The Month in Review - August 2024
Civic Capacity completes another month of daily publishing
August - Finding Our Stride
For the second consecutive month, this publication was able to keep up a grueling daily schedule of publishing informative and interesting stories about those actions that are taking place in our communities here throughout Miami County.
As you may know, the original goal was to come up with an original analysis every three days. But, as we did this work, it became quickly apparent from the feedback from our readers and the work being done in our communities, that there was an opening for something more — something daily. In the early days, our readers were willing to invest four or five minutes a day to learn something new about their community (or a nearby community) and the notebook I have always seemed to hold more ideas than the other third day scheduled allowed.
I threw the schedule away and went to work on delivering content that was timely and relevant. It just so happened, in August, there was literally something happening every day worth sharing, or a timely topic that deserves a little more context to help explain. We have worked hard to trim down the length of our articles to make them easier to read, and this publication is slowly finding a unique voice that reflects and represents our residents throughout the county.
As much as I might be the one producing and creating this publication, this is certainly by no means a “one man show”. There are scores of folks that have invested time, money, suggestions, and perhaps most importantly, encouragement, into this endeavor. This continues to underscore the fact that Civic Capacity is a community-based project. If things weren’t happening in our community, if people weren’t interacting, there wouldn’t be much to write about. That is why your support as either a free or contributing subscriber to this project is critical!
The Big Story
This past month’s most read story was a piece comparing Troy and Piqua and how the two communities try to engage citizens in developing transformational place making projects. This article was written right after Piqua’s brand new Lock Nine Park was open to the public. Lock Nine was a long time coming and while the project had multiple challenges, the new park can be seen as a testament to public engagement.
Civic Capacity: Inside the Numbers
Throughout the month, our publication was growing. Our free subscriber list grew at a 1% clip, right now 1,482 people are now receiving this newsletter when a new edition drops. Those generous individuals who make a financial contribution to our effort grew by 5% — Thank You Supporters!
If you have not become a paid subscriber to our effort, please consider it. With your paid subscription, you have access to all back issues of our newsletter and access to our paid-subscriber chat and the opportunity to comment on all our posts!
Our publication also had 31,641 separate views throughout the month; each day nearly 1,000 views of our work occurred, which means more and more individuals are finding value in this project and that is heartwarming! This actually a pretty impressive number. From what I have learned, efforts like this usually have a pretty hard slog in the Summer, so to see our readership remain strong in the face of other distractions, like vacations, national politics and the Summer Olympics, is pretty impressive.
Have Your Say!
If you have a contribution you want to make to Civic Capacity, please let us know! Whether it is a guest editorial, a letter to the editor or a column you wish to contribute, we would be happy to publish your ideas and your insights.
Unlike traditional media sources, you aren’t limited to word counts, nor will your ideas be stuck behind a paywall. We believe in the free exchange of ideas and welcome your contributions. Send your ideas to: william.lutz17@gmail.com.
A New Way to Support this Work!
If there is one thing I have learned over the past fourteen months, it is that our readers absolutely love the work being done here. There is a strong core of readers that can’t wait for the latest edition of this newsletter, and I get comments all the time that they love learning about their hometown, regardless of what town that is. Many of those readers want an option to support this work without signing up for a subscription.
Well, this publication is now listed on “Buy Me A Coffee”. Which is absolutely hilarious, because I don’t drink the stuff. However, the “Buy Me A Coffee” platform allows readers like you to put a few shekels in the pockets of “digital creators” like myself, in a one-off manner, without the hassle of a subscription.
But, I have had a few readers that want to know more about the platform works. Well, here is a quick rundown.
When you click the button below:
You will be transported to the Civic Capacity page on the “Buy Me A Coffee” platform. From there, you can choose to buy 1 coffee, 3 coffees or 5 coffees at a cost of $5 per coffee. Click on your level of support and a pop-up window will come up for you to enter your debit or credit card information and that’s it! You can also leave your name and leave a nice note. It’s a new way to support this effort and while I won’t purchase a coffee, I will certainly purchase a nice refreshing glass of iced tea, which is much more my style.
Of course, if you want to sign up for an annual subscription of $50, that would be helpful as well. Through your subscription, you are keeping local news and analysis free for everyone. Unlike other local publications, Civic Capacity doesn’t have annoying paywalls or monthly article limits. This newsletter has carved out a place as being one of the few places where residents can get fair and honest analysis of the decisions being made in our local communities. Your subscriptions help keep that work moving forward.