Blogability

If you're reading this you are probably already aware of the MCofS Searchable Blogs page.  We launched it on Monday 28th May and achieved widespread publicity. When I got into work yesterday (June 7th) I received our Web Stats for the month of May.  The Blogs page was the 7th most visited page in May.  Not bad for a page that had no publicity and just a handful of visitors until the 28th.

The Blogs page has been there for a couple of years, but until May 28th had just been a simple list of links to mountaineering related blogs.  What has brought it to life and made it worthy of promotion is the search facility.

I've had the vision for some time of being able to go onto the Blogs page and search the blogs listed on there for the name of a mountain, a crag, a climb, a person's name or even a piece of equipment.  By incorporating Google Custom Search onto the page it is now possible to do that, and it is great to see that visitors to the MCofS website have instantly recognised the value of this facility.

To achieve 7th place in our monthly list of most visited pages, when the page was only attracting visitors for the last 3.5 days of the month, is pretty impressive.  So, thank you to all those who covered the news of the Blogs page in their publications and everyone who has visited the page.  I hope you continue to use the page and find it useful into the future.

Just in case you haven't seen it, here is a link to the news release.

And just in case you haven't visited it yet, here is a link to the Blogs page.

First Tick of the Year - March 20th

So much for the theory that says the hard winter will have hit Scotland's tick population. I found my first tick of the year on my right leg last night. I suspect I picked it up yesterday afternoon in my own garden, probably within 15 metres of the house, although it could have been on Saturday when I ran the Newtonmore 10 mile road race (in shorts) or when we went up Meall na h-Aisre in the afternoon (in gaiters). Most likely the garden I would say, in which case I picked up my first tick of 2011 on March 20th. My first tick of 2010 was on April 29th, so quite worrying that they're out so early this year compared to last.

Yesterday was mild though. Despite the breeze making it feel a bit cooler, our weather station recorded a high of 12.9C yesterday afternoon. That warm temperature was no doubt responsible for bringing the tick that attached itself to my leg out of the undergrowth.

I mention this in my blog, because ticks are probably not registering on most people's radars at this early stage in the year. Having previously suffered from Lyme Disease myself (2006) I'm keen to do my bit to communicate the message about taking precautions to avoid picking up ticks on your body and thereby reducing your chances of developing Lyme Disease.

To find out more about ticks & Lyme Disease I would recommend visiting the MCofS YouTube site to watch our 7 minute video on the subject.

Buzz

I can't begin this blog by asking whether you've seen the recently upgraded MCofS website, because the very fact that you're reading this means you are on the MCofS website and therefore must have seen it.

So, now that you are on the MCofS site and found your way to my blog, what do you think to the changes we've made to the website? If you do want to answer that, I'm happy to receive feedback (+or-) via my e-mail address: mike@mcofs.org.uk.

I just want to touch on three parts of the site that you might want to take a look at. Firstly the Members' Discounts pages. MCofS membership is a combination of supporting our good work in areas such as Access & Conservation, Safety & Training, and development of the sport; with opportunities to claim discounts that save you money every single time you flash your membership card. You don't have to try too hard to save more than your membership fee in the course of a year. Take a look at the list of businesses participating in our Discount Scheme, and keep checking back as we are constantly adding to the list.

The Blogs page is also worth a regular visit as well. We're trying to develop this into a place where visitors to the site will come to find out what other walkers, climbers and hillgoers, of all standards, are up to via their blogs. So far we have links to about 70 blogs, but in time we hope to add lots more as we become aware of other relevant bloggers that would be of interest to our visitors. If you have suggestions for other blogs that you think should be on this page, please send me a quick message to mike@mcofs.org.uk.

The third area that is worth checking out is the Follow us on YouTube link. We have 5 videos on there at present and these clips, mainly from our Safety DVDs, have achieved over 52,000 visits, with in excess of 100 new visitors every day. In time we hope to post more videos on this page, so do keep looking in there.

Hopefully the new look to the website is playing its bit in creating a buzz around the MCofS. There really is lots happening at the moment and its a great time to be an MCofS member, so if you're not already a member take a look around the site and call in at the Join Us page.

Finally, and away from the website now, I did an interview with Dave Hewitt (editor of The Angry Corrie) a few days ago. Dave is writing for The Caledonian Mercury now and he wrote an article on my juggling of two part-time jobs at the MCofS and Scottish Canoe Association. Here's Dave's article if you want to see what he had to ask and what I had to say.

Until the next time; all the best and enjoy your sport. Mike