Tuesday 15 September 2009

One Year Already!

I promise, this is the last time I will mark any kind of significant date or number on this blog! One year though seems important. I didn’t imagine that I would still be writing a year later when I made that first post, but then again, I didn’t imagine anything at all. Blogging was a new world to me, but it is one that has taken me on a fascinating journey.

365 days, 48 followers, 140 posts. Figures are important in blogging, but should not be the objective. As a matter of fact, the statistics for the blog increased exponentially for the first few months, but have stabilised more recently. I used to watch them carefully, but I realised how unimportant they are when I discovered that you could bump them up significantly by posting a link on sites such as Stumbleupon. Traffic increases, but these are visitors who stay for mere seconds before skipping on to the next site.

Blogging for me is about making connections with people. There are those who stop by and leave a message, those whose blogs I visit and enjoy, and those that I have met and talked to whilst researching my posts. I made a conscious decision early on to concentrate on detail and research, firstly for my own interest and culture, but also because I believe I can only respect whatever audience I have if I attempt to bring them something new and different.

Blogging is also about sharing. This may seem like a strange opinion to hold when you consider that it is in fact a very personal activity, but I have also deliberately avoided talking about myself and discuss only what I see. If I look forward from this point, my major objective is to open this space up to other people. The subject is Paris, not me, and it would become very dull if I only described my perspective and my place in this city. It is for this reason that I have created two new regular features; Paris People, where I meet others who live and work in the city and talk about their jobs and passions, and Paris Polaroids, where people can contribute anything they like about their experience of the city.

The other major deviation during the year was the creation of the Paris Walks PDF documents and their hosting on the
http://www.freepariswalks.com website. Again, for me this falls into the zone of sharing, and I have been delighted to see that the three walks have been downloaded around 1600 times now. This is something that I will strive to continue over the next year, even though it means a crazy amount of work for me! Who knows, I may even decide to break out of the internet and do some (very occasional, but free!) guided tours...

Work? This is certainly the wrong word. Time. Yes, this all demands a lot of my time, but it is time spent on something that brings me pleasure, and I think this is the crucial factor for a long-lasting blog! What I do, I do first and foremost for myself, but when I saw two people following one of my walks last weekend, I was happy to think that I had perhaps encouraged people to go somewhere they may never have gone by themselves.


So, whoever reads this – regulars who I know and thank, or anonymous visitors who have always sat at the back of the room in silence, I can tell you that I’m not finished yet! Coming up will be investigations into many other parts of the city and a breakout to the suburbs, features on racehorse trainers, street artists, photographers and bar owners, and I sincerely hope, contributions from many of you too!

15 comments:

Tim said...

Keep up the good work Adam, both on the core IP blog - which is an essential read - and the spin-offs, especially the walks! A true labour of love which is bringing a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people!

Ken Mac said...

many congrats and returns!

Peter (the other) said...

Indeed congratulations! Many of us blogging types take it up to finally fall away from it sooner or later. I lasted a few years but became too laden with "real" work to carry on. Your blog is my favorite Paris blog (and Peter's for photos), as it picks out often otherwise missed corners and sheds an erudite light. To me that is the true joy of a place, not the big, famous spots but the long, intensely human histories behind the rest.

May this year be even better then the first!

Harriet said...

Congratulations! You have created a very interesting and informative blog which I enjoy visiting.

Anonymous said...

First, sorry it's taken us two days to write and send our congratulations!
When we passed the year mark in May, it seemed impossible that we'd been blogging that long, the time flew by.
It's been great meeting you through the cyber world, and we're looking forward to many more years of Paris via Invisible. We can't wait to visit the city again and walk the streets with an Invisible map in our hands!

Thérèse said...

It is a pleasure to discover Paris under a different eye and being able to visit while being in another part of the world.
I am glad I did not miss your blog's birthday to be able to congratulate you.
A tremendous work on your part.
Thanks.

Clista Fischer said...

Hi Adam--I've been one of those always sitting in the back of the room. I am enjoying your blog and have added many of your subjects to my see-next-time-in-Paris list. Additionally, I have set myself a task to take your Paris Walks offerings with me on the next trip in January. Maybe during that two-month stay in the Marais (my tenth, I think), I'll have the guts to submit something to your Paris Polaroids post. Keep up the good work!

Owen said...

Hi Adam, I only just noticed that we both started out blogs about the same time, I hadn't gone far enough back in your past posts... anyway, what a year it's been...

I haven't been by as much these past few weeks as I would like, work has been crazy, but however often I get here, each time I do, I'm seriously impressed with the quality of your writing and research. Your blog is a pure pleasure to read for anyone like me who is interested, indeed attached to Paris. You can count me in your fan club. I wish I had alot more time to read all the blogs that are definitely worth reading, but when time is short, yours is high on the list of "must-reads".

So keep on blogging ! Keep on surprising us with your discoveries around Paris, I know it's a gold mine, just wish I had more time to do more mining. Speaking of which, how I'd love to explore the catacombs, the parts not open to the public, which are vast...

Thank you for this first year of blogging, and thanks for all your visits and thoughtful comments and careful observations... I hope we can meet someday in a café before too long... and talk Paris...

Badaude said...

Congrats! You're great! xb

Heather said...

Thanks so much for your wonderful blog. Always look forward to your posts... Good stuff. You have a great way of capturing what we love about Paris.

Heather said...

(continued) or better,, what we didn't previously know that we loved about Paris.

Adam said...

Wow - thanks all of you for these lovely comments. I'm inspired now to continue to be a bit left-field, but most of all as authentic as I can be.

CarolineLD said...

Belated congratulations - I look forward to the next year(s), and to more Paris walks too!

Gina V said...

Congratulations, Adam!...and I must say that I have never missed any of your postings...so many of them have inspired me and accentuated my on-going love affair with Paris...
Looking forward to more pleasurable reads!

Lil said...

i have just very recently discovered your blog and i think it's very interesting. it also makes me yearn to be in paris right now.

happy belated bloganniversary and keep up the good work :)

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