The Pipeline Angel Club Update

Effective today, Aug. 3, we are discontinuing The Pipeline Angel Club. :(

Eight months and over 20 weekly issues ago, in the dead of winter when I was walking around and nearly bear hugged the first member when he said 'yes' almost immediately to supporting a local e-newsletter he told me he'd been reading and thought it was a full-time chamber project before I replied that the chamber is a relatively small weekly advertiser and not an umbrella funder.

Thus, in that impromptu conversation, the first member joined the spontaneously created club, and then a few others, receiving the same level of coverage and visibility for "as long as I continue to do the pipeline" for the amount that newer advertisers pay for a single week of advertising.

Good ideas are often not the same as sustainable ones.

As a result, and due to reader feedback initiated design changes, and because we hope that the angels know we are making these changes so that The Pipeline can still be around another few months from now, we are going to be linking to the angels because the space where that banner was (see this issue for an example) must be occupied by a banner ad or a more sustainable source of sponsorship to support the many hours invested into each issue. We lost advertising support from the chamber in the June 6th issue and decided to continue because we love this kind of work and because we believe the information in each issue is of use to the community of readers we serve. Maybe not all of it, but perhaps a few bits here and there that make someone smile or news on a new garden or shop or sale that they wouldn't have otherwise know about.

People ask me if I am a "volunteer," which depending on my mood and the time I put into this thing at the expense of having little time for much else sometimes wants to make me jump off the nearest foreclosed building (no shortage of those these days!), so no, we're not "volunteer," but we do a lot of cheer leading for our fellow indie underdogs and in return hope and pray that they are getting some business and awareness as a result of giving us some business.

Some experts who are quoted in articles about the economy say that small businesses are the backbone of our nation's economy. While I can't speak for the nation, I can only attest to the power and influence small businesses and community groups located on five streets in one neighborhood in a city of six million people have played in keeping The Pipeline alive. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News from Angels will always be greeted warmly aka we open their emails, and we will try as we always do, to link to news and events from those who have supported our creative engine at some point during our continued development. Perhaps each week we will give a special shout out to one of the Angels in the 'About Us' box, which we also slimmed down and moved elsewhere based on feedback, so it wasn't just the angels that got booted off the right-hand column island.

Maybe we named them angels so that they would forgive us?

Sponsored News:
Angel Club Listings:

CopyMax, 1321 N. Milw, 773-252-6200: Self, and full-service copying, computer rental & repair, mailbox service, business cards.

Odd Obsession Movies, 1822 N. Milw., 773-276-0894:
Foreign, indie, classic, rare, and out-of-circulation titles on DVD and VHS, and a cinephile cat.

Sterling Goss, 1845 N. Oakley, (773) 342-7100: Prime cuts of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Poultry, Cheeses, sandwiches, catering, etc.

Pot Pan Thai, 1362 N. Milw., 773-862-6990: Dine-in & delivery, recipient of the National Food Institute's "The Pride of Thailand" Certificate of Excellence.

Piano Lessons with Gary Marks, 773-208-3636

DreamBox Foto Studio, 2415 W. North, 773-292-0419: Portraits, headshots, special event, studio and location photography by Iwona Biedermann.

Gallery Cafe, 1760 W. North, 773-252-8228:Roasting all coffee in-house, recognized by Delta magazine in 2008. Food, local art, and free wi-fi.

Division Gold, 2112 W. Division, 773-292-9600: Pawn shop serving Wicker Park for 14 years, buying gold, silver, offering unique selection.


COLORI Eco Paint Boutique, 2243 W. North, 773-252-4923: Explore color therapy with a limitless color palette. Just say 'no' to VoCs!