Uke Hunt’s 1,000th Post

Decorations are hanging in the street, people’s faces are lit up with cheer, kids are singing merrily in the streets. All of them waiting for that special day: the 1,000th post on this blog. It’s very flattering that the whole world has been brought together by the event.

Unbelievably, those 1,000 posts have collectively been looked at 12 million times. A big thanks to everyone who has made a contribution to that 12 million. And a massive thanks to everyone who has contributed to 8,000 comments on those posts.

But enough about the past. On to the future.

Here’s some things you can expect to see in 2010:

– Focus on ukulele stuff – I’ve been following this policy for a while (with the occasional exception). There’s no point putting up chords for non-uke songs when you can easily find them on Chordie or Ultimate Guitar – particularly now that there’s so much uke stuff to cover. So I’m only doing chords for uke songs. But there’s still justification for doing tabs for guitar songs on the uke.

– New ebooks – the next two ebooks will probably be a classical ukulele tab book (I’ve got a few arrangements together for that) and a book on ukulele soloing (which will be called How to Shread the F**k out of a Ukulele unless someone can convince me otherwise).

– Fewer posts – I say it every time I do one of these things and it never happens.

And some things I’m considering and would love your feedback on:

– Site Redesign – I’ve been thinking about getting a pro to overhaul this site and, even more urgently, How to Play Ukulele. If you’ve got any suggestions on what should be done or who I might hire leave a comment.

– Private Forum/Site – Quite a few people have suggested I set up a forum. I wouldn’t want it to be a ‘the more the merrier, everyone’s welcome’ thing. Because it isn’t and they’re not. I’m lucky that most people who visit the blog regularly get what it’s about and why it is the way it is. But the bigger the site gets the more people there are who completely miss the point. And also there are a lot of people who want me to do stuff but don’t want to take 30 seconds to say thanks.

So I was thinking about a ‘members only’ section (either invited or paid) with a forum, tutorials, lessons, tabs etc.

– Road Trip – I’m more tempted to go round the UK (and further afield) visiting ukers than I used to be. There are still a few things holding me back: it’s a two person job and I have no idea who I’d do it with (plus I don’t drive); and I have no camera skills, editing skills or interpersonal skills.

– Tutorial Videos – I keep getting requests to do these from people who don’t realise how much of a total disaster they would be. I think I should stick to what I’m occasionally competent at.