Simultaneously launched on the same date….In one corner, Media General’s Richmond Neighborhood Blogs (RNB)…and in the other corner, the upstart West of the Boulevard News (WotBN). Hmmm, who’s gonna win this one? Well, here are the results of my scientific comparison:
- Developers:
- RNB: Media General (Public, NYSE:MEG, market cap: $963 million)
- WotBN: Couple dudes named Jorge and Ross. Created in less than a week (yet the aesthetic design and navigation is clearly superior…Open Source rocks).
- Top articles:
- RNB: Hampden-Sydney Dean’s List (located in beautiful Farmville, VA, 55 miles from the closest Richmond neighborhood)
- WotBN: Freshly updated variety of news stories covering everything from city assessments to a local food drive for the hungry.
- Additional Features:
- RNB: Search engine
- WotBN: Arts calendar, Movie schedules for the Byrd
Round one, WotBN (a 10-8 round for you boxing enthusiasts).
Background:
- Haduken: West of the Boulevard News launches — the people rejoice
- River City Rapids: New Blogs On The Scene
- Buttermilk and Molasses: THE TD’S COMMUNITY PAGES/BLOGS
*corrections and additions made on 2-1-7
Additions….
- Yeah, kudos to PharrOut…Can you imagine Richmond.com, Style/Landmark Communications, or Media General assisting the community with creating an independent (non-owned), neighborhood news site?
- Speaking of the holy trinity of local media, here are my odds on which one of the three outlets will report the news of the WotBN launch first (as far as I’m concerned, a legitimate significant news story):
- Style 5 to 1 (and only to make Times Dispatch look bad)Â
- Richmond.com 15 to 1 (being the smallest of the three, could possibly see these blogs as a competitive threat)
- Times Dispatch 25 to 1 (blog envy)
WINNER!!! YESSSSS. But seriously, thanks for your kind words. A couple of things:
* Although I did do *some* stuff, Jorge from This Mudi Life is an indispensable part of the team. It was his motivation that got me off my butt to actually do something.
* The idea is stolen from the prodigious John over at CHPN
* My real name is Ross Catrow ; ). I’m not trying to remain pseudonymous or anything like that. I post under Max at haduken.com because that blog is, seriously, 5 years old. That was back when pseudonymity was cool. I also run RVABlogs as well. Just so you can get the whole picture.
* I’m the “Director of Technology” slash co-owner of a local webdesign and branding company, PharrOut. We are very committed to helping Richmond grow both on the internet and in the Real World. So doing a lot of projects like this is kind of our thing.
* Last thing, if you have any feature requests for WotBN or RVABlogs please let me know, we are always trying to make things better.
Comment by Ross — February 1, 2007 @ 9:46 am
You forgot the best part- the byline. “Awesomer than The Fan.”
WotB-awesomer than the RTD….hands down.
Good job Max, Jinric and John M.
Comment by patience — February 1, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
I sent an announcement to the local media on the launch of chpn.net and then the crime map (which was city-wide at the time). Somehow none of that got reported, though Ross’s later richmondcrime.org did get some press. Really, it does seem like the more local sites are seen as either insigificant or competition, I can’t say which.
The only mainstream media in the city that has acknowledged looking at blogs is Richmond Magazine.
Comment by john m — February 2, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
(and, more related to the actual post above) — I just added branded google search to chpn in like 5 minutes.
Comment by john m — February 2, 2007 @ 4:57 pm