I’m about to go back to where it all began. Ok, not technically, but sorta.
I launched this blog seven years ago while attending what is now called College Media Association’s annual fall conference in St. Louis. I am attending my sixth CMA conference, starting tomorrow, in New Orleans.
The conference won’t be in St. Louis, but I probably will see Joe Gisondi. He’s the guy who we can either thank or blame for this blog.
A session Joe presented at the St. Louis conference inspired me to launch the original version of this blog. I honestly don’t remember what the session was about (Sorry, Joe!). Joe is a sports journalism guy, but I know just enough about sports to know that I need to hire a good sports editor every academic year, so I can’t imagine I attended a session on that.
I also can’t remember what Joe said about his own blog that inspired me to start mine, but I launched a free WordPress site that night from my hotel room.
My original blog posts were… hideous. So bad, in fact, that I apparently deleted them. There is (perhaps luckily) no archive of my original posts.
After seven years and more than 700 posts, my knowledge of blogging and the quality of posts I write has improved. I moved the blog to a self-hosted WordPress site in 2011 and redesigned it to its most recent iteration last summer. I’ve blogged five days a week for at least two years, when I realized that my blog could supplement course content better than many handouts. This blog has become my favorite nerdy hobby, and I have learned so much about blogging from other blogs like:
from books like:
- 31 Days to Build a Better Blog by Darren Rowse and
- Platform: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt,
and from my favorite Twitter chat, #blogchat. I seriously cannot thank Mack Collier and the #blogchat community enough. Without them, I never would have kept blogging or expanded this blog’s offerings. I honestly don’t think this blog would be worth reading without all of the amazing advice I’ve received from the #blogchat community.
Sadly, I have no idea how many people have visited this blog since it began because I changed platforms and didn’t always measure analytics. I do, however, know that your visits to this site have tripled in the past year. I assume this means you find value from the help I provide.
The most visited posts in the past couple of years, aside from my weekly job lists, were:
- How to Write a Professional Bio, a post I wrote to assist my public relations writing class with an in-class lab,
- Demystifying SEO, a post I wrote for students in my social media marketing class, and
- Wanted: Full-time Procrastinator, a post I wrote just for fun.
I love that the posts you view show the diversity of your interests and mine. The blog I launched in the middle of the night, without fully understanding what I was getting myself into, is fulfilling its purpose.
I launched this blog to help my students and those like them. It initially was meant for student journalists, but has broadened over time to address mass communication-related topics for media students and professors. Its current mission is to “to create an ongoing educational dialogue among media professionals, students and educators.” Between this site and the Prof KRG social media pages, it’s happening.
I appreciate all of you who are reading and engaging with me. Our conversations help teach and mentor professional communicators. I could not do it without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
MackCollier says
Thank you Kenna and congratulations! Seven years of blogging is a HUGE accomplishment! Glad the #Blogchat community has helped you and thank you for continuing to help us!
Here’s to the next 7 years!
Kenna Griffin says
Thank you so much. Seven more years? Well, if the students keep needing my help, I’ll keep on blogging. 🙂
patricksplace says
Congratulations on seven years, Kenna! I look forward to reading for many years to come! 🙂
TammyL says
Thank you so much for your dedication to your blog. 7 years! Wow! I’m sure you learned a lot, and I know I have from reading it over the last year. I even mentioned you in my latest post!
profkrg says
TammyL Thank you for being a reader! I really appreciate it. Please let me know if I can help you out.