Editor's Report
Page 2 of 2
| January & February 2001 | An event so big it took two months to cover. The first story occurred on January 3rd with the opening of the Grand Californian Hotel. The last story (aside from interviews) went up on February 16th - the ABC Soap Opera Bistro Grand Opening. The highlight was bringing our readers same-day coverage, including video, of the DCA Grand Opening ceremonies on February 8th. |
| March 2001 | Kirby Holt joined the team this month with film and video reviews - our first regular reviewer. Since that time he's done so many reviews and Toon Talk specials, it's hard to believe he's only been here a year and a half. |
| April 2001 | Probably the most controversial move we've ever made at LP - Jim Hill joins the team. He remained for about 6 months at which point we mutually agreed to part ways. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was fun while it lasted.. |
| May 2001 | Thanks to Paul Perrello we had our first interview with a member of the Disney family -Tim Disney, son of Roy E. Disney |
| June 2001 | An interview with Lee Zoppa, the new head of Disney Art Classics, as LP tries to continue to improve our collectibles coverage. |
| July 2001 | Another huge milestone - an interview with the Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Paul Pressler - his first with a Disney site. Also fun this month, Rebekah and I got to guest on a radio trivia show called Hooked on Trivia out of San Diego. Lots of LP readers called in to play. |
| August 2001 | Tokyo DisneySea previews began and Marc Borrelli brought us coverage of the new park that was second to none. |
| September 2001 | I always like to look back at life on 9/10. Our September 10th story was part 12 of Marc Borrelli's tour of Tokyo DisneySea. |
| October 2001 | In Florida for a week and a half we had four new parades and lots of other 100 Years of Magic things to cover. We managed to do it all and even lucked out catching the October 1st kick-off ceremony and getting it online on the same day (no easy task from Florida!) |
| November 2001 | DCA's first Christmas featuring extensive coverage of LuminAria. |
| December 2001 | Featuring more than 17 Disney personalities as well as our readers' Thoughts on Walt celebrated the 100th birthday of the man who really started it all. Matthew Walker also contributed with Words from Walt - a serious that explored some of Walt's famous quotes to gain more insight into the man. |
| January 2002 | From day one I always wanted to interview film historian Leonard Maltin because of extensive Disney knowledge. But being a "real celebrity" (he's a regular on Entertainment Tonite), I wasn't sure it would ever happen. This month it happened. |
| February 2002 | Another Superbowl Sunday launch, this one was LaughingPlace Radio. |
| March 2002 | Our buddies from across the ocean Lee MacDonald and Lindsay Cave brought extensive coverage of Paris' new park, Walt Disney Studios. |
| April 2002 | With no fanfare (see later in this column for a little fanfare :) The LaughingPlace Store quietly launches. |
| May 2002 | The British boys contribute something new again - coverage of the inaugural Disney Caribbean cruise - our first extensive Disney Cruse coverage. |
| June 2002 | Another first - LaughingPlace.com attends the Hollywood premiere of Lilo & Stitch including lots of red carpet video interviews.. |
| July 2002 | A reality check as to just how far we've come in 3 years - the July 17th LaughingPlace.com meet fills half the Plaza Inn birthday (which Cynthia Harriss very kindly visited) then takes up much of Fantasia Gardens. |
The 2002 LaughingPlace.com Meet (at least those that
made it over for the photo)
The LaughingPlace Store
The LaughingPlace Store started in April of this year. There was no big
announcement, just advertisements on the site and in the newsletter and a link in our
menu. In fact, the Store has not been announced in the editorial pages of our site at all.
Now it has.
LaughingPlace.com now has a store. It's called The LaughingPlace Store and is accessible at www.LaughingPlaceStore.com. The Store strives to be a one-stop-shop for Disney fans selling books by and about Disney, videos, DVDs and even LaughingPlace.com T-Shirts. The Store also has a shopping service that allows you to purchase Disneyland Resort merchandise through us for a shopping fee.
One of the common questions I get is "how can I support LaughingPlace.com". My answer has always been "support our advertisers." Now I have a second answer. The most direct way to support LaughingPlace.com is to buy from the store. The LaughingPlace Store is a part of LaughingPlace.com. They are both owned by Rebekah and myself. Proceeds from the store go to support the costs of the site and the staff (including us, of course) and to grow LaughingPlace.com. So if you're looking to buy a book, video or CD, take a look at the store. Our prices are competitive with other mainstream online shopping sites. And if there's an item you want from the Disneyland Resort, definitely take a look as well. If we don't carry it, send us an email, we can probably get it.
A Fun Ride
Every time I write one of these I mention how fun it is to run LaughingPlace.com. This
time is no different. We've had some unique trials this year but they haven't gotten in
the way. Running LaughingPlace.com is just plain fun! Starting this site was one of the
best decisions I've ever made and with any luck we'll be around for years and years to
come. I'm the type of person who gets bored with a job pretty quickly, but I've yet to
experience any burnout with LP. It's the best job I've ever had - challenging, rewarding
in so many ways, lots of different activities (writing, editing, programming, retailing),
make lots of friends and have a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy your job as much as I enjoy
mine.
I wasn't sure we'd make it this far. But here we are. Three years and counting....
Thank you for visiting LaughingPlace.com!
Discuss It
-- Story by Doobie Moseley
-- Posted August 1, 2002