I started the LAMB three years ago with a simple purpose: I had looked around the blogosphere and saw a void in the movie-blogging community. Sure, there were (and are) several blog directories out there, but they were (and are, for the most part) highly impersonal. They were "one size fits all" places where blogs of all types were listed, and it seemed you were left hoping that your needle was the one that was found amongst the hay. I had been blogging on my own movie blog for a little less than a year at that time and had formed several relationships with other bloggers. So I sent out an email to 30 or so of them telling them that I'd started this new directory.It was a modest start, but an enthusiastic one. People were thrilled to have their own place to mingle and discover. An IMDb linking here and a LAMMY event there led to some serious word-of-mouth spreading, and the site's membership grew rapidly. We celebrated LAMB #201 the day before the site's first birthday, and #382 before its second. This last year has seen the largest growth, with the 736th LAMB posted yesterday, which means there have been nearly as many LAMBs added in the last year as in the first two combined...and there are over 30 more in the queue as I write this.
I've been overwhelmed by this growth, in ways both exciting and challenging. The bigger the site becomes, the harder it has been to maintain that personal touch and intimate feel. I've put out the call to contributors several times over the years and have been honored to have no less than 17 others bloggers step up and host an event or - better yet - run an ongoing feature of their own. Bloggers taking some additional time out of their days or weeks to not only run their own sites but help to make this a better, more all-encompassing place. It's been an awesome sight to see.
But this day of celebration is bittersweet. As you might have noticed (or might have seen via a Facebook update some days back), my role has diminished here over the last few weeks. A few events in my personal life have triggered this - one tragic and the other on the opposite side of the emotional spectrum. I lost my mother 11 days ago, a passing that has, as you might imagine, hurt me phenomenally and made an immediate impact on my life as I struggle to assist my father in any way I can. On the bright side, my wife and I are adopting our first child, a baby girl that is due in early December.
The combination of these events has forced me to take a look at the time I'll have left in my life for blogging, and the LAMB specifically. As a result, I am stepping down as your "shepherd" and handing the reins over to Rachel Thuro of Rachel's Reel Reviews. Rachel has ran the LAMBscores feature for some time now, has been a frequent LAMBcast participant, is a longtime LAMB (#43, I believe), and more importantly is a good friend and someone I know will run the LAMB well. I don't think she has any major changes planned, but she has my full blessing to do anything that she wishes to, and my confidence that whatever she does will be in the best interest of the site.With that said, you won't be rid of me completely. I'm going to continue to run the LAMBcast, and I'm sure to be a participant in many of our features, from the aforementioned LAMBscores to the Director's Chair series and so on. I'll still be here, just in the background.
So happy birthday, LAMB! I look forward to seeing what you do in the next year.
