Perfect Duluth Day Corporate Report

Thanks to everyone for filling out the recent PDD Survey. I didn’t expect to get so many responses or so many great ideas. Anyway, here are some thoughts about some of the more prevalent/ recurrent ideas that you guys brought up.

PDD Bios

There were two camps here, and I’m pretty sure I understand both of them. Most people like the bios a lot, and so do I. I would like to somehow rotate bloggers into the front page, or maybe highlight bios that have recently been updated, but this involves thinking in a way that literally hurts my head (if you think you can help here, please do). Still, it will probably happen sooner or later.

On the other hand, some people didn’t get the bios. They said that the bios seem “self-serving.” To this I say, “Um, yeah. Duh.”

Ok, listen: Different people use PDD in different ways. Some mainly use it as a way to find out about local happenings. Some use it to discuss things with other semi-anonymous online people. But others see it as more of a community, and maybe they want to connect with people in that community. Hence, PDD Bios.

It’s a little bit too “self-serving” to post an introduction on the main page. But also, for a lot of people, it’s somehow weird to just jump in without introduction. Also, when you read someone’s opinions on a consistent basis, you begin to wonder about that person. You want to know more about them, maybe even see a picture of them, or maybe (gasp) meet them in real life. I for one have made a lot of real-life friends because of PDD.

So this is the purpose of PDD Bios. It is for those of us who are interested in the personal lives of the other PDD members. The great thing is, if you see PDD as something completely unrelated to the people who use it, well, the Bio section is off in its own corner. You don’t have to visit it if you don’t need to.

A Place to Post Shows

We tried having a PDD-exclusive place to post shows awhile back. It was called Cruise Director Julie, and it was a sweet idea. The problem is, posting regularly about shows is really hard. Most bands, for example, don’t even send out e-mails about shows. If they do, you have to re-write their e-mail so that it fits the format. Also, some people send out three-page press releases, which have to be condensed, while others just say, “My band’s playing Luce this weekend.” (What day? How much? Who’s your band anyway?)

The obvious solution was to open the Cruise Director page to the public, so that anyone could sign up to create posts about their own shows and/or other shows. Unfortunately, about five people joined, and of those five, I think two posted.

It was suggested that we could create an automatic system that would draw from many other online sources and consolidate them all into one place. That could easily be done, if there were any online sources to consolidate. We are not a wired town. Of the insufficient handful of local calendars available on the web, none of them make use of RSS feeds, therefore, this is impossible even on a mediocre scale.

The best possible option by far is the Transistor. Though the calendar hasn’t been updated in awhile, we strongly support the Transistor and everything it stands for. Currently, the people involved with the Transistor are the people who make shit happen. If you begin to make shit happen, we will link to you as well.

If anyone is extremely ambitious and wants to make the best online entertainment center in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, we can certainly talk about providing all the web-related geekiness you might need. But I guarantee you that you don’t know what you’re getting into. And we’re not going to start a new feature of this sort unless it promises to really fly.

Streaming Music

This is perhaps a feature that could possibly be added in the future after more pertinent concerns are dealt with. Don’t worry, though. I would never embed music into the site so that as soon as it opens you’re assaulted with a MIDI version of Bone Appetit’s “Drive Away.” No, really, I wouldn’t.

Spell Checker

When I first read this request, I immediately thought that it was not only a good idea, but easily accomplished. Then I looked into it and found that installing a spell checker plugin on Movable Type is really, really difficult. Seriously. It’s possible, but it involves editing Perl code (which I don’t readily understand), and it involves installing several pieces of code on the server without instructions as to where to go or how to tweak it. To make an analogy, it’s like making Baked Alaska without a recipe. Perhaps, given enough time, I could do it, but I’m really reluctant to try because I think the end result isn’t very good anyway. To spell check, you wouldn’t just click a spell-check button; you’d have to go through about three or four steps. And as we know, if anything on the web involves more than one step, most people don’t bother. Hell, most people don’t bother to even scroll down. So until someone invents an easier plugin, it probably won’t happen.

In the future, I may post about “alternative” methods of spell-checking your posts, some of which you might not have considered.

Sites of the Week/Topic of the Week/Blogger of the Week/Local Band of the Week

These are all great ideas, and if anyone would like to commandeer any of them, you are more than welcome to do so. If you’d like any technical help, I’m always here and more than willing to lend a hand. But please remember that PDD is meant to be a site created primarily by the community; ideally it’s about lots of people creating lots of stuff. Which brings us to the next request…

MORE POSTS FROM MORE BLOGGERS

This was easily the #1 request. Easily. What do PDD’ers want? They want to hear from a wider variety of people about a wider variety of topics. They want to hear from YOU. So post. Don’t be afraid. Do it now.

And finally, *Links*

Ever since PDD switched to Movable Type, the absence of links has left a huge hole in the site. (Un)Fortunately, I have grand plans for this new feature, which will be emerging, um, soon.

And once again, here is where you come in. We are looking for someone to act as Link Administrator. If you’ve read this far into this gigantic post, you probably have the right personality to be the new LN. You will need to be obsessive-compulsive, meticulous, extremely unbiased, and above all else, tenacious. Because if the vision in my brain comes to fruition, this section will be the best place online to find out everything you need to know about the Twin Ports. Hands down.

If have more ideas, if you have any questions, or if you’d like to get involved with PDD on a more intricate level (people with great ambition and/or great skillz are highly encouraged), I welcome any and all e-mails: [email protected].

Thank you again for putting up with this vision.

Barrett Chase
East Hillside, Duluth, Minnesota
February 4, 2006