Annual report of TunnelTalk activity
Dec 2012
Shani Wallis, Publisher
- As the year closes, TunnelTalk is fulfilling another highly successful period of activity. It has been our busiest and most productive year and all indicators show the greatest degree of growth month-on-month.
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Table 1. Readership doubled to nearly 225,000 unique visitors and more than 12.5 million hits in 2012
Key: Unique visitors (orange); number of visits (yellow); number of hits (light blue); number of pages (dark blue) and bandwidth of connections (green)
- Through the year we were present with busy conference stands at WTC in Bangkok in May and the NAT in Indianapolis in June and had stands also at the Salzburg Colloquy in October and at the conference in Dubrovnik in April. We will have met many of our readers and advertisers at each and certainly attracted new readers and advertisers at each.
- Traffic statistics for TunnelTalk record a doubling of readers and visitors from January to December (Table 1). Unique visitors, i.e. those that visit the site for the first time each month, has grown from about 11,000 in January to more than 25,000 in November and with December set to surpass the November record. Visits are now more than 50,000 per month and the number of hits now more than 1.5 million per month and more than 12.5 million for the year.
- As well as readers in the USA, Canada, UK, across Europe, in Australia, Singapore and South Africa etc, there are also large numbers of readers in Russia, China, Japan, Brazil, India, Iraq, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, and Myanmar, Azerbaijan, Albania, Guatemala, Bhutan, Bostwana, and Montenegro are among the 190 countries and territories listed on the record.
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Table 2. TunnelTalk content
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Archive
Job Opportunities
Dairy Dates
Procurement
Career Moves
Equipment Sales
Directory
Current Content
Index
- The most popular stories through the year included new of new mega projects planned in the Middle east and South America as well as stories that caused us as an industry to examine again our safety record, both during construction of underground facilities and once these come into operation.
- The most popular pages of the site included our Archive page through which content of any kind can be searched, followed by Job Opportunities, Diary Dates. All follow the lead of our Index and Current Content pages that are the portals to the site's rapidly expanding archive of both articles and video reports (Table 2).
- Through the year, the distribution list of our free weekly Alert has increased month-on-month to almost 5,000. Every reader on the distribution list has signed up to receive the weekly Alert with his/her own IP address. On the signup page, we ask readers to identify their category of profession and their country of current employment (Table 3). Records show a breakdown that included a broad representation of the industry from clients to contractors, consultants, suppliers and educators with others signing up as 'TBM operator'; 'Interested retired citizen'; 'Parents of someone on a leading project'; and 'Insurance underwriter'. Signing up to receive our weekly Alert is free of charge, as is access to the website. Everyone with an interest is welcome.
Another source of traffic to the magazine is our set of social media accounts. Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and our YouTube channel continue to expand the network and share the TunnelTalk content with new sources of interest. Linkedin in particular has created a following for TunnelTalk that now numbers in the thousands. The RSS feed and forwarding the link of articles, news stories and video reports of interest to your circle of colleagues also expands the readership. Harness the power of the social networks to spread the news and keep your colleagues informed. 
Table 3. Sign up to receive our weekly Alert of new content (left); examples of our Alert database
Breakdown by profession: Client 12%; Consultant 30%; Contractor 25%; Manufacturers, Service and Materials Suppliers 20%; Educators 10%; Other 3%
- At all the conferences and meetings that we attended during the year, we had with us for free distribution copies of our printed Annual Review. Composed of articles and news stories of all the content first published on the website through the year, the Annual Review has established itself a much appreciated place within the industry. One printed product that brings together the highlights and events that marked the year in tunnelling history and progress. With copies of the 2010 and 2011 publications available, the Annual Review for 2012 is currently in production for wide early distribution at the BAUMA trade fair in Munich in April and for further distribution at the WTC in Geneva in May/June and the RETC in Washington DC in June.
All the industry highlights in one comprehensive print product
- As well as taking advantage of various eye-catching and hotlinked advertisements on the website and Alert, marketing managers within the industry appreciate the Annual Review vehicle in which a single ad works the full year and to delegates at all the major conferences and events of the year. Back issues of the Annual Review are also taken with us to conference events, which add to the advertising exposure.
- Through the year, the growth of the business has been made possible by the team that produces TunnelTalk. A big thank you to each in recognition of their efforts:
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- Please Contact Us to gather further information about TunnelTalk and our activities. We look forward to meeting our readers, supporters and advertisers during 2013 and to maintaining efforts to grow further and expand our services to the industry.
- Shani Wallis, Publisher
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