"Prom 2002-" Missourian Web Site hottest spot in town

Southeast MissourianThe Southeast Missourian Web site - www.semissourian.com - is the hottest spot in town this week.

"Prom 2002," a network of prom photographs from Cape Girardeau Central, Notre Dame and Jackson High School is attracting a record number of visitors to the site, said Jon Rust, co-president of Rust Communications.

"This is the highest number of hits ever experienced on the site," said Rust. "Interest in the prom pictures is huge."

Three times as many people checked the site Tuesday as they did on September 11, another previous high point, said Rust. "All together, semissourian.com registered more than 400,000 hits and nearly 80,000 page views on Tuesday. It's on pace for well over 1 million hits for the week."

While students danced the night away, Missourian photographers snapped away, taking 50 to 60 photographs at each prom.

Traffic on Monday night, "just after we posted the prom pictures," and Wednesday, even though the site was down for a few hours early in the morning because of a storm, were also near-records, Rust said. The traffic continued to set records throughout Thursday, he added.

"Clearly, students, parents and the general public are enjoying looking at the exceptional photographs of activities at the proms."

Because of requests, The Southeast Missourian is offering to post photographs from other proms. People just need to e-mail them to webmaster@semissourian.com or mail them to: Prom Photos, semissourian.com, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701.

"Unfortunately, we won't be able to mail them back, but we'll keep them in a box for people to reclaim (no guarantees, though)," said Rust. "Cape, Notre Dame, and Jackson students and parents can also send more photos to be posted online."

The prom site is made possible by the support of Schnuck's and Michael Tanner's furniture, said Rust.