Countdown: 10, TELL-a-thon

There are only 10 more days until Hokies football. Single digits are a day away. The offseason is about to disappear. Before it does, this is the State of TKP.

The Key Play is not the same website as it was when I launched it back in March of 2010. It's grown from a one-man show to include a great team of reporters and contributors. As of a few weeks ago, The Key Play is a legitimate credentialed media entity. I would be lying if I said it wasn't an original goal of the website, but given Tech's uneasiness with "new media" way back when, at the time I never thought it would become a reality. There's more direction with what gets published. I no longer rack my brain at night for a post idea and start cranking at 2:00 AM when a moment of inspiration hits. In fact, I barely write anything in-depth anymore and articles are scheduled days in advance. I've slipped behind the curtain while a talented cast has taken center stage. Most importantly, there's a vibrant community. When TKP went online, I'd constantly check for new comments. Now it's almost impossible to keep up new threads. However, I do, because everyone's memes still make me laugh (krak_t I damn near fell out of my chair when I saw this), and the discussion is still funny and insightful.

Over the lifetime of the website only 11 people have had their account banned for not playing by the rules, that's not bad considering over 3,500 people are registered. TKP has maintained its culture and avoided the dilution that happens to a lot of large online communities. Again, you gals and guys are the ones to thank. The TKP community moderates itself very well.

According to Quantcast the website is on pace to break well over 1,000,000 pageviews in a month for the first time ever. By comparison, in August 2010 TKP served up 25,000 pageviews. The website reaches over 60,000 unique people in the US a month, that's near Lane Stadium capacity. In five years this place has going from a newborn to a teenager eating everything in the fridge.

"TELL-a-thon" is in the title, because I'm asking everyone to help us spread the word before the season. Organic growth has been a key to TKP's success. A good deal of Hokie Nation knows about the website, but many folks do not. I need your help to reach those people who don't have Twitter or Facebook, who have never seen one of French's film reviews, or who are stepping foot on campus for the first time. Would you tell a friend or friends about the website?

If you'd like to do more than word of mouth marketing, money is very useful. I have no plans to turn TKP into a subscription based website, but it does take money to keep the lights on. I've said all along any cash brought in will be re-invested into the website itself, hopefully that's evident to anyone who has previously donated or bought a shirt. It was a goal to ramp up and publish more traditionally premium content, like recruiting updates, interviews, as well as X's and O's analysis, and traditional media coverage. I think our content is second-to-none, pay or otherwise, and would like to keep improving the offering.

Thank you for reading, commenting, posting, sharing, and giving. I believe 2014 is going to be the best year of coverage yet, and 2015 will be even better. That's the goal at least.