One Million flakes made per year sounds like a HUGE SUCCESS...unless you were making Two Million flakes before!
Check out the fascinating charts below and get the FULL PICTURE of what's really going on at SnowDays these days~



 
 

FLAKE #
  
DATE
  
TIME
1000000
...a...
Apr04/05
...a...
NA
2000000
...b...
Jan11/06
...b...
9 months
3000000
...c...
Nov29/06
...c...
10 months
4000000
...d...
Dec23/06
...d...
1 month
5000000
...e...
Nov03/07
...e...
11 months
6000000
...f...
Jan11/08
...f...
2 months
7000000
...g...
Nov21/08
...g...
10 months
8000000
...h...
Feb21/09
...h...
3 months
9000000
...i...
Dec17/09
...i...
10 months
10000000
...j...
Dec13/10
...j...
12 months
11000000
...k...
Jan13/12
...k...
13 months
ABOVE
DATE:  The date that the millionth-marker flake was created on.
TIME: The approX time that passed since the previous millionth.
________________________________________________________

BELOW
An eXplanation of what is going on during these times & dates.

...a...
A version of SnowDays first appears on the web December 12th/2002. In its 1st year, SnowDays gets approX 80,000 flakes made, but it takes only a total of 2 years and a few months for the very first million-marker flake to be created on April 4th/2005.  Quite an accomplishment!  This is due, in part, to the first "real" Christmas rush at the site in the last part of 2004.
...b...
It takes only 9 more months for the neXt millionth flake to be created.  Although SnowDays now has a group of dedicated "pioneer flakers" at the site, the majority of the flakes are once again created in the Christmas rush of 2005, resulting in flake 2000000 being created in January 2006.
...c...
Ten months later sees the creation of the 3 millionth flake.  What's amazing about this flake is that it is created BEFORE the end of the 2006 Christmas rush, meaning the majority of these million flakes were created during the year, and NOT just at Christmas.  This is the first time this has ever happened at SnowDays.
...d...
What the heck?!  In only 3 weeks another million flakes are created at SnowDays!  This is due to the insanely "popular" FLAKE-a-THON that Popular Front ran on the Slopes for the Xmas season of 2006.  The premise was: the more flakes made, the more money that would be donated to the Salvation Army.  Word spread about this like wildfire, and linX appeared all over the web pointing to SnowDays!  This amazing promotion saw $5000.00 being donated to the Salvation Army!
...e...
It takes another 11 months before the neXt millionth-marker flake is created, but once again, it appears BEFORE the Xmas rush of 2007.  Once again, a million flakes are created during the year outside of the busy holiday season.
...f...
Then the very busy holiday season of 2007 hits the Slopes.  Amazingly, it only takes another 2 months for the neXt million flakes to be made, this time with no promoting from PF!  The previous year's promotion, as well as MisterX.ca's vigorous promoting of the site, have really made a huge difference in "Flakeville"!
...g...
10 months later, flake #7000000 is made on Nov.21/2008.  AGAIN, before the Xmas rush!
...h...
Then, ONCE AGAIN after the rush and only 3 months later, flake 8 million arrives!  A pattern has emerged.  A million flakes are being made during the year, then another million arrive during the busy Christmas season.
...i...
Well, ALMOST like clockwork, 10 months later the 9 millionth flake arrives.  What should be noted here though is that it arrives on December 17th, well into the Xmas rush of 2009.  When should it have arrived?  According to previous years, it should have come at LEAST one month earlier in early to mid November.  Why so late?  Because in the summer of 2009 the "new" SnowDays was implemented, and Flakeville lost dozens of "regular" flakers because of it.
...j...
According to the chart above, it should have taken another 3 to 4 months for the neXt millionth flake to appear, but instead it takes a FULL YEAR, with flake number 10 million not arriving until Dec.13th/2010.  The remaining Xmas rush numbers from 2009 PLUS the partial Xmas rush numbers from 2010 were needed to create these million flakes.
...k...
As I type this, it is Christmas Eve and the 11 millionth flake is yet to be created.  It is only days away though and I have "guesstimated" the date in the chart above to be December 27th/2011.  This will be the VERY FIRST TIME EVER, since the creation of flake number 1 million, that it has taken OVER ONE YEAR to make a million flakes at SnowDays.

UPDATE! January 12th/2012
Wow, the 11 millionth flake STILL hasn't arrived, but it looks as though it will indeed arrive tomorrow (January 13th/2012)  Amazingly, the year of 2011 SAW NO MILLION MARKER FLAKES MADE.  The last year this happened was way back in 2004!

WHAT IT ALL MEANS
Well, it's simple really. SnowDays' popularity is in SERIOUS decline.
So much so that there are literally HALF the flakes being made there
now compared to just a couple of years ago.  Boil this information for
a while and let it simmer....that means that SnowDays' new changes
have resulted in:  ONE MILLION LESS FLAKES MADE PER YEAR!!!

Ouch!

"X"
Dec.24th/2011

MORE ABOUT THE DECLINING NUMBERS AT SNOWDAYS CAN BE READ HERE IN PART ONE.