Last of 2008 - The Story of www.thisisUll.com (1/3) By Cilla Wykes, Editor

(1/3), (2/3), (3/3).

2008 Homepages Photograph Gallery   Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5,   Gallery 6,   Gallery 7,   Gallery 8,   Gallery 9,   Gallery 10,   Gallery 11,   Gallery 12.

Well it's that time of year again; time to look back, forward and then try to get the present into focus. Instead of writing a review of 2008, I'm publishing my personal history of thisisUll.com, telling my story of the 5 years we've been here ...

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Throughout my life the kitchen table has been a place of immense significance. The hub of what's going on in everybody's life. It's where problems are pondered and decisions are made. Serious conversations and dirty jokes. Party cakes in the afternoon and empty red wine bottles late at night. Five years ago in May 2003 a discussion round the kitchen table changed my life. Four or five of us were having coffee while the kids were otherwise engaged. Hull was in the news - again.

The worst place to live, have children, buy a house. We were enraged. Why was it OK to slag off our city? Weren't there even one or two good things going on? Although I came from Hull, I'd lived all over the place - and I'd made a deliberate choice to move back to Hull have my children. Even the local paper seemed to show contempt, doing little to promote the city in a positive way. It ran a website - thisishull.co.uk - and we laughingly imagined creating an alternative. Somebody suggested thisisUll - after all, that's 'ow it's pronounced round 'ere!

Each of us took on a task - to write a story, a food review, take some photographs. Mo, with his experience in software development and knowledge of website construction would be the webmaster. I took on the job of editor and general dogsbody. It was a busy summer. Mo bought a camera and we started to take an interest in anything and everything that was going on around the city.

With my four children in tow, we'd traipse around events, introducing ourselves to anyone who'd listen, and trying to persuade some of them actually to write something. If not, it was up to us to write the words to go with the photos. It was important to get a decent amount of content ready before we launched, so every waking moment was taken up with collecting it.

We launched on 1 August 03. Word of mouth spread the news and soon we were being approached by people who wanted to promote their events, local bands needing exposure with no finance to help, poets and writers who wanted desperately to see their work published in some form - rather than lining their dressing-table drawers. That's where my passion began - the writers. I couldn't believe how many of them there were - and how much they had to offer - it was astounding. Hull had fantastic creative talent waiting to be seen and heard.

Continued .... Next Page (2/3)

2008 Homepages Photograph Gallery   Gallery 1,   Gallery 2,   Gallery 3,   Gallery 4,   Gallery 5,   Gallery 6,   Gallery 7,   Gallery 8,   Gallery 9,   Gallery 10,   Gallery 11,   Gallery 12.

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