Today marks the one year anniversary of me being on Mahalo.com.

I heard about Mahalo from Leo Laporte.  He had this guy named Jason Calacanis on his show, TWiT, last year.  Jason mentioned that he started up a new company called Mahalo.com (meaning Thank You).  So, as a good Leo follower I went over to the Mahalo.com site and checked it out.  At first I was skeptical of what Jason and his Mahalo.com crew were trying to do… So, I jumped right back off.

Well, time marched on and I really didn’t do much with Mahalo.com for about a month.  Then… Jason was on TWiT again.  He mentioned that he may give away a MacBook Air for anyone who submits the most recommended links to Mahalo.com.  Well, as you may have guessed I jumped on to that train as quick as I could.  Within no time I was #1 on Mahalo.com with the most recommended links!  YAY me.  Either way, if you haven’t guessed by now, I didn’t win the MacBook Air.  Jason decided NOT to give one away.  I wasn’t to happy.  Oh well, water under the bridge.

Mahalo.com is still one of my most favorite sites and I am still a MAJOR Jason fan (I just wish he would get back on UStream.tv)…

Mahalo.com and Jason have changed my online life more than anything I have ever done on the Internet.  It has made me blog more, it has made me more social and has introduced me to a lot of good people on the web (i.e. Lon Harris, Sean Percival and many many others!!

Mahalo.com and Jason also introduced me Steve Gillmor of NewsGang and Gillmor Gang… for which I am forever grateful!

Now… Mahalo.com has gone through some major changes over the past year.  Everything from changing hosting providers to completely changing the home page.  Also, Jason has had to make drastic changes in his staff and don’t forget we lost Veronica Belmont to Tekzilla of Revison 3.  Mind you, we now have the lovely and talented Leah D’Emilio.  Yes, MahaloDaily.com had some major changes too.  Mahalo VLOGIdol was a crazy month of trying to get a new host.   Finally after much debate Leah became the new host.  Along side Lon Harris they have created some great video for the web!!

Well, that is my story for the past year… I would like to thank Jason Calacanis and his wonderful staff at Mahalo.com.  I hope the next year is just as exciting.

Jason Calacanis is probably the smartest human on earth!

He created a company called Mahalo.com - The Human Power Search Engine, where you can do re-search.  At this company/site, you can search for all types of information (from Paris Hotels to iPhones).  You will get a well defined - curated page with accurate links and a short (well thought out) Guide Note.

Mahalo also has an VLOG called MahaloDaily.com.  This site began right after Mahalo came on to the Internet scene.  It was hosted by Veronica Belmont.  Veronica came from CNET and she brought a ton of followers.  MahaloDaily.com did very well with her at the helm.  Veronica (as most of you may know) moved on to Tekzilla with Patrick Norton.  This was a good move to her, since she did haven’t to travel as much.

Well, as you may have guessed, Mahalo needed a new host for MahaloDaily.com…  So, about two months ago, Jason Calacanis opened up his UStream.tv account and told the Internet that he was in search of a new host for MahaloDaily.com.  Well (yes I said well again), that started a series of events that took a boat load people out to sea, dropped off about 88 of them and came back to shore where there was a bunch of happy, crazy and angry people.  What I am trying to say is… that for the past two months Jason and the Mahalo team have given the followers of Mahalo and MahaloDaily.com a very bumpy ride!

To see the happiness, craziness and angry-ness, check out these sites (make sure you read the comments):

http://mahalo.com/Mahalo_Idol

http://www.mahalodaily.com/

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/jason-calacanis

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mahalo

http://www.andydesoto.com/web-culture/mahalo-vlog-idol-a-success-or-failure/
Mahalo Vlog Idol: a success or failure?
Author: Andy DeSoto

Ok… now that the history lesson is over…

So, here we are today.  After much suspense, Jason and the Mahalo team have finally picked a new host…. Leah D’Emilio  along with Lon Harris.  Also, Jason stated that Andrea Rene will stay on as a correspondent.  We wish her all the best!!

Now, if you made it this far in to the post and your not completely bored.  The next section is what I really wanted to say…

BTW… if you haven’t already figured it out, I suck at writing and I say “so”, “well” and “…” a lot.  It’s just my writing style, sorry.

Moving on… why did Jason and the Mahalo team go about picking a new host for MahaloDaily.com this way???  Well, that is a good question!  One reason (in my opinion), PEOPLE.  Jason wants people (or the P.C. thing to say is, community).  But, why?  Well, I think he will do anything to get people to come to Mahalo.  I know all of this a quite obvious and you are probably wondering why I am babbling on about it…  Well, I truly think that Jason has a good heart and he really wants to stand behind what Mahalo is trying to do… “We’re here to help.“.  I think he is community driven and doing this Mahalo VLOG Idol, The Bachelon, Episode 1 and The Mapprentice, Episode 1 were just a way to get people in the door at Mahalo.com.  Don’t get me wrong, I know producing these shows and working with people’s schedules is a nightmare.  However, all of the drama and the “who is going to be kicked off” reality show style episodes, did nothing but bring more people to Mahalo.  You know, I don’t work for Mahalo and I don’t know what type of traffic Mahalo got during this contest; however, I do know that the comments on the VLOG Idol blogs were a flurry!

I guess my point is… (yes, after making you wait this long, sorry)… Jason and the Mahalo team are on a mission and since it is to help and they need people to give that help too (and make a few dollars along the way ).  They just need to make the boat ride more fun next time and maybe they can keep it to a three hour tour instead

Mahalo

Larry