As I ponder the 13th anniversary of the launch of OnMilwaukee.com today, I've spent the afternoon going through old files on my computer. Screen shots, mockups, holiday party photos, half-baked business plans and even the agenda we used to pitch our eventual investors for our first round of funding.

As usual, I sent some of this around the office, and after the bursts of laughter died down in the sales office, Caroline McDonald came out and said, "People actually gave you clowns money?"

Indeed, it's been a long, fun, weird and wild road since we started the company on a cocktail napkin at Emperor of China in March 1998, then spent all summer refining it. Of course, the "final" product on launch day was more than a little rough around the edges. But remember, this was was long time ago, and we were amateurs in the truest sense. To say we were flying by the seat of our pants is an understatement.

But let's not talk about the past. Let's talk about the future. On the business end, it's been a great year for OnMilwaukee.com, and we're projecting 2011 to be the best ever. Readership and revenue is up, but so is quantity and quality of content. For the first time ever, I feel like we've become that finely-tuned machine I always knew we had in us.

And then, this spring, our colleague, Tim Cuprisin, was diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer. Suddenly, none of this mattered so much. As we sat in a closed-door meeting and he told us that it's incurable – though hopefully treatable – I choked back tears as I told our staff that the rules had suddenly changed. Deadlines will come and go. Allotted sick days are irrelevant. We would all need to pick up his slack while he began treatment, but our readers and advertisers would all survive if we could rally around our friend, our colleague and in many ways, the veteran journalist to whom we turn when we have a question about news judgement. (Tim has the best.)

When a handful of us visited him in the hospital when things temporarily got really bad, well, let's just say it's a moment in my company's history I'll never forget.

Tim hates to talk about himself, but he's hanging in there, and even though he's under no pressure from us, he still meets his deadlines. And, when I missed last week recouping from back surgery, he sent me a text saying he was thinking about me. All I have is a sore back, not life-threatening cancer. I'm not worthy of his sympathy, but I appreciate it, nonetheless.

What I'm saying is that this group of almost 20 dedicated Milwaukeeans who work with me at OnMilwaukee.com is a special bunch. None of them stop working when they head home for the day, and they toil, sometimes anonymously, to move this business forward and make Milwaukee a better place. In our own small way, I believe we have accomplished what's printed on the back of our business cards:

"Making new media great media. Moving Milwaukee forward."

Speaking of new media, in the last year, a few members of the "old media" lowered their cannons on us and tried to launch their "OnMilwaukee.com killers." Guess what? Our traffic, revenue and reputation only went up. I won't get into financials, but I'll say this: it still amazes me that 350,000 unique visitors grace our pages every month. That's a lot of Milwaukeeans.

Which isn't to say we're resting on our laurels. Our design and programming team is in a never-ending state of redesign to not just stay current but stay ahead of the curve. Our writers have weeks of unique content in the queue, and our sales and support staff are opening doors that have previously been locked shut. My business partner Jeff and I do all we can to keep this ship pointed in the right direction, but this entrepreneurial staff knows there's no passing the buck. Every single one of us plays a vital role.

So I'm excited as we enter our 14th year of operations. Those old files remind me that we're operating in an entirely different space than we were in 1998, but it's just as exciting. Maybe more. We have new projects, partnerships and innovations up our sleeves. And we still have fun every single day. Well, almost every day.

Finally, thanks to our readers, without whom this ship would be sunk. Love us or hate us, we appreciate your daily visits and support and never take you for granted (even when you tell us we suck). We know you have an increasing number of online alternatives these days, and we're thrilled you make us part of your routine.

So happy 13th anniversary, OnMilwaukee.com. On behalf of Jeff and me, as well as our entire team, we're honored to continue to carve out our space in the Milwaukee media landscape. Thank you, Milwaukee, for having us.