But where should I begin, and where should I end? The twelve years of the Daimler Blog’s existence are a long time. Ever since its project phase at the beginning of 2007, the Blog has been my baby. It was launched on October 16, 2007, a few days after Daimler’s separation from Chrysler.
The baby quickly learned to crawl, and then to walk. And as it grew to adulthood it mastered quite a few hurdles, directly and without faltering or incurring any injuries. Many people helped the baby to develop, in particular three editors, numerous interns, and two doctoral candidates — until 2017, when Jessica Abt stepped into the role of its “mom.”
As the Editor in Chief, over the past two years she developed the Daimler Blog’s themes in the direction that will now be steadfastly pursued by its follow-on project. All I can say at this point is that the diary is now coming to an end, but authenticity and credibility will continue to be important factors of future success.
In a follow-on project? Yes! On November 1, the company now known as Daimler AG will become a holding company, and along with it the Daimler Blog will also cease to exist. But many things will remain: twelve years of authentic insights into an industrial group, 2,184 blog posts by more than 1,243 colleagues and numerous guest authors, 350,000 page views per month during peak periods, an average visit length of 7 to 8 minutes, a number of PR awards for the launch, many references in various publications, benchmarks and best practices, and lots of hard work and commitment. Those are the things that will be remembered.
As I look back at these great years, I can only say “Thank you”!
Are you curious about what comes next? In exactly one week, on November 7, Daimler Magazine will be launched. We’ve been the midwives helping this new baby to be born. So stay tuned, and be ready for some surprises!
See you soon,
Jessy & Uwe