After discussion with writers, this post is an assessment of what has happened so far. It is about half way through the 52 week life of the blog. Here goes.

At the start of 2015 blog club members weren’t sure about the amount of material we would have to blog. As it turns out, there has been ample. Enough for a post each working day and 70,000 words so far. This is thanks to the writers and their colleagues who have contributed ideas and feedback (sometimes unwittingly). Thank you to everyone who has contributed in some way.

The readership has been unexpected. Given it is a niche topic and focussed on Australian local government, the fact that most readers are from overseas has been a revelation. I am not sure whether it is the topics attracting attention or whether there is genuine interest in Australian local government. Most overseas readers have come from the US or UK where there are some similarities in the way local government works. The lack of comments posted by readers (there have been lots of ‘likes’ and small band of ‘followers’) was a surprise. Maybe this is common for new blog sites.

The topics that have emerged have also been a surprise. Continue reading →