can write about casual topics, like music reviews, your favorite places to eat, sports games at your high school. Or, you can write stories about something more serious, or something that interests you. Seriously, anything. You can also e-mail us with your story idea if you don’t feel like actually writing the story yourself.

You can post photos and videos, as well as display your artwork in our online Art Gallery, or design one of the rotating mastheads.

Having your work published on fireflymag.com can be a huge addition to your resume, helping you get jobs, internships, or into college. It can really set you apart, especially if you want to go into writing, publishing, marketing, sports, or art-related fields.

We’ll also have tons of contests and giveaways, so keep an eye out for FREE STUFF.

Firefly’s story

Duke and publishers Paul and Marianne Apfelbaum, who run several local newspapers and magazines in the Burlington area, started thinking about the site a couple years ago.

“We couldn’t find stuff for Vermont teens online easily,” Duke said. “We had to check a million different places and even then there wasn’t very much information.”

So, they decided to do a little research.

“We held focus groups in local high schools to see if they would be interested in a site like this, and we got an overwhelming ‘Yes,’” Duke said.

Two years later, fireflymag.com— a site for you and by you— emerged.

“The whole point of fireflymag.com is for people to share their lives, their thoughts, their interests with each other,” Duke said. “The bottom line is, the site is what you make it.”

So, go ahead, submit your stuff.

Got questions? Comments? E-mail Stephanie@fireflymag.com.