Slowlane.com, RIP?

As we get closer to the convention, it looks like there will be one ritual missing: the annual rallying of the technologically savvy to help out with the re-launch of Slowlane.com, which remains the king of the at-home dad sites (according to Google) despite going years (three years? four years? more?) since being updated. Part of the problem has been Slowlane's ambition. There are thousands of hand-coded pages there, containing all sorts of interesting nuggets, and an overhaul would have required fishing out all that wonderful content and hammering it into a new architecture.

Every year since I started going to the convention, Jay Massey, the guy behind Slowlane, has asked for help from convention-goers, and every year he's had volunteers. But the challenges of coordinating the project often meant nothing got done. Last year looked to be the exception. A bright group of guys got together, did some top-notch planning and even began getting the technical details lined up. But around March, that effort evaporated, too, as far as I could tell. (I don't hold this against anyone. We all have a lot of balls in the air, and many of the Slowlane volunteers ended up leading the effort to save the convention, for which they deserve an incredible amount of credit.)

As of right now, Jay isn't registered for the convention, and I fear that without him, the ball won't get rolling again. Though I'm happy with the way my site has evolved, it is not -- and will not be -- a one-stop shop for all things AHD. Slowlane.com was that resource, and I'd love to see it restored to its former glory. The community could really use it ...