Happy Anniversary!!!
- wadE
The 15th of November marks the 4th anniversary of simpleprop.com.
Last year I felt like the we had been
doing this forever, but could still remember the early days like they were yesterday. Well, that's
changed because those early days have faded. The last year has been a whirlwind for all of us here
at SP, and that's has probably been reflected in our production. Last year we wrote 48 articles, this
year it's around 25. With nearly 10 of those being my recent weekly Minnesota Viking related
rambles.
Even though our personal production dipped, simpleprop.com started to really become a community
with over two dozen members on our forum...but then we had the great forum crash of October which
wiped out our entire database. We should have seen it coming. First was some funky erros with the
search capability, then the unexplicable gigantation (if I can make up a word) of the avatars. The
signs were there, but we didn't act until it was too late. Although the
forum has risen from the ashes, it is still just getting
back on its feet. So get back out there and re-register. Whether you are looking for serious
debate, interesting information, or silly commentary, there's something for everyone!
After 3 straight years of unprecedented growth, we've leveled off this year, which was expected.
If we grew at our previous pace we'd be talking nearly 1.25 million pages. We didn't have a new
feature (like the forum) to bump up readership, and it doesn't seem our mention in the
Boston Globe
helped out as much as I had hoped.
year: #reqs: #pages:
----: ------: ------:
2001 1335 202
2002 62359 8406
2003 321443 50335
2004 994109 255774
2005 901384 216789 (as of 11/11)
We ended up breaking a quarter of a million pages last year, which was the stretch goal
for 2004. This year the stretch goal was 300,000 which I don't think we will make, but
the target goal was to equal 2004, and we have a good chance at that. Regardless,
it is still phenomenal. If you told me 4 years ago we'd still be doing this today and
we'd have over 250,000 hits per year, I wouldn't have bet a dollar on it. So besides thanking
Wade and
Alex, I'd like to thank all of you who have stumbled across our pages (whether looking
for the Barney Fife song, info on Sue Bird, or a picture of emilio estevez...shirtless) as
well as our loyal readers and forum members. You've made this a very rewarding experience. And
we are excited to rededicate ourselves to the site to bring you more articles, gambits, and
verbal sparring on the forum in 2006!
Ok, enough of mushy stuff, let's get to my favorite part of the anniversary
article, the Oscar-style look back at the articles of the past year!
Best Movie Review: Alex for
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Per usual, Alex was the only one running in this category, but his three different movie
reviews were all good, but I give the nod to H2G2 for no other reason than I am prominently
mentioned (it's always good to suck up to the judge!).
Best Sports Article: wadE for
Week 1: Vikings vs. Tampa Bay
Effortlessly combining sports and politics together. This is a sports article that eats like
a meal. (what?) Honorable mentions for Wade's
baseball article and Alex's
hockey article.
Best Personal Article: wadE for
Suburban Decline
A topic that isn't talked about near as much as I think it should. More and more
attention is being given to how livable our cities are. Can you walk to your local
grocery store? Probably not. Some people can't even safely walk to their nearest park.
Food for thought.
Best Topical Article: Wade for
Filibusting Our Balls
Not only the best title of any article this year, but a great look at the Filibuster crisis
which is probably about to become quite topical again with the continuing saga of the Supreme
Court vacancy. A funny and informative article from the only guy here at SP with a degree to
back up this discussion.
Best Travel Article: wadE for
Las Vegas: Part Deux
Mostly because it was the only travel article written this year, but look out for
multi-part series recapping my summer trip to Northern Europe!
Best Gambit: Wade for
Minnesota Fisherman vs. Penthouse Forum
Easily the funniest gambit of the year.
Funniest Article: wadE, Wade, Alex, AND Jason for
5th Annual Austin Bar Crawl
The perennial winner is back, and rightfully so. While the actual crawl nearly killed each
of this year, and some of us have sworn off doing another one, the fun of going to Austin as a
group is still worth doing once a year. Five years is a great run, but look for a modified crawl
next year...and hopefully no run-ins with potential sexual predators.
Worst Article: wadE for This Article
Again, a perennial winner. It's the equivalent of turning on your favorite sitcom just to find
it's a clip show.
Best Article after last year's anniversary article but before 1/1/2005: wadE for
12/20/2004
The Price Is Right
My personal review of the best TPIR pricing games. With an addendum from Wade on his favorite.
No surprise that he's one of those rubes who loves Plinko.
Best Article: (drumroll please.....) wadE for
Do you need a Parent Coach?
It was a tight race this year, mostly because we didn't have a lot of articles. But this topic
is something the SP community debates from time to time. We are pretty much half and half when it
comes to folks w/ kids and folks w/o. While we all have different thoughts on the matter, I think
we all agree that the state of parenting over the last decade has declined. At any rate this is my
armchair assessment of the state of parenting. While I don't have children, I fully realize what
it takes to raise children, and raise them right...which is why I don't have children. :-)
Thanks again to all of you who stop by simpleprop.com; we feel very blessed to have a
channel for our creativity that can bring some brightness to your day, or at least a diversion to
keep you from doing actual work. And as always, a special thanks to Wade and Alex, 4 years and counting!
- 11/11/2005
