Billie and I are celebrating our 21st anniversary today. We'll be away from computers and scanners for a few hours.
We're going to see Nik Wallenda at Darien Lake -- a show I highly recommend (pictures here). We're also going out to dinner.
I've asked a couple of people who would be in a position to know to text me if anything big comes up, but hopefully everything will be nice and quiet for the rest of the day.
This Saturday is Summer in the City. I'll be there for at least some of the event walking around and taking pictures.
I'm going to be looking for people wearing T-shirts that say "The Batavian" on them.
We've sold a couple hundred shirts over the years.
The seventh person I spot wearing their The Batavian T-shirt will get a $100 bill.
Four weeks ago, we put up a request for people to join The Batavian Club and got a good response. We're about to send out a batch of membership kits and want to give you a chance to join before we do.
Reader support is critically important to us. We appreciate your membership.
Membership is important because:
So many people every day tell me how much they love The Batavian. All we're asking is for those loyal fans to make a small financial contribution to help support and sustain our news coverage and in exchange we'll send you valuable gift certificates that far exceed the price of the membership.
TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form; Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.
PayPal buttons after the jump:
Monthly Single Membership - $5 per month
Includes membership card and bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Monthly Household Membership - $10 per month
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Single Membership - $50 per year
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Household Membership - $100 per year
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual membership, one payment of $60
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual household membership, one payment of $120
Includes two membership cards, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
It's been a while since I've pitched you on joining The Batavian Club, but the Club is still going and we still find financial support from readers extremely important in helping us maintain the business.
Membership is important because:
So many people every day tell me how much they love The Batavian. All we're asking is for those loyal fans to make a small financial contribution to help support and sustain our news coverage and in exchange we'll send you valuable gift certificates that far exceed the price of the membership.
TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.
PayPal buttons after the jump:
Monthly Single Membership - $5 per month
Includes membership card and bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Monthly Household Membership - $10 per month
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Single Membership - $50 per year
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Household Membership - $100 per year
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual membership, one payment of $60
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual household membership, one payment of $120
Includes two membership cards, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Well, here it is 1:20 a.m. and I have to get up in a couple of hours to head to Rochester to catch a flight to New Jersey.
I'll be at Montclair University to participate in a conference called Innovating the Local News Ecosystem. Specifically, I've been asked to share about how The Batavian has become so successful.
As for coverage: I'm taking some work with me and we have some other stories lined up, and of course, Billie will be here to cover what needs to be covered. There should be a supply of news to keep things interesting over the next two days.
Lisa Ace can help local businesses with any advertising needs, as always. Employers with job openings should call Lucie Ann Griffis. Both can be reached at (585) 250-4118.
Le Roy resident Lucie Ann Griffis has joined The Batavian team to help promote GLOWJobs.net, our new regional employment portal.
Lucie, who is very active and involved in her community, comes to us with a good deal of sales and promotional background.
Employers: Contact Lucie by calling our office at (585) 250-4118. She can help you promote your job openings and explain how the site works. Or you can go directly to GLOWJobs.net and click the button on the left side of the page to get started.
Job Seekers: You can post your resume for FREE on GLOWJobs.net and have it automatically matched to any potential job openings that match your qualifications. You will receive alerts of new possible job openings as they're posted into the network. Look for the job seekers button on the left side of the page.
Howard Owens, publisher and photographer for The Batavian, won a second-place award for photography in the spot news category in a monthly contest sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association.
NPPA sponsors a monthly clip contest in its 11 regions. Genesee County is part of Region 2, which comprises all of New York, the eastern half of Canada and international members based overseas.
Owens won the award for his coverage of the Baskin Livestock fire in November.
The award for Owens was announced last week along with a third-place award in October in sports for Mark Gutman, staff photographer for the Daily News.
In 2013, Owens received a third-place award in March for general news coverage and third place in June for feature/multiple photos.
NPPA awards points throughout the year for photos chosen in first through fifth place (only first through third winners are publicly announced), as well as a single point for each entry.
For the year, Owens was awarded 154 points, good for 15th place in Region 2. Tops was Steven Russell of the The Toronto Star, with 1,132 points.
Gutman had 90 points and Nick Serrata, who freelances for the Daily News, as well as other publications, had 80 points.
Owens, Gutman and Serrata were the only photographers in WNY to place in the top 20.
Most viewed posts for January:
In January we topped one million page views in a month for the first time.
Most viewed posts for February:
Longtime readers may remember I didn't work for a day or two in the summer of 2009 because of cataract surgery.
That was for the right eye.
That worked out pretty well because it made my right eye -- my camera shooting eye -- a perfect 20/20.
Now it's time for the left eye.
I go into UMMC this morning to have Dr. Li from University Eye replace my left lens with an implant that will bring to an end the foggy, triple vision of that eye.
Today, I'll be pretty much out of commission. Tomorrow, I'll take it easy. I expect to be shooting Notre Dame's basketball game in Buffalo on Saturday.
We have some coverage lined up for today -- including a couple of stories I actually wrote last night that will self-publish later this morning.
Billie will be around, of course, listening to the scanner (not that we have totally locked in the county's new system yet).
Lisa Ace will be holding down the fort in the office today, handling any site sponsor needs.
BTW: I've got to tell you what I think is a pretty amazing story, a modern miracle, from my visit to University Eye a few weeks ago. All summer and winter, my vision had been declining, even in my right eye. It turns out, the lens was fogged over. Dr. Li used a laser for less than 60 seconds, just a few zaps, to clear the cloudiness away. Within an hour of leaving the office, I was back to 20/20 again. The sudden change in vision felt quite literately like scales falling away from my eyes. Modern technology can just be so amazing some times.
I'm looking forward to being 20/20 in both eyes for the first time since I was about 14.
It was five years ago today that Billie and I took over ownership of The Batavian.
The Batavian began May 1, 2008 as a project I headed for Fairport-based GateHouse Media, but at the end of February, 2009, GateHouse changed directions with their internet strategy and The Batavian became available to us if we wanted it.
As transplants from California, Billie and I found we really loved Western New York and didn't want to leave, and I also firmly believed in The Batavian and the need to prove that there was an audience in a typical American community for local online news and advertising.
The Batavian is now one of the leading online-only news sites in the country -- the subject of books, national media columns and news coverage and closely watched by those in the news industry who fret over the future of local journalism.
But most importantly is how Billie and I have been welcomed and embraced by the Genesee County community. We're so grateful for the support of local residents and local businesses. We've made so many good friends and received so much appreciation for what we do with The Batavian that we sometimes feel amazed by the support.
Thank you to all of you for five great years. We look forward to covering the news of Genesee County and doing all we can to promote local businesses for years to come.
I'm flying to California this morning. I'll be spending time with family. I'll be attending my mother's funeral on Saturday.
We've made all of the usual provisions for continuing coverage while I'm away. Billie will still be here and on the scanner as usual. Alecia Kaus will help with breaking news and our news partner WBTA will help with coverage.
Good luck to all of our local athletes in sectional play this weekend. I regret that I'll miss the basketball games I would have covered, but Nick Sabato will be covering games.
I'll be out of town for a couple of days to attend to a family matter.
There will still, however, be coverage of news in Genesee County while I'm gone. Billie remains in town. Alecia Kaus is helping out, as usual. We can pick up stories as needed from WBTA. I will, of course, have my laptop with me.
In 2013, The Batavian was visited 5,909,231 times and we served 9,794,627 page views. That's up from 2012 when there were 3.8 million visits and 5.4 million page views.
Here are the most viewed stories for 2013:
It's been four months since I posted the monthly top 10 most viewed stories, so below are the top posts for December, November, October and September.
December:
November:
October:
September
There's a little time left to get a 2014 calendar of Genesee County photographs. We'll accept orders up until noon tomorrow.
Here's how you can get a calendar: Buy one or become a new member of The Batavian Club and receive a calendar for free (existing members get a discount).
The calendar by itself is $25, plus sales tax, plus $4 for shipping and handling, if you're not a member.
For Club members (check your e-mail for details), it's $14, plus tax, plus $4 shipping and handling.
Use the Paypal buttons below to join the Club or the button on the bottom to buy calendars All calendar orders must be received by Dec. 16.
Members receive $325 in gift certificates for local businesses.
TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.
We've set up four membership tiers -- Subscribe to the club monthly as one person or as a household, or annually at either of those levels.
Members receive a membership card, bumper sticker and a package of gift certificates to local businesses.
It's important to note, this isn't a subscription to read the site. Our stories remain free to read. This is a voluntary subscription with benefits (and we'll add benefits as it grows).
Join via PayPal below, or for annual and one-time memberships paid by check, click here to download this form (monthly, recurring payment memberships must be via PayPal or credit card.) To pay by credit card, use the form, or call (585) 250-4118.
Monthly Single Membership, recurring payment - $5 per month
Includes membership card and bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Monthly Household Membership, recurring payment - $10 per month
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Single Membership, recurring payment - $50 per year
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual Household Membership, recurring payment - $100 per year
Includes two membership cards and two bumper stickers, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual membership, one payment of $60
Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Annual household membership, one payment of $120
Includes two membership cards, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.
Order Calendars for $25 each:
Number of Calendars 1 Calendar $25.00 USD2 Calendars $50.00 USD3 Calendars $75.00 USD4 Calendars $100.00 USD
We just learned that our series on Genesee County Farms and Farmers is receiving an online feature writing award from the New York State Agriculture Society.
We entered the first installments from the series earlier this year.
The award will be presented at the Society's annual forum in Liverpool on Jan. 9.
Tom Rivers, former staff writer for the Batavia Daily News and editor now of Orleans Hub, has previously been honored by the society for his stories on local agriculture.
It's a rather unexpected trip, but Billie and I are boarding a plane in the morning bound for California.
We will return Tuesday, Dec. 17.
As is typical when we travel, I'll have my computer and stay connected to The Batavian and will have some news to post.
Alecia Kaus, Bonnie Marrocco and Nick Sabato will also be contributing stories. Alecia will be monitor the scanner for us.
A server glitch caused us to lose anything and everything posted to the site since 6:05 p.m. -- your comments, my stories, any classified ads posted. I'll endeavor to rewrite the stories -- instead of getting a little more sleep before we head to the Buffalo airport. You'll need to repost anything you still want posted to the site.
More than 150 people have already downloaded our new iPhone app.
Today, a problem that was preventing news alert notifications from going out was fixed, so now those users will actually get the alerts we send out.
To download the iPhone version, click here.
To download the Droid version, click here.
If you have an iPhone, you can now download The Batavian's mobile app from the app store. Click here for a link to the app.
It's a very simple app: It's a feed of what is posted to the home page and we will send alerts of select stories we post to the home page. The cost is $1.99. At best, with fee, we hope to offset our costs in providing the app.
For the Droid version, click here.
When I was in Chicago, the folks at Zebrareach showed me their new online ordering system for restaurants. I thought it was great, so a little less than a month later, we're launching BataviaEats.com.
Right now, we have 10 local restaurants participating. We've completed menus for five of them, with the rest scheduled to be finished before the end of the week. There are also four or five other restaurants I believe will sign up, and there are several restaurant owners I haven't talked with yet. So I'm sure we will be adding several more locally owned restaurants to BataviaEats.com.
BataviaEats.com will become your local online portal for ordering from great local restaurants (one of the blessings of Genesee County is our restaurants).
Here are the menus available now:
Coming within days will be City Slickers, D&R Depot, Sammy Hill's and Sweet Ecstasy Bakery.
Also, Big Pauly's and T.F. Brown's have also added their online ordering menu to their Web sites, and the other restaurants with Web sites will also, I'm sure, add their menus.
Restaurant owners: Want to sign up? Contact me at howard@thebatavian.com or (585) 250-4118. There's no set-up cost, no monthly fee, just a small transaction fee plus the standard credit card fees. You just need a way to receive orders -- fax, e-mail or through a Web browser.
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