Happy Birthday, Play the Past

1 year ago today, Play the Past went live.  It was the culmination of a process which, I’m not afraid to admit, started out with the kind of gluttonous domain registrations binge to which many of us are prone.  Playthepast.org was one of those domains that I was sure I could do something cool with, I just wasn’t sure exactly what.  I had no idea that it would turn out as epically awesome as it did.  On a side note, playthepast.org was clearly the winner of that binge, as all of the other domains registered at the same time remain forlorn and unloved.

As I wrote in our original launch post, “Play the Past is a collaboratively edited and authored blog dedicated to thoughtfully exploring and discussing the intersection of cultural heritage (very broadly defined) and games/meaningful play (equally broadly defined).”  I’m very happy to say that a year later, we’ve held on to this idea quite nicely.  More importantly, I think we’ve actually grown and evolved the idea by thoughtfully exploring its boundaries, nooks, and crannies. Nooks and crannies, I would like to point out, that I never even considered when I first came up with the idea of Play the Past.

And now some numbers (because a celebratory anniversary type post isn’t complete without some numbers).

• 111 Posts
• 160 Tags
• 507 Comments
• 385926 unique pageviews

Seriously, 385926 unique pageviews. That number alone is kinda nuts.

At the end of the day, however, the numbers don’t mean squat (well, that last was is pretty damn awesome, I will admit).  There are two things that are important about Play the Past.

First, the regular authors (and yeah, I’m going to name them all): Kevin, Emily, Shawn, Matt, Katy, Jeremiah, Rob, Trevor, Roger, and Mark.  You know the aforementioned “growing” and “evolving” I talked about?  Those boundaries, nooks, and crannies?  That’s all thanks to these frighteningly talented authors.  They bring their A-game with every word they write.  Plain and simple.  I would also be seriously remiss if I didn’t also mention that we’ve had some wonderful guest authors, all of whom have contributed wonderfully to the rich tapestry of topics and perspectives.

The second important thing about Play the Past are the readers – they (you) are generous, enthusiastic, thoughtful, and (most importantly) regularly returning.  I watch the discussions around articles, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling of community (which fills me with all kinds of happiness).

So, to our readers, thanks for sticking with us this far.  Keep on reading, commenting, and discussing.  We’ll keep on writing stuff worth reading.

[Image by Flickr user freakgirl and used under Creative Commons license]