Happy Anniversary to us, the blog! Today is the one year anniversary of GT‘s blog. Fran Gallagher, appropriately, had the pleasure of being the first blogger.

Over the last year, many members of the GT staff have contributed to these blogs. Some of us had never written before, while others had varying levels of experience as writers. In all, I think we have had a lot of fun and have also learned a few things along the way.

I remember the GT meeting via conference call when it was decided that the website should start running daily blogs by staffers. Publisher Fran Gallagher threw out the idea of a daily blog. It did not take much discussion to decide in favor of GT blogs.

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The blogs have been successful in many ways. On the business side, traffic to GT‘s website has increased by over 35% since the inception of the blogs. More new viewers, more return visitors, longer visits and more feedback are all directly related to the blogs. The blogs have done a wonderful job of giving us added exposure. In this forum, the blog writers express views, relay information and choose tangential topics which don’t make it into the printed magazine. This range of topics has brought in new viewers, as well as regular GT readers. New website viewers translate to potential new readers and subscribers.

The blogs have also sparked conversations among the GT staff about everything from potential articles to distribution points. Each writer has an area of expertise. The chosen topics have often struck a chord with different staffers, who took the idea and implemented it in a different area. For instance, I have gotten several distribution point ideas from reading the other blogs.

I have used my blog space to write about a myriad of topics (some very thinly relative to global business travel). Through my notorious self-promotion (well, I promote GT too…), I have brought in some new readers. That is the beauty of the cross-section of the blog writers. We all have our areas of expertise and we all bring in viewers from new areas. It is purely luck that has allowed me to be the blogger on our 1 year anniversary. However, I am proud to produce this special edition blog (I am sure it will be included in the upcoming DVD, GT Blogs: The First Year).

Thank you to GT for allowing me to write here. Thank you to the readers for your continued viewership. Now, I plan on blowing out the candle on the GT birthday cannoli and making my wish (for another great year), before I wash it down with my traditional big Coke.

-John Wroblewski, distribution specialist ***Thank you to all of you who have helped make our blog such a success. We value you as blog and Global Traveler readers and thank you for letting us open the doors of GT to you!***