Give Me Your Suggestions! June 19th

Posted by Andrew

I've been making a lot of progress on the new Showlist and I'm still holding by my anticipated launch time of "the end of the summer". I really want to make the El Paso Showlist stand out from all the other "showlist" websites out there, and I think it's definitely getting there.

So far all the ideas I have for the Showlist have come from...well...me. I'd really like to get some input from everyone else so I know what you would like to see. Do you have any ideas or suggestions that might make the Showlist a better place? Any features you would like to see? Let me know! Fill out the following form and press the pretty button to give me a piece of your mind:

Upgraded To A More Stable Server June 14th

Posted by Andrew

Dreamhost, the company I was hosting the Showlist with previously was great to begin with, but things got bad quickly. All the websites I manage were down a few times a week and that's completely unacceptable for any web hosting company.

So, in preparation of the new El Paso Showlist I moved to MediaTemple. Their up-time and customer service has been great so far (far exceeding that of Dreamhost) and I'm really happy with them, but they are significantly more expensive. I don't make any money from the Showlist - it's a completely non-profit thing - so depending on how much traffic comes through the 'list, I'm going to be paying between $40 and $80 a month out of my own pocket.

If you find yourself with a few extra bucks and want to help out, I'd really appreciate it. If I ever get some El Paso Showlist shwag made, I might send a free shirt to anyone who donates $10 or more. I can't promise anything yet since I don't even have any shwag yet, but when I get things rolling I'll be in touch.

And don't forget to sign up for a notification when the new El Paso Showlist launches later this summer.

We’ll be back May 12

Posted by Andrew

It’s been quite obvious that I have neglected the Showlist over the past six month. For that I appologize - it’s been a busy year for me, and I’ve had to re-arrange my priorities to compensate.

As a result, the Showlist has suffered.

I feel as if I’ve ruined a good thing. Before I took over the Showlist back in the beginning of 2006, it was the ultimate resource for music in El Paso. Immediately after I launched the new site, it got a lot of attention and I was seeing thousands of unique visits every month. The Showlist was even plugged in El Paso Inside and Out Magazine (now El Paso Magazine) back in October and it was getting attention in other local publications as well.

Now, only 6-7 months later, there are hardly any shows gracing the pages of the Showlist largely due to my neglect. I haven’t approved any shows since December because I haven’t had time to even check that email address. I keep telling myself I’ll get back to it and re-fill this website with great shows around El Paso, Las Cruces, and Juarez, but it never happens because something always comes up.

Today, I’m making a promise to change that. I’ve begun working on a new design for the Showlist (you’re looking at a “sneak-peak” of that new design right now), and I’ve started to lay the groundwork for a new, community run and moderated ‘list. All those things I promised to do last year but never did are going to be a part of the new Showlist, and I’m not re-launching until every single feature and function is working flawlessly.

Sometime this summer you’re going to be seeing a new, improved Showlist that YOU control. No more having to wait for me to approve shows - I’m a bottle-neck in the system, and my intention is to remove anything that keeps the showlist from running smoothly and consistently.