May 7th, 2014

Well, the Solaced’s Fan Contest 2014 is over and if all went well, all of you who submitted got an email to download the general prize. After this post, I’ll work hard on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes and send out those emails.

Again, I’d like to thank everyone who submitted! It was really nice to read your submissions and how you discovered Sarah, your favourite album and why. Also it was interesting for me read how you follow the site differently than just the site (twitter/facebook), how often you follow the site and how you’ve found Solaced on the net 🙂 With that, I have now a more general idea of maybe things that need to change, and somethings which might need just a little bit more of attention. I hope the ones who filled in they didn’t know about the forum will join one day – we’ve got a nice, small community over there and everyone is welcome (well not the Sarah haters of course, but you wouldn’t be here then I guess!).

As for the feedback: thanks for those who submitted that as well. I got a lot of “it’s looking fine” or even the occasionally “it’s perfect!!” (you’re making the admin blush here, don’t do that! :D) which made me smile everytime. I’m glad to hear the site is working for everybody. As for the ones who submitted feedback or had some cool ideas, I’ve thought a little bit and here’s my reaction:

– someone suggested a “did you know that” update, where I’d post some old photo, video or some information about Sarah or her work. I really like that idea! It is something I will keep in mind. On Twitter, I already have the Fashion Friday and on Tuesday the “Sarah’s Line Of The Week” – which I forget about sometimes, shame on me! – but I guess the site also can use something. I just hope I’ll have enough fun facts and won’t forget about it like with the ones on Twitter…. But I’m thinking about it!

– Scans from newspapers & magazines is also a good idea! I do have most of the articles copied into the Articles Archive (http://www.solaced.info/about/articles/) which is sorted by every 5 years. It doesn’t include scans though, and to be honest I don’t own any magazines or scans of them. Well, some scans – but not enough I think to make that section interesting. But perhaps that’s indeed something for the future!

– Someone said it was hard to keep track of the previous media. I know there’s a huge list under the Tour Archive (http://www.solaced.info/tour/archive/), where you can select a year and view Sarah’s shows but also media appearances and download them. I guess it’s a bit “hidden”, also one of the reasons I’m glad with your submissions – it shows me that part of the site needs attention. I guess Solaced turned out pretty big/huge in information and I try to keep it as easy to navigate through as possible, but perhaps something that for me is logic isn’t for my visitors. The media and tour/shows performances were first separated though, but with the new layout for the Tour Archive it was easier to bring them together. I hope you find in the archive what you were looking for. Any other suggestion are always welcome, you know my email 😉

– A list of Sarah’s full discography is already on the site, including soundtracks, promos and CDs Sarah sang backup vocals/played piano. It can be found right here: http://www.solaced.info/music/compilations-other/. Most of it is under Compilations, sorted by year. I also admit that section is quite “hidden” and seeing the state it’s in (it’s a complete mess speaking in terms of “organized”… and some only go as far as 1999 or 1998, I should update that) it also need some attention. Noted & thank you!

– As last, but not least: the bootleg archive. I got some feedback on that as well. The suggestion I should make it more interactive is one I’m really considering. With interactive I mean (well the one who suggested it) that you can keep track of the bootlegs you have and put reviews online. I really like the idea, though I’m not 100% sure every bootleg visitor would need that kind of information (I don’t think I’ve got a lot of “real” collectors here?). Nevertheless, I’m considering it and was already looking on the net for possible ways to make something like that. It would mean people would have to register, and the bootleg archive will need a complete make-over probably. So yeah, I love the idea but it might take a while 😉

I think I’ve mentioned them all, at least the ones I wanted to comment on. Thanks again so much for everything, this site wouldn’t be running at all without my lovely forummembers and Sarah’s amazing fans!

All the best,
Ellie