Shiny Media

We founded Shiny Media as three freelance journalists back in 2004 and the sites were born out of a passion for the internet and a belief that established publishers just weren't making enough of the medium. The early sites were launched because we loved blogs, we wanted to write about things that interested us, and we couldn't find sites like Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny to write for.

So we created those sites ourselves, and we quickly realised that we were on to something. We'd never set up a publishing company before, and there wasn't a UK blogging business template we could follow, so a lot of what we've built up has been learned along the way.

And we've certainly learned a lot since those early days of freelance. We now have a whole team of writers (eleven in house and many more freelance), some of whom have been with us since the very beginning. Fashion journalist and blogger Gemma Cartwright joined us back in November 2004 to start Shoewawa and The Bag Lady and now heads up our entire fashion team, bringing her own successful site, Catwalk Queen, with her. More recently, we have hired two more staff members this month, including Duncan, a staff writer on our oldest and biggest blog Tech Digest and Matt who joins us as an account manager, supporting our growing commercial team.

Revenue is going up month on month and traffic has increased 26 per cent over the last 12 months. So it seems 'rumours of our death' to paraphrase Mark Twain have been greatly exaggerated.

We read the article on Tech Crunch UK and the many comments below the feature and we thought we should respond to them here.

Thanks to Nigel's Eco Store for awarding Hippyshopper third place in the eco blogs and news sites category in its Green Web Awards.

To finish just behind Tree Hugger and the Guardian's Environment pages in such a fiercely competitive category is a real achievement especially when it's voted on by other bloggers and social media users. So well done Abi. Keep up the good work.

There are fewer moments in life that have given me as much pleasure as writing the first story on TechDigest. Not that the post was groundbreaking journalism, a contender for the Pulitzer prize or even completely free of typos (ouhc!). It was just that after years of wrestling with HTML codes and invariably giving up, I'd found a foolproof way of realising one of my big ambitions - to launch a gadgets website.

That was almost five years ago, and although Shiny Media didn't really follow for a few years later, the blog that kicked off one of the the UK's leading commercial blogging networks was born.

Champagne corks were popping yesterday as Shiny produced its 1000th YouTube tech video. Well done to all the video gang who made this one just slightly more entertaining than the first one just over two years earlier. I especially look forward to the Royal Gauntlet Bio Turbo model. And, if Adam and the Ants ever make a comeback, I think they'll know where to look!

And just in case you were wondering here's the first one, a Toshiba DVD player with built in digital terrestrial tuner which I don't think ever saw the light of day. The annoying laugh you hear in the background is mine as I shakily film the first ever Shiny footage from a country house car park. Thankfully, I soon realised my talents lay elsewhere.

Ok, so we might have had a bit of run in with Panorama the other week, but most of us here at Shiny do actually love the Beeb, we just wish that its bloggers and journalists would link out more.

So great to see that the blog of the beeb's Chief Football Writer, Phil McNulty, features a decent list of soccer blogs (including some British ones).

Cheers Phil. Now if only the BBC tech blog, which at the moment doesn't link to any UK blogggers and the entertainment bloggers followed Phil's lead.

Over the past few years I have grown ever more incredulous about the way that the BBC has consistently stolen from, patronised and generally belittled blogs, especially British ones. There seems to be a pervading belief within Shepherd's Bush that the corporation is the British media and that the rest of the people who strive away working in commercial sectors are just basically there to do their research. Bloggers, as this post highlights, are beneath contempt and clearly don't have worthwhile opinions.

The latest example of this arrogance is this week's Panorama expose of the way in which some of Primark's suppliers were employing child labour to finish their very competitively priced garments. It was gritty Panorama stuff, highlighting an injustice and sparking a debate about the ethics of the fashion industry.

Yet while the programme highlighted low pay and child labour the programme makers seemed to have no ethical qualms about screwing British journalists.

Fantastic Glam party last night at 24 London. The great and good of the internet world were there including our good friends at Hecklerspray and Nancy Cruickshank, CEO of Videojug, who has just been appointed to Glam's advisory board.

Essentially the party was to announce Glam's official arrival in the UK (well we have been working with them in the UK for nearly 3 months now) and recent aquisition of London-based sales house Monetise, who curently represent Pocket Lint and Digital Spy.

It's sweltering hot in the office right now, so getting on a bike to cycle half way across the world (well Brighton) wouldn't be top of my list. But no doubt by the weekend when the London to Brighton bike ride takes place it will be minus 20 and chucking it down. Two people who wil be hoping that the weather is kind to them at the weekend (June 15th) are Kathryn Stewart, Shiny's operations manger and Daniel Sung, Tech Digest writer. They will be doing their bit for charidee by peddling to the south coast in aid of the British Heart Foundation. I'm not sure whether Dan (pictured above) will be dressed as Jimmy Saville the whole way. I seriously hope not. Anyway I wish them luck. I've coughed up my cash - God, that hurt - so it's your turn now. Kathryn's page: http://www.justgiving.com/kathrynstewart
Dan's page: http://www.justgiving.com/danielsung

Continue reading to see Kathryn and, er, some bloke dressed up in a snorkel mask.I don't know whether he's wearing flippers too. Now that would be impressive on a bike ride.

Yes the Catwalk Queen girls have stormed the Top Shop website this week. As well as writing the blog, look out for regular features from Gemma, Kelly, Isabelle and the gang.

There's a swimwear feature , favourite white clothes and the girls are also giving their preview of Kate Moss' new summer collection. Catwalk Queen is also editing Top Shop's newsletter.

OK it's only the London Churches 7 a side tournament, not the Premiership, but world domination has to start somewhere.

This year the Pies side really excelled themselves for a bunch of mainly thirty and forty something Ginster guzzlers, playing five, winning two, drawing two and losing just one. No mean feat when the opposition is all twenty years younger and much faster.