Some notes from FishDuck: a FishDuck.com State of the Union
FishDuck.com Needs YOU!
Greetings Fish-Friends, it is four months in to FishDuck.com’s existence, and Kurt and I felt it was time to speak with you directly, our website visitors. The amount of people that have come to our site daily, participating in our boards and emailing us with notes of gratitude for our content has been truly overwhelming, and has made us re-assess what FishDuck.com will be going forward. We have many great ideas for the future, and while we will roll out new features and updates over time, rest assured we are hard at work to provide you with the best content we can while keeping the site easy and user-friendly for the tech savvy and those who may consider themselves not technologically-proficient.
Opinions:
We want your feedback on what to add to this site. We consider FishDuck.com a communal experience, a place for Oregon fans and people simply wanting to learn more about Chip Kelly’s system can come together to learn, discuss, and share in our mutual love for our beloved Ducks.
So far Kurt and I have brainstormed about things we would like to see as Oregon fans ourselves first and foremost to be placed on this site, our approach to features we have now and things in the pipeline limited only by our imagination, but we’re always open to more. Have you seen something on another sports-related site and wished there was an “Oregon Football” version of it? Or something you always wished a website had but nobody seemed to have ever thought of before? Tell us! We are fans and daily interactive users of other Oregon websites as well, and have participated in their terrific services for years. We particularly love what the Oregon-specific sites Scout (eDuck), Rivals (DSA), 24/7 (Duck Territory), and SB Nation (Addicted to Quack) provide. We support and appreciate all of their efforts to provide the Oregon community with terrific content, which is why we have openly promoted these sites and others for free through FishDuck.com without solicitation or expectation of any support in return.
Truth is…we don’t want to compete in their areas of expertise and don’t consider FishDuck.com to be direct competitors alongside their fantastic services. We instead want to use this opportunity with the FishDuck community that has grown to provide what other sites cannot, not to try to outdo others but in the spirit of giving Oregon fans more online interactive opportunities and information than any other program’s fan base. Kurt and I visit other Oregon Ducks websites daily, and we encourage you to do so as well.
We have some terrific changes/additions to FishDuck.com coming over the next few months—but what would you want? Please add it in the comments below or e-mail us at charles@fishduck.com and kurt@fishduck.com, or if you think of something later—let us know!
The FishDuck staff is a collection of writers, videographers, promoters, webmasters, and other talented individuals with a passion for Oregon sports; but it would be nothing without the participation of the FishDuck community. We want to hear from you, we want you to participate, FishDuck.com is for all of us.
Writers:
We are looking to expand our content, thus if any of you have the itch to let your writing talents flow—we’d like to see what you can do. We have been incredibly fortunate to have quality writers on our staff from the launch of this site to present, so we will be selective with high standards in both passion and ability, but multiple writers have blossomed in quality and following as they continue to write from week to week. (Kurt is FishDuck’s Senior Editor, he has years of experience as a copywriter, and our other editors, authors, and journalists can assist with the nuances of writing a great article)
Have a different way of writing? Let’s take a look; we don’t all want to have the same ol’ thing to read, so a different perspective is welcome. Think you’ve got the chops to provide great insight, we at FishDuck.com can provide the medium with which to have your writing gain exposure. Or do you like creating videos and think you can make something Oregon fans would find educational and entertaining? Again, please do e-mail us if interested.
Sponsors:
The site has cost me a ton, as it went from simply a place for Kurt and I to park our “stuff” in early concept, to now a routine day including hits from around the world. From kids and coaches, from teenagers up to the retired, domestic and international, the feedback has been overwhelming and we are incredibly gracious that so many have chosen to spend time interacting with us here at FishDuck.
Due to these impressive numbers we wish to open it up for sponsors to advertise their products and services to our discerning website visitors. We will have some changes to the website shortly that will better accommodate ads or logos on the site along with some very cool things to truly feature your company. We want the right matchups for everyone to win with this. E-mail us!
IT Expertise:
We have a need for a full-time I.T. person, but lack the funds for it. We are operating with part-time help and volunteers, and if you would like to get job experience with a fast growing site—we could use your help. We need to be able to meet you thus being in the Eugene-Springfield area is essential, as well as possess skills with WordPress and HTML. You would be a valuable member of our team capable of helping not only with the day-to-day operations but long-term plans for expanding FishDuck.com to even bigger heights; so e-mail us!
Sign up for the FishLetter: (Groan)
I know I’ve mentioned it frequently, but I am sincere in only wanting to alert you to analysis videos, special announcements, new articles and content within FishDuck.com and the Oregon Ducks fan community. As people who have been on my e-mail list for years already know—I NEVER sell or share their name/e-mail with anyone. These are my FishFriends, and I am serious about their privacy and safety. So sign up and don’t miss any videos, as they will not be on a set-schedule in the off-season!
In Summary:
We need you…because of all of you. If we had typical daily-visitor numbers for a new site of only four months in age, then our needs would be modest. I am very grateful that so many people want to learn about our beloved ducks, and we’re just getting warmed up with so much great new stuff in the works.
We have had a couple of website issues due to beginning to hit our capacity for our current structure. Page loading is slow for example, and that will change within a few weeks, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to upgrade our infrastructure and capabilities. We are working on something special for the coaches that come to FishDuck to share ideas and learn, as well as striving to create a new section of the site that could have a big impact upon the Oregon teams we love so much. More on that later, but for now—THANKS to all! Don’t forget….FishDuck.com Needs YOU!
On behalf of myself, Kurt, and all of the FishDuck.com staff we say THANK YOU for your amazing support during these first four months of operation, and we look forward to providing you so much more in the next four and well beyond.
Oh how we love to learn about our beloved Ducks.
Go Fish, get hooked!
–Charles Fischer, “FishDuck” Charles@FishDuck.com
–Kurt Liedtke, “Keeerrrttt1” Kurt@FishDuck.com
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…