One year ago I posted a diary here at Daily Kos entitled, "Pacific NW Portal launches for progressives." The simple, straightforward diary carried the announcement that a new information gateway and media center had been launched to provide a wealth of information to local activists and bloggers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
The day we unveiled the website to the world, I had high hopes, but didn't really know what to expect. We'd spent weeks putting the site together but I wasn't sure whether people were even going to like it or find it useful.
I needn't have worried.
365 days later, Pacific Northwest Portal is still online and growing in popularity. From its first day in existence until now, web traffic has been steady and consistent at a surprisingly high level. During its first year of operation the Portal has been significantly strengthened through a series of constant upgrades.
For me, though, there's something even more important to celebrate today, beyond the existence of the site. It's the community that has been empowered by Pacific Northwest Portal.
If you've ever heard the story of how the Portal came to be (I've told it several times here on Kos) then you know that a year ago the state of politics in Washington State was pretty grim. Christine Gregoire had just been sworn in as Governor earlier in the month, but the Republicans were fighting tooth and nail to get rid of her.
A few local conservative websites were experiencing extremely high traffic in January of 2005 thanks to the gubernatorial election (most notably SoundPolitics, whose founder even appeared on the FOX News Channel). We were losing the public relations battle. The Republicans were convincing the public that Democrats had cheated in order to secure Christine Gregoire's election. (They had no evidence, but since when has that stopped them?)
In January of 2005 there really was no interlinked progressive blogosphere in Washington State. There were few connections between blogs and even fewer between bloggers. And the state was not connected with its neighbors to the south and east (Oregon and Idaho).
A gateway was needed, we decided, one that could provide easy access to aspiring progressive bloggers throughout the three NW states. Something like a virtual telephone book for the regional community.
Since the launch of Pacific Northwest Portal the progressive blogosphere's growth in this region has exploded. The Portal's Regional Blogs Directory now lists some 214 progressive blogs in four states - Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. And we're adding more soon.
To think - a year ago, the directory stood at less than 30. In one year the directory has expanded to ten times its original size. We're on track for more growth this year.
Most of the people who write the syndicated blogs on Pacific Northwest Portal have now met each other and communicate regularly. Bloggers are working together on major stories that traditional media outlets aren't covering, or won't cover. The Portal syndicates, or aggregates, the headlines of these thirty blogs:
Washington Blogs: Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog, HorsesAss, WashBlog, Evergreen Politics, Pacific Views, Washington State Political Report, Upper Left, On the Road to 2008, Orcinus, Progressive Majority Washington, CoolAqua, BlatherWatch, Hominid Views
Oregon Blogs: Blue Oregon, Preemptive Karma, Basie!, Also Also, Fire Dog Lake, My Very Brain, New Frames, Middle Earth Journal, Grumpy Forester, KazaBlog, American Street, Radical Noesis, Economist's View
Idaho Blogs: Red State Rebels, 43rd State Blues, Liberal Idaho, The Political Game
Earlier this month we put on the first Pacific NW Progressive Bloggers' Conference in Olympia, WA, which was a resounding success. About thirty five progressive bloggers showed up, most from Washington, although we did have bloggers from Oregon and Idaho representing those states in attendance.
Today Bush will deliver his State of the Union address. It seems kind of ironic that it coincides with the launch of Pacific Northwest Portal, because in this diary I'm essentially reporting on the state of the regional progressive blogosphere. What we've accomplished in these last twelve months has been fairly remarkable when I look back on it.
We've grown as a community, helped Democrats win at the ballot box, influenced traditional media, uncovered GOP dirty tricks, and worked for better public policy. (See the Neiwert Awards page to learn more about the impact we had in 2005).
The most important thing I think we've learned in the past year is to build relationships with fellow activists and bloggers in your state and region. Build local community.
We're not the only ones who are doing it, either. Other sites are springing up across the Net which focus on local politics, like the SoapBlox network. And others have organized email discussion groups, like Texas KOS.
The most important thing to do is build relationships with your geographic neighbors. Don't spend all your time on Daily Kos or other national blogs. Think local. Building relationships leads to the building of infrastructure, and the building of infrastructure will lead to a progressive America. It starts at the state and regional level.
Organize a Drinking Liberally chapter. Set up an email discussion system to talk to your fellow activists. Start your own local blog or become a contributor to another local blog. Attend your local Democratic Party meetings and tell Democrats about the online community they can tap into. There's so much to do.
As I said in my last diary here:
We have a long way to go to take our country back from the Republican Right. Every piece of media infrastructure that we create helps us as a movement (and also as a Party) in the pursuit of our goals.
Here's to another great year for Pacific Northwest Portal and the development of our regional community and others across the nation.