---
title: 'Silicon Florist: One month as the florist'
date: '2007-09-12T07:26:15-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 817
char_count: 6155
tokens: 1063
categories:
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - SiliconFlorist
---

# Silicon Florist: One month as the florist

Excuse me, if you will, as I step out of character. I wanted to take a second to chat with you.

Don’t look over your shoulder. You. Yes, you. Please, read on.

Right around a month ago, I decided to try a little experiment.

I felt the local coverage of small technology startups was somewhat lacking. I mean, I could thumb through international coverage on sites like [TechCrunch](http://techcrunch.com "TechCrunch") and [Mashable](http://mashable.com "Mashable") for once-in-a-blue-moon postings on Portland-area companies. And, I could read about larger startups in [*The Oregonian*](http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest/ "The Oregonian").

But none of those was really hitting the mark. So I decided to quit being part of the problem. And I tried to do my little part to help solve it.

That solution, from concept to first post, took an earth-shattering 35 minutes. And the [Silicon Florist](http://siliconflorist.com "Silicon Florist")—a blog covering the small startups in and around Portland, Oregon—was born.

And so here we are, one month hence. And I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

No, that’s not true.

I’ve been shocked. Shocked with the reception. Shocked with the kind notes. Shocked with the participation.

I think I’ve struck a nerve. And I hope that I’m providing a valuable service for you readers out there.

I also thought it might be valuable to provide a little recap of what has happened in the past 30 days or so. I’m not setting any records, but I am seeing some interesting stuff.

**Stats**

- 70+ posts
- Flirting with 100 RSS subscribers at times. The current count is:
  [![](http://feeds.feedburner.com/~fc/siliconflorist?bg=cccccc&fg=000000&anim=0)](http://feeds.feedburner.com/siliconflorist)
- Nearly 2,000 visitors
- 37% returning visitors
- 70% of traffic comes from referring sites (Thank you to all of you who showed Silicon Florist the link love!)

**Top cities by visitors**

1. Portland
2. Seattle
3. Beaverton
4. Troutdale
5. New York
6. San Francisco
7. Los Angeles
8. Washington, DC
9. Hillsboro (C’mon Hillsboro! Yeesh.)
10. Atlanta

**Top posts**

1. [KATU Portland-blogger invites blanket the area](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/21/katu-portland-blogger-invites-blanket-the-area/ "Permanent Link: KATU Portland-blogger invites blanket the area")
2. [Goboz launches Digg for Portland](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/09/06/goboz-launches-digg-for-portland/ "Permanent Link: Goboz launches Digg for Portland")
3. [Roundup: KATU Portland-blogger meetup](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/30/roundup-katu-portland-blogger-meetup/ "Permanent Link: Roundup: KATU Portland-blogger meetup")
4. [Jive Software secures $15 million… and moves blog to Clearspace](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/17/jive-software-secures-15-million-and-moves-blog-to-clearspace/ "Permanent Link: Jive Software secures $15 million… and moves blog to Clearspace")
5. [Grabb.it releases incredibly cool interface for iPhone](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/16/grabbit-releases-incredibly-cool-interface-for-iphone/ "Permanent Link: Grabb.it releases incredibly cool interface for iPhone")
6. [To-do: Name that stealthy Portland startup](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/09/07/to-do-name-that-stealthy-portland-startup/ "Permanent Link: To-do: Name that stealthy Portland startup")
7. [Video: OpenID and Digital Identity](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/09/06/video-openid-and-digital-identity/ "Permanent Link: Video: OpenID and Digital Identity")
8. [Reminder: Digital Identity and OpenID, tonight](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/09/05/reminder-digital-identity-and-openid-tonight/ "Permanent Link: Reminder: Digital Identity and OpenID, tonight")
9. [Rumor: Goboz looking to take on CitySearch](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/12/rumor-goboz-looking-to-take-on-citysearch/ "Permanent Link: Rumor: Goboz looking to take on CitySearch")
10. [Ignite Portland?](http://siliconflorist.com/2007/08/11/ignite-portland/ "Permanent Link: Ignite Portland?")

**Portland-area blogs, groups, and products mentioned**

- [AboutUs](http://www.aboutus.org/)
- [Alpha Geek](http://alphageek.tv/ "Alpha Geek")
- [Attensa](http://attensa.com "Attensa")
- [BarCamp Portland](http://barcamp.org/BarCampPortland "BarCamp Portland")
- [BlogtownPDX](http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/ "BlogtownPDX")
- [CouldBe](http://couldbestudios.com/ "Couldbe")
- [Goboz](http://goboz.com)
- [Grabb.it](http://grabb.it "Grabb.it")
- [Ignite Portland](http://www.igniteportland.com/ "Ignite Portland")
- [JanRain](http://janrain.com "JanRain")
- [Jive Software](http://jivesoftware.com "Jive Software")
- [KATU](http://katu.com "KATU")
- [Lunarr](http://lunarr.com "Lunarr")
- [Metroblogging Portland](http://portland.metblogs.com/ "Metroblogging Portland")
- [NetworthIQ](http://networthiq.com "NetworthIQ")
- [OEN](http://oen.org "Oregon Entrepreneur's Network")
- [Open Coffee Club](http://opencoffeeclub.org "Open Coffee Club")
- [Panic](http://panic.com "Panic")
- [pdxphp](http://pdxphp.org "pdxphp")
- [PDX Pipeline](http://pdxpipeline.com "PDX Pipeline")
- [Portland Internet Astronauts](http://web.meetup.com/41/ "Portland Internet Astronauts")
- [Portland Web Innovators](http://pdxwi.com "Portland Web Innovators")
- [Planet Argon](http://planetargon.com/ "Planet Argon")
- [Platial](http://platial.com "Platial")
- [SplashCast](http://splashcastmedia.com "SplashCast")
- [StepChange](http://stepchangegroup.com "Step Change")
- [Unthirsty](http://unthirsty.com "Unthirsty")
- [Urban Drinks](http://urbandrinks.com/ "Urban Drinks")
- [Urban Honking](http://urbanhonking.com "Urban Honking")
- [Version Tracker](http://versiontracker.com "Version Tracker")
- [Vimeo](http://vimeo.com "Vimeo")
- [YourList](http://yourlist.com "YourList")

Finally, thank you for reading. Thank you for [subscribing to the feed](http://siliconflorist.com/feed/ "Silicon Florist RSS feed"). Thank you for [sending your tips](mailto:siliconflorist@gmail.com "Send your tips"). Thank you for your participation.

I’m looking forward to continuing this little experiment as long as it remains interesting to everyone involved.