Four years ago today, I launched my website that would eventually become Matridox. I always wanted to be one of the tech nerds on the internet and get to play with cool gadgets for a living. It’s what I love and I’m incredibly blessed that I get to do it each and every day. I’ve told the origin story of this website in past anniversary posts so I won’t repeat myself here. Just know that over time, Matridox has gotten better and better. I even managed to get to Vegas for CES 2019. That was incredible.
Anyway, today marks four years since Matridox launched. That means it’s our birthday, and as always, we’re giving you guys the gifts. And boy do we have quite the present table this year! Typically, to mark a four-year anniversary, you’d give someone linen, silk, or flowers. But we’re not doing that. We’re doing something completely different, starting with Project Spotlight.
Project Spotlight
As I mentioned earlier, I managed to get myself and my partner (shoutout Greg!) to Las Vegas to cover CES 2019. I was selected as one of CES’ inaugural Trailblazers which is a program that gives up-and-coming journalists the opportunity to cover the biggest technology conference on planet Earth. It was an incredible experience.
As I hopped on my plane home, I had plenty of things going through my head. First off, I was amazed at the incredible experience I just had. I’d never flown on a plane before, I’ve never been to the west coast, and I never had so much fun in my entire life. But at the same time, I was feeling inspired. I wanted to do something big so I could help the next round of up-and-coming journalists and creators get the exposure they deserve. After sitting on this idea for six months, I’m proud to finally announce Project Spotlight.
Project Spotlight is my way to highlight smaller creators on a regular basis. I’ve had guest contributions from plenty of smaller names in the tech space who told me they were thrilled and honored to write for Matridox. Every time I get one of these compliments, I think to myself, “What if I gave more people this same opportunity?” As a result, I’ve created this initiative.
Starting Monday, August 5th, I’ll be taking submissions from smaller creators from across the World Wide Web. If you think you have what it takes, send in a couple examples of your work. It can be in writing, a video, photography – whatever you want! It just has to be tech-related. If you’re selected as a Spotlight Creator for Matridox, I’ll set you up your very own profile on Matridox that you can use to publish your work. I’ll be proofing everything before it goes out, so you’ll even get to see what it’s like to work with an editor at an actual technology news outlet. Cool, right?
But that’s not even the best part. For Project Spotlight, I’ve partnered with none other than Juan Carlos Bagnell and his own initiative, Glowing Rectangles. In case you’re unfamiliar, Glowing Rectangles is a Reddit community where smaller creators highlight their work among their peers. I wanted to launch Spotlight with him and his project because I feel that we’re after the same thing: giving smaller names a bigger voice. If you wanna stay in touch with other Spotlight Creators and everyone else, you should definitely join that community.
Oh yeah, there’s another pretty big part to Project Spotlight. If you become one, you’ll be joining the ranks of other well-known creators. At launch, we’ll have Juan Carlos Bagnell, TK Bay, and Gabe Carey as Spotlight Creators. They’ll each have their own permanent profile on Matridox where they can publish their own work. Expect that content to ramp up closer to Spotlight’s launch date.
One last thing: I may or may not be working with a certain organization to give a certain group of people their own profiles on Matridox. I won’t say anything further until I see how it rides out, but things look promising. Let me just say this: hopefully, this part of Project Spotlight launches in January 2020 in Las Vegas.
So that’s Project Spotlight which I’m super excited about. But there are a couple of other reasons to celebrate Matridox’s big fourth birthday.
A New Look (with Dark Mode!)
This year, we’re taking Matridox to the next level with a fresh site design that’s all about keeping things simple in order to focus on the content at hand. You’ll notice new menus, new animations, new styling – basically, everything is new besides the logo.
That’s not even the best part. The best part is the fact that Matridox now comes with dark mode. Now, in darker situations, you can flick a toggle to enable a much more pleasant user interface that won’t blind your eyes at night. You’re welcome, world.
Giveaway!
The last thing we’re announcing today is a giveaway. I love giveaways and I know Lenovo loves partnering with us on them. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce we’re giving away a Yoga Book C930 to one lucky reader! All you have to do is enter by using this form. You can come back every day and get an additional entry if you really wanna win. Entries close August 4th and the winner will be selected on the 5th. Good luck!
P.S. I should have my Yoga Book C930 review up in the very near future! Stay tuned!
For a fourth-anniversary celebration, all of this news is pretty awesome. You’ve got Project Spotlight that will deliver even more content to your social feeds, a fresh design that makes Matridox look even more appealing to read (especially at night!), and a free Yoga Book C930 if you’re lucky enough.
As I do every year, I’d like to say thank you to our incredibly loyal readers. Without you guys, none of this would be possible. I still have plenty of stuff planned for the future so be sure to stay tuned. Until then, thanks again and enjoy this special day!
Salute!
Max Buondonno, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Matridox
