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A Beautifully Rosy Quarterly Picture at A News Cafe
I had to laugh out loud. I was listening to a conversation between a couple of friends the other day and one referred to the role the Internet will play in the future dissemination of news and information. The other friend stopped him right there and said, “That’s not the future, it’s here now and it looks a lot like A News Café.”
A News Café has no office, no set number of people who participate in its content or production. No topics are forbidden and nothing is a must, except accuracy, of course.
A News Café is not a company where journalists are chained to their desks, pounding out stories on deadline, but rather a place where we — as a community — exchange ideas and talk about local resources. It’s a place where we share what we’ve learned, make suggestions about things that need improvement. It’s a place where we can share the joy when someone in our community succeeds.
To me, A News Café seems more retro than futuristic. It’s reminiscent of a time when sitting out on the front porch – as neighbors walk by and talk about what’s going on in town — was a typical way to wind down a day.
In a nutshell, Food for Thought: A News Café reflects our community. The broad range of contributing writers, readers, commenters and advertisers are our friends and neighbors.
For the past year I have presented quarterly reports about the growing numbers of readers. More readers are coming to this site each day, as you’ll see in the statistics below, but what is emerging is more than just a growing website. What I’m seeing is a community that values an intelligent, articulate dialog about this place we call home.
To all of you who contribute by writing, commenting, reading or advertising, we say thank you. We must be doing something right: The neighborhood real estate is becoming more desirable all the time.
At A News Café we place a high value on giving back to the community. Here are some of the projects in which we’ve recently been involved.
We’ve co-sponsored:
- Sundial Film Festival
- Women’s History Month
- Exposed Dance Project
- Redding Home & Garden Show
- ArtHop
- Dinner & A Movie - The Cascade Theatre
We’ve contributed to:
- Shasta Land Trust
- Local Chapter of the American Cancer Society
- Women’s Refuge
- People of Progress
- Northern Valley Catholic Social Service
- Rotary Club of Redding
Here are the website statistics for the first quarter of 2009:
- Unique Visitors/Numbers of households that read the site each month
As of January 1, 2009: 19,287
As of March 31, 2009: 25,897
Change: +6,610 households (+34%) - Monthly Page Views
As of January 1, 2009: 574,477
As of March 31, 2009: 692,937
Change: +118,460 pages (+20%) - Average number of pages viewed per visit: 12+
Bruce Greenberg is business manager of A News Cafe. By trade he’s an artisan woodworker, creating handcrafted, one-of-a-kind furniture for homes and commercial spaces. He is married to Doni Greenberg.
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Congratulations on the good news — it is well-deserved. And thanks to all at A News Cafe for providing the comfy porch and the splendid conversation.
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News Cafe provides a welcome start to my day. Each morning I don my robe and spend my morning coffee with you. I’m more in touch with the Redding community events than ever. I learn and laugh and feel included … an experience I never had with a regular paper. News Cafe is fresh and cordial. I feel a part of this venture and I suspect many other readers do too.
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Kudos!
It’s a wonderful forum you’ve all put together.
Thanks for sharing.
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I agree with all of the above . I am so grateful to have reading The News Cafe on my to do list everyday. This town is diverse enough to need an outlet like this and if you ever start to charge money for your subscribers, I would even be willing to pay! Of course I like FREE better.
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Philbert Reply:
April 8th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Thank you so very kindly, Dorothy. The News Cafe will remain a free service, but I’m sure our wonderful advertisers would love to hear that you saw their ad here online. If you have the notion, the next time you visit one of our neighborhood’s fine establishments, tell ‘em you saw them on A News Cafe! That would be nice, but, only if you have the notion.
I think I speak for everyone here when I thank you for spending a part of your day with us. We hope you enjoy your visit.
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Congratulations on an incredible quarter. The numbers are truly astounding, and I’m not surprised. This truly is a “we” site, and one I look forward to every day! Yep, the future is here with A News Cafe’!
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Three Cheers to all of you. There is so much more you do for the area and even out of the area than mentioned. Some great things are subliminal.
I really know from Doni’s Q&A on Chuck’s Hats for Chemo. So many others have come to know about the project from the article.
Many, many thanks! Keep up your great work!!
God Bless.
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Great update, Bruce. I agree with you about the retro feel. It is in the friendly welcome that everyone finds at A News Cafe, as well as in connecting with neighbors and local events.
I think the best advertising for A News Cafe may be it’s readers who find themselves continually telling others about a great story, comment or photo on this site.
Thanks for all you bring to this community and here’s is to your continued success. I’m raisin’ my coffee cup to you.
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Thanks for being online for us! I appreciate the news arriving in my INBOX, along with many other items, first thing in the morning. Instead of launching right into work, I launch myself into the community of my work. I don’t know if it’s retro or not; it’s a refreshing change to the way I begin each day. No one else has quite provided the same service you all do.
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Are you guys doing this for fun or for profit? I don’t see any mention of revenues & expenses…..like salaries for those of you formerly employed as journalists.
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Kelly Reply:
April 8th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
We feel blessed we’re able to set several plates at this table, Helen, thanks for asking. We’re still paid journalists, and more journalists are doing this all the time. We do it for fun and profit and public service. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Bruce, Doni, Kelly, Phil et all…Congrats to your continued success with “Food For Thought”. Keep on keeping on!
Sincerely, Budd
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YEAH FFT!!! I just adore you guys and think you do an amazing job everyday!
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Great writing yields great numbers. You all do a bang-up job and I wouldn’t miss my twice-a-day fix at the cafe.
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I can only add my congratulations to the work that you all do that helps to bring us all together as a community. I start my day reading the News Cafe every morning before I head off to work. Thank you for highlighting all the wonderful diverse activities, organizations, and people that make the North State the best place I have ever lived. I’m grateful that I my work brought me here. Love the recipes , love it all. Please stay the course and don’t change your concept - it’s right on.
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It’s about 11:30 Wednesday night in Redding, but it’s 8:30 a.m. Thursday in South Africa and I’m sitting with my morning tea and my daily visit with my friends and acquaintances at FFT: A News Cafe. This is such a personal way to stay connected with what is good about Redding and Northern CA. Thank you so much.
As a team, you guys have not only set the standard for excellent journalism, but have created an online environment for validating and uplifting the community as well as the contributions of the bright, creative people who have something to share with all of us.
“Nginifisela okuhle kodwa,” which is Zulu for “I wish for you only the best.”
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To the whole team: you do an incredible job keeping us all informed. Always uplifting. I never realized there were so many things to do in Redding, but now it’s hard to decide which things to try.
Thank you!
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It’s heartening to see how A News Cafe has prospered. Congrats to Doni, Bruce, Kelly, Steve, Phil, Jim, and everyone else involved in making the site a success.
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Thanks, Bruce. All of you do a great job. I enjoy The News Cafe a lot.
So, when I am old and gray and can’t get out, I can always follow the doings at The Cafe. Love the rose also!
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