1. The Statesman was already planning to add a lot of the new features (blogs, forums, comments, etc.) before I arrived. I was hired in part for my experience with these sorts of features, but I didn’t come up with the ideas.

2. Due to my participation in the local tech community, I’m probably the most visible person who works on the Statesman web properties but I’m really just one cog in a very large wheel. Most of the credit is really due to the other members of our small local online team, the dozens of developers at McClatchy Interactive who back us up, and of course all of our reporters, editors, and photographers who produce such great content day in and day out.

Having said all that, I do like to think that I’ve made at least a small mark on this place so far. And you’re definitely right about the Statesman having more tricks up its sleeve for online. I can’t talk about any of them right now, but stay tuned for several interesting launches in the coming year.

I have to say (and I am biased towards new media) the work you have done with the Statesman has by far been the most impactfull work done at the Statesman.

I would be interested to know how much their online readership has grown over the last year. Commenting and blogs alone have had to have a huge impact on page views (which of course drives ad rates).

Of anyone at the paper I think you have probably had some measurable affects on the business.

Here’s to another year, I can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve.