Blog Reviews by Bloggeries

It is always fun to have a look at what other towns are doing and how their cultures are as unique as the individuals that contain them. The blog located at  is worthy of a look for just this purpose. This blog is called Exit 153 Holdingford Today and is written by one of the town’s councilmen Mike Odden. The blog posts updates and activities, news, events, and happenings in and around the town of Holdingford, MN. A look at any of the recent bloggeries will give you a good feel for the little Holdingford, with the most recent post a greeting from the New Emergency Siren in town. The blogger has attached a sound clip that most resembles this siren, and it adds a unique effect to the blog. Other bloggeries you will find interesting are The New Water Fountain, Holdingford Express Region 8C Champion, New Skateboarding Park, Lioness New Park Project, and the Francis Schroden in the National Leadership Conference of Business Professionals of America.

The blog is very easy to navigate and opens up to an unconventional white text on black background which really makes the pictures it offers stand out to the readers. Posts are left marginalized with a right navigation bar. In the right navigation bar you will find the Profile page, archives menu with recent posts available by links, blogroll, AdSense, and a categories menu. If there is something specific you are looking for in regards to Holdingford, you may find it in any of the comprehensive categories offered here: Business, City Project, Education, Event, Fireman, HIP, History, Petals to Pedals Garden Club, and so much more. You will also find that each bloggerie contains relevant pictures attached that add dimension to the blog as well as to the town it features.

I will give this blog a 2.5/5 overall and think with a few tweaks it could really make a presence for its town. The blog does well with appearance and uniqueness scores even given its choice of backgrounds. Sometimes the black background does not work in blogs but here I think it allows for the pictures to stand out and give meaning to the blog. I think if the blogger added the siren to the header, or somewhere as a main facet of the blog instead of simply in one post that it would be a unique addition to the blog. This is just a fun suggestion to add some depth to the blog, and the lack of the siren’s placement on a main section of the blog does not hinder the overall mark in any way. I think this blog loses most of its marks through content, and only because the blog only covers about 1/3 of each month at this point. I think the blogger could add a fun weekly headline, or perhaps a funny citizen story weekly, or even engage the town to submit their own headlines to add content to this blog. For appearance I would also suggest the blogger move the AdSense at the top of the right navigation bar to further down so that the blog ‘meat’ is the first thing the reader views as opposed to advertising. I do like however how effectively the AdSense has been formatted to blend with the background. Overall, I found this to be an interesting read, and I think if promoted well within the town, the blog could sustain a fun and engaged readership.

-Chrissie

 If you are looking for a one-stop shop for all of your travel needs, then you should check out the Group Travel Blog.  This blog will connect you directly with group friendly travel companies and provides information about singles group travel, travel tour groups, corporate travel planning, tourism destination marketing, travel planning business, small group adventure travel and so much more. If you think travel might be on your horizon this year, check out any of their recent bloggeries to see if this blog piques your interest: Festival of the West Welcomes Tour Groups, 2008 Carnival Parade – A New Concept for Quebec, Philadelphia Announces Strong Summer Results, Northstar – At Tahoe Resort: New and Noteworthy for 07/08, Peru tourism regains footing after earthquake hits Ica, Redwood Parks Lodge Co. Launches Adventure Tours, Dot Travel or Don’t Dot Travel? The Debate over .travel domain, Group travel to Cleveland – Don’t Miss the Arts and Culture Scene, and Holland America Line Adds Group Cruise Booking Tool.

Navigation on this blog is very straightforward and you will find your way moving through it with ease. Posts are left marginalized with a very standard black text on white background. The blog has an airplane logo as its header and the remainder of the blog is set in primary color accents. One thing I noticed right off the bat with this blog is the well blended AdSense, you barely notice it is there and the ads look like part of the blog, well done! In the right navigation bar you will find subscription information, ads, members login, archive section that you can view by date or by category with links provided, a blog calendar, and a hit counter with over 700 K hits. The right system also includes a handy categories menu with clever icons to represent each category: Cruise Veiws, How do I?, Industry News, International dateline, Just Back From, Marchey Marketing Minute, My Turn, US Bulletin, Link Partners, and What’s Your Niche. What I don’t see in the blog is an about page which might give the blog a little more personal voice and less of a business one, however I don’t think it’s hurting the blog by not having one. I do think a Recent Posts menu would be helpful to the readers in terms of navigation however.

Overall I will give this blog a 3.4/5. The blog scores well on most accounts with activity probably and visual stimulus needing the most attention. Posts are currently fairly regular but at times sporadic. The content itself is interesting and informative, easy to read and user friendly. I also think the simplicity of the blog design works in its favor and gives the blog an overall sense of professionalism which is what I think the bloggers are going for. Navigation is extremely easy in this blog as well, and for those that are seeking travel information through a blog, this blog offers an excellent place to do so.

-Chrissie

If you are in the Pasadena area and looking for some tips or reviews on local attractions, then you may want to have a look at the City of Pasadena Guide and Travel Blog. The blog is written by David G. Hollstrom Sr. and he offers an inside look at the City of Pasadena as well as some guides and directories for the city. You will find here a wealth of reviews and sources of information on anything there is to know about Pasadena. Have a look at any of his recent bloggeries to see what he wants you to know about Pasadena: The Melting Pot – Pasadena, The Union Cattle Co. – Pasadena, Check Out Colonial Kitchen in San Marino, Check out Tops – Colorado Blbd. – Pasadena, Islands – Pasadena – Foothill Blvd., Houstons – Pasaden, Amy’s Burgers – Pasadena, McMurphy’s Tavern – Pasadena, Lucky Baldwin’s – Pasadena, and Radhika’s Restaurant – Pasadena.

This blog could not be easier to navigate which will make any visitor of Pasadena who stumbles across it very grateful. Bloggeries are left marginalized with standard black text on white background, and headlines and links are highlighted with a nice blue color that accents the blog well. There is a right navigation system that contains a host of information for the prospective Pasadena visitor. This includes a search bar, links list, archives, most recent comments, and a categories menu. The categories menu is extremely comprehensive listing Dining, Entertainment, Events, and numerous other categories. The Dining category is further divided by food types and styles making the visitors blog very easy to navigate. The blog also has a healthy readership as is evidenced by its recent comments menu. I did not see any pictures with the bloggeries, so that would be my first suggestion. This would make the reviews and information that much more appealing to the reader and give a true feel for the specific place the author is blogging about.

I will go with a 3/5 for this one, but mainly because I am seeing some issues with activity. The most recent post was entered on June 22 so more frequent posting would definitely serve the growth of this blog. I also think the comments sections proves the readership would support more frequent posting. Overall the appearance scores are good, the look of the blog is very clean and aesthetically appealing but would definitely benefit from some pictures. The content is excellently written with reviews coming from a personal voice that gives the experience credibility. They are also concise enough down to the ripeness of a strawberry which gives the reader a true essence of the experience. I also might suggest the author monetize this blog a little once the posting becomes more active. Again, the readership is healthy enough to support this and I think with these few changes this could very well be a successful blog and a spectacular resource for visitors to Pasadena.

- Chrissie