What a year to be involved in the overland scene; the growth of the activity generally has brought some interesting innovations to market, some great new people into my life and so many neat and wonderful parts of the world to view.
This year, O&E has grown in authorship and views, we’ve got stickers coming in (eventually) to share the love and the stories that make this place such a retreat for me personally have not only continued but increased in volume, scope and quantity. It goes without saying that you all make this the place that it is and I want to personally thank all of you for what you do.
The Stats
198,000 Global views in 2016 - about the same as last year, but last year had a HUGE spike when then new Jalopnik editor David Tracey, bless him, shared one of the Best Of posts to Jalopnik. That one event alone accounted for about 20% of our annual views of 200,000. This year we reached that same number on our own, with an increase of authors and content. When you factor that in, our organic readership is up roughly 20%.
While site growth may sound important to me its not the end game, nor is it really the driver behind this effort. I think we should all step back and realize what makes this place so great: its driven solely by a love of adventure and sharing that love with all who care to see it. Unlike for-profit sites like expedition portal, overland bound, et al. we have no need to sell ad space, no push for membership...nothing to sell at all to anyone. Think about that alone for a second. Also, unlike forum sites, the format of Kinja allows for rich multimedia stories with a comment section that allows for great discussions. This is a unique slice of the internet, and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. I AM however excited with the prospect of new authors, new perspectives and new stories that range from long self supported adventures to day trips in the family truckster. I hope that you all keep up the great work and share this effort with all like minded individuals, so we can continue to make it the best social site on overlanding on the internet.
The wrap
Thanks to a great idea and some hard work by our resident expat Aussie Rufant, we have, complied, a list of people’s favorite stories from 2015. These are trip reports that got you through a work week, or stories that informed or got you motivated. I think its a great selection and thanks again to Rufant for heading up the idea
http://overland.kinja.com/a-remarkable-adventure-1786304914
This is just a tiny sampling of the hundreds of great posts from the year, including tech write-ups, advice discussions, gear reviews and trip reports and I encourage you to check out the “best of” series for full effect.
Don’t forget to check out the authors corner on Google + (if you are an author and aren’t in that group please let me know and I will extend an invite).
Also, check out the great work being done by others by reading and contributing to the “best distractions” directory page, including social channels and blogs of several of our great writers.
Lastly, an update on the stickers, they are still in production and I am hoping to see them really soon. Thanks for everyone who has paid and is waiting patiently. There should be a few extras in this batch if you want one, just email me at the address bellow and I’ll let you know.
I want to thank you all again for making this the place to be for people who need the outdoors and can’t resist the urge to explore it.
Lastly, I am open to any suggestion that you have as for things that could make this a better place, just let me know in the comments, at spokemaster82 at gmail or over at the authors corner. Right now there is just own owner operator but if you think it would be better served with more people to drive content or opportunities I’d be open to discussing it.