Thank You

Back in July 2007 I showed up at HuffPost's Manhattan office with a suitcase packed with enough clothes to get me through the month while I looked for an apartment and launched OffTheBus. Even before our official launch many of you were peppering my inbox with emails, wanting to know what you could do to help. Among that initial circle of my newfound friends and acquaintances were Mayhill Fowler -- who later rocked the campaigns and campaign journalism with what we now know as "Bittergate"; Beverly Davis -- a veteran reporter who provided invaluable insight into the role that citizen journalists could play on the trail; Richard Riehl -- the editor of the much loved Roadkill, that tasty, daily collection of candidate gaffes; and Ethan Hova -- a Shakespearean actor from Los Angeles who co-wrote our first big story, "Romney Buys Conservatives."

Sixteen months later and our network has grown by the thousands. The staff also grew, as I was joined by Marc Cooper, Neil Nagraj, John Tomasic, and Hanna Ingber Win and intern Gabriel Beltrone. Mayhill, Beverly, Richard, and Ethan have been joined by a remarkable cast of home-makers, retired journalists, aspiring journalists, lawyers and doctors, actors and actresses, some curmudgeons and, yes, a few professional journalists. New friends are now old friends, and old friends are friends forever.

Together we have been credited with creating the genre of citizen journalism (New York Magazine). You have broken some of the election cycle's biggest scoops. You have also been described - by none other than the New York Times - as a "force in journalism."

We -- Marc, John, Hanna, Neil, Gabriel, Amanda -- couldn't be more proud of what we have all achieved together.

For just this once we are not going to ask you to write or report anything. Celebrate! Break out that champagne, beer, or wine (or for those young enough or so inclined, a coffee or chocolate cake) and make a toast! Or two. Or three.

Journalism isn't and never has been a monolithic craft. The profession has a rich and varied history that often gets lost in defensive justifications of the status quo. In this election cycle journalism as we know it evolved tremendously, and you played no small role in it. A unique breed of citizen journalists -- at OffTheBus and elsewhere -- opened up public access to information that conventional reporters cannot.

Yay!

If that toast turns you tipsy and you're inclined to express yourself in print, make your way to the comment thread below.

Here's to OffTheBus!

~ Amanda, Marc, John, Hanna, Neil, and Gabriel

Follow Amanda Michel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AmandaRMichel

Comments

[smittyPA]

Amanda - thanks for being a great editor and for making life easy for me on the road. After 1000 hours, 16 months, 12 cities doing press work for Obama and Huff Post blogs, I am ready for the next chapter. I even got a foot massage at the Huff Post Oasis in Denver... better than a paycheck? Maybe there is a job for me as Director of Public Affairs somewhere? Mike in Washington, DC

[Rusel deMaria - Huffpost Blogger]

Is OffTheBus like the Norwegian Blue Parrot? Gone to join the "choir invisible" or is it merely resting?

[tscopist]

Thank you, Amanda, for allowing me to be a small part of OTB. Working with you on a few of the collaborative stories inspired me to get further involved in this election. I decided to work for a candidate running for congress in Calif., and he's not out of the running yet. They are STILL counting the votes for the Calvert-Hedrick campaign in Riverside. So you have affected this election in many ways other than the important work you've done with OTB. The success of the Democratic party has truly been a collaborative effort. Hooray!!!

[Jules36]

Does this mean that "Off The Bus" is no longer?

[valread98036]

I feel like I woke up from a dream when the announcement that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the new President and Vice-President of the United States of America. That is the first time I use that word "United", because I truly felt that this country was being ripped to streads and we were all being pulled by a thin line of trust.

Now, my heart is full of joy and I truly wepted for the first time. These eight years of being under a police state, where our civil rights and liberities were taken away and replaced with what the government thought we should be thinking or feeling. I felt like I was living a life out of a nightmare and was never going to wake up from it.

[JHCPA6th]

Thank you for giving all of us the opportunity to be part of this wonderful election process. Even 5 days later, the euphoria continues.

But after all the celebrations, we need to get serious again and hopefully can use what you've begun as a rallying place to put a stop to what can only be called irrational right wing assults on our public discourse. Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, and Fox News have already begun to spread their angry and offensive lies. As a group, we must counter their influence.

[naughtYmike]

Your contributions are the definition of the word democracy. You should be proud of yourselves. The entire HuffPo community deserves a whole lot of credit for what happened on election day.

I want you guys to know, though: it ain't over. So, find a way to keep up the good work.

The world depends on people like you.

[Chris Savage - Huffpost Blogger]

I consider it to have been quite a privilege to have been published on Off The Bus and really quite flattering. Perhaps it is ending now, perhaps it is not. Either way I would encourage each of the contributors (and everyone else, for that matter) to fire up a blog and start reporting. Diary at the Daily Kos or MyDD. Contribute comments here at the Huffington Post or at the myriad other political websites.

In other words: KEEP ON WRITING AND REPORTING!

This journalistic experiment has proven to be very successful and if it keeps going, it will continue to enrich the media environment in untold ways. My many thanks to the entire Off The Bus staff. I'm sure I drove you crazy in the few short months I was on board with my occasional impatience. You were always gracious and accommodating and for that I am forever thankful. My best wishes to you all on your future endeavors.

You've already changed the world? What's next?!

[Ali A. Rizvi - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks to everyone who worked on this - the creators of OTB and the writers who brought a different perspective to the news during this campaign.

It's the end of the campaign, but the beginning of something much bigger. I would love to see a continuation of this forum as we embark on a new era. It's been awesome. :)

[wisdomtom]

Hey BFF, I want to thank you for Off the Bus. Here online, in the Information Age, I had done my fair share of web surfing and found it hard to get to really intelligent and reasoned discourse among regular people - finally, with Off the Bus, was a place to get real, unfiltered intelligence about what's going on.

Priceless.

Thanks to you and your cohorts for making this happen. What's next?

[Lisa Solod Warren - Huffpost Blogger]

As everyone has said, it was an amazing experience to write for Off the Bus, from my first submission to my last. From news to opinion. I had a great time and Hanna especially was superb.

I spent Tuesday working the polls in Virginia and wrote about it for another blogsite.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/11/05/170440.php

It was an extraordinary day for me, after volunteering for and writing about the campaign for so many months.

I, for one, am eager to see how Obama governs our country and I am fully prepared to give him the time and the room; I am also willing to allow him the leeway to mess up occasionally. I just appreciate the way he already speaks to the American public in a way that no president has yet to do: with honesty and real respect for our intelligence. THAT is what I find refreshing.

[tenilla]

I toast the State of Pennsylvania for delivering its electoral votes to Barack Obama, despite Mayhill
Fowler's best efforts.

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

This has been just a wonderful experience, in my pain of being jobless, the Huffington Post gave me love, hope and something to do as I hunted for my current job! Not only did I become a better citizen -- learning more about politics then I ever thought possible....I met some great people here along the way, giving me advice, and support! HP rocks and I hope this type of community lives on and prosper! Congratulations one and all who contributed their heart, soul and belief to their stories! Work well received!

p.s. Supporting Obama and seeing him win in Grant Park was also the highlight of my life!

[Jodi Lampert - Huffpost Blogger]

How hilarious is this? I, who isn't always called a 'Suzy Sunshine' (although my middle name really and truly is 'Hope'), I didn't take this letter from Amanda as the official end. Is it? I actually thought Amanda was saying, let's take a break. For a day. And then...

Because I've got two stories in my head! And I went to that Prop 8 rally yesterday with a camera in my hand! Look what you guys did to me.

Thanks for that, by the way. Thanks -- as I said in an email once to Amanda -- for allowing me to be on the same page as Mayhill Fowler, whose political affiliation I was not certain about till a few days ago. What an honor to be there, really truly.

Thanks to John! And Amanda, I remember the apartment story. You also answer each question as if the recipient were the only thing happening, which I can't imagine is true.

Seriously, this isn't the end, is it? Say it isn't so.

Jodi

[heartlander64]

Yes, yes, 3 cheers for all,.. and here's hoping that issuing forth from all this commentary
will arise the awareness that the most important decision of this century that this body
politic will make is whether corporations exist for the advancement of mankind or,..
mankind exists for the advancement of corporations.