Blaugust 2022 In Review

Good Morning Friends! It is that time again, time for me to attempt to tabulate all of the blog posts from this year’s running of Blaugust and hand out awards. We had a phenomenal turnout this year with a grand total of 67 blogs participating. During this one month collectively we produced a grand total of thirteen hundred and thirty-three new blog posts. This was not our highest attended year, as we had one back in 2018 with over 90 blogs participating, but it feels like one of our busiest years. The community has felt considerably more active than it has in the past, and that might be in part due to finally adding a more “general purpose” channel to the Discord called #blaugust-banter. We are still learning and adjusting each year, and this seems to have been a positive change for group cohesiveness.

Blaugust is one of those things that has more or less developed a mind of its own over the years. Originally it was a challenge for folks to blog every single day for a month, and I embarked upon this nonsense after spending the previous year blogging every day. Of note, I made it about three and a half years of daily blogging before I finally needed to dial things back a bit. I really never expected to run Blaugust more than that first year, but collectively the community has always been there to spur me forward to organize yet another one. Over the years it has shifted more into a celebration of blogging, and a time to stoke our creative fires for the next year. There will always be folks that disappear into the woodwork after August is over, but I feel like collectively this is good for the community and keeping blogging alive.

Newbie Class of 2022

One of the things I am proudest of this year is the general outreach we have had to find new voices. Some of our lists are already seasoned bloggers, some started a brand new blog just for this event, and others just rekindled the home fires of their abandoned digital homestead. Whatever the case we had a large list of folks who were participating in Blaugust for the very first time. It has long been our tradition to celebrate our newbies with a special award, and as such here is our list of first-time Blaugustans for 2022.

Now has come the time to talk about the awards. Each year we give awards out to represent the level of posting that each blogger has completed. Since this year had a bit of a Stranger Things theme going on, and since Dungeons and Dragons played such a key role in that series, I decided to use a D20 for the background of this year’s awards. For those who might need a refresher into rules here are the guidelines.

• Bronze Award – You made at least 5 posts during the month of August 2022.
• Silver Award – You made at least 15 posts during the month of August 2022.
• Gold Award – You made at least 25 posts during the month of August 2022.
• Rainbow Diamond Award – You beat the challenge and posted 31 times or more during the month of August 2022.

Before we get into the lists however it is that time again for my yearly disclaimer. I am a human being and highly fallible. If you feel that I made a mistake in the tabulation process please let me know and I will get the lists remedied as soon as possible. Some blog layouts are easier to tabulate than others and I want to share my undying love for those of you who have a sidebar widget that counts posts by month. Again if I made a mistake in my counting, please reach out to me posthaste and I will fix it.

The Bronze Club 2022

This year we had eighteen blogs that managed the feat of posting at least five times during the month of August 2022. Often times we set ourselves to a goal but fall short, however, if you think about it this way that is an average of one post a week!

The Silver Club 2022

This year we had twelve blogs that managed the feat of posting at least fifteen times during the month of August 2022. if you spread them out across the five weeks of Blaugust, that is posting at least three times a week.

The Gold Club 2022

This year we had three blogs that managed the feat of posting at least twenty-five times during the month of August 2022. The pack thins a bit at this point because if folks are willing to post this much, they are often willing to go that extra mile does daily postings. However, on average, this is at least posting five times a week during the course of blaugust.

The Rainbow Diamond Club 2022

This year we have a very impressive twenty-seven blogs that managed the feat of posting at least thirty-one times during the month of August 2022. There are always folks who end up wildly overshooting this goal and with two blogs in the challenge, Syp managed to bring in 86 total posts between the pair of sites. All of the bloggers who make it to this level deserve our admiration, I started this nonsense and even I don’t do thirty-one posts anymore.

Honorable Mentions

While the first of the awards start with five posts during the month, it still takes a lot of effort to sign up and write even one post. As a result, we have traditionally spent some time honoring those who started down this road and joined in this nonsense we call Blaugust. This year I decided to do something a little differently and go ahead and create a themed image based on the red Blaugust 2022 logo coloration.

Final Thoughts

One of the things that I have done each year pulls together some basic statistics in an easy-to-read summary block. I would love to have some stats around Discord, but unfortunately in order to get that we would have to turn ourselves into a public community server. That feels like a double-edged sword, and I have not gone down that path yet. Regardless it definitely feels like we have had a busier community this year than we have had at any point during the Blaugust process. Without further rambling, here are some basic statistics.

• 1333 posts were made by Blaugust 2022 Participants.
• 67 blogs signed up and made at least one post during the month.
• 24 blogs participated in Blaugust for the very first time.
  • Collectively our “Newbies” made a total of 376 posts.
• 60 out of the 67 participating blogs made at least 5 posts qualifying for Bronze.
• 42 out of the 67 participating blogs made at least 15 posts qualifying for Silver.
• 30 out of the 67 participating blogs made at least 25 posts qualifying for Gold.
• 26 out of the 67 participating blogs made at least 31 posts qualifying for Rainbow Diamond.

So while it was not our biggest year, it was a significant bump up from the 45 participants in 2021. I think the piece of this year’s Blaugust that I am proudest of, is how much our community has grown in scope. Traditionally Blaugust has been an event that draws its participants from the same pool of bloggers, and while it is awesome that folks look forward to this event… every year we lose a few from the fold. Our impressive twenty-four new participants tell me that we are expanding our reach and moving out into other blogging spheres.

As always I am deeply proud of everyone who participated this year. Again I am a very fallible human being and if my counts do you reflect your counts, please let me know. I’ve updated the Blaugust Media Kit page with this year’s images, and the “Blaugchievements” are on the honor system. I hope to see you all back for Blaugust 2023 and whatever twists that might bring us. Lastly, I encourage you to keep blogging and stay active in the community during the coming year. For many of us, this is a support structure that we can rely on, and while I may not say it often… I appreciate all of you greatly.