BLOG #500

This is it, the 500th BLOG I have written since I have started posting "musings about the state of events in Windsor from the perspective of an interested observer of local politics."

Who would have believed that writing a BLOG has almost turned into a new career for me! I know that I have a solid core of regular readers. When I took a few days off to take a short holiday out of town without telling anyone , I received a number of emails asking me if everything was alright at home. People were worried that something had happened.

I feel a pressure too: I have to post my first BLOG before 7 AM. I am told by a number of readers as well that this BLOG is one of the first items that they read with their coffee every morning. So I feel an obligation to get my posting out to them early!

Do my readers agree with me? I am not sure. Obviously many agree with a lot of what I say or presumably they would not read my postings every day. But the common comment that I have received overall is that it is great to have an alternative to the Windsor Star. Readers appreciate a different perspective on stories that the local media does not give to them. Often I will get an email thanking me for explaining the background of a story so that the reader can put the event in a perspective.

Do I really have "sources of information?" You better believe it! I think that City Hall would be shocked to learn who some of the people who have given me information are. At one time, I heard that a variety of people at City Hall were being accused of giving me inside information. What was funny to me as I heard about it was how wrong they were. I am not that stupid so as to use the obvious people. Anonymity does work and once I have some facts, then the rest of the story is easy to find out.

I also have received a number of good BLOG ideas from readers as well. In fact on several occasions, readers have actually written the BLOG for me.

I have found that "border" BLOGS still seem to interest readers the most. My numbers always show an increase when I do a story on this subject. And I like being able to break a story first, before the local media; the competitive instinct I guess.

Who are my readers? It seems that it spans the whole community from students to politicans and bureaucrats at all levels (and in both countries), to business people and retirees. And the numbers----who knows. I started slowly and without any advertising. The page hits have grown significantly since that time, primarily through word of mouth. But even those numbers are understated as I have learned since the BLOG gets circulated within organizations via the group's media person and is posted on bulletin boards at Plant locations in town I am told

I never intended to make this BLOG what it has become. It started out as a way to "publish" a Guest Column that I wrote on the border issue that the Star would not run. How long will I keep Blogging. Probably until at least the border issue is resolved. And that might be a long, long time from now.