The Daily Pulse 08.09.04

Archive

My name is Widro and it was JUST yesterday that I posted my farewell to 411 so today it must be time to welcome everyone to the new site.

Welcome to Inside Pulse!

Everything came together really fast, and before I go anywhere on this column I have to thank Tom Phillips for all his incredible work with me these last 2 weeks. It seemed impossible but through a combination of not sleeping and insanity, we got a semblance of a site up for today.

Anyway, what you are reading is the new Daily Pulse feature here at InsidePulse. Each day, there will be an edition of The Daily Pulse to span the site as a whole, report on the latest news and link all the best articles of the day (of course with some entertainment mixed in as well).

I decided to take the reigns on the first day to explain what we’re all doing here, what we have in store for you in the future, and an overview of the columns and articles we launched with today.

The “Grand Plan”
To kick off InsidePulse with a bang, we have put together a huge contest that will culminate with Summerslam next weekend.

First, you need to register for the Pulse Forums sometime between now and next Monday.

Then come back here on Sunday night August 15th at 8PM EST for our live match by match coverage of WWE Summerslam! Throughout the coverage we will be posting trivia questions. In addition, in Scott Keith’s Summerslam Rant and Hyatte’s Summerslam Mop Up Special, there will be additional trivia questions.

Registered users who submit correct answers to all trivia questions by Friday August 20th will be entered into a random drawing – and the winner will come away with $1000! Sound simple? register now!

We’re looking at things a bit differently here.

The HOT Seat
In a controversial move, I have decided to turn the tables of the Hot Seat on myself, and answer the tough questions about the new site, the old site, and much more. Let’s get right to it.

1. As you know, we always start with geometry: Which of the following is not considered a parallagram: a) Square b) Rectangle c) Trapezoid d) Rhombus

Widro: Trapezoid

Hot Seat Judges:
The correct answer is c) Trapezoid.
1 out of 1

2. So let’s get right down to the question on everyone’s mind – why a new site?

Widro: That’s a tough question. Really tough. Let me see if I can explain it. I’d been at 411mania for so long that I lost sight of why I was doing a website to begin with. I did some thinking, some soul searching, and decided that the Maxim-style direction wasn’t what I wanted – catering everything on the site to the same fans. At 411 we tried to target the wrestling hardcores with coverage of many different types of entertainment. Much like the wrestling section targets only the diehard enthusiast wrestling fans, InsidePulse Music will target diehard music fans, and InsidePulse Games will target the old “GameFan” audience. The Nexus (InsidePulse’s comic sister site) targets diehard comic enthusiasts. While the core “demos” of those two groups are similar – 18-34 male, the actual people who are enthusiasts are generally different. That’s who we hope to attract to InsidePulse – diehard music enthusiasts, hardcore gamers, comic fans, wrestling fans and sports fans.

Hot Seat Judges:
Thanks, that helped clear it up for us.
2 out of 2

3. How do you respond to diehard 411mania fans who feel like you have left that site “high and dry”?

Widro: I think you have to look no further than 411’s owner, Ashish Pabari, to see that even he doesn’t believe I have done anything unprofessional. Over 2/3s of 411’s staff are still on board, including 2/3 of the music staff, the entire movies staff and over 70% of the wrestling staff. We took a few of the niche zones with us to the Pulse – you’ll find in time that Games, Figures and Comics will fit in much better with the future at the Pulse than they will at 411. In six months you’ll see how the sites were headed in different directions, and the writers that chose to come to the Pulse were more committed to our vision.

Hot Seat Judges:
Another fine explanation. You are on a roll tonight.
3 out of 3

4. Are you really giving away $1000 in US Dollars? It’s not Canadian Dollars or some kind of trick now, is it?

Widro: We are absolutely serious about this Sweepstakes. InsidePulse is here to make a splash and there is no better way to do that than to throw a little money around. Plus it keeps me from having to pay anyone. “Oh the Sweepstakes budget is just too large these days”.

Hot Seat Judges:
I know the Judges are excited to see who comes away $1000 richer after next week’s $1000 Summerslam Giveaway.
4 out of 4

5. In 50 words or less, sum up InsidePulse to a reader who’s never been to the site

Widro: If you are an enthusiast of anything covered on InsidePulse – whether it’s games, music, comics, or sports, you are not going to find more comprehensive coverage from a diehard perspective anywhere in the world. InsidePulse brings the very best enthusiast coverage to diehard fans via the web, email and RSS.

Hot Seat Judges:
We noticed you somehow count “InsidePulse” as one word, but you just made it to 50 so we’ll give it you. Nice job.
5 out of 5

Wow what a performance! The hot seat is always a tough ride, but I traversed it with grace and elegance. I answered all the tough questions thrown at me, and scored a perfect 5 out of 5!

If you still have questions about the pulse, feel free to send me an email.

So What’s NEW Here
What you see here on day 1 is just the tip of the iceberg of what we’re going to be rolling out over the rest of this month and 2004.

Here is a quick rundown of new features you can expect to see on the Pulse within the next few weeks:

  • TV CoverageWe are merging with a major reality TV site – survivor-central.com – to create the InsidePulse TV zone later this summer. The zone will have full coverage of all major reality and regular TV shows, DVD compilation reviews, and interactive games where registered Pulse users can compete against one another to predict the outcome of popular reality TV shows! All this an more coming up in the TV zone in September.
  • RSS FeedsYou want an RSS feed of all Scott Keith DVD rants? Or how about all CD reviews from music? In the coming weeks we’ll be launching a whole slew of RSS feeds that you can add to your reader and get the latest IP headlines delivered right to you
  • Daily NewsletterA version of this very column went out to subscribers today, and each day you can get some top headlines and a rundown of the site’s highlights delivered right to your email!
  • Writer’s ProfilesEach writer on InsidePulse will have their own profile page with a quick overview of their personality and how they view the subjects they write about. Also it will feature links to their full Pulse archives and a blog. The links may be there already on some of the articles, but we’re not finished quite yet.
  • Panel ReviewsIn addition to our full reviews of CDs, Games, DVDs by one author, each week in the Weekly Pulse we will have a new feature where other members of the Pulse staff give short but informed reviews of items given the full review treatment during the week. Think of it as a mini roundtable for each review – this way more of your favorite Pulse writers will be helping to paint a full review picture.

And a lot more. I don’t want to spoil everything now! You’ll just have to come back every Monday for another big announcement in the Daily Pulse.

Around The Pulse
Today is launch day, but we have a whopping 31 articles posting to the site for today. If that’s not a killer launch I dunno what is. Here are some of the highlights from the five launch zones here at InsidePulse.com:

Inside Pulse Games

Inside Pulse Music

The Nexus411Comics has become The Nexus, and we are proud to be the home of the Nexus here at InsidePulse. Here are a couple highlights from their launch lineup:

Inside Pulse WrestlingIt’s the one-two punch you all came to see, and here they are with fresh new stuff for day one here at the pulse.

Inside Pulse Sports
Our baby zone kicks off in style with some great columns.

Wrapping Up
Well it’s certainly been a crazy few days. I think once everyone settles in here on the Pulse we’ll be off and running. We have over two dozens new articles for you just this morning, and things will only get bigger from here. Thanks again to everyone for coming along with us on this ride – the fun has only just begun.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs