Happy 3rd Anniversary, iList Paducah!

This marks our third and extremely fun year here at iList Paducah — a funky little website filled with Paducah, Ky.‘s hottest people, places and, of course, events.

When we started the site three years ago, Nikki and I weren’t totally sure how well it would go over. We just thought one central spot for all of our area’s key events would be helpful — not just for fun partygoers like ourselves, but for those planning these great shindigs who could use a little help spreading the word.

We put together a prototype, shopped it around and, based on feedback from a wide mix of folks, decided to give it a go.

We launched our site and first Wednesday morning email during Quilt Week 2007.

We’re continually amazed by the great response we receive. Along with all the events we promote, it seems our iLove it column, iDate, iPet, iBlog and our several sponsored features have transformed iList Paducah into a wonderful reflection of our entire community. In fact, several new Paducah residents say they were even more excited about moving here because of all the great things they’d seen on our site. (Score one for economic development!)

We’re working to make our site event better. This past year, we made a huge switch to a content management system and a bigger hosting plan to better accommodate the tons and tons of events and visitors we receive. We integrated our fun blog into our site and added several contributors. And we improved our archive links (you’ll see those to the left in each of our columns). More improvements are in the works.

We absolutely couldn’t do the site without our wonderful sponsors. Please go buy lots of stuff from them (you’ll see their logos, banner ads and sponsored columns on our home page) and mention iList Paducah when you do it! 

Among of our favorite things about the site: all the great connections and friendships we’ve made along the way. In fact, several of our readers are now contributors including, from left to right:

Cocktail hour at Cynthia’s, our first iList Paducah sponsor! Photo by John Paul Henry.

John Paul Henry: One of Paducah’s hottest new photographers (he returned home just a few months ago), John’s an excellent photojournalist and wedding and commercial photographer. That’s why we snagged him for this year’s team photos! Check out his new show at Maiden Alley Cinema, on display all month.

Laura K: Gorgeous Laura K was among the first to embrace iList Paducah and has written fashion pieces for us ever since. She keeps us on top of hot trends and writes the Laura K Style File for our blog. Hire her for all PR and marketing needs — check out her online portfolio!

Jody Suhrheinrich: Bartenders give the best advice, right? Jody Suhrheinrich is one of Paducah’s favorite barchologists, dispensing drinks at Russell’s Bar & Grill and funny tidbits on our blog. Got a question? Send her an email and have her mix your margarita at our Cinco de Mayo Celebration!

Patience Renzulli: Nobody hugs a hound like Patience Renzulli! As our iPet of the Week columnist, Patience tells heart-warming stories of animals quietly doing miracles for their owners and others. Want to see your pet included? Email us and we’ll hook you up! You’ll find Patience’s own very popular dog blog at patience-please.blogspot.com.

Glenn Hall: Everyone loves Glenn Hall. His gorgeous photography is in hot demand. Weddings, portraits commercial work, beautiful scenes of Paducah — he’s among the best. Glenn often shoots at our various iList Paducah-sponsored events.

Sarah Bynum Roman: Our newest addition, Sarah Roman’s infusing us with some new energy and excitement. She’s helping us build some strategic partnerships including stronger connections with nonprofit groups through her new Sarah’s Love List column on our blog! Want some love? Send her an email and she’ll add you to her list!

Mary Thorsby: Well, that’s me. I manage and promote the site, generate a bunch of the content (email me if you see a typo — it’s likely mine) and I obsess over the site pretty much 24/7. If you have suggestions, story ideas and/or want to become a sponsor, I’m your gal! (I do corporate stuff, too, but this is more fun!)

Bill Fox: Everyone loves Bill Fox. Like our other photogs, he’s absolutely excellent. And as the Carson Center‘s official photographer, he gets to shoot all sorts of celebrities and all of the center’s events. We’re super thrilled when we can get him to photograph ours!

Nikki D. May: My World’s Best Business Partner, Nikki takes care of all the technology and, as one of the best designers ever, she gives iList Paducah its distinctive look and feel. She creates all the pages and most of our gorgeous banner ads. In essence, she makes everything pretty. And she’s fun to work with, too. View her own beautiful artwork at nikkidmay.com.

Cory Greene: Indie band hottie Cory Greene of The Union Suit is just as good at writing for websites as he is burning up a bass guitar. He likes to write about movies and Paducah’s music scene — and he makes a mean Mojito at Flamingo Row. Look for his summer movie review on iList Paducah next week.

Andrea Ivey: Nobody writes about money and shopping the way Andrea Ivey does. Each week, Andrea gives us smart money management tips in Paducah Federal Credit Union’s iLove Money column — and super fun money spending tips in her Andrea’s A List Great Finds for Girly Girls shopping column on our blog! Have a shopping tip? Send her an email!

Bruce Brockenborough: Most definitely a very early iList Paducah supporter (he’s my husband, so he kinda had to), hunka hunka Bruce Brockenborough — aka DJ Urban Kobbb — has a longtime love of music and enjoys nothing more than introducing us to new beats whether he’s playing a gig or writing his 400 Best Words column. He’s got some great new music lined up for our Cinco de Mayo Celebration. Gracias, Señor DJUK!

Aynex Mercado: Nikki’s right-hand gal, Aynex Mercado shares her amazing graphics talents with us for special projects. She, too, was an early contributor to iList Paducah. We adore Aynex. We want to adopt her. She’s got her own website, too!

Jessica Perkins: Downtown and LowerTown — two of Paducah’s most exciting neighborhoods and home to iList Paducah headquarters — are the focus of Paducah Renaissance Alliance’s iLove Historic Paducah column. Each week, writer Jessica Perkins and team bring us something new to know about the district, which in turn attracts more folks to come our way to enjoy the many bars, restaurants, shops and galleries.

Brian Steffen: Our favorite bartographer, Brian Steffen is heavy on the pour and truly gifted behind the camera. He shoots many of our iDate of the Week portraits, food photos and just about anything else we need. These days, you can find him mixing drinks at Doe’s!

Speaking of favorite photographers, we’re missing Keith Ford. If you’ve been to any sort of iList Paducah-type event, chances are good that Keith has taken your photo. Keith’s a wonderful friend to iList Paducah and we look forward to more of his great party pix this year.

Above all, many thanks to YOU for subscribing to our email, submitting events to us, checking our site regularly and keeping in touch with us.

iList Paducah is, indeed, Your Invitation to Everything. Thank you for accepting our invitation.

Photo by John Paul Henry.

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