As 2011 comes to a close, all of us at TourChats are excited to see our upcoming shows filling up with guests. We return from our holiday break on January 8 with our 2012 season preview panel and Nicola Cranmer, founder and manager of Peanut Butter & Co.TWENTY12 team.

Thanks for all the feedback on the logo design. You may have noticed the new logo popping up on Twitter, Facebook and TourChats.com. We decide to go simple with our logo and we'll mix it up with other ideas in the t-shirt and swag designs. 

Our Kickstarter Backer rewards are in the works and on schedule for delivery in January as promised. Here's a look at the t-shirt and coaster for Backers. 

Wishing you all a safe and happy new year!

The party started at TourChats HQ this morning when the pledges hit and passed the $3,000 mark! We're going into the last 24 hours in full celebration mode and decided to add a few new options for anyone who wants to join the party.

If you are going to be headed here to Greenville, SC for the USA Pro Cycling National Championships but won't be able to join us for the bike ride, you have new options.

$120 - VIP AFTER PARTY 
For those who want the dinner without the bike ride (iPad/laptop sleeve not included)

$160 - MEDIA CAR
 For those who want the dinner without the bike ride but still want an iPad or laptop sleeve.

A big thank you to all our Backers! The infamous chat squirrels are about to start knitting those t-shirts!

While we haven't thrown our hands up in a premature victory salute, we are getting that exited feeling when you are nearing the finish line and realize how much of a gap you have on the peloton. Kickstarter is now counting down by hours instead of days as we enter our final weekend of the campaign. The support both in terms of pledges and help spreading the word has been a confirmation of what we hoped - cycling fans are enjoying spending their Sunday nights with us (or whenever they sneak in the podcast during the week).

Launching a campaign on Kickstarter.com is an all-or-nothing venture, so we've held off on pursuing any schwag designing and producing expenses. However, with the finish line so nearly in our grasp we couldn't resist getting a head start on designing the logo. Our friend and fellow cyclist, Catherine James, is working with our Producer/Creative Director Pamela on the design. We thought you might enjoy getting a sneak peek and giving us some feedback.

Favorite quotes from our live shows usually show up first in the chat room and then it is fun to see them see them appear in the Twitter stream as the show is going on. We are starting to collect these show quotes to use in our Backer reward designs. Vote for your favorites and help us add more!

Also, we are excited to announce that we are being featured on the Vokle.com blog! We've been consistently ranked between #15-19 in their Staff Picks. Our goal is to see our cycling show in the top nine! Read the Vokle post here.