What "lessons learned" and pleasant surprises have you experienced in building, refining and publicizing your placeblog?

I live in a rural area. We have silos of local citizen-run groups. There is a recognized need to build an umbrella community -- to share information and resources, while each group maintains its functional autonomy. I've build a beta site (using the free wordpress.com hosting). Right now, it is mainly focusing on our local elections -- my intent is to build the content out (and beautify the design).

Sharing your experiences would be most welcomed.

- Maurene