theartsdesk is a UK-based group of journalists and photographers who saw what was happening in the shrinking print-based press and decided they had to take the bull by the horns and go it on their own. They have their "mother superior" in the form of dance critic Ismene Brown, and there are about 40 contributors (called "Deskers") arranged in teams (called "Hubs") who manage the site's content and Google Apps-powered calendars for the various artforms.

3B were suggested to theartsdesk via another 3B client, English National Ballet (ballet.org.uk). theartsdesk liked the fact that 3B understood the arts world, had a strong interest in music (we LOVE live music!) and theatre (Alex and I have both worked backstage at the Palace Theatre in London, and I often stage manage a mad show at Glastonbury Festival, called Twisted Cabaret). We were opinionated about the ways the journalists could develop the site away from static print mimicry into a more dynamic and interactive web format. We share the same experimental attitude to the site development as the journalists, and there was a mutual exchange of ideas that enabled the site to be unusually elegant in a traditional sense and also pioneering in its usability. The relationship is ongoing and continues to spring surprises on both sides!

The site has received some fantastic feedback and recognition - BBC Radio 5 nominated it alongside Google Streetmaps and Spotify as one of the top 5 essential sites of 2009! The Telegraph Online voted it as the number 4 in their selection of the best cultural websites, and the Independent put it among the top 25 music websites. Particularly gratifying though was the reception we received from Joomlaworks when we launched the site built with their K2 component - the screengrab still sits at the top of their article about K2 sites that stand out.

The site receives 5000 visitors per day, predominantly within the UK (75%), followed by the USA (11%). 62% come via the search engines, and it's always fascinating to see which reviews are trending each week. I think these stats are quite impressive given that nothing has been spent on marketing, and the only ongoing SEO is done onsite by the journalists with the simple tools that JCE editor makes so easy.