Category Archives: From the Stationmaster

So while you were enjoying the weekend…

Morris Avenue building collapse

Workers sift through the debris of 1809 Morris Avenue’s rear wall Monday morning. Photo credit: Bob Farley/f8photo

One of the more surprising stories was the collapse of the rear of 1809 Morris Avenue in the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured in the collapse, which occurred directly across the street from downtown Birmingham’s Central Station.

Here are accounts from The Birmingham News and CBS 42.

Since we’ve spent most of the day beginning to test drive a new section of the site, we’ll make sure we make up for it in tonight’s last car. You may also want to keep your eyes peeled if you’re our friend on MySpace or Facebook about beta-testing for us beginning this evening. So if you want to do that, sign on up.

Your regularly scheduled “A Look Back”…

…has been delayed due to technical problems. Those folks waiting for John and the other folks regular morning post – just stay tuned. We’ll post it as soon as service is restored.

Some of you visiting the front page this morning may also be wondering just where the traffic is this morning. Keep on scrolling and you should find it (otherwise the Terminal elves have some explaining to do).

From the Stationmaster: So you want to meet our staff, huh?

The Terminal's staff page

Screenshot of the top of our staff page.

We’ve been promising for months now that we’d put up a page that would let you see and learn a little more about the folks behind the scenes here at The Terminal. We really wanted to do it because we knew that many of you still didn’t believe that it wasn’t just me changing names every once in a while.

Well, just in time so you know who’s who at tonight’s Holiday Get Together, we’ve finally posted an almost complete list of our current volunteer staff. There are more names that will be added in the coming weeks, so check back often as we get ready for 2008.

Plus – as promised to folks in this week’s newsletter – here’s a little note from me giving you an idea of what to expect as 2008 starts up in just 11 days…

UPDATE: So, about our t-shirts…

UPDATE: 4.18.2008, 9 p.m., We figured it was time to let you know that we actually have started selling t-shirts in house…Click here to learn more about it. UPDATE: 12.18.2007, 10 a.m., After some discussions with our supplier, we’ve decided to hold off on launching our new store until mid-January. They have assured me that anyone that orders any of the shirts currently available will receive them within 7 business days. While that may not necessarily get you a shirt in time for Christmas Day, you can extend the giving season through those twelve days of Christmas…This is also where I remind you that black short-sleeve Terminal Ts are currently available at Highlands Trading Company in Five Points South and beginning today at Java and Jams downtown (20th Street near 4th Avenue North). The price will be between $18 – $20 a piece.


We just found out that some of you that ordered Terminal Ts have not received them. We have just learned of the problem and apologize profusely (yes, I just used the word profusely in a blog post). I’m aware that you’ve been refunded your payments; if you haven’t, please let me know. If you are still interested in purchasing a t-shirt to show your love for Birmingham’s hub for conversation (especially during these final days of the holiday season), I’ve got two possible solutions. I’ll have some black t-shirts with me on Thursday over at Bottletree if you’re interested for $15 a piece. Your second option is to visit our new online store tomorrow morning and pick up a shirt there (though it will cost a little more).If you’re wanting a shirt in a different color (including, starting tomorrow, orange) , a long sleeve shirt, or just want to see what else we came up with to put the logo on, the online store may be the better option. Plus, if you’re interested in getting those items as Christmas gifts, there’s still time to order them and have them arrive. 

Introducing the express

The Express - iContactCommunity screenshot

Screenshot of  the first edition of the express. Courtesy of The Terminal’s iContactCommunity page. 

the express, The Terminal’s weekly newsletter, made its debut in inboxes throughout metro Birmingham and the world yesterday afternoon. The weekly email gives subscribers a chance to know some of what’s going on behind the scenes of Birmingham’s hub for conversation while occasionally giving you a heads up about happenings around town.

We’ve made subscribing for this service very easy; we’re simply asking that you use the box that is currently in the middle column of our front page. If you missed the first one coming into your box, you’ll be happy to know that we’re currently operating as a beta tester for iContactCommunity – here’s our profile. This service allows you to not only see the html edition of the publication, it lets you comment on the piece, vote for it, pass it along to friends and of course, provide another spot for you to subscribe.

Sign up, test it out, and let us know what you think. We’ll have some more announcements in the coming days.

From the Stationmaster: Do you Twitter?

We’ve already been a-Twitter for a little over a month now using the popular microblogging service to help us get the word out. Now we figured we’d take a page out of The New York Times’ playbook and provide some additional feeds for you to follow.

The Terminal now has Twitter feeds for all of the sections of the site. If you already have a Twitter account, just click on the URL of the section that you want to follow.

If you don’t have an account, just create one and then find us. This service also allows you to know when we post while you’re on the road or allows you to follow us using your instant messaging program (AOL IM, MySpace, Yahoo!, etc.), Facebook, or your mobile device (cell phone, PDA, etc.)! We hope you enjoy this additional way to follow your hub for conversation.

Enjoy the ride!

From the Stationmaster: What type of mayor do you want?

Just a couple of things for this Wednesday afternoon:

A reminder that you can win tickets to the Junior Patrons Pompeii Preview Gala courtesy of your hub for information! For those that tried earlier today and got frustrated; yes, we fixed the problem on our end that was making it a little difficult to register. It’s all better now.

Check out this editorial asking us to think about the characteristics our next mayor should have instead of the issues over on my Birmingham. Some interesting food for thought as we wind down the general election portion of this year’s mayoral race. Especially as the issues are making it tougher to evaluate the individuals as fairly as we’d like to.

Enjoy the ride!