PDF version: ABlawg 5th anniversary challenges
As noted in a previous post, February 2013 marks the fifth anniversary of the launch of ABlawg. We have already encouraged our readers to subscribe, and to get your colleagues to subscribe, which you can do here or by following us on Twitter. Help us double our readership to over 1200 subscribers!
Our new challenge is to ask readers to tell us about your favourite post(s) from the past five years, which you can do by directly commenting on that post or by posting to our comments page here. How to decide on your favourite, given that there have been nearly 600 posts to ABlawg in the past five years? Perhaps you will choose the post that has been the most useful to you, be that in advising your clients, supporting a legal argument in a paper or factum (or judgment!), or advocating for a particular outcome outside the practice / writing of law. Or maybe you will choose the most irreverent or controversial post, one that made you re-think your position on a legal or policy issue. Perhaps you are aware of the impact that ABlawg posts have had on the development of law or policy, and you will make your choice on that basis. Or maybe the post with the catchiest title, or with the most interesting links or attachments have won you over. Consider as well the series of posts we’ve written, including those on Bill 2, the Responsible Energy Development Act, and our series of posts on the most significant cases of the 2000s.
Whatever your choice, please let us know about your favourite posts, and your reasons why they are your favourites. Although we reserve the right to maintain our academic freedom, we also aim to please our readers, and would love to know what you enjoy about ABlawg. Tell us!
I find ABlawg an important and valuable means of enabling me to keeping abreast of current developments, and of reading viewpoints on these developments, which I can then assess as they relate to my legal practice. The quality of the scholarship and the timeliness of the comment are especially strong. I also especially like the use of hypertext links to related materials, and find that this illustrates the increasing maturity of digital media as a legal reference source.
Happy 5th Anniversary, ABlawg!
On doubling readership: First step would be get on twitter and post to #law #ABleg (Alberta Legislature) #CdnPoli (Canadian Poli) #YYC (Calgary) #YEG (Edmonton) #YYCCC (City of Calgary/City Council) #YEGCC (City of Edmonton/City Council).
Posts related to specific issues may also have their own hashtags. For instance, my two favourite ABlawg posts could have enjoyed increased exposure had they been posted to #UrbanAg (Urban Agriculture) #Food #Green &/or #eco. Additionally, posting to forums, facebook pages/groups (connect ABlawg fb page to twitter acct) & other relevant sites can have a dramatic impact on traffic. No guarantees, but if you don’t shoot, you don’t score and it helps to aim for the #holes.
Fave posts?
Fowl Play? A Look into Recent Canadian Reform Efforts for Backyard Chicken Legislation
https://ablawg.ca/2012/09/19/fowl-play-a-look-into-recent-canadian-reform-efforts-for-backyard-chicken-legislation/
Gardening on Vacant Land –Verdant History, Volatile Endeavor
https://ablawg.ca/2012/06/18/gardening-on-vacant-land-verdant-history-volatile-endeavor/
Transporting Liberty: A Right Not to be Deprived of Access to Public Transit?
https://ablawg.ca/2012/06/21/transporting-liberty-a-right-not-to-be-deprived-of-access-to-public-transit/
Should They Stay or Should They Go? Occupy, The City and the Charter
https://ablawg.ca/2011/11/11/should-they-stay-or-should-they-go-occupy-the-city-and-the-charter/
For many of us, it was exciting to have the great minds of ABlawg provide their unique insight and analysis to these close to home issues.
Here’s to another 5 years of creating a superior understanding of our laws for citizens.
Paul Hughes