WITH HIGH PRESSURE IN CHARGE...A POLL OF MATTNOYES.NET USERS REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THIS SITE

Yawwwwn.  The weather recently has been rather dull, and the most excitement in sight is a cold front poised for Wednesday night that will bring a few rain showers to the far North Country - though maybe a few stray flakes to the mountains of Northwest Maine at about 3 or 4 AM!  But...literally a few stray flakes at most.  Then, it's another shot of yawwwwwwwwwnnnnn....dry weather and clear sailing through the weekend.  That's OK by me - a chance to relax a bit.

But it's also a time to think about this site and where you'd like it to go, and I want your opinions - all of them!  I hope you'll comment on this post, or send me an email in response, because your thoughts WILL determine where this site goes.

Background:  I established Mattnoyes.net in college, as a list of links because it was too hard to remember all of the URLs in my head.  After college, I took it down, and got so many emails from folks who were using the links, so up it went again.  A few years ago, it got a major overhaul when NECN didn't have the resources for our own site, and our partnered site, Boston.com, didn't want us putting any weather data on their weather page, because they wanted to keep it solely for the City of Boston, not suburbs or the rest of New England.  Thus, Mattnoyes.net was revamped and reborn.

The Page Now:  You can surf the pages for yourself - forecast, weather analysis, "Out and About" with school visits and community appearance videos, computer guidance links, the tremendously popular Sky Scenes gallery, a news page, and many more.  ALL of this came because you, the users, requested it.

The Current Situation:  NECN has come into the 90s, and is rocketing through the 2000s, thanks to a lot of hard work by folks at the station.  This has meant not only our own great website, but also, as of two weeks ago, our brand new weather blog.  Remember that Mattnoyes.net started because there was no other outlet - is wasn't for revenue or ego or anything else, just to get weather information out.  So, even though it's been years of work, and what amounts to solid weeks of web design, I'm completely understanding that NECN has asked to take most of what's on my site and merge it into theirs.  It's the right team thing to do - even though it could mean discarding years of hard work from this site, and the loss of some ad revenue, it will go to make my team stronger.

So...the question is...where would you like to see this site go?  Take a look at the New NECN Weather Blog.  See what you think.  Then let me know over the course of this quiet weather stretch what you'd like to see this site become.  You have always been the reason it's changed, and the reason it exists in the first place, so it only makes sense that you determine its future.  I will need to decide a new direction for it (or fold it up, if you so decide) very soon.

Some ideas in random order:

• I post brief weather ideas/questions/points to ponder in different situations, and we all respond via the comments to share forecast thoughts and analysis.
• I get rid of most of the site entirely.
• We merge almost all the pages into one homepage, since there will be fewer posts.
• We make it a blog about what it's like to be a meteorologist in specific situations - ie: thoughts about the forecast, concerns about the presentation of the information, worries about where we could blow the forecast, etc., with a video discussion, or something of that nature.
• Something else!  You tell me!

Whatever it is, it'll have to be something easy enough for one man to do on his own, and something that wouldn't make sense to have on the NECN Weather Blog, because I need to be sure it's clear my focus is with my team on that site, which is also where most of my energy is expected to be focused in the not-so-distant future.  Having said that, I can tell you that the Computer Guidance Page and Quick Forecast Page will stay for sure on Mattnoyes.net.

I invite you to share any and all of your thoughts in the comments section, even if they are "just can the whole thing, Noyes!" and, like I've done since day one, I will follow your direction.

All My Best - and enjoy the quiet weather!
Matt