Laughing Squid
 | |
| Company type | Blog, Web hosting service |
|---|---|
| Founded | San Francisco, California on November 16, 1995 |
| Founder | Scott Beale |
| Headquarters | |
| Website | laughingsquid.com |
Laughing Squid is a blog featuring items of art, culture, and technology, as well as a web hosting company[1] based out of New York City, New York.[2]
History
The company itself was founded on November 16, 1995[3] in San Francisco, California as a film and video production company by Scott Beale, producing documentaries, including Alonso G. Smith, A Half Century of Social Surrealism[4] about San Francisco Bay Area surrealist painter Alonso Smith and You’d Better Watch Out: Portland Santacon ’96[5] about the SantaCon event in Portland, OR organized by the San Francisco Cacophony Society in 1996.
In 1996 Laughing Squid launched The Squid List, a San Francisco Bay Area art and culture events calendar and email list that is still in existence.[6]
In 1998 Laughing Squid launched a web hosting company Laughing Squid Web Hosting.
In 2000 Laughing Squid became an LLC with John Law and David Klass joining as partners.
The blog launched in 2003.[7]
Laughing Squid sponsored the back of Frank Chu's sign from 2009 to 2013.[8]
In 2010 the company moved its headquarters to New York City, New York.
Philosophy and impact
Laughing Squid's main goal is to report, document and inform the public about important events, projects and people in the field of art, technology and science.
Gizmodo sees Laughing Squid as one of the 25 most viral media enterprises, commenting: "Scott Beale's events tracker the SquidList gave birth to his Laughing Squid web hosting business. Which gave birth to his weblog. Which gave birth to his Tumblr and Twitter—all of which breathed life into thousands of obscure stories that otherwise would have fallen soundlessly in digital forests. Today the smiling cephalopod is basically his own media empire".[9]
According to Quantcast, over 1.4 million people worldwide visit the site each month.[10]
Team
The Laughing Squid blog is run by founder Scott Beale, who is Publisher and Editor-In-Chief. He is joined by Senior Contributing Writers Lori Dorn, Justin Page and Glen Tickle.
Awards
- 2011 Webby Award (for Laughing Squid's role as one of the best cultural blogs on the Internet)[11]
References
- ^ Hover Stories: "Scott Beale from Laughing Squid", April 8 2015
- ^ Laughing Squid page: "What is Laughing Squid?"
- ^ "Scott Beale on 15 years of Laughing Squid (Q&A)". CNET. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ^ "Alonso G. Smith: A Half Century of Social Surrealism". Alonso G. Smith website.
- ^ "You'd Better Watch Out: Portland Santacon '96". Santarchy & Santacon website.
- ^ Marech, Rona (2 June 2000). "Squid Inc. / E-mail list publicizes underground arts scene". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ "Bay Blogger Thursday". SFist. Retrieved 3 March 2005.
- ^ "Infamous eccentric Frank Chu explains the 12 galaxies". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
- ^ Gizmodo: "Meet the 25 Most Viral People on the Internet", 12/14/11
- ^ "laughingsquid.com's audience profile on Quantcast".
- ^ "People's Voice Winner: Blog - Cultural". The Webby Awards.