As ever in our household, anniversaries of any sort are the Mrs’ preserve.
I knew that www.myfootballwriter.com was heading for its second birthday at some point soon; a swift glance at her all-knowing, five-year diary revealed that ‘Rick’s first match report has just gone live; looks really good…’ on July 17. 2006.
So that makes it ‘Happy birthday MFW..!’ this week.
Of course, when we first threw ourselves on the mercy of the world-wide web – Archant redundancy cheque in hand – it was out of the ‘brand’ that was Rick Waghorn; the one whose many chins had adorned Norwich bus stops and Barclay Stands for the better part of a decade.
Hence the launch of www.rickwaghorn.co.uk – for those who never witnessed our Mark I version, it was a sight for sore eyes looking back. If only cos it was all whirring characters spinning left to right; that and a collection of legs across the top…
It wasn’t necessarily a thing of beauty; but it worked. And it got noticed.
Two years later and we have suddenly got all grown up and sensible with the launch of www.myfootballwriter.com in the summer of ‘07; the ‘Rick Waghorn’ brand duly disappeared beneath the network waves; I’ve long now been just the /norwichity ‘branch’, just as our Mark is /ipswichtown and Nick is/colchesterunited. And when I’m hanging out saving the whale with all those Channel Four types, Tom watches the /norwichcity shop.
What the punters have made of it all is – as ever – very hard to tell; a quick look at our banner numbers reveals – to my eyes – a reasonably healthy trend… www.twadservices.co.uk
Famous last words, but July is on course to be our second best-ever month after the riot that was last January’s transfer window.
But this week one of the unofficial Norwich City websites did organise a few web ‘Oscars’ – which made for interesting reading…
http://norwichcity.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/ncfc-on-the-web-awards-and-the-winners-are/
For me, the point is not to launch into some great ‘Thank you…’ speech; rather to use that poll in support of what we’ve maybe learnt over the last two years; what this new web audience expects of one of its 24/7 footballer media suppliers.
And I don’t think it’s news; that they can find everywhere. In an instant.
It is, of course, worth bearing in mind at this point that we’re up against a football model in which the clubs themselves have turned into their own mini-media organisations – the fact that www.canaries.co.uk wins the best news site shouldn’t exactly shock anyone; it’s their news; they own it; they break it on their own new media platform.
It is a rare football reporter who gets to break anything first these days; certainly nothing with official quotes attached; that’s the purpose and strict preserve of the club’s own journalist.
The purpose of all of us that follow in the news’ wake ought to be to add some informed analysis; the why to the club’s what.
It isn’t the Age of Information as some have maintained; information is everywhere; what isn’t is informed opinion; that’s where the value – hopefully – lies; that with a piece of universal information in our hand, we have the trust and the respect of our audience to add analysis and comment to that piece of information based on the knowledge and experience we glean over the years by, occasionally, getting beyond the ‘gate-keeper’ and hanging out around managerial Press conferences and dank, dressing room corridors.
The punters still might not agree on your interpretation of events as they duly rip you to shreds on the nearest, no-holds-barred messageboard, but at least they give you a certain head-start on the rest of the pack – ‘At least, he was there I suppose… ‘
And has been there for countless seasons past.
‘He’s still a p*ick though…’
But, at least, there is a reason why your opinion might be valued more than most – and that’s probably the best we can ever hope for these days.
So, as we celebrate our second birthday, winning that ‘Best Analysis’ gong is quite a big thing for me; proof, in a sense, of how right Clay Shirky was on my ‘Road To Damascus’ moment; that people still like a good [and informed] read, just don’t want it on a newspaper…
The other interesting point is Kevin Bladwin winning the ‘Best Columnist’ award. And, I know, this is just one website; one little set of punters…
But that, too, confirms my growing belief that the key to success on the web is bringing warmth and humanity to what outwardly remains cold and, in certain senses, isolating technology.
Kevin’s very good. In fact, on occasion inspirational. For me, this is probably the best single piece of writing that has appeared on MFW in the two years since we launched…
http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/full_article.asp?i=3201
But in that lies his success as a web writer; there’s humour and humanity wrapped effortlessly together into a very engaging whole. He’s a writer that not only locks eyeballs in place, but he engages hearts… he writes like he’s your best mate; that we’ve known eachother for donkey’s years.
And that’s a real talent.
And, for me, that’s one big lesson learnt. Write in the kind of cold, sterile and distant format of a newspaper and it won’t translate from print to web; it is – as Will Lewis rightly identified – about personalisation.
Who is this person offering comment on my football club? Do I trust them? Do I like them? Do I want them as one of my web mates?
And that’s the other thought that crosses your mind these days – how much we’re having to play catch up with the audience; how far and how quickly they have moved on without us.
It’s a thought process that, for me, also extends to our learning curve re local advertising – out there in local land, people buy into people; not networks. People like to see a human face on their ad rep; just as people like to sense a human touch on all their scraped in data…
Other lessons? Give people a good, sticky read about their passion and they’ll give you seven minute average visit times; that the trick is in offering an elegant organisation to all we do; it’s not journalism that’s broken, just the distribution mechanism that underpins it – and that same mechanism is broken beyond repair…
That if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then proof that we’re on the right track comes courtesy of TrinityMirror…
http://client.amenworld.com/whois_simple.php?domaine=NORWICHCITYBANTER.CO.UK
…and that out there in new media land, there are all manner of decent folk willing to help in any way that they can; further proof that we’re not the only ones who realise we’re all going to have to swim for it… same old story, that there’s a close-knit community out there.
Don’t think Google is ever going to earn you a journalistic living; people won’t by a car insurance policy while reading a football website – what they will do, however, is buy a train ticket to the next Norwich City away game.
Only try explaining that to the marketing department of a train operating company…
Don’t believe anyone who says they have the answer – they haven’t. No-one has.
And don’t underestimate the power of a well-placed blog; OWAB has opened more doors for me than any PR hot-shot ever could.
Above all, however, the last two years have taught me one, invaluable lesson – never underestimate the power and the love of family and friends. Their faith in me, and our little baby, has been overwhelming.
For that, I thank every one of them.
[...] Out with a bang: MyFootballWriter is two-years-old this week… Happy Birthday MyFootballWriter – here’s to many more. (tags: rickwaghorn football sports onlinejournalism) [...]
Hey, happy birthday
See what you mean about the legs – http://tinyurl.com/64woyf
Happy Birthday Rick (and Beth!)
I never liked those legs much, but I do like your website, and this one! Loving your work mate – keep it up.
Lewis.