Though he’s a world-class photographer and writer, Fred Delforge is best known for developing his website, www.zicazic.com, 15 years ago as a portal to promote all forms of blues and other musical styles to his European audience. His site includes new reviews of more than 750 CDs and more than 400 live reports every year from volunteers around the world who attend festivals, the IBC, the BMAs, and the European Blues Challenge, and who report daily activity. From a modest 1,000 visitors a month when the site began, it grew to 30,000 four years later and then to 100,000 at its peak. Then seven years ago Delforge created a new team for ZicaZic, which now includes 15 photographers, writers, and web engineers. In addition to being a writer and photographer for his site, Delforge has been a member of the European Blues Union board of directors for four years. In 2011 Delforge and others co-founded France Blues, and with the ZicaZic team he tried to create a website as efficient as possible for this new association. After only one year, the site boasted more than 20,000 visitors a month; after four years, it reached 65,000 a month.
