June 23, 2010 My Last Day On The Job. Thank You.
Every single day for more than two years, I have logged into Music Think Tank to either post articles or to manage the site. Today is my last day as the Community Manager of Music Think Tank.
Although I will still be writing articles, the job of managing and growing the community is being passed on to Bruce Houghton and his team from Hypebot.
The goal of Music Think Tank has always been to create the tallest “stump” that site contributors can stand upon to broadcast a message. To this end, merging Music Think Tank with Hypebot will ultimately enable the height of the stump to grow to a size that is equal to, or greater than, any media outlet that targets this audience.
Over the last two years, MTT has grown to welcome over 30,000 unique visitors a month; we have over 5,000 regular subscribers (RSS and Email combined); over 1,000 of you have registered to contribute to the site; and over 5,000 comments have been posted to date. And, this was all achieved under circumstances where not a single site contributor had to invest much more than a few hours of time! It has been the network effect of all of us combined that has grown this site.
Music Think Tank has given me so many gifts that I am thankful for. First, I had to read every one of the 5,000 comments that have been posted on this site. The true value of the site can be found in the comments. To everyone that has left a comment on Music Think Tank - thank you for making me smarter. Second, Music Think Tank has given me a blueprint for utilizing a community to bypass traditional press to establish authority on the Internet. I am now helping others to replicate the Music Think Tank model to form marketing cooperatives within other industries.
What’s going to be different on Music Think Tank? Not much. Bruce Houghton has agreed to continue to operate the site under the ownership guidelines we published over a year ago. Under these guidelines, both the manager and popular contributors to MTT can acquire ownership in the site. Hypebot will be putting some advertisements on the site. Although I ran the site (and paid for all the site expenses) out of my pocket, we can’t expect anyone else to do the same. Please trust me when I say that the advertisements are not going to make anyone rich. We are all going to obtain a much larger audience, and Bruce will be able to recover the investment required to successfully operate and grow Music Think Tank.
Why am I moving on from Music Think Tank? Most importantly, the merger with Hypebot is the fastest way to grow our audience. After that, I have four beautiful kids that I want to spend more time with. I am going back into the startup world this fall. Writing plans, raising capital, and growing a business is time consuming, and I need every hour I can get to grow my next venture.
Finally, I want to thank Andrew Dubber for his private advice and support over the last two years. MTT’s initial success comes from the promotion and the author recruitment efforts that Andrew donated to the site; without his enthusiasm and collaboration, Music Think Tank would not exist today.
Thanks again for all your great articles and comments.
-Bruce
About Bruce Warila and on Twitter
Reader Comments (24)
Thanks so much for all your work, Bruce. You rock.
Bruce,
Thanks for all your hard work ! I speak for many who have read and participated in the site that we appreciate it very, very much !!
As well we look forward to the combined efforts as well.
Thanks again,
Greg
Bruce, thank you so much for allowing MTT to grow the way it has done. MTT's content is immensely inspiring, and I will happily continue to tweet and reference the highly relevant content.
Cheers!
Thanks for starting such an enthusiastic community Bruce! The ad's will help me keep on top of visiting Hypebot more often, which is not a bad thing.
good job maaaaaaan. enjoy those kids!
bestestest
martin Atkins
I've only been contributing here for a few weeks now, but have already found MTT to be one of the first places I check on a daily basis. Thank you Bruce for starting up this wonderful resource and community of progressive-thinkers. Good luck with your new venture!
Thanks for bloggin this. You deserve the credits.
Kind regards and good luck!
Koen
Bruce,
Ever since the day almost two years ago that I came across your online space while researching my own digital music project, I've considered you one of the most insightful commentators in what has since become something of a crowded space. Thanks for the time and the thought you've put into making every word count.
Best of luck with your new venture - looking forward to seeing it!
Great fucking run. This site is a real-deal accomplishment. Thank you.
Bruce, Thanks for your contribution, hard work and insightful posts over the last two year. You are greatly appreciated!
Bruce, you have provided some of the most inspiring factual, and valuable information to aspiring musicians and songwriters available on the web. Bruce Houghton does a nice job at Hypebot but it's nothing like what you did with Music Think Tank. I hope he maintains you template and understands how important you have been to the creative community. Thanks for all you have done, and good luck in whatever you do in the future.
Great job Bruce, sorry to see you go.
I'd like to add my gratitude for the amazing platform that you've cultivated here Bruce. Hypebot has some pretty big shoes to fill, but I trust that all will end well.
Best of luck in your new endeavors!
-Kevin English
same here....thanks for helping create an awesome community, Bruce.
I join the chorus thanking Bruce W. for the wonderful thing that he helped created and guided for 2 years.
And I promise you readers that we intend to change very little. We very much want to keep this the open forum for smart thought about the music industry that already exists here.
Thank-you for your ongoing support.
Best of luck in your new ventures Bruce - do stay in touch!
Rick
MusicianCoaching.com
I love this blog, and Im a big fan of Hypebot as well, hope to still get different content on both, and hope they don't change this blog too much as much as I like them both, I enjoy their diffenrences.
Bruce, I sincerely hope you understand and acknowledge within yourself the true scope of your success with Music Think Tank.
That is, how you have profoundly impacted so many thousands of lives by delivering thought provoking insight - through your own posts (consistently generating the highest level of comment, which, as you point out, provide incredible value), and a forum for other authors and commenters, where the standard for intellingent discussion is truly remarkable. As always, the speed of the leader is the speed of the pack - and here at MTT we are flyin' - so THANK YOU, BRUCE!!
Of course, I am disappointed in your departure, so PLEASE do keep posting, but I hope and will BELIEVE the doors you are opening will create ever-enriching experieces for yourself and your family, and I highly respect your commitment to fatherhood - children literally are our future, and leadership starts at home.
My favorite definition of a professional is, "someone who gives you more of what you want than you ask for or expect". In that context VERY few people qualify. You have easily proven that you do.
Dear Bruce,
thank you so much for an outstanding concept and the work you put in MTT. If you wanted to change something in musicbusiness, man, you really did!
Bruce,
You rock! Thank you for the time and vision to create something so cool. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to post, read and discuss at MTT. Best of luck!
bruce, thanks for building such a great community with a wealth of knowledge. it really has grown into it's name!
"Music Think Tank has given me a blueprint for utilizing a community to bypass traditional press to establish authority on the Internet."
i call that the beauty of crowdsourcing, and we're doing the same for the sake of bettering music discovery at http://gorankem.com :)
best of luck with the upcoming venture. hopefully a bright musicbiz mind like yours won't be veering too far from the digital music space...and hopefully we'll still receive some posts from you from time-to-time
-adam
Thank you all for the great comments.
-Bruce
Bruce,
You did it. You accomplished your goal with MTT. We're all talking about the issues that face this confounding business. And with dialog will come solutions.
Enjoy the break. Its well deserved.
-Jed
Bruce,
you are a man among men!
I thank you for your work and your dedication on this blog and I appreciate all that you have done.... You will be missed!
- Ariel