Via zzzlll.

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But don’t worry, I’m all about rest and relaxation, so I’ll make sure to do plenty of trekking around this fine continent:

I’m going to be spending time in Sydney, possibly Melbourne, and will be spending a relaxing 4 days up at Byron Bay:

I am, however, open to suggestions for things to do, things to see and foods to eat.  Are there any So Good readers living in Sydney who want to buy this wacky American a beer? Anyone live up near Brisbane, Byron Bay or other areas of Australia? Any readers who have traveled down under before? (Update: I’ll also be in and around Auckland for 5 days so suggestions there are also welcome) If so, let me know your suggestions for things I must see, must do or must eat!

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1. The Papa Johns/Lebron James “Crybaby” Story

Regular readers of So Good know that this story helped put So Good on the map.  After attending a Wizards-Cavs playoff game, I broke the story about a handful of t-shirts being passed around at the game calling Lebron James a “Crybaby” – that also happened to be emblazoned with the Papa Johns logo.

The story quickly spread from So Good to major sports blogs and the Cleveland media. Realizing I had created a firestorm and broken what was turning out to be a national news story, I stayed at my computer most of the weekend providing round the clock coverage.  The Cleveland Plain Dealer interviewed me, as well as WJW Fox 8.  At this point the story had hit CNN, ESPN, ABC and Papa Johns was forced to issue a formal apology to Lebron James and the city of Cleveland.

I stayed on the story, reporting a few days later on the chaos and controversy surrounding the $.23 pizza giveaway that Papa Johns offered to residents of Cleveland as part of their apology.  A week or two later I was asked to publish an op-ed for iMedia in which I dissected the controversy and explained why Papa Johns did an admirable job in tackling a tough situation. Check out the interview I did about the story:

2. Rants

I didn’t write rants very often in 2008, but when I did, the posts led to heated discussion both on So Good and by other writers across the blogosphere.  From my rants for 2008, three in particular got by far the most traffic and attention:

No I Do Not Want to Order Pepperoni Pizza – Do I Look Like I’m 12 Years Old?

Wherein I take on the once sacred cow of pepperoni pizza by informing everyone that no, it   isn’t that good, and no, it doesn’t deserve to be considered a default ordering option along with cheese.

It’s Time to Shut Up About Cupcakes

I alert the American public that this cupcake nonsense has gone too far.

New Rule: Until I Have Actually Been to One, Sonic Must Stop Advertising on National TV

Seriously Sonic, you’re killing me.

3. 12 Meals or Bust

In mid-February, Ryan Giesel was just a college kid. A college kid with a Facebook group titled “If 100,000 People Join My Facebook Group, I’ll Eat Every McDonalds Value Meal, #1 – #12.” The Facebook group was nowhere near 100,000 people. That’s when So Good decided to break the story in order to let the world know about this American hero.  What followed was a firestorm of interest, as radio and TV stations across the world reported on the story.

The story doesn’t end there my friends. Oh no, we needed to get the payoff. After the Facebook group hit 100,000 members, true to his word, Ryan headed to a nearby McDonald’s to attempt this great feat.  My post summarizing his attempt to eat all 12 value meals has been one of the most popular posts in So Good history – even Sports Illustrated couldn’t help but be intrigued enough to report on it.

4. Kraft Bagel-Fuls

When I heard that Kraft was planning on making a bagel pre-filled with cream cheese, I jumped on the story and bashed the seemingly insatiable desire of food companies to create products of convenience that no one seemed to be asking for.

But then the story got more intriguing. I quickly identified a pre-filled bagel product that was already on the market, that sounded suspiciously similar to what Kraft was proposing. This is when my inner Sherlock Holmes sprung into action.  My investigation uncovered the fact that someone already held a patent for a cream cheese filled bagel, along with the boiling, steaming and forming process needed to create it.

Shortly after, Kraft contacted me and explained they had bought out a smaller company already making the product. Kraft also sent me a sneak peak of the Bagel-fuls packaging.  Finally, several weeks before they hit the market, Kraft sent me two boxes of Bagel-fuls to review.

5. Orange Underground

In late January, I profiled the bizarre new Orange Underground commercials and website that had been launched by Cheetos.

A mere three weeks later I was ready to declare the campaign a total and complete failure due to the fact that basically no one at all was talking about it.  PC World agreed. In an article titled “Lame and Lamer: 10 Dumbest Viral Marketing Campaigns” they cited Orange Underground as the #8 dumbest viral marketing campaign, quoting my analysis as evidence of why it sucked.

It’s been a fun year, thanks everyone for reading.

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Love, Eick.

Update: Damn. Cake Wrecks is crushing it. I think I may have to pre-emptively concede the victory to them. It was an honor to be nominated though, maybe I can take third place!

And if you looooove seeing So Good in contention for Best Food Blog awards as much as I do, I would be honored if you were to consider nominating me for the 2009 Bloggies, which are taking nominations for the next 5 days.

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So Good started in August, 2007, with little more than a couple hundred readers – friends, family and co-workers.  Thanks to the loyalty of So Good’s original readers, people spreading the word about the blog and an abundance of new readers, the site continues to grow.  In November, So Good had 96,000 Unique Visitors, breaking our previous record of 76,000 Unique Visitors set in July. Wow.

I started So Good at the urging of friends, imagining it as a place where I could post my Would You Rathers, Rants and other musings on the world of food.   The decision to run So Good as an active, regularly updated blog has been tiresome at times, but also incredibly fun and immensely gratifying.  Who would have guessed a year ago that So Good would end up receiving extensive media coverage and be capable of breaking a national news story?

The success of So Good in 2008 has given me even more to be thankful for this year than normal, and I owe it all to you, the readers. So thank you, every single one of you.

I have only two things to ask of my readers as we head into the holidays.  First, if you haven’t done so already, please register and vote for So Good as the top food blog in the Bloggers Choice Awards. I’d love the opportunity to expose even more people to the site.  Second, keep reading! And keep spreading the word about So Good! I am so flattered that people enjoy my stories and my writing.  I hope to continue entertaining as many of you as possible into 2009 and beyond.

Thanks,

Eick

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Wow. Every single one of the top 10 searches bringing people to my blog were related to McCain’s favorite foods or Obama’s favorite foods.  This is just the top 10. I’d say there were another 15-20 variations of this search term in the rest of the top 50 searches leading people to So Good over the weekend.

These types of searches were bringing me a little bit of traffic over the summer and in September, but it really kicked up in October.  Check out the top 10 searches that lead people to So Good during the month of October:

Once again, dominated by searches related to the election. 5 of the 10 are looking for info on Obama and McCain’s favorite foods, and a 6th is looking for info regarding Sarah Palin and her love of moose.

Interesting.

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I would really appreciate it if all my readers could take a couple minutes to vote for So Good in both of those categories. If you don’t have a Blogger’s Choice Awards account, it only takes a minute to register, and I would be most grateful if you could do so.

Click either/both of the badges below to vote for So Good in each of the two categories.

Thanks everyone!

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Or something. I dunno. I was on vacation all last week, and Friday, which would have been the one-year anniversary, I was on the beach. I was drunk, on the beach, laying in the sun, and was doing my damndest to not think of anything computer related. Whoops. My bad.

So kind of sad huh? No post to celebrate one year of blogging. But seriously, thank you to all my readers, I have so much fun writing stuff for So Good. The reason I keep going is the feedback I get from my readers, its so flattering to hear from people who like my writing. In the next day or two I’ll write something up looking back at all we’ve accomplished together with So Good. Promise.

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1. Lemmonex. Washington, DC. I met this smart, funny, sexy and extremely readable blogger at a DC blogger potluck a few months ago. The writer of the blog Culinary Couture, she is going to branch out a little bit and do a weekly column for So Good. Each Wednesday, she will publish a post called “I Try It So You Don’t Have To.” The idea behind this is just what you’re thinking. She will sample ridiculous, disgusting, intriguing and random food products that you were always afraid to try yourself, and then give you the lowdown.

2. Chew on That. Chicago, Il. Chew on That Blog is a great site that I discovered shortly after I started blogging. I found myself frequently swapping e-mails or links with one of the site’s writers, Hillary. The site is a couple of food enthusiasts that love to explore, experiment, and educate their readers about everything and anything food-related. Most of all, they love to share recipes and cooking tips which is what they’ll be doing here at So Good. Chew on That will be starting a new weekly column as well, publishing a “Recipe of the Week” each Friday.

3. JT. Austin, TX. This scoundrel is a former co-worker of mine who refuses to write a blog of his own, thus I have nothing to hyperlink his name to. A triathlon runner with a voracious appetite, JT has been known to throw down two sandwiches for lunch on a daily basis. His attention to detail in sandwich construction is almost on par with my own. He will be a general contributor to So Good, writing about whatever he fancies. JT will be blogging under the screen name…wait for it….wait for it…..JT.

4. Emily Ray Baraf. New York, NY. Emily Ray Baraf is my diamond in the rough: a yet-to-be-discovered comedic, writing and acting talent who will no doubt make a name for herself while writing for So Good. Shortly there after, I expect her to move on to world domination. Emily is an actress/comedienne/media freelancer living, working and playing in NYC. She will also be a general contributor and will blog under the name Baraf.

5. Spicy Food Guy. Pittsburgh, PA. A riddle wrapped in an enigma, this elusive blogger specializes in referring to himself in the third person and, you guessed it, spicy food. As a lover of all things spicy, I just couldn’t say no to his offer to contribute to So Good. Especially after he called my blog “First Class.” Flattery will get you everywhere in life my friends. Spicy Food Guy will be contributing posts about spicy food about once a month.

Please join me in welcoming your new So Good contributors. Over the next couple weeks you will begin seeing the first posts from each of these contributors pop-up on the site. Be a pal, leave a comment and wish them well!

Editors warning: Don’t EVER do a Google image search for the word “Newbies” while at work unless you have Safe Search on. For some reason, that word seems to be associated with some pretty explicit forms of pornography.

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Needless to say, I most certainly will not be able to have everyone who expressed interest in doing so write for So Good – not even close in fact. The vast majority of you who expressed interest in contributing will not be able to do so – for that I apologize.  However,  I’m also delighted to see that so many of my readers would also like to be apart of So Good’s growth.

If you are still interested in contributing but haven’t contacted me yet, please do so at sogoodblog AT gmail dot com.  I will decide by the end of the week who will become So Good’s future contributors, and I will let everyone who e-mailed me know of my decision.  I will also make announcements on the blog in the near future, as a I begin setting the schedule  etc. moving forward.

Thanks everyone,

Jon

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I love that people enjoy reading the blog so much, and your e-mails and notes of thanks are wonderful to receive. Unfortunately, as readership has soared, the time I’ve had to devote to the site has not. I would love to continue the site as it has been, but it’s been a strain to post frequently in the past few weeks. Readership is growing because people are recommending So Good to their friends, and as the readership grows, I’d like to offer even more content to my current and future readers. Therefore it is with some reluctance that I am putting out the call to So Good readers to become contributors.

I don’t have a specific plan in mind, and I will probably be somewhat selective about who is able to contribute…I’m only going to bring on other contributors if it feels like a perfect fit. Perhaps you are a blogger yourself who would like to get more exposure by cross-posting some of your best items on So Good while continuing your own blog? Maybe you just love to write and would enjoy submitting the occasional guest post? If you are interested in contributing you could also have a particular focus – just food reviews, just posting videos, just analyzing marketing campaigns (although I will still continue to do a lot of that).

I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for yet, but I know that I want to deliver as much content to my readers as possible. If you think you might be interested in contributing to So Good, cross posting some of your stuff from your blog here etc. etc. Then send me an e-mail: sogoodblog AT gmail dot com and suggest what you might be interested in doing. After looking over everyone’s e-mails, I’ll decide what I’m going to do in a week or so.

Thanks again to all my readers who have helped So Good grow so quickly.

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