The real secret sauce here at Cape Cod Wave is that we chose you, our readers, because you are so smart.
We thank you for putting Cape Cod Wave on your reading list and we encourage you to ask your friends and relatives – but not your enemies, because we don’t like them either – to join the coolest, smartest, and nicest people on Cape Cod – the readers of Cape Cod Wave.
How do we know our readers are the best? Because you have good taste in stories.
The Facebook “Like” button has spoken, as have our Google Analytics. Since May 16, we have covered stories from Bourne to Provincetown. We’ve loved all the stories we’ve done. That’s why we wrote them.
But our readers seem to have preferred some over others. We did a deep analysis using an abacus and an algorithm to figure out which stories received the most Facebook likes, Tweets, emails, carrier pigeon deliveries, and smoke signals.
And it turns out that you picked some winners.
To prove our point, check out what you, our brilliant readers, liked most this year.
1) The Casino Wharf FX and Social Media 101: “Tangled Up In Boo”–An Essay: Brian noticed a social media whirl around this story last July and decided to tackle it the Cape Cod Wave way—by interviewing everyone he could get a hold of. This was our biggest story of 2013 with 884 Facebook shares.
2) Big Church: That mega church being constructed on Route 151 has gotten a lot of media coverage lately, but Cape Cod Wave was the first to write about it, way back in July. The story went around the world and back. Seems people are interested in churches. Who knew?
3) Cape Cod Music and the Joy of Being Originally Alive—An Essay: Brian’s white whale this year was this story about Cape Cod musicians who play original music. The story grew and grew until he had created a monster—whales and monsters!–but turns out, it was worth it because it was our third biggest story of the year.
4) Can the Historic Nimrod Be Saved? The Rockets’ Red Glare, An Essay: Brian’s essays seem to get people’s attention. He wrote this one after hearing that the historic Nimrod building was being torn down by a developer. There were hearings and committees formed and voices raised. After all was said and done, the developer agreed to save a piece of the building. But a piece of Falmouth’s history will be replaced with another mixed use development.
Penikese
5) Penikese Rising—Island School Reopening with New Mission: We heard that Penikese School was bought out by an organization that would change the mission to help boys with substance abuse and mental health issues, rather than just boys in juvenile detention centers. Brian traveled over to the island, an hour’s boat ride from Woods Hole, and he wrote the first major coverage of this story. The state has delayed permitting the facility though, so it hasn’t opened yet.
6) A Billboard on Wheels in Provincetown: While wandering around on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Brian ran across Scarbie, who with his three-foot hats and pink bicycle is one of the most well-known drag queens on Commercial Street. Boy, does this story have legs!
Anne Van Vleck, Executive Director of CCYP: “We want to get the facts and data and then come up with an action plan.”
7) Young Professionals Want to Shape the Cape’s Future: Again, Brian went after the big story of how the Cape Cod Young Professionals (CCYP) are looking to keep other young people on Cape Cod. Numerous interviews later, he had a big story.
8) MBL Scientists Vote to Join with UChicago: As a news magazine as opposed to a newspaper, Cape Cod Wave never intended to break any news stories, but sometimes we just couldn’t help ourselves. We were the first to report this historic vote when MBL trustees voted to align with the University of Chicago. Since we were the first to report it and scientists associated with both institutions live all over the world, we enjoyed seeing this story get spread hither and yonder.
The spin zone.
9) Falmouth Real Estate—“The Turbine Effect”: When we started Cape Cod Wave last May, we decided to dive headfirst into the Falmouth turbine controversy. At Brian’s suggestion, Laura wrote a story on what the turbines were doing to real estate values in town and people were, shall we say, quite interested.
10) Nauset Surf ‘N Music Festival Celebrates A Culture: Nothing like a joyous summer music festival to get people sharing—Facebook sharing that is—and this story clearly struck a chord.
