Help Us Reach 1000 RSS Subscribers!

UPDATE: (Jan 24) You did it! Today we blew past the mark with 1024 subscribers. Tim is hunting for a secluded beach, and I’m setting out the shots of whiskey. Video and thank-you post to come…

UPDATE: Today (Jan 22) so close, yet so far: 985 subscribers! I can almost taste those shots of whiskey…

UPDATE: Today (Jan 17) we’ve reached our highest ever so far: 975 subscribers! Getting there!

UPDATE: Today (Jan 15) we’ve reached 949 subscribers! Keep it up!

There’s comes a time in every online publication’s life when they pause for a moment, take stock of all they’ve accomplished so far, and set the bar for future goals.

In this case, a goal for us here at BNT is reaching that ever-elusive 1000 RSS subscriber mark, a milestone that says to other readers (and to the world at large) that, “Yes! Here is a publication worth reading!”

For those not in the know, RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s that little orange square that you see on a lot of websites with a number that goes up and down. Here’s a handy explanation.

Of course, there are some people that would say 1000 readers is an arbitrary number – no different from 645 or 1078. To those people I say…well yeah. But just look at all those zeros in 1000. Admire how speaking the number rolls off your tongue and carries with it such boldness and dignity!

The last milestone occurred on Feb 27, 2007 a day before my birthday. At the hour of 7am, the RSS subscribers passed the holy mark of 100. I celebrated by taking a (now legendary) shot of vodka.

And now I call upon you, dear reader, to aid BNT in this quest to share the word about our online travel magazine. We’re asking you to help us reach our goal of 1000 subscribers by Feb 27, 2008.

If we reach 1000 RSS subscribers:

• Ian MacKenzie, Editor-in-Chief, will celebrate by swallowing 3 shots of Whiskey in quick succession.
• Tim Patterson, Co-Editor, will run naked down a Patagonian beach, flapping his arms like a condor.
• and finally, Laura Kammermeier, Advertising Manager, will do a triple front karate roll then drink a shot of carrot juice on a hilltop of her choice. (The amazing part of this feat is that Laura hasn’t done karate in 10 years and hates carrot juice).

All of this will be edited into a wonderful video clip and posted on BNT to celebrate the milestone.

Ideas to help us:

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your dog, post about us on your blog, write a song, draw a picture – essentially anyway possible that aids us in hitting (or exceeding) that number is greatly appreciated.

Link Love For Everyone!

All sharable acts of helping us out will be linked to in a celebratory blog post along with our video. So this means we’ll link to your blog post, share your picture, embed your song…you get the idea. So when you post, send us a note to let us know it’s up.

What do you say, readers? Are you with us? If you haven’t yet, grab the BNT RSS Feed here!

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.