We just want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
The last 12 months have been an exciting time for us...what with traffic now ten times what it was in January and our coverage increasing to take in all manner of topics.
We have had some great stories, a few terrible gaffes, been quoted in newspapers, appeared on DVD/Movie posters...people have tried to buy the site, almost been sued a few times, had letters of praise and abuse...all-in-all an eventful year. It has also been a steep learning curve as we started covering more serious topics and the site itself began to transform into a proper business.
On a personal note I also had my first child 5 weeks ago and another staff member gave birth a few months ago...so two M&C babies this year. We will see if we can beat that record in 2006! I would also like to thank our Soundtrack section editor Mark Sung for all the hard work he has put in since the site's launch. Mark is moving on to pastures new but we hope to find a worthy replacement shortly.
I would also like to thank all our writers and contributers for their hard work over the year, much appreciated.
Looking forward to next year we are working hard on the user features side of things, with an alert system, customization options and more in the pipe...mostly based on your own feedback to us on what you would like to see or be able to do on the site. On the content side we have new writers coming onboard in all the sections and also some great packages lined up for key events like the soccer World Cup. We are also looking at vastly increasing the number of photos we carry, especially in entertainment. On the news side we will see if we can start running some info-graphics to help explain events and happenings.
We will be operational over the holidays, though with a reduced staff. One of the great things about running a news site is that the news never stops...though at this time of year it can feel like a curse as much as a blessing.
For those interested we will be running a series of 2005 roundup features across all the sections over the next week. Also of note is a package of features looking at the effects of the 2004 tsunami one year on, keep an eye on South Asia/Asian Pacific features for those.
However, without you the users we would not exist at all...so let me say thank you on behalf of all the staff for your continued patronage of our Web site.
Enjoy the break and best of luck in 2006.
Regards
JamesEditor
