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My husband and I began a marvelous adventure. Actually
it began several months earlier, (but who's counting?)
and it is on-going. Even better, you are part of it.
Yes, we are celebrating the beginning of our 10th year
as Fly Anglers OnLine. In an Internet world where
the average 'life' of a website is three months, we
are really old. I was looking back over some of the
articles which have appeared here on FAOL of a
celebratory nature and came across one by the late Al
Campbell in 2002 titled "Have We Come This Far?"
Al wrote it commenting on a bulletin board topic about
the number of people signed up on the boards. At the
time there were 2,000. There are many times that now,
but some have not been active in a while, so once we
do some pruning we will have a better idea.
We do have accurate figures on how many people visit
FAOL every day - about 11,000 unique people spend time
here every day. The number varies, Monday when the new
issue goes up is usually the hottest day. We receive
9 MILLION hits per month. I know some think FAOL is
'small potatoes' little do they know. The important
thing is our readers know.
We may be old, but we don't want to be dinosaurs. We
are making some major changes behind the scenes, the
first visible ones are the new Bulletin Board and the
Monthly Drawing. I honestly don't know if we are done
messing with the bulletin board or not. I do know we
will be making changes on the Monthly Drawing. The
questions will probably change from month to month,
the concept being we want to gather good information
on what our readers are thinking, what they are (or
aren't) buying, and why certain things get more
attention than others. We've already asked what you
would like to see on FAOL, and trust me, we are tying
to sort out which things need to be done and in what
order.
We will always keep the basic premise. Fly fishing
is a passion anyone can enjoy - it isn't a private
club. A recent article in Fly Fishing Trade
magazine questioned if fly fishing could learn
anything from golf and snowboarding.
"Snowboarding, at least in the early days, could be
accomplished with one board, a pair of hunting boots
and a winter jacket. Fly fishing's challenge is to
offer a simplicity that matches the act itself, and
to let anyone in the club."
Hey, we've been here doing that for the past nine years!
We think another of the reasons this site is so
successful is because we do listen to you. And
the other big one, is - well, let me quote Al
Campbell's article:
"A lot of people have come and a few have gone
since this magazine started. A few guys who had
plans to get rich quick didn't last a year. A few
more got busy with other things that didn't leave
enough time to hang around a place that showed
little or no financial return. A couple wanted to
run the show and discovered that it wasn't their
show to run. Most are still here, at least to some
degree. The ones who stayed realized that Jim was
right. At some point in your life, you need to give
something back if you want to be at peace with this
world.
A lot of Internet fly fishing adventures have come
and gone since September 1997. The sites that were
started with financial gain in mind seem to have
been the first to fall. A few of those remain, but
show some wear caused by a realization that they
will never get rich this way. The few that continue
to grow offer a reality and vision that was evident
in this magazine from the start. They are giving
something back. They love the sport enough to return
some of the benefits to those just starting and those
who will benefit from the generosity."
Congratulations everyone! Let's see what the tenth year brings. ~ DLB
If you would like to comment on this or any other article please feel free to
post your views on the FAOL Bulletin Board!
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