DSC_0128Hard to believe, but this week marks the ninth anniversary of the Connecticut Employment Law Blog.

I’m pretty sure that’s 72 years old in “blog” years.  Or dog years. I forget which one.

Coincidentally, this week I stumbled across an old information sheet I filled out for LexBlog (my blog hosting company) in the summer of 2007 with my goals and vision for the blog.  I was asked to write about the “subject and purpose of the blog”.

Here’s what I wrote:

This blog will focus on new and noteworthy developments in the labor & employment law field in Connecticut.  While, at times, it may comment on national employment law topics that may be of interest to Connecticut audience, it will address employment law topics that may be of interest for employers in Connecticut.

The purpose of the blog is educate and inform individuals in the state, while providing a platform for  a discussion of new and noteworthy cases, decisions or statutes.  It will address federal and Connecticut laws, and will highlight decisions that discuss certain areas.

It will address wage & hour decisions, at-will employment employment, discrimination and harassment, and labor relations. While not providing specific advice, it may provide general commentary to employers on topics of interest, particularly to in-house employment lawyers, labor relations professionals and human resources personnel.

I have to say — nine years (and many hundreds of blog posts) later and I think this holds up very well! Nice to know I’ve remained true to my original vision.

Of course, in the interests of full disclosure and just in case you think I was doing this purely for unselfish reasons, I indicated that a “secondary” purpose of the blog was “to increase my exposure and profile in Connecticut.”

I’m very comfortable in acknowledging that has happened too.  (Thanks Google search!)

In the last week, I’ve gotten multiple e-mails from respected attorneys in the state (on both sides of litigation) thanking me for continuing to write. I love those e-mails.

Of course, I’ve also received such e-mails in the last week that said “Useful analysis! For my two cents , people are wanting a AZ CRF2M1 , my colleagues saw a blank form here!” And this classic e-mail, “firsttly thanks to all valuable information great post.nice post dfftheevege ssasup, opsappsmo”.

Ah, spam e-mail — don’t ever change.

And so, this post ultimately is nothing more than a sincere thank you post.

Thank you for continuing to read. Thank you for continuing to encourage me to write.

And a big thank you to my current law firm, Shipman & Goodwin, for being so supportive. And a thank you to my former colleagues who put up with my blogging when it was still this big unknown.

Finally, a thanks to my wife who has politely managed my endless droning on about the blog with a “uh-huh” more times than I can count.

Let’s say we continue on to a big ten year celebration next year and see where we go from there?

(If you really want to see something scary, check out this interview with Lexblog from December 2007 too.)