This is the 3,000th story posted on Demolition News since its inception.
At 5.12 in the evening of 28 July 2009, we posted our very first story here on DemolitionNews. At that time, we were hoping we could find sufficient news to update the site on a weekly basis and steal a march on our paper-based magazine rivals. And when our first week online came to an end and we had garnered 83 unique views (including at least a dozen from my mother) we puffed out our chests with pride.
Fast forward some two and a half years and we can now see just how naive we were back in those innocent early days. Instead of struggling to find sufficient news for a weekly update, we’re now struggling to find sufficient time to update the site on a near hourly basis. And those 83 views that we clocked up in a week we are now clocking up in an hour.
Our subscriber list has grown from just under 200 to almost 4,000 over the same period; our articles are regularly reproduced and syndicated in our native UK, in the US and across Europe. And our reach extends to more than 40 countries with contributions and readers as far afield as Australia, New Zealand and South America.
In the two and a half years since we first raised the curtain on this small hobby of ours, we have launched recruitment initiatives to help demolition professionals find new employment; we have raised funds for a number of charitable causes; we have embraced both Facebook and Twitter to help spread our news (which is ultimately YOUR news) to an ever-widening audience; we have launched the demolition industry’s first audio podcast series; we have unveiled our own YouTube channel that brings together all the very best demolition video footage we can find; and we have launched an iPhone and iPad app to ensure that the very latest news is at the fingertips of the “thumbs generation”.
At the same time, we have been threatened with multiple lawsuits (including several from the same person), physical violence and – for a while at least – we even had our own stalker.
But, despite all the hard work and long hours that we have put into making DemolitionNews the most regularly-updated and widely-read news resource in the industry, this has been a truly collaborative effort. So, in the finest Oscars speech tradition, I would like to say a few thank yous:
• To IDE president John Woodward for helping me cook up the idea in the first place and for acting as my mentor and moral compass ever since.
• To the numerous UK and US demolition professionals that regularly contribute their thoughts, suggestions, opinions and criticisms to help keep DemolitionNews on the straight and narrow.
• To the key sponsors (named and unnamed) for the faith they have shown in what remains a young brand, and the money they have spared in the midst of a recession to allow us to continually develop the website to meet readers’ ever-changing demands.
• And, last but by no means least, to you our loyal readers for returning to the DemolitionNews website in ever-increasing numbers; for offering your comments; for entering our competitions; for contributing your thoughts and stories; and for generally welcoming DemolitionNews into your offices and homes.
As a career journalist, I have worked across a number of industries in my time. But I have never felt quite so at home as I do here in demolition. My personal thanks to all that have helped make DemolitionNews what it is today and for making my day job feel more like a daily chat with 4,000 friends.
Mark Anthony
Founder
