Laughter Lives Tuesday, Abby Update & New Magazine Format

I hope everyone is still out there. We needed a little break from things over the past week or so, and we only got a fraction of the readers yesterday when we started back up. Hopefully people will start checking back in because we are just having too much fun to stop now.

New Serious.Life Magazine

I ran a survey last week and got back hundreds of responses. THANK YOU so much for your input!

The results, in a nutshell are this: 96% of readers don't care if the "flipping pages" format goes away. About half didn't like it in the first place, and almost all said it was either harder to read, or tedious to read in that format (zooming in and out; moving around the pages, etc).

The most common comment was "it's cool looking, but made it more of a chore to actually read". That was the overwehelming consensus, 96% of respondents.

The other significant result, 95% of those surveyed, said they wanted shorter, more frequent issues. About half wanted a shorter issue every two weeks, and the other half wanted a "daily blog" type of format. So I'm going to split it down the middle and do a short issue "every week or two". No set schedule... I'll let the available content dictate the frequency but generally speaking I'll do a "new issue" every week or two, with just enough content to make it fun and easy to read in one or two visits to the magazine site.

I'm already building the new format, and based on your survey comments, I think you'll find it very readable, nicely formatted, and overall, more enjoyable. I look forward to rolling it out.

Abby Update

We'll put up a good "Abby Update" later today, and bunch of new pictures. Even though she is in the new phase of her treatment which last two years and is "easier", there is still a lot going on, and alot of "details" about her condition and treatement. So we will keep you regularly posted on her health, progress and prayer needs.

Laughter Lives Tuesday

I want to do something a little different today for Laughter Lives. In honor of April Fool's day a couple of weeks ago, I want to ask you for your best April Fools memories/stories, whether it's a prank/joke you pulled yourself, or someone pulled on you, or just one you heard about.

I would love to get dozens of your best memories, stories and April Fools ideas to use as content for the magazine, or to put together in a book.

Normally, we have you post your "Laugher Lives" on your own blog and link back, but today, for convenience, I would like you to use the COMMENTS on our blog to leave your April Fool's feedback (if you have trouble with using the comments email them to me: brent@brentriggs.com but I'd prefer you use the comments feature if possible).

Try to be as descriptive as you can. I think this will make some hilarious content for the magazine or a book. And of course, I'll give you credit unless you specifically tell me not too (or just submit as "anonymous"). DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR WRITING SKILLS, SPELLING OR GRAMMAR. I'll edit whatever you write if needed before including it in the magazine or book. People often tell me they don't respond to something like this because they can't write well (they are guilty of odious versification, hee-hee). Don't let that stop you. I'll clean up the writing.

If you missed my April Fools this year, you can relive it here:
http://www.riggsfamilyblogs.com/april09/

And here's one my friend Christine told me about yesterday that she pulled on people:

"I love April Fools. I don't seem like the type of person who would pull April Fool pranks, so it is even easier to get people to fall for them. This year, I went up to people all day long and said 'hey, can you believe that whole bank thing?'

They would look at me kind of puzzled and I would continue... 'haven't you been watching the news? A bunch of the major banks are closing and people are rushing the banks trying to get their money out before they close down. What bank do you use?'

No matter what bank they said, I would look concerned and reply, 'oh man, that's one that's on the list. You really haven't heard about it? You better call your [husband/wife] and figure out what to do. We got our money out early but it's pretty much chaos at our bank now...'"

Gotta love it. Now I know there are some people who just simply don't find April Fools to be funny at all but isn't THAT part of the reason WHY it's so funny? :)

Leave us a comment, or two, or six... and tell us your April Fool's stories, memory, or best pranks.

Laughter Lives! Especially on April 1st.

~ Brent