By Dave Warner

Right about Thanksgiving, I start thinking about what I want to do differently for the new year. At first, I look at all of the ‘hanging chads’ and try to clean them up. You know, the leftover projects that you promised to finish but never did?

That could be anything from cleaning the basement to finishing that video you’ve been working on for six months.

Then, there are all my ‘to-do’ notes lying around. I scratch off anything I know I will never get to, then consolidate all the notes.

That’s when the real thinking starts – what do I want to change? What do I need to change? What do I want to accomplish in 2025?

Many people don’t know that it’s The Creative Outpost, our 501(c)3, that handles MyLittleFalls.com (our website), the Mohawk Valley Express (our print newspaper), Little Falls Presence (our gift shop), Studio 25 (our studio), the My Little Falls streaming Country Music Radio Station, and a host of other entities’ websites and activities, including our intern program, which puts many young people to work learning broadcasting, live streaming, and other media-related skills.

My Little Falls has been the most visible face of the non-profit for more than seven years, but it has grown significantly from the initial idea of replacing the Evening Times that we lost here in the Little Falls/Dolgeville area. More communities along the Valley felt like they weren’t getting the coverage they needed, so between myself and a couple of stringers, we tried to stretch further over the last year or more.

We’ve actually been covering from the Nelliston/Fort Plain area to Frankfort. Most of it has been press releases, obituaries, and other items sent to us. We just haven’t had the staff to cover much. In January, though, we’ve taken the leap and hired someone part-time to expand our coverage.

But the name – My Little Falls – doesn’t fit the fact that we’re covering so much territory. So, we’re rebranding our digital product, which will be called The Daily Post. Most people (once we explained where it came from) get it. When you put something online, you’re ‘posting’ it, and at My Little Falls, one of the things that has grown the audience to what it is today is that we try to post something every day. It might be a recipe, classifieds, an obituary, or even local road work.

The name change will be immediate, but you’ll be able to find us the same way you always have in your search.

We’re also going to add premium content to the website, which will go behind a paywall. It won’t be expensive – we’re looking at probably $30 a year for full access. We’re talking some longer documentaries and feature rich articles that will roll out over the year. Most content, will remain free.

In 2024, we hit some serious traffic milestones to our website. Well over one million stories read, and over 400,000 unique visitors. In 2025, we plan to give those people more to read, listen to and watch. Stay tuned…it’s going to be a fun ride.