The blogging community is an unquantifiable source of reading material with all manner of contributors; some transient, some content to stay in their corner and some you couldn't shut up if you tried. The Blog Banters are by no means an accurate measure of the community, but the concept is a sort of round table at which every EVE blogger has a seat whether or not they choose to sit in it. It has become an old tradition which makes no more or less sense than many such habits. But it's nice all the same.
One thing the Banters certainly do well is unite this otherwise disparate group of scribes. It gives them cause to notice each other and to opine and comment. Researching for my Banter Management article in the latest issue of EON (which you really should buy - then you can also read my comical attempt to step into Kirith Kodachi's Test Flight shoes), I looked into some statistics and history of the Banters, but for reasons of space not all of it was included in EON, so I am free to share it here.
We Few, We Happy Few, We..Oh, Maybe Not
The Blog Banters have been running since 2008 and until 2011 were administrated by Crazy Kinux. After a brief Banter-free spell, I picked up his discarded baton in Summer of 2011. Since then, I have overseen 14 Banters on an approximately monthly basis, bringing the total up to 40. It's been a thought-provoking and entertaining ride so far.
During my tenure, 123(!) bloggers have taken part in those 14 banters, with Blog Banter 39: Home breaking the record with 46 participants. That's a whole lot of column inches.
It has been interesting to note which bloggers take part in which discussions. Blog Banters attempt to embrace all manner of topics, so it's unsurprising that the faces and names often change from month to month. This means that the format stays fresh and engaging for those who read everything.
But it's also nice to see the regular mainstays of the Banter community and it's to those I want to extend a special thanks for supporting the Blog Banters.
I even went to the trouble of doing some sums (which I'm bound to have cocked up), but here is a list of the guys and gals who help to keep this bipolar, irascible yet endearing community bumping along.
Top Participants in the 14 Freebooted-hosted Banters (so far!)
Whilst I was tempted to list all of the participants, the full list of 123 bloggers would be a tad too long and the linkage would hurt my brain. Nonetheless, thanks all for taking part and I hope to see names new and old on future lists.
Honourable mentions are certainly also deserved to those most noble of individuals who have come to my assistance with the summaries for the more recent banters. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of TurAmarth ElRandir, EVE Scientist (twice!), Firstly and Nikolaj Vincent.
Thanks again folks, enjoy your imaginary Knighthoods. I'll find some poncy royal to cuff you round the head with a bit of ornate metal as soon as Liz calls me back. She must be out walking the corgis.
Now quickly, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
The Blogassic Period
Having dug back into the mists of antiquity and exhumed forgotten lists of yore, what follows is an archive of every Blog Banter since the dawn of the Crazy Kinux era.
Kirith, Roc & Mandrill come to terms with shared incontinence pants.
Something I found of interest - blowing the dust off the very first Blog Banter, entitled "Exotic dancers, Corporate Meetings & more" - of the 20 original participants, only three remain active in the blogging community. So if those listed previously were the Knights of the Banter, then surely these venerated and hardy individuals are the Lords of the Blog.
Those lauded three are Kirith Kodachi, Roc Wieler and Keith "Mandrill" Neilson. Ancient blogging titans still going strong despite increasing incontinence and a need for walking aids, I salute you.
