It is a little over four years since we started the Total project with a little website called Total Hvar, and 2015 was definitely the year in which we spread our wings.
It was quite a year, and we are grateful for your support and interest in our various projects. There were growing pains certainly, and some staff illnesses meant that service on our initial sites for Hvar, Split and Inland Dalmatia was not what it might have been at times, something which will improve next year.
January saw the sun of Dalmatia exhanged for the bright lights of Munich, as we launched our latest site, Total Munich. Things are going well, and this will be a key focus of the Total Project in 2016. This year was more about getting acquainted with the culture, and learning the important stuff, such as how Michael Schumacher learned to drive in his local supermarket.
Munich was also the setting for an article I penned after a little too much Weissbier. The website that first hosted 25 Reasons Never to Visit Croatia had a million hits in 24 hours, and it was carried by every major Croatian media. So that is what it feels like to write a viral article…
If Munich was a long way from home, April brought an experience never to be repeated in my lifetime I am sure – a business class trip to Japan with Qatar Airways. Initally I thought it was strange that the screen was so far away until the chap next to me made his seat horizontal.
One of the highlights was meeting Croatia’s Minister of Justice in my business class pyjamas in Doha.
Which was just a few hours after a sushi masterclass in Tokyo after an all-night session on the karaoke.
2015 was also the year that we spread our wings nationally a little too. It was great to do some work for a client on Brac, as well as meet the Bol Tourist Board director.
And if you haven’t been to Novigrad in Istria, it is worth checking out. I am really enjoying working with the team from Aminess.
Lots happening on Hvar too of course, and it was a privilege to attend the opening of Artichoke Wine Bar in Jelsa, raising the standards in my adopted home town. Star of the show was our favourite French magician, Guy Pardillos, who had two young willing helpers.
With Munich on the go, there was an opportunity also we thought to get into the English news market in Croatia. There are surprisingly few online sites in English about Croatia, especially news related, so we thought we would start one. In order to succeed, we asked a few friends and names on the Croatian scene, and I was delighted that Ashley Colburn agreed to write for us, even if she made me pose on a 47 metre yacht holding a random baby before she agreed.
It was kind of Croatia’s national television news to allow us to announce the launch of Total Croatia News live on national television. It was the second television appearance of the day, as Total Hvar was featured in an hour-long special on Jelsa on prime time television. Check it out at the bottom of this article.
Whatever the main Total project was doing, it was more than matched by Total Hvar Juniors – plenty of medals for chess and judo. Bravo girls!
And there were book ideas for 2016… There will also be a 2016 edition of Hvar: An Insider’s Guide out for Easter on Amazon.
The year was also significant to the art of vlogging and YouTubers, and I really hope a cool YouTuber project with our favourite Frenchman gets off the ground. More soon…
After a glorious Hvar summer, time to return to Munich and start discovering the treasures of Bavaria, such as this amazing Hundertwasser brewery in Abensberg, complete with lifesize replica of Da Vinci’s The Last Supper in the basement. Amazing place!
Total Croatia News really took off, especially after we became the first Croatian site in English to get Google News accreditation. And Google love beats Facebook love every day of the week. Running the portal with our amazing team of now 28 writers has been a real education, particularly in Croatian politics – lots of very funny and clever comment on the farcical events of the last few months.
Did I mention the Google love? In the top 616 sites in Croatia already, and with incoming traffic from Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Sun, New Scientist, Die Zeit and Suddeutsche Zeitung and a host of Croatian media in the first five months, things are looking bright for 2016.
I learned that apart from the occasional viral article, people prefer to read about bad news sadly, and some quite banal stories about the price of a taxi in Zagreb, price of a coffee in Split and the removal of a Christmas decoration in Jelsa became national front page news. I must blog less about cafe life…
We are in various exciting discussions and negotiations for expanding the Total Project in 2016 of which concrete news as soon as we get it.
The Total journey has been an enormous amount of fun so far, and I am grateful to our 28 TCN contributors, as well as our other sites, but particular thanks to Danni, Vedran, Vilijam, Vivian, Zdravko, Sobodan, Ashley, Tracey and Ivana for your sterling contributions.
If I have no idea where we will be this time next year, but one thing is guaranteed. It will involve moving vegetables…
Thank for you all your support, and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Total team. 2016 is going to be awesome!
