It's the last day of June, and I didn't want to let the month go by without recognizing that June marked OC Blog's two year anniversary.
OC Blog debuted on June 17, 2004, with a readership of zero (not including me). The OC Blogpen consisted of yours truly and the blog was ugly and hosted on Blog City. My intention from the beginning was for OC Blog to become a group effort, and I migrated it over to TypePad in November 2004 and began recruiting other members of the Blogpen: Roscoe, OC Dutch, Lurk, Publius, Pistolero, Kahuna, Silence Dogood -- and most recently OC Spock and Roark (I know, I know -- I still need to add them to the Blogpen graphic).
I started OC Blog to fill what I saw as a void in political news. Political coverage in the OC Register and LA Times was shrinking, and I believed there was a demand for the kind of political information that MSM editors would dismiss as too "inside baseball" for the general audience -- an as such, never got report.
OC Blog was an experiment, and it worked better than I imagined. Some figures to illustrate the growth of OC Blog and underscore the existence of a genuine demand among opinion leaders, activists, and interested citizens for "inside baseball" political news. Since November 2004, OC Blog has received 823,331 page views and is currently averaging 90,000 - 100,000 page views per month (I use November 2004 as a starting point because Blog-City didn't provide blog traffic information).
During the same period, the Blogpen has posted 2,883 posts and our readers have responded with 20,571 comments (a special award goes to Tim Whitacre, who single-handedly posted .1% of those comments).
I'd like to thank my fellow Blogpen members for providing news and commentary that would otherwise be missing from the Orange County political scene. I wouldn't have been able to keep OC Blog going -- and a special gracias to Lurk for handling the News Roundup chores on the weekend. It is a great help and I appreciate it.
Equal thanks go to our readers for making OC Blog Orange County's leading clearing-house for political information and for providing the vast river of comments that a major factor in OC Blog's popularity.
When OC Blog launched two years ago, there was literally no political OC Blogosphere. Art Pedroza's Orange Juice had published intermittently, but hadn't been active for months by the time OC Blog went live. But I would like to thank Art for providing some of the inspiration for launching this effort, and I'm glad he revived O-Juice into a thriving political blog. In the last year Power Blue Report, Tin Star, Orange Punch, A Clockwork Orange, Total Buzz, The Blotter, Frank Ury's Mission Viejo Blog, the Greater Orange eBlog, The Liberal OC and Greetings From Downtown Huntington Beach have entered the political OC Blogosphere (my apologies to any I have overlooked).
Our motto here at OC Blog regarding the OC Blogosphere has always been the more the merrier. We view other Orange County blogs not as competition but as collaborators in getting political information into the public domain. A rising tide of public interest lifts all blogs, after all - and I believe our collective efforts enrich public discourse in Orange County.
In any case, I look forward to OC Blog's continued growth and to bringing you our insights into and views on Orange County politics.
Muchas gracias!
Congratulations. Thanks for leading by example. And thanks for your support of other blogs.
Posted by: Martin Wisckol | June 30, 2006 at 04:24 PM
Happy Birthday. Well done, and thanks for all the effort and hard work.
Posted by: David Zenger | June 30, 2006 at 05:08 PM
Goodonya, Jubal, for feeding the appetite of all us Political Junkies! Keep on rockin' in the free world!
Posted by: Ann Romano | June 30, 2006 at 05:17 PM
It'd be a heck of a lot better if you didn't hide behind pseudonyms. The the blog has a decidedly right wing tilt to it.
Posted by: DanC | June 30, 2006 at 05:23 PM
It'd be a heck of a lot better if you didn't hide behind pseudonyms.
Says a guy who only uses his first name.
The the blog has a decidedly right wing tilt to it.
Did you just figure that out? If you'd rather read an Orange County blog with a decidedly left-wing tilt, try The Liberal OC. They don't hide their bias, either.
Posted by: Jubal | June 30, 2006 at 05:29 PM
Right wing tilt? Just kick a little left/top rudder. Thanks for doing mostly a thankless and payless job. I appreciate the daily roundup as well as the latest gouge on local politics.
Posted by: QXP | June 30, 2006 at 05:29 PM
"Gouge", eh? Spoken like a Marine (or a squid)!
Posted by: Jubal | June 30, 2006 at 05:37 PM
Jubal,
Thanks for the kudos - and congrats on your anniversary. I might have inspired you - but then you guys inspired me to dedicate more effort to my blog and to make it what it has become today.
I have been very fortunate to have the help and counsel of my co-bloggers, Claudio Gallegos, Gila Jones, Bernedette Medrano, Thomas Gordon, Luis Rodriguez, and our newest blogger, Tim Whitacre, who will be posting as of this coming Monday.
Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Art Pedroza | June 30, 2006 at 05:43 PM
Blog boyos, here's to your cumpleaños. As I always tell ustedes, keep up the hell-raising.
Posted by: Gustavo Arellano | June 30, 2006 at 06:59 PM
Hey, how come you dont post stats on how many posts you delete?
Posted by: Pat | June 30, 2006 at 07:52 PM
Happy Birthday OC Blog!
A year of blogging is not equivalent to a real year—it’s like dog years. Two years of maintaining this thing with as much enthusiasm as you have is commendable.
Posted by: Mike Lawson | June 30, 2006 at 08:53 PM
Thanks you, Mike. Keep plowing ahead with your blog, too.
Posted by: Jubal | June 30, 2006 at 10:07 PM
Hey, how come you dont post stats on how many posts you delete?
Because that stat isn't worth keep track of.
Posted by: Jubal | June 30, 2006 at 10:08 PM
Two years is a mighty fast time to create a tradition -- job well done, Jubal, and thanks!
Posted by: Laer | June 30, 2006 at 11:59 PM
Congrats on Two Years. Keep up the debates, the political banter, and bringing us information that is rarely covered any more in the media.
Let the political Ping-Pong game continue...
Posted by: Mike Randall | July 01, 2006 at 12:54 AM
Props to Jubal & the OC Blog crew. It's an entertaining site that is interesting and challenging. Thanks also for keeping it clean.
Posted by: Bladerunner | July 01, 2006 at 01:26 AM
My heartiest congratulations to one of the few right-wing blogs that has open comments. Comments are disappeared occaionally, but in general, you are way ahead of most of your right-wing peers in allowing discourse.
Posted by: Critic | July 01, 2006 at 05:21 AM
Your Daily News Roundup is the greatest, and I know how much work it must be. Thank you SO much for doing it.
Posted by: Missy | July 01, 2006 at 08:47 AM
Congrats Jubal to you and the blogpen on two great years. Here's to many more!
Powder Blue Report
Posted by: Allan Bartlett | July 01, 2006 at 08:55 AM
Congratulations and well done! Thanks for being here.
Posted by: Ear to the Ground | July 01, 2006 at 09:27 AM
Congratulations to Jubal and the OC Blogpen on a wonderful two-year contribution to the blogosphere!
Your blog has been a reliable and timely source of information on the various stuff in Orange County.
Keep up the great work and thanks for flogging my blog, as well!
Posted by: Sergeant | July 01, 2006 at 11:16 AM
Congratulations on your anniversary. Your doing a heck of a job!
Chris :)
Posted by: Chris Prevatt | July 01, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Congrats - I may not agree, but you are a fun read.
Posted by: demmother | July 02, 2006 at 08:16 PM
It's a good read and that's what a blog is all about.
Congrats and kudos.
Thanks for supporting other blogs.
Posted by: Joe Shaw | July 02, 2006 at 10:21 PM
Happy Birthday Oc Blog!
Thanks for doing mostly a thankless and payless job. Congratulations on your anniversary. You are doing a great job.
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