Happy Reader Appreciation Day!
I started The Bamboo Project in August 2006. It began as a project with another blogger and for a few months it felt like we were the only two people reading it. Since then, slowly but surely, readership has grown and because of it, so have I.
Today is Reader Appreciation Day, so I want to let you know the things I love about you:
- You teach me so much. With your comments, suggestions and links, every day I learn something new or find a new resource.
- You help me connect to a broad network of professionals with shared interests. Through you, I've discovered new bloggers and new ideas and been able to build world-wide connections.
- You're incredibly supportive. You've gotten me through writer's block and, most notably, the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Challenge.
- You challenge me to try new things. Twitter, Google Reader, Jing--all came to me through you.
- You make things fun. While I blog in large part for myself, it's much more fun to be interacting with other people. So many of you have great senses of humor and an ability to make me not take things so seriously. I need and appreciate that.
Blogging can be serious drudgery at times, so honestly without all of you I'd probably have stopped awhile ago. You definitely make it worthwhile for me to get up in the morning and try to put something out into the world. Thank you for that!
Winners of the Reader Appreciation Day Drawing
As promised, I did a drawing this morning for the winners of my Reader Appreciation Day prizes--their choice of an Amazon or iTunes gift certificate. Congratulations to Avi Kaplan and Ena Gordon! What was really nice is that I had no idea that Ena or Avi were reading The Bamboo Project, so the drawing gave me a chance to "meet" a few new people.
Thanks to all of you for your time, attention and feedback. These are precious commodities in our world and I truly appreciate your willingness to share them with me.
Thank you very much!
I have learned many new things from your blog and will keep reading.
Best Regards,
Ena
Posted by: Ena | April 16, 2008 at 09:02 AM
Hi Michele, I think it's cool that in addition to being unacknowledged readers--as far as I can tell--neither of the winners are bloggers themselves. It really speaks to the meaningfulness of your work. Thanks for this wonderful project.
Posted by: Robin Reagler | April 16, 2008 at 11:14 AM
Michele, this post made my day! When I read "Today is Reader Appreciation Day, so I want to let you know the things I love about you" it just made me grin from ear to ear.
You have such a wonderful blog and I have learned so much from you. I always appreciate when you reply to my comments and questions. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Posted by: Claire Thompson | April 17, 2008 at 12:07 AM
Thanks Ena--congratulations on winning the drawing.
Robin, thank you for coming up with this idea in the first place--it was a great one and it made me pause and reflect in a way that's good for me to do sometimes.
And Claire, thank YOU for being such an enthusiastic and insightful blogger and commenter!
Posted by: Michele Martin | April 17, 2008 at 06:53 AM
And right back at you, Michele. Ever since I stumbled on your blog, which led me to the 31 Days to a Better Blog and other things, I've been a frequent visitor. I am SO impressed with how prolifically and well you write, how many different subjects you're writing on, and how fun it is to read your blog. I always learn so much from you. And I am always inspired by you.
So, thanks back to you!
Posted by: Claudia Escribano | April 17, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Sorry I missed Readers appreciation day but I was deep in the wilderness (actually wasn't the Great Australian Outback) with limited Internet Access on vacation with my family. While my trusty PDA kept me partially connected that's all I was able to achieve. However I did have a good holiday.
Posted by: Sue Waters | April 20, 2008 at 11:15 PM