Ten years ago today we started an experiment here. The experiment has grown and morphed, and we, its producers, with it.
There have been many things to learn along the way, and on this, the site’s 10th anniversary, I’d like to share some of the more pointed lessons that come to mind.
1) Do what you are compelled to do (not what the market compels you to do).
2) Advertising is hard. Criticize the work, not the people doing the work.
3) The audience turns over like a lake, which means you’re constantly introducing yourself.
4) Good things happen offline as a result of steady and conscientious efforts made online.
5) Online publishing is not a race, it’s a walk in the woods.
When AdPulp launched in October 2004, I was between jobs in Chicago.
I recall the day the Sun Times photographer came to our apartment in Lincoln Square and arranged me with my laptop facing his lens. So unnatural. Lewis Lazare’s article wasn’t exactly an endorsement, but I enjoyed the press attention nevertheless, and it helped AdPup.com shoot out of a rocket.
On one hand, you could say it’s been a gradual downhill slope since those heady days in the fall of 2004, when anything seemed possible on these intertubes. But I prefer rosier glasses. I hope you don’t mind.
AdPulp is a practice, and by practicing nearly every day for ten years–as you would with guitar or your golf game–you hope to see improvement in your performance. When you do, you’re happy, at least for the moment. It’s also good to see this as a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve wanted to ditch it all and focus elsewhere, many times. Yet, here we are. I keep coming back for more and hope you will do the same.
The ad business is a freak show, a haven for writers and artists and an engine for economic growth all at the same time. In other words, it’s a fun place to be, or it can be fun. Anyway, I’d like to thank you for being here now, and for being interesting people doing interesting things. This site would not exist if it were otherwise.
