Hello, and to a certain extent, welcome. Thank you for coming. My name is The Honourable Sergeant-Major Professor Lord Sir Elbert Louche, KBE, and it is with great pleasure and moderate smugness that I return again this year to deliver the annual State of the Beans Address.

It is a very different address this year, of course. For social distancing reasons, I am speaking to you from the top of the ornate clock tower that adorns the Beans, with my voice amplified using all the many shouters attached to the corners of the tower. And for you, the audience, this is a drive-in event. I must ask you to please remain within your cars, and choose between either opening your windows slightly for ventilation, or breathing. You cannot do both.

My colleagues and I, working tirelessly at the University of the Internet’s new underground Large Blog Post Collider facility in Switzerland, have once again spent the year analysing activity here on the Beans and I am now ready to present our findings.

The headline news is that 2020 has been a vintage year for the Beans. 118 new posts were made, an increase of 19 on the previous year, and an all-time record for the New Beans. The improvement is thought to be largely due to Chris and Ian continuing their posting rates, and Kev experimentally also making some blog posts, a new idea that should be encouraged. This sharp increase in annual posting numbers can be seen clearly on the following spiky bean-coloured graph.

Numbers of comments have fallen this year, but only marginally: 2020 saw the third highest number of comments since the New Beans began, and while the total was lower than 2018 and 2019, it remains within broadly the same range. The 2020 comment count can be easily compared with previous years on this graph, where each year’s comment count is represented by an attractive obelisk of polished marble.

We now turn to the individual performance of each Beans member.

Ian	Ian wrote 48 blog posts in 2020, one more than the previous year, and a new personal record. He earned a full 12 beans on the Bean Counter for the third consecutive year.
Chris	Chris also wrote 48 new blog posts, matching his record for 2015, 2018 and 2019. He too earned a full 12 beans for the third consecutive year.
Kev	Kev made 22 blog posts in 2020, smashing his previous record of 12 posts in a single year which has stood since 2015. He earned 10 beans, meaning he doubled his bean score this year.

This year’s figures show some incredible leaps forward, particularly on the part of Kev, who has doubled his bean score in a single year. Chris and Ian have continued their long run of full annual scores and the competition between them remains tight, with just one bean separating their totals and no sign of either poster giving any ground.

In light of his achievements this year, Kev has been declared the winner of the Beans in 2020. He has been awarded this beautiful silver trophy in the shape of a prize bull, which is both dignified and also anatomically accurate.

Since Ian and Chris have also done well this year, there will be no punishments to hand out, and both of them have each been awarded two (2) Swizzels Drumstick lollipops. Well done everybody.