THE FULL DETES

UMMMkay. SO.

If you've been following this list for awhile, you know that it was created this for a specific niche of busy creatives who have fabulously discerning tastes who don't always have the time or energy to keep their ears glued to to the ground or their eyeballs glued to social media.

To to pay homage to the OG West Coast king of 2000's rave e-mail blasts, the [[fishn-ess list]], we named it precious-ness list. And I'm pleased to report this list has continued to grow via word of mouth with practically zero advertising with a 60% open rate, which is NUTS - over THREE TIMES the average – so people seem to use it I guess?

BUT -- we came up on an obstacle. The original plan was to have my Ballroom venue write-off all the costs and time involved as a promotional expense. As many of you know, the Ballroom project got cut short unexpectedly when the building changed hands.... so since then, we've been floating it volunteer-style, while we figure out what the EFF to do.

After awhile we came up with two possibilities for moving forward:

OPTION A: Write a grant / get sponsored / invest in building an online system in which approved promoters can upload their own events, allowing for comprehensive listings with sustainably work hours on our end

OR

OPTION B: switch to a paid subscription format and double down on my writing / curation / insider recommendations / investigative / community-building aspects.

I hummed and hawed and even went so far as to submit a successful grant proposal for Option A, but then Resident Advisor rudely dropped THEIR promoter upload tools which were like, all robust and incredibly effective and shit. And THEN I had to take into account the fact that Eventbrite is also doing listings, 604.com is still kicking, and Georgia Straight has even been rebooted. The universe seemed to be speaking to me -- Option B, bish.

NOW my confession is that this is scary for me, since I have actually never earned any direct income from the bazillion things I’ve put online. I started blogging in a time where the infrastructure didn’t exist yet, (honestly, that could very well be the reason I kind of petered out). The only reason I wouldn’t give it a try now would be to stay in my comfort zone, but I hear that’s not great for growth.

SO. This is my offering: I will be your ears. I will be your eyeballs. I will put in my full heart. And along with my cohort in crime, Heather aka Questhe, we will wrap it up in a cute little package positively DRIPPING in sass and pop it directly into your inbox every two weeks.

Here is what we'll be serving in the new version:

1. Subculture Scoop. This is the piece of writing at the top of each issue. Why did Osita on the Drive change it’s name? Whatever happened with the Vault? When the hell did Boiler Room get in kahoots with the very independent local queer, Normie Crew? ETC ETC ETC
2. CP's Top 10 upcoming events hand-picked by me. A shorter list of things I would actually go to or AM actively planning to go to, as opposed to trying to cram in every rave in existence (as mentioned: RA is doing that. We don't need to).
3. Heather's Top Picks - A shorter list of events tailored for the arts ex: festivals, local art/merch drops, exhibitions, workshops, screenings, submission calls, etc. plus maybe another dance-driven event or two that may not have made it into the top 10!
4. Free / By Donation Events
5. Food & Bevvies ex: limited-time pop-ups, dining special events, etc
6. Fam Jams, aka places to party with your littles
7. Actions / Demo options to participate in because, well, you know, shit is fucked
8. Local Music Releases since Meta is failing just as horribly at helping artists promote their music as they are at helping them promote events. For real, feel VERY STRONGLY about this one because making music is really fucking hard and expensive and rad and appreciated and I REALLY want to celebrate our friends who do that.
9. A chance to win tickets to your event of choice in EVERY ISSUE
10. Access to our Up-To-Date Event Calendar so you don’t have to come back to scroll for details, it's all there at a glance!

We’re also going to have a consistent biweekly release date & time. Right now Heather and I usually manage to get this out by sunset on Fridays, but obviously earlier in the day or even Thursday afternoon would make more sense for plan-making.

And at rate of only $3 an issue, we’ll need 100 paying subscribers to keep this going. I feel like we can do it? Nut I honestly have no idea what the response will be like or how hard it will be to make that happen, so I’ve decided to give it until NYE to hit the goal. If we do, we'll keep it going. If not, it might mean time to move the energy into a different project... but I feel like we can make it happen if people are into it.

FAQ:

• Q: Will there still be a free version?
• A: Maybe? Not yet. Not until we get hit 100 subs on the paid version. After that, I've been toying with the ideal of having a free version called Semi-Preciousness (har har) with ONLY my personal top ten events (#2) – no writing, no other categories or calendar access, etc etc.

BUT I don’t want to start that up until we are in the clear to keep going on Precious-ness proper, and /or find one or two perfect-fit sponsors on board to keep a free version sustainable. Until then anything free will be on hold. The paid version, however, will start immediately and comes with the Hallowe'en Edition!

• Q: Can promoters pay to have their event or venue as a top listing?
• A: ONLY if it’s in my list to begin with. The way it’ll work is I’ll make my picks and THEN reach out to those promoters to see if they want to be bumped to the top of the list for a small contribution. That way we aren't susceptible to outside influence.
• Q: How many people are on the list?
• A: I'm reluctant to divulge that number as its ever-changing, but let’s just say I started outs with a personal email list of about 2500 people. Not all of them migrated, but it’s a very decent chunk.
• Q: Can I make an even bigger donation to the list beyond of my sub to acknowledge you & Heather's efforts thus far?
• Aren't you sweet. WHY YES! You absolutely can. You can EMT or Paypal to [ crystalprecious@gmail.com ]. And WE APPRECIATE THAT SO MUCH, wow.
• Q: How do I sign up for the new list???
• A: WHY, with the link below, of course!

preciousness.curated.co/subscribe

(inactive link? please hold tight as it is being activated at this very moment! thank you!)

Crystal Precious