In
my last update I wrote briefly about finding a new direction
for Sushicam.
This is not to say that what I have been doing with
Sushicam is going to end, but after nearly 6 years I
think I am starting to run out of steam.
Maybe it's that I am not living "out in town"
anymore, or I have just "been there, and done that".
But for whatever reason, there are times when I feel
like I have to make an update rather than wanting to
do it. I find no difficulty with posting fresh photos,
but the writing seems to be a little bit harder to generate
than it used to be.
So, to remedy this situation where the quality and
quantity of my writing seems to be fading I have decided
to take the next logical step in the evolution of Sushicam.
I have always said that one of the things that keeps
me going is the feedback and sense of community that
has developed here over the past 6 years. So in order
to enhance that even further I have decided to expand
upon the model that Sushicam currently operates under.
I'm grinding my way through the setup of a content
management system (Drupal) now, having particular trouble
with setting up the image management portion, but as
soon as I get the kinks worked out I will be ready to
start inviting select individuals to start posting to
their own personal blogs here at Sushicam.
The idea behind this new direction is simple.
Over the years there has been tons of great material
posted by viewers, both in the form of comments as well
as forum postings, and I think it is only fair that
this site officially become the community blog that
it has been slowly been evolving into over the years.
I'll still continue to post my own material. My writing,
photos, and video will continue to flow, but now the
viewers will have the added bonus of getting more frequent
content updates from a larger cross section of bloggers
bloggers as well. Each person brought into the fold
will have their own blog to which they can post their
own material, as long as it remains on topic and is
related to Japan. I do have that one condition because
I think it is this strict focus on a subject matter
that is near and dear to all of us that has made Sushicam
such a popular site.
I'm not sure just how many bloggers I will invite to
become part of the creative force behind Sushicam, there
are some familiar longtime visitors with lots of Japan
related experience that I would be honored to have as
contributors: Pachipro, ConansOtosan, and J. to name
a few.
But that is not to say I will keep it a very small
and exclusive club.
If someone has the desire to post Japan related material
that will be viewed by thousands of different people
each day (and commented on as well) and they comply
with the VERY STRICT TERMS
AND CONDITIONS found at the bottom of this
post, then they should by all means apply.
Existing contributing members (just myself at the moment)
will view a sample of your work, and then vote whether
or not to allow a new person to join the list of Sushicam
Bloggers. Keeping it democratic seems like the only
fair thing to do. (although I do reserve the right to
have the final say in something if there is a problem)
The material posted may be completely original, or
come from a persons own existing blog. Regardless, it
would be a great way to drive more traffic to their
own website and/or increase their exposure.
Contributing bloggers will hold the copyright to all
the original material they post. And in the event a
contributor wants to delete any (or all) of their own
posted material they will have full editing rites to
do so.
Regardless of who posts it, any new blog updates will
be visible on the front page, and viewers will have
the choice to either read through the list of all Sushicam
Bloggers postings reverse-chronologically, or just focus
on one particular contributors material. The number
of comments each blogger receives will be a general
indicator of the popularity of their individual blog.
I'm not sure if anyone will take me up on the offer,
but I look forward to at least trying this out to see
how it goes.
If you wan to see a quick sample of what I have been
working on please go
here. I have a few sample posts up (two from myself
and one of Pahipro's forum postings so I can test out
some of the behind the scenes stuff)
Note: It's still just a very rough sketch and as you
will see, I still have to populate the links and figure
out how to post images to each of my updates . But even
so, it should give you all enough of a peek to provide
me some feedback.
Let me know what you think.
--
VERY STRICT TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
1. Post as frequently (or infrequently) as you want
to. There is no pressure to produce.
2. Please keep the posts on-topic and related to Japan.
3. Buy me a beer if we ever meet in person, and I'll
do the same and buy you a beverage of your choice.
4. Respect others, and treat them as you yourself would
wish to be treated.
5. Use common sense: No posting of copyrighted, pornographic,
racist, or vulgar material (like a bunch of Barry Manilow
mp3's or someting similar).
6. Have fun with it.
Comment 53
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