Hi, I'm Joseph, and for '06, I'm trying something different

Joseph Porcelli made an unusual resolution for the new year -- to wear a name tag for all of it.

"I slapped it on right as the ball dropped," said Porcelli, 30, recalling the moment two weeks ago at a dance club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. People started asking him to explain the blue and white tag almost immediately -- in part, he knows, because it usually says, "Ask me why I'm wearing a name tag."

The stunt is a simple way to "spread the love" and encourage people to engage strangers. For Porcelli, it's something of a personal crusade. In 2004 , a close friend was hit over the head by the butt of a gun while walking home through their Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

"I had never thought I had to worry before. It shook me up a little bit. I didn't know what to do about it," said Porcelli.

What he did was found Neighbors for Neighbors, a nonprofit dedicated to social connectivity and volunteerism. Today, the group has more than 1,400 members in Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill. "It's a launching pad for civic engagement," he said.

Porcelli also works as a program coordinator in the Boston Police Department crime watch unit. "I love it," he said, "because I can go from street to street across the city and people are talking about totally different issues." Porcelli hopes that his conversation starter will help publicize his work, both at Neighbors for Neighbors and the Police Department. This week he started carrying extra name tags to encourage inquirers to join his experiment. "The idea," he said, "is to ask people to step out of their comfort zone.

"Have you read the 'Tipping Point '?" asked Porcelli, referring to the Malcolm Gladwell novel about the power of social interaction. "I'm a connector."

PATRICK McGROARTY