I’ve been running ColumbusUnderground.com since 2001, and I’ve been blogging in one form or another several years before that. During most of that time I felt like my audience was mostly friends, family, and a small slow-growing online community.
2007 though was definitely a breakout year though, and I don’t feel like I’m the only one who’s feeling the effects of a city-wide awareness in the local online community. I’ve been involved at various levels with groups ranging from WOSU to The North Market to the Streetcar Working Group to the Columbus Metropolitan Club to the Chamber of Commerce and beyond… all who want more information about online networking and social media.
Anyway, here’s a couple of blogging highlights for 2007 (feel free to comment on anything I left out):
February 9th: ColumbusING, a new local blog is launched.
February 16th: Melissa Starker launches her Columbus Alive blog The Bad & The Beautiful, one of several to be added in 2007 to the existing lineup on the Alive’s website.
March 1st: Sopressata, a new food blog, launches.
March 7th: ExperienceColumbus launches a blog at experiencecolumbus.blogspot.com (which has since been cleared out). According to the Dispatch article it sounds like their hearts were in the right place even if the results were lacking.
March 23rd: “Where are all the Columbus Blogs Part I” is released causing quite the discussion on ColumbusUnderground.com.
March 31st: CapCitySavvy, an urban living blog, launches.
April 17th: The Chamber of Commerce hosts two “YP Cafe” events where information from bloggers can be collected for the “Attract and Retain” initiative either in person on site, or online. [more...]
May 17th: ThisWeekNews.com (owned by the Dispatch) launches it’s first blog of several: BeatBlog.
July 2nd: BusinessWeek places Columbus in their list of top 30 blogging cities IN THE WORLD.
July 20th: Ben Marrison, editor at the Dispatch launches Inside Story, an insider’s look at some behind the scenes info at the only major newspaper in Columbus.
July 31st: The Dispatch’s Tim Doulin launches a new commuter blog called The Cranky Commuter.
August 3rd: Columbus43215.com, a realty and urban living blog launches.
August 6th: Where are all the Columbus Blogs Part II: Transportation is posted, leading to the creation of…
August 21st: XINGColumbus launches at the first local group blog dedicated to transportation in central Ohio.
September 26th: A commentary by Ann Fisher appears in the Dispatch discussing a topic brought up on ColumbusUnderground.com: The idea of changing the name of our city.
September 30th: Ann Fisher, Dispatch Columnist launches her new blog: Furthermore.
October 6th: Mayor Michael Coleman and several candidates for Columbus City Council met with a group of bloggers to discussion issues a month before this year’s election. I posted my thoughts here and follow up questions here.
October 29th: Jeff Johnson launches a community blog for his neighborhood, Merion Village.
November 7th: Marla Matzer Rose launches “Flying Coach” the latest Dispatch blog.
November 15th: WOSU & COSI host the first ever Social Media Cafe event to pose the following questions to bloggers and start discussions: Could we use social media and our many talents and resources to breakthrough the bureaucratic barriers that seem to block so much local reform? What other issues should we be discussing with an eye toward change? Can you imagine what we might be able to do together?
December 10th: WOSU & COSI host the second Social Media Cafe event to continue the discussions that bloggers started at the first event.