I missed a couple of weeks in order to avoid offering version 1.13. I'm not superstitious, exactly.

In that time, we had a very successful Recruiting Roadshow in Minneapolis. Special Thanks to Jason Davis, Dave Mendoza, Maren Hogan, Steven Rothberg, Jason Buss, Paul DeBettignies, Kelly Wackerfuss, Don Ramer, Josh Kahn, Toby Dayton and George LaRocque. Paul DeBettigne's mom made a special guest appearance. One of the featured speakers was the former editor and CEO of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

It's 080808. Today, 6,000 Chinese couples are getting married to take advantage of the auspicious date. The Olympics start today. The date was picked for its inherent good fortune.

That's the thing about numbers. They help further understanding. Repeatedly measuring the same thing helps one develop perspective. Some numbers are auspicious. Some are data points. Some are sources of wisdom.

Not all measures are inherently meaningful. Certainly, some measures are vastly more significant than others. Sunrise, Sunset? What's measured there? But oral body temperature is a significant piece of information. If yours ever goes over 110, it's too late.

On the other hand, if I predict the sunrise at 6:21 and my watch says 6:25 when it happens, who cares? Knowing the approximate time of the Sunrise is very helpful if you're a bird watcher. It's useless if you want to predict the next high tide.

There's a rule of thumb known as the 1/10/89 rule (or the 89 rule for short). It means that for every 100 members of an online forum (like RBC), 1 will create content, 10 will interact with that content and 89 will watch the interaction unfold.

The July - August vacation season usually means slow growth in online properties. Ballgames, barbeques, bazaars and boating grab our attention. Work ends a little earlier. Jason Davis takes his annual RV tour around the great north. Things just slow down.

Compare these numbers with mid-July (in V1.12)

• New Video: 10 Growth = 0%
• Blog Postings: 103 Growth = -5%
• Members: 11,551 Total, Growth = 3%

Expect to be surprised by August.

Jim Durbin is starting to emerge in our community. He is a strong voice and a useful addition. Jason Buss is knocking me out. Susan Burns is practically inventing the place.

Did you catch the new newsfeed? Another Jason Davis invention makes good. For much of the week, it seemed to be all that I could see.

Until next week....if you see something noteworthy, please let me know.

Oh, you might want to check out johnsumser.com