Buzz
On July 1st, 2007, I launched Mytour.com. The idea of a Top 10 Lists website had been on my mind for a long time, and after over a year of planning, I finally went live. My brother Stewart (known as Kiwiboi in the Mytour comments) played a major role in pushing me to go ahead and make it a reality.
Nearly fifteen years have passed, and the world has seen so much change. My personal life, too, has been deeply affected, with nine family members passing in recent years, including Stewart and both my parents, Adam and Lois Frater (who wrote under the name Maman and contributed two lists to the site). My parents were avid readers of the site, familiar with many regular commenters, and spoke about them often. While they didn't engage directly in the comments, their presence was an integral part of the site for me.
As many of you know from various discussions here, I sold Mytour over a year ago to a US-based group. I’m thrilled to now share that this was only a temporary sale, and the site has now found a permanent home with the fantastic team at Ranker.com—a platform I’m sure you're all familiar with. This list is a small collaboration between Ranker and me, giving me a chance to introduce them while sharing a few final thoughts and memories, though I’ll remain here and accessible as always.
10. A Farewell to Friends
I want to begin with a small tribute. Not all friendships in life endure. In 2018, my brother Stewart passed away. He authored '20 Examples Of Why You Should Enjoy Poetry' and was a regular commenter on the site under the username Kiwiboi. He was one of my strongest supporters, and it was his encouragement that led to the creation of Mytour. Over the years, he contributed a tremendous number of comments and was well-liked by everyone. I miss him every day.
We also had to say our final goodbyes to Jesse Cunnington (pictured), who wrote three lists and was an active commenter under the username Trigun472. Jesse, who was just 25 years old when he passed away from cystic fibrosis in 2017, was one of the kindest members of the site. His passing at such a young age is truly heartbreaking. Our Canadian moderator, Mom424 (Judy), traveled to Washington to be with Jesse when she learned of his illness and generously bought him a car to help him get to his medical appointments. I am incredibly proud of Judy for this selfless act of kindness, which gave Jesse a bit of freedom and independence during his final months. I know Judy won’t like me mentioning this publicly, but it’s important to acknowledge. On behalf of all of us here: thank you, Judy.
9. You . . . The Readers
Mytour has always had a steady stream of devoted readers. Many of you prefer to stay in the background, quietly reading, while others are more vocal, commenting regularly on the lists. Whether you're a silent observer or an active participant, your unwavering dedication to the site has brought immense joy to my life and to others as well.
Though we’ve formed lasting friendships here that will forever be part of our online family, many of us have also met in person. In 2013, while in Los Angeles for a meeting with TV executives about a Mytour show, I unexpectedly ran into some of the regulars. What followed was an unforgettable, slightly chaotic evening full of cocktails, and the next morning, I woke up at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills to find a group of Mytour members scattered around the hotel suite floor! Pictured is me with a Mytour fan early in the night.
We've even witnessed Mytour marriages (congratulations, for instance, to Jwjwbean, who I'm sure many of you remember). As for me, I've had two long-term relationships and have now entered into a third (and final one!).
8. The Editors
Since 2007, we've had numerous incredible editors, many of whom took on multiple roles, including writing. To this day, we're fortunate to have the brilliant and exceptionally friendly Darci with us. Additionally, we’ve been supported by Heather, Micah Duke, and Anthony Sfarra. Andrew Handley, who served as social media manager, video maker, and an all-around great guy, has also contributed numerous lists over the years, many of which remain some of my all-time favorites.
We’ve also received substantial help from Colin Jenkins, Josh Sargent, Kier Harris, and the ever-intellectual and all-around great guy Matt Hayes. Matt joined Mytour when we opened our first Wellington office (here’s a picture of Matt’s desk with a beautiful view of our harbor). He played a key role in laying the foundation for the surge in traffic that started when we rolled out the current design for the site.
7. The Crazy Admins
Cyn: Who could ever forget “Cyn The Admin”? Cyn (whose real name is Cynthia) was a lively, fun-loving member of the community and an incredibly enthusiastic moderator. Eventually, she moved on to new opportunities, which I’m sure were even more promising, but she left behind countless fond memories of a truly unforgettable time at Mytour.
Oouchan: If you've been around for a while, you definitely remember Oouchan (Amy). She was as passionate about her moderation as she was about expressing her political views. I don’t know about you, but long before the world started talking about gender spectra, Oouchan was already eagerly sharing her insights about this brave new world of pronouns with me—and with the rest of us.
Patrick Weidinger: Patrick is still a regular commenter and can often be found around the site. He was a quiet yet effective moderator, and it's always a pleasure to see him in the comments. Just like his moderation style, Patrick only speaks when it's truly worth saying, making his words all the more valuable.
Liam: Liam is incredibly sharp, and his comments are always thoughtful and well-reasoned. He’s our most recent moderator, and he’s been an invaluable asset—both on the site and behind the scenes, where he’s helped me tackle various issues.
Mom424: Judy. Mom424 has been a moderator on the site since its early days. She even traveled to New Zealand and spent several weeks staying with me. We had far too many drinks, far too many debates, and endless fun. Having Judy in my life has truly been a blessing. Recently, she's faced some personal challenges, and I wish her nothing but the best. Judy, my door will always be open to you.
A big thank you to all the moderators, both past and present. Your efforts have been invaluable.
6. Me . . . From Where I Am To Where I Go?
I’ve never fully explained why I decided to sell Mytour. As a child, I had an obsession with smells – it runs in the family, with many of us having an acute sense of smell. We’re also all avid thinkers, so naturally, this led to a deep fascination with the psychology of scent and its meaning in our world. You’d be surprised to know that there are entire books dedicated to studying the psychology behind smell.
A few years into running Mytour, I found myself experimenting with perfume-making as a hobby. I gathered chemicals, read extensively, and spent countless hours perfecting my own blends. Soon, family members started wearing some of my creations. By 2020, I decided to take the plunge and start my own perfume brand: Frater Perfumes. I made the choice to sell Mytour so I could devote myself fully to this new venture.
I now have twelve perfumes that are nearly ready for release, with the final stages of maturation underway. In about a month, I’ll begin bottling them for sale. If you’re interested in following my perfume journey, you can visit Frater.com and sign up for updates. I’ll be offering international shipping.
If you need to reach me, feel free to email me at [email protected]. I’ve opted out of personal social media accounts (it’s much easier to keep your sanity that way!),
And rest assured, I’ll still be around on Mytour, reading the comments and the writing. Who knows, I might even submit a list or two for Ranker to consider publishing! What a twist of fate!
But now, let's get to the main event. Without further delay, I’m excited to introduce the team at Ranker.com!
5. Hello! We Are Ranker. It’s a Pleasure To Meet You
We appreciate the opportunity, Jamie, to introduce ourselves! We are Ranker, a list-making site based in Los Angeles, CA, and we have a passion for ranking all sorts of things. Some of you may already know us (we even see some familiar names among the Mytour writers). For those who don’t yet, we look forward to getting to know each other better in the coming months.
4. Like Jamie, Our Founder, Clark Benson, Has A Longstanding Love Of Lists
Clark is a list man and serious music nerd. He created Ranker in 2009 as an alternative to user reviews available on ecommerce sites, and although it ended up becoming mostly pop culture focused, it’s grown in the intervening decade to cover topics ranging from to The Values Of Sitcom Homes If They Were On The Market Today to The Oldest Foods Ever Discovered By Archaeologists, Ranked By How Disgusting They Would Be To Eat. Our editorial staff is constantly searching for the next satisfying thing that we can list-ify and that our readers can vote on.
3. We’re So Excited To Team Up With Mytour!
Clark’s been a longtime fan of Mytour, watching what you all and Jamie have created from his own perch on the Internet since your early days. As Clark put it himself: “I have been a fan of Mytour for years. I respect the quality of their content, yet I am just as impressed by the passion and meaningful interaction of their audience. This combination of excellent writing and a loyal fanbase make this brand a perfect fit under the expanding Ranker network.”
Our editorial staff has already been having a ball familiarizing itself with your content. Since we’re votes-driven, we don’t really get the same kind of author-driven perspectives that your lists offer, and we’ve been enjoying the personality that comes with so much of what Mytour publishes. Together, the Ranker and Mytour libraries provide complementary content that can keep a reader traveling down a rabbithole until they reach the the center of the earth, travel through it, and keep on reading to the other side – a nonsensical metaphor but probably a reading experience a lot of us can relate to.
We’re excited to share the best of what we've created with you and, in return, showcase the incredible work you've shared with our audience. Here's to plenty of happy reading in our shared future.
2. Please Be Patient With Us As We Transition Things Over
If you're a writer for Mytour, we kindly ask for your patience as we transition everything into our new system. We're committed to making the process as smooth as possible, so if anything seems off or you run into any issues, don't hesitate to reach out!
1. We’re Here For All Things History, Creepy, Nerdy, Crimey, And Pop Culture-y
In many ways, the lists we create at Ranker aren't so different from those of Mytour. We explore strange historical events, fan theories, real-life crimes—both solved and unsolved—celebrity culture, and honestly, so much more that it’s hard to even list it all.
One key distinction you'll observe between our lists and those on Mytour is that we don’t rely on a comments section for our readers to interact with the content. Instead, we prefer that readers directly vote on and rank the items in the lists we create. If you disagree with an item, feel free to vote it down! If you think we've nailed it, vote it up! Ranker's ultimate goal is to provide comprehensive, definitive, crowdsourced rankings of... well, everything. We want to showcase the best of what Ranker offers to the Mytour community, and we invite you to dive into our lists, casting your votes to help create the most accurate rankings possible.
