With the arrival of Spring, we're receiving lots of emails and are aware of summer events in various people's pipelines. Thanks for letting us know. We are glad to see so much happening!
We will do our best to include the events that we believe will be a good fit for our readership, beginning with the April 5 issue which will be more informative and less whiny in scope than previous issues of late. (I am making a goal to stop whining. It's wasted energy when my mind can be applied to action. Thanks to my day job's building security guard, Officer Jim, for the always spot-on wisdom/therapy en route to my cube. Jim's wife is a killer cook too. Check out what he ate for breakfast yesterday
on his wife's blog)
And, whom, might one ask, are our readers exactly? Based on what we know-- interactions with readers, personally adding them to our email list-- the people who read the pipeline are the kind of folks that don't like living in the dark about their neighborhood. They want to stay informed of what's going on. They want to know about all the new businesses as well as see props to the old-time businesses now and then. They usually buy property here, or are invested as long time renters and not planning to leave anytime soon. Schools are a concern, along with crime, safety, and general upkeep, i.e. gardening. They enjoy seeing and experiencing all the neighborhood has to offer in the form of restaurants, shopping, art and theatre opportunities, yet usually do not go far out of their way to explore unless there's a compelling reason. Some are at home with young children and often a trip to the park is a big deal. While they might like music, they are not as keyed into the local concert scene as many of the younger and more transient residents are, but they do like to be made of aware of interesting shows as well as restaurants and cafes that might offer live music now and then.
As for reading, they likely prefer Chicago magazine over Time Out, and maybe even the NYT over the Trib, though they at least read one or both to some extent. When they pick up the Onion, they always laugh. But sometimes they forget to pick up the Onion, or they just wait until their friends post the best Onion stories on Facebook. They would be more likely to own Jettas, Camrys, Scions, and BMWs rather than SUVs and Chryslers. Some don't own cars at all and are proud walkers, public transit commuters, or cyclists, and might have a cab company or two programmed into their phones. When it comes to supporting local businesses, these are the kind of people who can tell you who the proprietors are at their favorite local toy or clothing shop, and often times they will share recommendations among their friends and social networks. Most are tech savvy and read news and the Pipeline over mobile devices, based on visits to our static url, and while many readers are on our email list, many others catch the Pipeline through social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
Anecdotal evidence supports the social media element of our readership, aka I was at physical therapy at Athletico on Thursday morning when a woman walked in and said to my therapist, who is also her therapist, that she saw Mary's picture on the Internet. It turned out that the woman reads the Pipeline over Twitter,
through @peacelovegoat, the Bucktown Community Organization's Twitter stream.
Which brings us to our next tidbit about readers of Pipeline.
When readers find something informative, they will share it. We are grateful to readers for helping us to get the word out on the pipeline. SInce we are just one person, and with a full-time job to boot, spreading the word by our lonesome would be impossible. Thus, it is only because so many readers have shared news in the pipeline, or contributed to the pipeline, or helped to sponsor the pipeline, that we are able to exist.
Thus, our readership is the only reason we exist. We don't take this support lightly and are always striving to improve the pipeline. Our most immediate concern is good design. We lack it. We know it. We'll try to get better in this design dept, or find someone with better design skills than us, which is pretty much everyone else on the planet.
And finally, I guess I'd just like to say thanks to so many random people who read the pipeline and give us words of encouragement and support. Yesterday I snapped a pic of a family at the park, and when I told them where it was going, this neighborhood thing called the pipeline, they replied that they already read it and are on my list.
April 6, 2011 will mark our two-year anniversary.
Not all relationships are perfect, but we're glad to still be here and are excited about the future. Now, if we can only find more hours in the day to cover the 'hood... but no more whining, I promised Jim, in the bright yellow coat at the bottom of this photo montage, that I'd find the time to chill out.
"At the rate you're going, you're going to have a nervous breakdown," Jim warned me.
"But what if I don't want to have a breakdown?" I replied, adding,"Or is that the kind of thing you just can't control when it happens?"
We determined you can't pick and choose your breakdowns, and the whole point of them is that they just happen, usually when you have no time for them.
Speaking of time, there's lots I could be blogging about right now, or photo editing, or meeting with two people who requested meetings today, but I should call a friend now about brunch. Sunday should be about relaxation as well as work. And before I go to meetings I should find a way to get laundry and cleaning done too today. And paying bills. And returning phone calls. And physical therapy exercises. And saying hello to my niece...
Yikes I'm whining again.
NO MAS.
Time to celebrate another day of living.
