This week, in lieu of a midweek newsletter, I am launching the Flyover Politics Discord server.
This week, I’m launching Flyover Politics, a Discord community for people in the Midwest to talk hot dish, Wisconsin old-fashioneds, and local politics.
The community is for paying members of this newsletter. And I’ll be partnering with other newsletters as well to build the community. One of my early partners is Adam Wren of Importantville.
If you are a newsletter writer based in the Midwest and you want to join forces, let me know.
Also, if you are a journalist in the Midwest and you want in, send me an email letting me know where you work, and I’ll let you join for free.
What Is Discord?
Discord is basically one giant chat room for adults. It’s Slack, but your boss isn’t there. It’s Reddit but actually private. It’s like the comment section of this newsletter, but something we can update in real time.
There are side channels, which are essentially just chat rooms, where we can discuss everything from gas station pizza to gubernatorial races. We can create channels based on popular topics. And also, there is a channel for my readers, and as we add other newsletters, they’ll have their own channels too.
Discord has been around a while, but it was pretty new to me and I’ve been playing around with it for a couple months now. If you want a very good in-depth look at Discord, here is a YouTube tutorial that I found helpful.
What Is the Point?
As this newsletter grows, the community is growing, and I’ve long dreamed of having a place on the internet where we can gather and talk about the issues and stories that are affecting us in flyover territory.
I’d love this to be a place where we share links, frustrations, story ideas, side-eye our mayors, and get deep on local politics. I also want it to be a place where people can connect outside of the sometimes toxic world of social media—a place where we can share our work, our passions, our love of community, and our love of saying “ope.” I’ll be moderating so the community doesn’t devolve into chaos. But right now, this community is a really good and positive space, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Also, for many years I worked as a community moderator for a love and sex website, so I know a thing or two about growing positive online spaces. I think we can do that. But of course, if you have questions or concerns, feel free to email me at eclenz@gmail.com.
The Discord server is also a place for you to connect with other Midwesterners to talk about our collective chip on our shoulder – how everyone doesn’t get us. It will also be a place where you can talk to me and other writers and journalists about story ideas, trends, culture, and how much your mayor sucks.
How Do I Join?
Today, paying subscribers will receive a separate email inviting them to the Discord community! If you haven’t gotten your invitation and you are a paying subscriber, email me eclenz at gmail. If you aren’t a paying member, well maybe today is the day. I’m offering a 20% discount on yearly memberships for one week. All new members will get a sign up link in their welcome email.
All you have to do to join is sign up to be a paying member of this newsletter. You can add Discord to your phone or open it on your browser. (See the above video tutorial for more details.)
Thanks, But No Thanks
If Discord isn’t for you, just ignore the invite and continue on unbothered through your day. I realize the world is busy and everything is vying for your attention. You are only missing out on the opinions I don’t dare to Tweet. The takes too spicy to write about. But that’s okay. Maybe it’s not your thing. This server is just an added bonus for subscribers. But we won’t talk about you behind your back if you aren’t there. The newsletter won’t change and will continue to be the best part of your Wednesdays and Fridays (and Monday’s if you are a paid subscriber).
Special thank you to my sister Ruth Baranowski, who created the logo for me and listened when I said, “Not a giant flying corn, but NOT not a giant flying corn.” If you need some graphic design work, she is available!
This is very exciting.
Hopefully this new Discord channel won't take away from the discussion here.
For now, I'll keep to this outlet. I've got too much on my plate to add something else.