Help Going Down Swinging!
It’s Kate here, I started Little Joy. I’m going to talk today about a publication from back home in Australia called Going Down Swinging (GDS). In Melbourne, it’s an institution. They produce beautiful physical editions presented in unique ways, and also publish a world of diverse content digitally. Without publications like GDS, there was no way I could have been so inspired to want to be apart of that world. Here it was in my hands, and maybe you can relate, but I just felt so lucky. We all have certain things in our life that as materialistic as it is, makes us euphoric to have. With a distant admiration I watch them bringing out great content and recognising, as a creative, the work and effort that goes into what they produce. It goes without saying, it’s my aspiration to have Little Joy be half as good, someday, and I keep working with that standard in mind.
However, with funding set to cease in 2015 the future of GDS is in question. Unless, they start to grow their subscribership and audience. It’s pretty basic: they need people to read and subscribe to continue to create produce GDS. So, why should you care? Well, it’s very important to recognise the value of something to society, even if you are yet to enjoy it yourself. Humans are storytellers and the most profound people courageously come forth to share them in whatever form or medium they can. When the audience has an experience - entertainment, sadness, a new perspective or maybe even compassion, the storyteller has turned their experiences or imagination into a tangible way to contribute to the world. This sets GDS up as the middle man; the intermediary between the storyteller and the world. Do you see where I am going? We need them. Maybe you have stories to tell and can relate on that way? Maybe you just like being entertained by the imagination and creativity of others? Regardless, I implore you to at least follow them and bolster some social media support. Perhaps, in experiencing the great content you may like to subscribe.
Another way to help if you just want to throw your weight behind the little guy, is to contribute to the Going Down Swinging Pozible campaign. Please check out the video regardless, it tells the GDS story much better than I. I’ll also include a short note from Geoff Lemon, one of the Editor’s of GDS, that I came across on Facebook and led me to this post. Follow GDS on Facebook, and Twitter.
STORY: For the last five years I've worked on Going Down Swinging. Like anything arty this is like having a hyperactive child who is sporadically brilliant but makes you weep with exhaustion and pisses off everyone you know. We've done some things we're hugely proud of, and we've worked ourselves sick for it.
Despite this, GDS may have to shut down in 2015. Our grant funding was cut a year ago. Income is scarce. Other plans but they take time. To bridge the gap we've launched a campaign. Really we just need subscribers, readers, listeners. Supporters get a lot of value back on rewards.
Before pushing it broadly, it helps to have an existing base of supporters. Strangers are much more likely to back something with good support.
I will love you forever if you can look at the page, hopefully find something you like, and share this post or the Pozible link on your own Facebooks and Twitters and personal flags flown from your limos. The sharing part will help especially.
And thanks for reading, we can’t let this little joy go.