Web and blog awards - what are they good for?

...absolutely nothing of course...

I'm not a great fan of awards ceremonies. In fact, I've only nominated any of our sites twice, once for the Yell national web awards (where Modculture was picked as the second-best arts and music site in the UK) and recently, when, against my better judgement, I nominated ALL the Modculture-related sites for the Manchester Blog Awards. Of course, we got shortlisted for nothing. Which pretty much sums up awards.

Yes, it's all down to a judge's personal taste. Was Modculture (pictured above) a better arts and music site than the NME or the BBC a few years back? Of course not. Likewise, does a site like Electric Roulette have some of the best blog writing in Manchester and is Retro To Go (or indeed Cinedelica) one of the best arts and culture blogs? I'd probably say yes on the evidence presented (and on numbers who read everyday).

But I'm not a judge, it's not my personal taste creating this particular hierarchy. Because in a way, you can't really judge one website or blog against another, many have their merits in wildly differing ways. I like to read Selectism and Gizmodo, but I also like to look at sites full of awkward family photos or clips of bad b-movies. What's the best of the bunch? None of them of course, they all serve a purpose in the grand scheme of things - they entertain or inform, which is pretty much all you can hope for with a website or blog.

So no Manchester Blog awards accolade for us this year (or any other year, as it's unlikely that we'll put in any nominations in future), but we wish all who did get shortlisted the best of luck on the big night, which you can find out about here. We'll be down the pub.

Electric Roulette goes pop culture

Electric Roulette is changing, still offering all the music, but this time with added pop culture.

Yes, over the next few weeks, myself and editor Mof Gimmers will be sailing the ship in a slightly different direction, still covering the best of music old and new, but throwing on some cool movie news and reviews, some interesting 'lifestyle' (for want of a better word) content, even some online finds and cool tech. Think of it as the coolest magazine you've ever bought - but for free and updated every weekday.

You'll still find it in the same place though - or just follow the link below...

Electric Roulette website

Modculture Media on Twitter

Twitter? We're all over it!

If you want to keep up with some of the sites (or me personally) via Twitter, here's the details:

David Walker - for my personal Twitter (which will no doubt include what's happening in broad terms with the sites, should anything interesting come along), you can find that at:
http://twitter.com/DaveModculture

Retro To Go - for all things and more relating to Retro To Go (which was recently picked out as one of the top 10 art and design Twitters), you can find that at:
http://twitter.com/RetroToGo

Modculture - everything relating to the Modculture site, including the latest site news items, can be found at:
http://twitter.com/Modculture

Electric Roulette - finally, for all things relating to our (soon to be relaunched) pop culture site, check out:
http://twitter.com/ElecRoulette

Introducing... Switched On Art

Yes, we have another site on the go, although we're keeping Switched On Art fairly low-key for now.

The idea of Switched On Art is to feature anything interesting art-related, new art, new prints, related merchandise, gallery showing, books - you know the kind of thing. It'll be updated as when we find items worth featuring and will be written by real people for real people. None of that art snobbery here. There will also be an emphasis on new and affordable artwork too, as opposed to the highly-priced gallery works - art we can all afford or aspire to, in other words.

Check it out via the link below and feel free to add to your feed readers (no daily email as yet for this site). And if you want to know more or want to recommend something to feature, you can email the site at info@switchedonart.com

Switched On Art website

General update - what's been going on

Just realised that this site has been criminally overlooked of late, so here's a round-up of what's going on. Just so everyone is still in the loop.

First off, we seem to have been all over the media, from the Daily Telegraph (which described Retro To Go as 'supercool') through to Arena (us commenting on 60s-built housing) and all points in-between. We're always available for a quote if you need one. One-liners are our business.

Aside from that, all ther sites have seen an upturn in traffic (the credit crunch isn't affecting web browsing), especially Switched On Set, which has quadrupled numbers in a couple of months. Some high-profile competitions have come and gone too (The Boat That Rocked right now). If you want to run a competition, get in touch.

Modculture has new writers on-board too - one on Retro To Go, one on Switched On Set and a Modculture news writer. More writers coming soon we hope - watch this space.

And we have a new site as a 'work in progress' - more on that later. I think that's it - over and out!

Modculture doesn't just do any competition...

Ok, so we could give away CDs, books or DVDs (we're offered enough of them). But we're always on the look out for something special. And once more, we've come up trumps.

After recently giving away a unique signed Paul Weller polo shirt (and £250 to spend on clothes), we've once again teamed up with Fred Perry for another exclusive prize - a signed limited edition Fred Perry Terry Hall v-neck jumper.

Just 500 made, all based on the one worn by Terry Hall in the first edition of The Face. But there's one big difference between the standard one and ours - we have the only one anywhere that's been signed by Terry Hall (the tags, not the actual jumper). A money can't buy prize you could say.

If you want to enter, you can do right here. If you want to run a competition over any of our sites (getting exposure to our many thousands of daily readers), get in touch with us.

Retro To Go featured in the Independent's Travel magazine

If we say so ourselves, Retro To Go has the best retro hotel and travel section on the web. And we're not the only ones to say it.

The Independent newspaper's Travel magazine recently ran a large feature on retro travel, citing Retro To Go as the place to look for ideas. The article itself is worth a look - and luckily it's online - follow the link below...

Independent retro travel article

Modculture gets a makeover with new design

The old design has been around for something like eight years, so it was about time for a new look for Modculture. And that new design has just started to go live.

The new graphics are the work of Swifty - best known for his work with Talkin' Loud, Blue Note, Mo Wax and the Straight No Chaser magazine (to name just a few examples). We've already started implementing them, but with so many pages, it could take a few weeks to complete.

To coincide with the new design, we'll soon be running two great competitions. Firstly, we will be giving away a Paul Weller-designed Fred Perry top signed by Weller himself - the one we featured here, which is set to go on sale in June in limited numbers. As well as the top, Fred Perry are also throwing in £250 to spend at its online shop. A separate competition will also see us giving away three of the forthcoming Jason King DVD boxsets, worth around £80 each and previewed here.

Keep your eye on the site for details of both - or check out the new look via the link below.

Modculture website

Retro To Go enters Technorati Top 10,000

It might not sound a great deal, but Retro To Go has just entered the Technorati Top 10,000 blogs.

Let's put that into perspective - there are several million blogs out there (Technorati alone monitors 112.8 million and says 175,000 re launched every day), all pushing for your time. Retro To Go is one of the top 10,000 in the world and if we're talking UK-based only, probably up there with the best of them.

Technorati's ratings are based on how much influence you carry in the 'blogosphere' - how many times you are mentioned, referred to and linked by other sites. Which means we have some serious influence - and when it comes to retro-related items, probably the most out of anyone.

So what are you waiting for? Send us your stories or products!

Retro To Go site

Switched On Set website launches

We have a problem at Retro To Go - we keep finding really cool art, design, interiors and technology, but as it's not strictly 'retro', we can't feature it. Which is why we have today launched Switched On Set.

Switched On Set will run alongside Retro To Go, offering the a wide selection of art, plus across-the-board design (everything from cars to home appliances and of course, home furniture and furnishings) and the most stylish gadgets and technology. Our first selection of articles are now online and if you want to subscribe to a daily email (like the one offered here at Retro To Go), you can do that too over at the site.

It's the last additional website we will be launching for some time and will not affect Retro To Go in any way. In fact, we expect Retro To Go to get even busier with content in the coming weeks and months.

View the latest articles from Switched On Set