2007 was a big year for ColumbusUnderground.com. The site grew by leaps and bounds, and the city of Columbus grew as well. Here’s a look back at the top 10 “threads” (or conversations) to come from the site this year. Counting down from…
10. What are destination cities saying about Skybus? – Of the dozens of discussions about Skybus in 2007, this one was probably the most interesting. It served as a place to showcase articles from other destination cities describing not only what they thought of Skybus, but also what they thought of visiting Columbus.
See Also:
- Skybus Launches Today – Share Your Experiences
- Skybus Turns National Spotlight toward Columbus
- Columbus to become ghost town during weekends
9. Wal-Mart: Coming Soon to an Urban Area Near You? – A Dispatch article discussed new Wal-Mart store formats, and the Columbus Underground conversation took it a few steps further by imagining the scenario of Wal-Mart penetrating urban markets. While it’s probably more likely to come to an area like the old Timken site at Cleveland and Fifth, perhaps a City Center Wal-Mart could be in our future.
8. The Most Underrated Restaurants in Columbus – The content is exactly what the title describes; a great conversation about local restaurants that get seem to usually get overlooked in the mainstream media.
See Also:
- The Most Overrated Columbus Restaurants
7. Where are all the Columbus Blogs? Part I – This conversation about online technologies utilized at local levels quickly grew into a great debate about what defines a blog. Additionally, the North Market was used as an example of a local organization that could benefit from some tech upgrades, and potentially they’re still planning on following through with the idea.
See Also:
- Where are all the Columbus Transportation Blogs
6. Contribute your ideas for the 2008 Arts Festival – Shortly after some public complaints were expressed on Columbus Underground regarding the 2007 Columbus Arts Festival, I was personally asked to meet with the Director of the Festival to brainstorm and bring some of those online opinions to the table. Instead of just hosting a private meeting, a group of artists, gallery owners, and art patrons were gathered to voice their thoughts on the Arts Festival and help contribute change to next year’s event.
See Also:
- Columbus Arts Festival: June 7 – 10
5. If You Could Teach A Class – This topic started off with a very simple question: “If you had to teach about an hour long class, what would you talk about?” After the answers started pouring in, some data was collected, voted on, and class schedules were being decided upon. The classes won’t begin until 2008, but this is a great experimental way to share knowledge and a beautifully executed example of how you can rally support online for offline causes. Classes are free to attend and will range on topics from Origami to Camping to Turntablism to Mario Kart to Graphic Design.
4. Streetcar Proposal: Now with 100% more OSU – There were dozens of great conversations regarding rail transit in Central Ohio in 2007, many of which focused on the Columbus Streetcar project. This one was picked for significance due to the initial post containing breaking news of the Streetcar plan running to OSU. The news was delivered straight from the mayor’s mouth at a special blogger press event earlier that day.
See also:
- Why the Columbus Streetcar Plan Doesn’t Go to OSU
- Would You Ride a Streetcar? Downtowners say Yes!
- Streetcar Update Buzz
3. CHANGE COLUMBUS’ NAME – What started as a way to separate Columbus, Ohio from the other cities named Columbus eventually became a public display of group civic pride. Many commenters decided that Columbus, Ohio was the most important Columbus and that our name was fine as it is. This discussion gained a lot of public attention and even wound up on the editorial pages of the Dispatch thanks to Ann Fisher.
2. Via Colori back on! North Market saves the day – Over the span of five days, Via Colori went from “canceled” to “possibly saved” to “possibly canceled again” to “saved for real this time”. Several threads and online conversations were responsible for the final outcome of keeping Via Colori alive in 2007. And in the end it didn’t really matter that it got rained on anyway… the fact that these online conversations helped to keep it alive is what mattered.
See also:
- Via Colori officially cancelled for 2007
- Via Colori has been cancelled again… or has it?
1. Columbus featured as art destination in new GQ – While there were many threads devoted towards the end of the year regarding the “Indie Arts Capital of the World” movement, the one that started it all off was actually a post about a GQ magazine article that incorrectly labeled Columbus as a “rust-belt” city with an ok art scene. October 23rd was the day that the IAC movement was born, and this thread is the birth certificate.
See also:
- Columbus is the Indie Art Capital of the World
- Indie Art Capital = It’s Official
- Indie Art Capital of the World on WBNS-10TV
Runners Up:
- Landlord cancels City Center lease – After years of waiting and watching the mall slowly die, the news finally broke that the City Center was being taken over by the City. This solid step is finally a step in the right direction.
- The Short North Needs Abercrombie and Fitch – A bit of controversy got stirred up when it was suggested that a local company known for trendy mainstream clothing move into the premiere Arts District.
- Should the Gallery Hop be put to rest? – Mike Reed does what he does best and plays the devil’s advocate by questioning the relevance of the biggest regular monthly event Columbus has to offer.
Honorable Mentions:
- What the hell is this new burger from Wendy’s? – This one gets a nod for visuals, as well as the standard dose of JimL2 humor. And since Wendy’s is based in Central Ohio, I’m willing to bet this topic got passed around at the corporate office a few times.
- Northstar Cafe: The New McDonalds – This thread originally started as a joke, but became one of the largest unintentional viral marketing campaigns for the Northstar Cafe in 2007.
Thanks to everyone who made all of this possible! Looking forward to thousands of great conversations in 2008!