2009 was a watershed year for TheEnergyCollective, in which we broke from our small-but-lively-with-great-contributors status to something, well, more substantive, more newsworthy and definitely more popular.  The year saw our number of annual visitors climb from under 30,000 to over 250,000, and we delivered over 4M page views.  We secured significant funding for the site from one of the world’s leading energy companies, Siemens.  We were recognized by a U.S. Senator, a global communications firm for our COP15 coverage, and on many occasions The Wall Street Journal for our posts and comments.  We more than doubled our blog roll, recruiting some very smart people like Todd Woody, Robert Stavins, David Levy, Rod Adams, and the NRDC bloggers among many others.  We created a board of blogger advisors who generously gives us exclusive content and enlightened direction.  But more than the numbers and recognition, we proved a number of important concepts:
  • We could gather in one site the best bloggers about energy and find ways for them to talk to each other.
  • More than “green,” clean or any other squishy brand, we reaffirmed that the most compelling single issue for our survival as a planet is the intelligent way that we deal with resource allocation.
  • We could provide value for our sponsor beyond the same old goals of “brand awareness” — and find directly measurable ways in which they could build their contact base and associate their company with leading thinking and thinkers.
  • We could create a global conversation in real-time, with our online conversations about U.S. climate legislation, smart grid allocations and COP15 enabled as they were happening in the non-virtual world.
  • Perhaps most significantly, we’re still one of the only blog sites at which nuclear and renewable advocates coexist in a state of mutual respect, and whatever your feelings about the pros and cons of nuclear, we continue to believe that nuclear power deserves a seat at any table where energy and climate mitigation are being discussed.
We’re proud of what we’re continuing to accomplish, and look to the coming year to attract more bloggers, commenters and other smart people.  Further, we're selfish enough to want to involve even more of your time, attention and commitment to finding the best solutions to our planet’s enormous challenges.