Happy Birthday!

by T. Scott
October 16, 2009

As Dome starts its third year I’d like to thank all of you for making the previous 12 months truly outstanding for this young and growing magazine.

In this case, the word “outstanding” is supported by objective numbers: the more than 43,000 visits to www.DomeMagazine.com was an increase of 61 percent over the first year; total pageviews rose 33 percent; and the number of “unique visitors” jumped 46 percent.

Those are wonderful numbers, but Dome’s increased value to Michigan’s politics and public policy community can be seen in more than just math. Dome readers really are “unique.” As only one example, nearly 200 readers — including a good number in China — have taken the time to post knowledgeable and insightful comments on Tom Watkins’s September 16 call-to-action cover essay (“Bridge to China — Stop whining, Michigan, and start building!”) on how state officials must make China’s economic rise work for Michigan’s struggling economy instead of sitting on the sidelines complaining about this new economic superpower.

When you look at some of the rude and inarticulate posts on other online publications (which have caused a growing number to restrict who gets to comment and how they comment), you really appreciate the intelligence and sophistication of Dome’s audience. There’s hardly a post throughout the magazine that doesn’t provide some additional information or opinion worth considering.

For the year ahead we have great plans for Dome: new regular features, new writers, a better functioning website, even a few things we can’t mention at the moment. How fast we can implement these changes — and many more we haven’t yet dreamed up — depends, of course, on resources (don’t stop me if you’ve heard that line before … like every day). It’s a fact of life.

Dome’s always-up, always-free content is made possible by our advertisers, without whom you wouldn’t be reading these pixels. When you see the folks associated with any of our advertising organizations, please let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing. Let them know, too, by buying or making good use of their products, services, events, issues and ideas.

And don’t be shy about coming forward with advertising of your own to boost your organization’s image, effectiveness, community standing and bottom line. Drop an e-mail to dome@DomeMagazine.com and we’ll buy you a cup of coffee and see what’s the best way Dome can help.

No doubt about it, we’re all looking for an even bigger and more exciting year for Dome. With your help, we’ll actually pull it off.

Thanks, and Happy Birthday to everyone involved in producing or reading Dome!

Giveaways Update
In July we reported on the first five monthly winners of the Dome random drawings for various free goodies. Those drawings are held in connection with soliciting signups to receive free weekly e-bulletins notifying you that new content is available at www.DomeMagazine.com. It’s also a chance for those already signed up to win something cool.

Here are the most recent two. (By the way, we’re taking this month off from the giveaways in order to restock the pantry — but we’re still taking signups for the e-bulletins.)

#6 Grand Hotel beach towel, won by independent filmmaker M Adler of Novi, who reports having stayed at the Grand in the past and being happy now with an elegant towel from that Michigan icon. He also describes himself as owner “of a small business that has become more profitable as a result of Michigan’s outstanding [movie industry] tax incentives.”

#7 Grand Hotel 2007 Chardonnay (a last-minute substitute for a beach towel), won by retired state employee Sandy Christian of Lansing. She has stayed at the Grand several times, she says, in connection with work and for the special Somewhere in Time weekends. She began reading Dome and subscribed after a friend sent her an article. “I know several of your columnists and recognize many others from working in state government for over 30 years. I worked in Agriculture, Public Service Commission and DSS, mostly in human resources and labor relations from the early ’70s through 2002, when it was much more fun to be a part of state government.”