b5media

November 30th,2005

Welcome to Crazy Joe’s Blogporium!

By Jeremy Wright

Good morning everybody and welcome to Crazy Joe’s Blogporium where our blog launches are crazy, Crazy, CRAZY!!!

Sure, other blog networks might launch one or two blogs in a day or a week. But no, here at Crazy Joe’s we don’t just release 5 blogs. No, we dont’ even release 10 blogs into the wild in a day. Here at CRAZY JOE’S we launch FIFTEEN blogs at once!

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Okay, time for a deep breath. Things have been a bit quiet in the world of b5 for the last few days largely because we’ve been flat out bringing over the first set of AboutWeblogs blogs. The team who worked on this did amazing, and all the bloggers involved were incredibly patient as well. This has been a huge 4-5 days of nearly non-stop work for everyone and it’s great finally be able to take the wraps off our first few blogs.

The Team

Before we get into which blogs we’re launching today, I want to say thank you to the whole team involved in this transition. I know we’re not done yet everyone, but it is incredibly exciting to see this first group of AW blogs get reborn. So, thank you to:

Aaron Brazell: No doubt one of the biggest parts of this project, it was Aaron’s responsibility to marry the two completely disparate parts of this new relationship: AW’s Nucleus system and our Wordpress systems. It seemed easy at first, but the two simply didn’t want to talk. Like any good marriage counsellor Aaron was patient, wise and eventually got to the root of the problems. There will undoubtedly be further counselling sessions, but we know we’re in good hands with Aaron’s mad PHP, MySQL and dance skills.

Ingrid Diaz: We recently brought Ingrid on as one of a pair of “Super Secret Agents” (ie: low-paid lackeys that we love to death) and one of her first tasks was to design 11 blogs in about 24 hours so we could launch. Not only did she accomplish this huge task with grace and humour, but when all of her designs accidentally got hit by a nuclear bomb she took it in stride and redid all her work in record time.

The About Weblogs Bloggers: Ladies, you are all amazing. You’ve been patient, funny, firm when you had to be and all around fantastic. This hasn’t been an easy first test of our relationship for anyone but it really seems like we’ve pulled through and we’re all the stronger for it. Thank you.

Shai Coggins: Shai, you were a key in helping this move along so quickly (both by putting a deadline on it and by being there when I needed you to be). Thanks a bunch!

To all the “little helpers”: Lots of people helped out here and there with work, design, code, thoughts, keeping me sane, helping with planning, etc. A big thank you to all of you: Duncan Riley, Darren Rowse, Erin Harvey, Jon Watson, Tim Flight, Gilad Gafni, Basecamp and Guild Wars. Thank you to all of you for helping this project along!

The Blogs

There are 3 distinct groups of blogs we’re launching today. The first is and largest is, obviously the About Weblogs blogs which are being brought into b5. The second is our final group of Entertainment blogs for this season and our final “group” is the first in our new group of Technology blogs from our new Technology Editor Jon Watson.

Here they are, with a brief background on each blog:

Technology

Let’s start with the smallest first, since I know Jon is ultra pumped about this ;-)

Uncover The Internet: Written by a new blogger to b5, Wendy Boswell, this is effectively a “New Internet User” type of blog highlighting interesting and unique things you can do on the web. I know my mom already reads it. When she called last night and asked about “tagging” I knew we were doing something wrong right.

New About Weblogs Blogs

Our second group of blogs is by far the largest we’ve ever launched. This would have been a big launch day with just the other 5, but launching these 10 blogs is very exciting to us, because it will finally introduce b5 readers to the great women who are joining us from About Weblogs.

Daily Jots: Written by Adelle Tilton, Daily Jots is just a great little inspirational blog full of quotes, thoughts for the day, etc. I’ve subscribed to it as the first feed I read every day simply because it’s a great little way to start each day.

eBeautyDaily: While I have no need for this personally (my beauty is just fine, thank you), Christina Jones is a great author to have giving advice to women on everything from skirt length to blending colors. She’s like her own little Cosmo Beauty or something!

Europe String: If you’ve ever wanted to travel Europe on a string (and who hasn’t)… Erm, I mean if you’ve ever wanted to travel Europe without spending too much money (and who hasn’t) then this blog by Melissa Petri is for you. Melissa covers dozens of cities, tips for specific airports and all kinds of useful information.

Genetics and Health: I love some of the blogs we’re bringing over and launching lately. A blog on Genetics and Health simply isn’t one that would have crossed my mind, however Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei is not only knowledgeable in the field but is also very approachable.

Jewelry and Beading: While this is fairly self-explanatory, it is nonetheless great to have Tammy Powley showing off her passion for jewelry and beading here at b5!

Leadership Turn: Leadership is such a key issue in today’s society, so it’s great to have Jone Lewis writing authoritatively on the subject!

Mad Cropper: I have to say, this was one of our favorite new names. This scrapbooking blog by Christine Gooding is sure to find a ready audience (heck, I may even take a look … I know I’ve been looking for a creative way to share my gaming screenshots!).

Play Library: Play Library is a blog about toys, books and other things for children by the inimitable Hsien-Hsien Lei.

The Golden Pencil: Written by freelancer writer Anne Wayman, this is a solid blog that covers everything necessary for freelance writers from managing your time to marketing yourself and from proper sentence structure to finding new ideas.

Entertainment

Our final group of blogs is also very cool, as it provides further outlets for fans of certain celebs or TV shows to chat about something they are incredibly passionate about. Here are our new entertainment blogs!

Celeb Amour: Celebrities fall in and out of love faster than fuschia falls in and out of style. For those who care about celebrities or just want the latest gossip on what Tom gave Katie, this is the place to hang out.

The Hilton Files: Love her or hate her, Paris Hilton is the celebrity’s celebrity. Whether she’s redefining fashion or redefining “lack of tact”, this heiress certainly knows how to make a splash (which is impressive, considering her lack of body mass).

MTV Reality World: Because we don’t really get MTV in Canada I can’t comment too much on the MTV reality series’, however I’m told they are crude, unusual, fun and stupid. Sounds like Much to me ;-)

Top Model Gossip: America’s Next Top Model is one of those shows that my wife and I actually watch together on occasion. I don’t know why I watch it (shut up!). It might only be once every few months that we watch it, but I can certainly vouch for the fact that this is one of the most oddly entertaining shows (and blogs) around.

Post Mortem

We’ll be doing an analysis of the About Weblogs and b5media marriage after we get all of the blogs launched, take a weekend off and recoup. We had to code a lot of new technology, which we’ll be releasing to the world.

Thanks again to everyone involved! No matter how we slice it, it’s exciting, scary, humbling and weird growing from 5 to 50 blogs in just 10 weeks. Thank you to every blogger, reader, supporter, friend, advertiser and anyone else that’s helped make this possible!