Hello everyone (yes, even you lurkers),
Just wanted to take a moment on behalf of the staff to thank all of you for a truly incredible year here at the RPF. This past Nov marked the two year point since I have had the honor and privilege of overseeing this community and I finally feel we are starting to get our feet under us and expect big things in 2012!
This year has certainly had its challenges, but overall, we have seen a more cohesive and active community than ever before!
While numbers aren't everything, here are a few numbers to give you an idea of how we have grown.
In 2008 members made 106k posts
In 2009 members made 157k posts
In 2010 members made 413k posts (can you tell we opened registration?)
In 2011 members made 570k posts
In 2010 we had 10k new user registrations.
In 2011 we had 19k new user registrations.
In 2010 we had 5.5 million visits from 2.3 million unique visitors who looked at 38.8 million pages.
In 2011 we had 10.5 million visits from 5.5 million unique visitors who looked at 57.7 million pages.
Again, numbers don't tell everything, so here are some other trends within this community that we have seen over the past year.
Rise of costuming/cosplay; while this site has always embraced costume creation, we have seen a rampant increase in costuming as cosplay is becoming more and more mainstream.
Increase in female participation; while we have always had a few females brave enough to be counted among this male-dominant hobby, with the increase in costuming, we have seen a massive increase in female participation on the site and we love it as it creates a more diverse environment that helps make us a more rounded community.
Increase in movie discussion; pulling movie reviews and discussion out of our Off-Topic forum (thanks MicDavis!) was a great move as you guys seem to LOVE to talk about movies! We have seen a massive increase in movie discussion since we made that change.
Increase in general modeling/sculpting; while the practical model industry seems to still be losing ground to CGI, we have seen a healthy increase in interest in modeling, which is pushing us to restructure a bit in 2012 regarding modeling/sculpting.
We want to thank those of you who have embraced our Premium Member service and helped support the site in that way as well as the dozens upon dozens of you who have participated in various contests or helped us behind the scenes with things like our videos on YouTube or our Facebook page. While only a few of us tend to be noticed and publicly acknowledged, there are dozens of people who support this site in one way or another to help make a better experience for our members. Without the help and support from all those behind the scenes, we wouldn't have nearly as much to offer!
Finally, we want to thank all of you who visit the site; members and non-members alike. Without you, this site would just be nothing. You are our life-blood and your projects and artwork keep us inspired to continue to serve you in even more ways!
We have so much in store for next year and we can't wait to share it with you!
Thanks again for your support, participation, encouragement and passion.
Art and the RPF Staff
Just wanted to take a moment on behalf of the staff to thank all of you for a truly incredible year here at the RPF. This past Nov marked the two year point since I have had the honor and privilege of overseeing this community and I finally feel we are starting to get our feet under us and expect big things in 2012!
This year has certainly had its challenges, but overall, we have seen a more cohesive and active community than ever before!
While numbers aren't everything, here are a few numbers to give you an idea of how we have grown.
In 2008 members made 106k posts
In 2009 members made 157k posts
In 2010 members made 413k posts (can you tell we opened registration?)
In 2011 members made 570k posts
In 2010 we had 10k new user registrations.
In 2011 we had 19k new user registrations.
In 2010 we had 5.5 million visits from 2.3 million unique visitors who looked at 38.8 million pages.
In 2011 we had 10.5 million visits from 5.5 million unique visitors who looked at 57.7 million pages.
Again, numbers don't tell everything, so here are some other trends within this community that we have seen over the past year.
Rise of costuming/cosplay; while this site has always embraced costume creation, we have seen a rampant increase in costuming as cosplay is becoming more and more mainstream.
Increase in female participation; while we have always had a few females brave enough to be counted among this male-dominant hobby, with the increase in costuming, we have seen a massive increase in female participation on the site and we love it as it creates a more diverse environment that helps make us a more rounded community.
Increase in movie discussion; pulling movie reviews and discussion out of our Off-Topic forum (thanks MicDavis!) was a great move as you guys seem to LOVE to talk about movies! We have seen a massive increase in movie discussion since we made that change.
Increase in general modeling/sculpting; while the practical model industry seems to still be losing ground to CGI, we have seen a healthy increase in interest in modeling, which is pushing us to restructure a bit in 2012 regarding modeling/sculpting.
We want to thank those of you who have embraced our Premium Member service and helped support the site in that way as well as the dozens upon dozens of you who have participated in various contests or helped us behind the scenes with things like our videos on YouTube or our Facebook page. While only a few of us tend to be noticed and publicly acknowledged, there are dozens of people who support this site in one way or another to help make a better experience for our members. Without the help and support from all those behind the scenes, we wouldn't have nearly as much to offer!
Finally, we want to thank all of you who visit the site; members and non-members alike. Without you, this site would just be nothing. You are our life-blood and your projects and artwork keep us inspired to continue to serve you in even more ways!
We have so much in store for next year and we can't wait to share it with you!
Thanks again for your support, participation, encouragement and passion.
Art and the RPF Staff
