So I’m a little late in getting this out but I couldn’t let the new year roll in without talking about how we’ve managed to make it into a third calendar year here at WERRRK.com, albeit with a little nip here and little tuck there. Okay, so a name change and a complete website overhaul might qualify as a more than a little nip and tuck but you get my gist.
If 2014 was the year of establishing who we were as a website, 2015 was the year of growing who we are as a website. Obviously, our biggest new addition was the creation of the Miss NotSafe4Werk.com 2015 Online Drag Pageant. The Miss NS4W was a gigantic success for us on numerous levels as it created unprecedented interest in our website. We managed to do have more views in the two months of the competition, than we had in the previous six months combined. We also managed to form some new relationships with other companies such as Astroglide and UBN radio as well as strengthen existing relationships such as our partnerships with Corset Connection and BookTheFilm and we were very proud of the sponsorships and the prize package that we put together for the pageant. In addition to that, we managed to form relationships with eleven extraordinary young drag queens, including our very deserving winner, Boxxa Vine. You can expect to see many of them as a part of the WERRRK.com family in the coming year. The efforts that these amazing performers put forth wowed us every week and set the bar extremely high for next year’s competitors.
I guess that answers the question of will we be doing another pageant. That’s an unequivocal yes! We have already had several queens contact us to express their interest in applying, With the name change of our site, we have yet to decide on what the official name of the pageant will be this year so stay tuned for that but I am able to make a very exciting announcement today. Atomic Cosmetics will be joining as a pageant sponsor for next year and will be making an amazing contribution to our prize package. Dr. Jen will be creating and selling a lipstick named after the winner of the 2016 pageant! Now you will be able to serve pageant winner realness on your lips!
2015 also welcomed new contributors to the WERRRK.com universe, two members of Drag Coven, Courtney (Conquering the World with….. interview series) and Jamie (Elimination Transformation video series), joined the mix, Jenn Witek became our East Coast Photographer and from across the Atlantic, Emily Meow (The Week In Drag weekly column plus UK interviews) became our new UK correspondent. bolstering the best team in drag journalism in the world. Expect to see more guest contributors both our own site and on our growing YouTube channel (Don’t miss a single video, subscribe here!). Besides the recently debuted “Truth or Dare with Ari Ola”, there are more video series to come including “Behind the Seams with Shirley U. Jest”, an in-depth look at the cost and the struggle to follow your passions to be a drag queen in New York City! Look for that and more new video series in 2016!
2015 was the year of the first ever DragCon and our team was there to bring you some of the best coverage on the web! Sidney did an amazing job interviewing some of your favorite queens and Drag Racers (check out the videos here!) while Kaddie O’Keefe of Gunslinger Photography did a bang up job photographing the event for us (here and here!)! Expect even more coverage of DragCon from us this year and keep an eye out for announcements to come about it!
Our Year End Awards grew exponentially this year as well. Despite trimming down the number of categories, we actually received a few thousand more votes than we did last year, buoyed in part by an incredible response to our new awards; the Drag Horizon Award (winner Phaedra Phaded), the Bio Queen of the Year (winner Miss Kat Sass) and the Drag Photographer of the Year (winner Maddelynn Hatter). The response we got to our nominees from the Windy City has led us to decide that in 2016, we will be adding a contributor dedicated solely to covering Chicago and we will be adding the Queen of Chicago award this year as well.
I have one more big announcement to make about our plans for 2016. This coming Spring, we will be holding an online pageant for bio queens, the biggest online event ever for this burgeoning art form! Be sure you’re LIKING us on Facebook (here) and FOLLOWING us on Twitter (here) so you don’t miss a single announcement of this exciting new event!
As always, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the amazing work of the team here at WERRRK.com that did amazing work all year! Poppy, Sidney, Sister Indica, Spencer, Panda and the rest of the contributors had another amazing year and I look forward to another year of Coffee Corners, Sidney vs the Weeks, Pure Pandamoniums, Haute Seconds and Sister Indica Says and much more from the best team in the business.
And finally, I need to thank you the readers of WERRRK.com for the incredible support you’ve shown us. Our goal this year and every day is to earn your clicks. If you want to support us and help us grow, please use your social currency and tell people about us, share an article you like, retweet some content. It all helps and is greatly appreciated!
We’re looking forward to a big 2016 and hope that you will be here for the journey with us. From our family to yours, have a happy, healthy and successful 2016!
