The SoGlos.com Blog

Sudeley Castle Ballooning Grand Prix 2008

As SoGlos.com's modest number of YouTube videos creep ever closer to having been watched two million times - and around five million times on various other video websites around the world - it's time for a fifth instalment in the form of the Sudeley Castle Ballooning Grand Prix 2008, filmed during the weekend event at the popular county attraction...

There surely couldn't be a better setting than Gloucestershire for the Ballooning Grand Prix, and here's to hoping it becomes a regular fixture on the county events calendar. In the meantime, don't miss SoGlos.com's fantastic selection of Gloucestershire attractions to keep you busy through the summer.

SoGlos.com on ITV's This Morning

While SoGlos.com has already been covered by websites, blogs, consumer magazines, trade press, national newspapers and radio stations in the UK and further afield, the SoGlos.com team couldn't have been more proud on Wednesday 4 June 2008 when 'soglos.com' could be seen splashed on TV screen across the nation - when the online magazine's Cheese Rolling 2008 video was shown to hundreds of thousands of viewers watching ITV's This Morning show.

The video was included on the show - which is one of the most popular daytime shows in the UK, no less - as part of podcaster Olly Mann's 'roundup of all the hot videos, trends and virals doing the rounds on the weird world web.' You can find out about all of the videos included in the show on the ITV website.

While presenters Phillip Schofield and Ruth Langsford certainly seemed to enjoy SoGlos.com's action-packed video, judging by the number emails and phone calls which have been flooding in ever since so did everyone else in the country. The exposure is sure to mean even more people flocking to the unbelievable event next year, as well as being great for Gloucestershire and, of course, great for bringing even more readers to Gloucestershire's leading guide to arts, entertainment and going out.

British Shin Kicking Championship 2008

While Gloucestershire has already seen it's fair share of wacky events take to the county in the last couple of weeks (okay, one, but the Cheese Rolling is surely the wackiest of them all...) - the British Shin Kicking Championship 2008, forming part of the Cotswold Olimpick Games 2008, is the latest event to draw in spectators from far and wide, including the SoGlos.com team armed with a video camera.

There's also a full review and picture gallery of the event SoGlos.com. Only time will tell whether Internet audiences from around the world become as fascinated with this annual Gloucestershire spectacular.

SoGlos.com's video goes viral. Again.

While camera crews from around the world flocked to this year's Cheese Rolling event on Cooper's Hill near Gloucester, it's SoGlos.com's web-based video of the wacky festivities that has once again captured the attention of Internet audiences  - spreading like wildfire across the globe.

Hundreds of blogs, a score of European newspaper websites and popular international websites have all chosen to feature SoGlos.com's video - in addition to appearances on websites belonging to UK publications the Daily Mirror and Nuts. But most impressive of all is the video's popularity on YouTube - having garnered a host of 'honours' this week, including being a featured video in Germany, Australia, Canada, the UK, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Spain, Mexico, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan - as well as globally.

With tens of thousands of new readers having been introduced to SoGlos.com from across Gloucestershire, the UK and the world - we're glad we braved the cold, wet and wind after all.

Cheese Rolling 2008

After last year's (now world famous) cheese rolling video, it only seemed right that we returned again this year to capture the action at Gloucestershire's wackiest event. Don't miss the Cheese Rolling 2008 review too.

Gloucestershire media sales professional opportunity

SoGlos.com is on the lookout for an experienced media sales professional to join its small but dynamic team. Click here if you're interested in joining an innovative online publication which has set the agenda for media in Gloucestershire.

Coming soon on SoGlos.com

With May just around the corner, the SoGlos.com team can't believe it was almost a year ago the online magazine for Gloucestershire first went live on the world wide web - on Thursday 24 May 2007, to be precise. Little did we know that even the most ambitious of expectations would be surpassed, with SoGlos.com becoming Gloucestershire's leading, and most popular, guide to arts and entertainment by the start of the New Year.

But, as SoGlos.com's official first birthday fast approaches - on Wednesday 16 July 2008 to be exact - excitement in the office is reaching fever pitch as testing has begun on some pioneering new developments.

We'll be updating this blog in due course but, we're sure you will agree, Gloucestershire will never be the same again...

New Gloucestershire events calendars

While readers regularly get in touch to say how much they enjoy the Gloucestershire events calendar, the SoGlos.com team has also been asked to come up with specific calendars for the six main areas of our fine county. Hey presto! Check out the new, dedicated Cheltenham events calendar, Cotswolds events calendar, Forest of Dean events calendar, Gloucester events calendar, Stroud events calendar and, last but not least, the Tewkesbury events calendar. With longer days and the weather brightening up, there's never been a better time to get out there and enjoy everything Gloucestershire has to offer...

The Everyman Theatre sponsors SoGlos.com

It is with great pleasure that we welcome The Everyman Theatre onboard as a sponsor of SoGlos.com's dedicated Gloucestershire Theatre & Comedy section, and the team here are all looking forward to working closely with the theatre over the coming months. For those not in the know; The Everyman Theatre is one of Gloucestershire's most important entertainment venues, playing host to an exciting array of performances from local and touring companies. You can read more about  The Everyman Theatre on their website.

The Everyman Theatre's sponsorship comes at a time when SoGlos.com continues to go from strength to strength as Gloucestershire's leading arts and entertainment media, having also just unveiled a plethora of behind-the-scenes changes across the online magazine. While our development team are jumping for joy, we don't want to bore you with all the technical nitty gritty but, needless to say, there's even more just around the corner...

JEEcamp, looking back.

SoGlos.com had the pleasure of attending the first-ever JEEcamp on Friday 14 March - a Journalism Enterprise and Entrepreneurship 'unconference' organised by  Paul Bradshaw (who you might remember covered SoGlos.com's launch last year) of the Online Journalism Blog.

The event saw a number of leading journalists, bloggers, commentators and innovators in attendance, discussing the challenges facing today's new media publishers, particularly in light of digital media replacing the role of conventional print publications.

Rick Waghorn's keynote speech proved particularly insightful, as the online entrepreneur discussed everything from business models and funding through to the challenges faced in his work on Myfootballwriter.com - regularly cited as one of the most  innovative regional developments in UK online journalism (and for good reason too).

Martin Stabe (who also covered SoGlos.com's launch last year) from Press Gazette offered attendees a wealth of commentary as he formed part of a panel which also included the no-holds-barred Mark Comerford and Scoopt innovator Kyle MacRae - all taking questions posed by attendees in addition to those tuning-in to the unconference over the web.

All in all the day's proceedings provided plenty of food for thought in terms of journalism past, present and future, with interactive sites such as Nigel Eccles' news-forecasting Hubdub and Tim Hood's celebrity-quizzing Yoosk garnering particular attention. The SoGlos.com team will be discussing everything in more detail over the coming weeks, particularly as plans for a number of innovative new features for the online magazine are shaped up...