About Panbo
Hi, This is Ben Ellison, editor and owner of Panbo, and this is where you can learn about me, the history of the site, where it's headed, and how you can support it.
Ben Ellison
Well, sure, let's talk about me! I've lived in Camden, Maine, since 1971, when I bought a 1946 (same as me) wooden sloop that was moored here. I was planning to sail around the world, but...um...never made it.
I
did
live aboard Alice
for most of the 70's, ran her as a daysailing operation, and cruised
twice to the Caribbean (with just a VHF radio and a depth flasher for
electronics). During that decade I also worked on oil field boats off
Louisiana, tried my hand at commercial fishing, delivered yachts and
taught navigation/seamanship. By the 80's, the boat had
morphed into a home-built home and I even started a totally
non-nautical business (which at least got me into personal computers
early). I did keep up the deliveries and teaching, managed some boats,
and in 1985 began a five year stint as director of the WoodenBoat School.
I still get a pitter-patter when I visit there. The 90's? Back to boat
deliveries and teaching,
a house addition, work for a tide prediction software company, and
eventually a gig as editor of Reed's
Nautical Almanacs. That job was more about marine software,
and data manipulation, than sentences, which is partially how
I transitioned into writing about electronics. I got started at Ocean
Navigator and then became electronics
editor at Power
& Motoryacht in 2001, added Sail in
2004, and seem to be sliding further down this hole every day.Panbo History and Future
Panbo was started in February, 2004, by Dutch web guru Yme Bosma. He was interested in the new phenomenon of blogging, and he likes boats and gadgets. I was one of many readers who enjoyed his entries until he got too busy with real work that October. When Yme put up an entry in March, 2005, seeking a new editor, I volunteered. I thought it might help me write faster!
Well, look what happened. A lot of people seem to enjoy Panbo, and I enjoy creating it. Instant publishing often followed by instant feedback, a chance to break marine electronics news...it's all good. Never mind that some of my family come by Panbo to see what the heck I'm doing, it seems like there are many ways that you and I could make this an outstanding resource for people who make and use marine electronics. In depth product reviews? Forums? A wiki? Co-bloggers? One step at a time.
Support Panbo
Much to my surprise Panbo has become a micro business, supported by advertising and the sponsorship of the two magazines where I am Electronics Editor. Bless them. Companies that want to present their products or services to Panbo readers can either purchase pay-by-the-click ads through Google Adsense or pay-by-the-month ads at BlogAds. Either way you'll get the attention of 40,000+ unique visitors per month. I don't have third party research about who they are but am confident that the regulars (about a third of the total, orange in the diagram above) are a mix of marine electronics professionals and über enthusiasts, in other words folks who influence a lot of buying decisions. And the "first time visitors" are often individuals who are researching a specific product or category with the intent to purchase. Just reading Panbo is free, of course, and will stay that way, but if you feel like the place made your electronics life more fulfilled, or something like that, I'm not shy about gratuities!