Credit: Tartella (via Etsy.com)
In case you haven’t heard, today is kind of a big day for us: it is our one year anniversary!
One year ago today, we started this blog with a mission: to get more involved in our own city, to encourage others to do the same, and to share, share, share, every step of the way.
The super-secret footnote to that was that we just wanted to make it a year: we expected this to be tough – an ambitious project that would require a lot of discipline, a lot of time, and a lot of contributor-wrangling.
Boy were we wrong.
I am so excited to say that people have enthusiastically joined our mission in droves. In just 365 days, we’ve had more than 130 people contribute to Local Tourist Ottawa and many have become dedicated authors of the site.
Because of you, LTO has been able to post a new first-person story about Ottawa almost every single day.
In our first year we were featured on CBC Radio, Rogers Daytime, listed alongside the top blogs in Ottawa by the wonderful OttawaStart, and nominated for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards. We’ve also been lucky enough to bring on a third editor and ambassador for LTO, and traffic has and continues to balloon each and every day.
Most importantly, I can truthfully say that I’ve learned more about this city and met more incredible and inspiring people in the last year than I did in the seven years I lived here before we launched Local Tourist Ottawa.
So, in conclusion, it’s been a pretty damn good year. Thank you to everyone in Ottawa who has made this project a success: whether by contributing, sharing your story with us, or just stopping by to read the blog. We continue to welcome your feedback and contributions, and we look forward to the year ahead.
I think I speak for all of us when I say this: we’re just getting started.
Happy Anniversary Local Tourists!
Congratulations! It has been a real pleasure to be part of your adventure. Cheers to many more years!
Congrats guys! You do great work. Keep it going.
Congrats!
Great job you gals have done.
Happy Anniversary! First year of many more to come!
Keep up the amazing work!
I LOVE Local Tourist and am so happy to be part of such a great project! Jessey and Amy , you’re both amazing and doing a wonderful thing for our city.
You guys have done such a wonderful job with this blog. Over the past year it’s become part of my daily web surfing routine. Got some great tips on things to check out in the city and got introduced to some fabulous writers.
Keep up the great work!
Congrats guys on creating such a terrific blog. It’s been great to hear about all the things happening in the city. I have enjoyed being a part of it as well.
Happy anniversary! Local Tourist has given me innumerable things to do and love in Ottawa, and it’s only been one year!
Congrats Jessey and Amy We are proud of our daughter and she continues to amaze us. The two who first met as roomates in university have been a Great Match. Well done girls – Happy Anniversary!
Congratulations!!! Do love your homegrown appeal! I’ve learned so many things also – loved the neighborhood report on Montreal Road, the cupcake challenge (so sad that Isobel’s closed their doors!) and Project Priceless’ staycation tips to name just a few! This is a great vehicle to hear from Ottawanians – what they are doing and what they think is great about the city! Keep it coming!