Happy Birthday on Empire Avenue

It's been a fierce discussion between the staff, with people on Twitter and others on Facebook. When is the first year anniversary for Empire Avenue? Was it our incorporation date (September 29th), our launch to 250 Friends and Family (February 23rd), our "Reset" of the system to launch the final Market Maker system (April 28th) or our actual launch of the site to the public (July 28th)?

Well, in all honesty we can only have one date and yes, we've been extremely careful on how we've rolled out Empire Avenue (as can be seen by the plethora of dates above)... and we'll write about a lot of our learnings here and in other places over the coming weeks. When it comes to an anniversary, there really is only one. Until February 23rd 2010, even those of us in the company thought of Empire Avenue as a "lark", a little bit of "fun" in a "year off work". I can honestly say now that personally my "year off work" has become the busiest of my life and promises to kick into yet another higher gear this year (not just for me but everyone at Empire Avenue).

Over the next month, you are about to see some dramatic changes and additions to the world and brand of Empire Avenue, but before you start to worry (for those on the site), no we won't be changing share price calculations (outside of adding more connections) and we won't be wholesale changing user interfaces on the main www site. We will be introducing new features, new additions, streamlining old stuff and cleaning up the UI and user experience as much as possible. Obviously, as with all change, we expect you to be vocal, it's why we believe we have one of the most dynamic, cool and fun startup communities. As always our goal is to create a better Empire Avenue, one that reaches the entire world.

Because many of the changes are additive (not subtractive) and many of it will be rolled out on our site slowly (like we are doing with the new Bankers and new Stats), we'll announce each feature and change as it becomes ready and is launched. This is to prevent expectations being dashed as we take our time to polish, test and launch things properly.

Now, onto the fun. From February 22 onwards, many of the original user accounts will reach one year on Empire Avenue. Many of those accounts have amassed millions! Here's what's going to happen: You will start receiving One-Year Anniversary Achievements. However, we're adding a twist... Purchases of accounts that are a year old will be commission-free for the 24 hours after reaching that one year anniversary, after all it's their Birthday on the Avenue! This will be the case for all accounts that hit one year on Empire Avenue going forward, it isn't limited to those who started at the very beggining. Start planning for your Empire Avenue Birthday now!

So Happy Birthday on Empire Avenue. Thanks for being along for the ride! Knowing what's happening on the inside, believe me when I say, that ride is only just beginning!