Communities Will Be Issued for the First Time Soon, ... and All Geeks Love First Issues!
In the not too distant future, Steemit is expected to unveil a new community feature. While the details are still unclear, communities will obviously allow Steem users to more easily connect to others with similar interests, and utilize these communities as hubs for organizing and curating content around certain topics.
While the feature is still in development, I know of at least one fellow Steemian who is already planning a community upon launch. @whatageek announced his intention to start a gaming community a while back in this post. So please go let him know if you're interested in gaming! If comics are also your thing... keep reading!
I do believe that even though the exact structure and mechanics of communities are not yet known, it's never too early to start planning and organizing for their beginnings.
To that end I'd like to propose my intent to form a comics community when the feature goes live. I don't think I have the time available to make it a success alone, so I'd absolutely be looking for co-owners, moderators, managers... in whatever form that might take.
Why Me?
Looking at my blockchain records, it looks like I was the 36,926th person to join Steemit. While it would have been sweet to get in even sooner, that put my start at July 27th, 2016, currently just a month away from my year anniversary, so I still feel like an old timer as I watch the platform grow, and feel immensely lucky I got my beginning as soon as I did.
As of this writing I wield about 10.5 million "vests" which may put me just over the threshold of "dolphin" depending on who you talk to. I don't care too much about the measurements, but I appreciate that I have enough power to give some noticeable reward to the comics tag and any comics community that begins.
I've been fortunate enough in some early Steem investment and post rewards that should the new community feature require a startup cost or investment I'm interested in doing so, as well as undertaking some spending to advertise and recruit for the community. It has been discussed that communities may well be viable business models and I do intend to approach it as such, but with an eagerness to give back to members through contests, promotions, and fun.
I'm a comic creator and artist myself, an on again off again collector for the past 30 years (I just lugged about 8,000 comics during a recent move), and still an avid reader (digital and collected editions primarily now, I'm trying not to add much to those 8,000 comics!)
What's a Comics Community???
There are many different aspects to comics, and each facet is certainly deserving of it's own community. We have passionate comics readers, those who love reading comics in any form and discussing the stories and characters.
We have comic collectors who want to show off their amazing collections, discuss values, revel in each others flea market finds, and trade and sell comic book back issues.
We have artists and writers who work to create comics or simply honor them with fanart and fanfiction.
We have cosplayers who likewise work tirelessly to bring their favorite creations to life.
The world of comics culture has also opened up to alot of fandom, from Firefly to Dr. Who... most ideas that capture that spirit of the fantastic find their place at a comic convention. Not to mention all the games, movies, figures and collectibles that pack a showroom floor with geeky goodness!
While I have no doubt in due time communities will emerge in every category with increasing specificity and focus, at the outset when the number of Steemit users is relatively small this makes little sense. The initial community should welcome all aspects, and the conceptual framework that makes the most sense is that of a comic convention.
Welcome to the Steemit Comic Convention; 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week, Worldwide...
So I propose the group Steemit Comic Convention! Name brainstorming is certainly on the table, but sometimes simple is best.
Within the Steemit Comic Convention we can use any available tools, tags being a simple and reliable start, to further organize and divide subjects and "convention areas" while still grouping all this great content together and making it discoverable and accessible to all our geeky friends!
Prepare to explore the Dealer's Hall for all your collectibles discussion, trading, buying and selling (with Steem of course!) Head over to Artist Alley to see what comics and art the creatives on Steemit have been working on and possibly have for sale. Support them with your votes and make Steemit the place creators seek out to fund their dreams instead of KickStarter. Follow the cosplayers as they wander about the infinite venue. Blog posts and threads can be set up to mimic convention panels and presentations, wherein we can feature roundtable discussions, Q & A sessions, and perhaps entice some comics industry or pop culture stars to participate. Collectibles can be raffled off as "door prizes." Cosplay contests can be run with SBD cash awards. Possibilities abound!
In time other communities will assuredly spin off, either on their own, or perhaps as a larger network with the full support and backing of the Steemit Comic Convention, giving valued and trusted members the chance to be more involved in the areas that interest them most.
If you'd be interested in joining such a community, perhaps being a part of its foundation, or have any ideas or feedback, please reply in the comment below! I'll create a listing of the interested usernames and contact everyone via comment or wallet message as developments occur.
All funds generated by this post will be earmarked for promotion of the Steemit Comic Convention. Once the community is founded and running, the funds will be made available for development and advertising to bring more comics fans to the community and Steemit. If you're not much of a geek yourself but want to help a focused outreach program, upvote away!
I'll post periodic updates as to the growth of the community interest list, community "treasury", news and developments until the community feature officially launches - again with all rewards going to outreach funding.
Thanks for reading, looking forward to input, and hopefully I'll see some of you "At the Convention!"
-Bryan "the Imp" Imhoff
Follow me @bryan-imhoff and view some of my comics @spottyproduction!
images sourced from the internet, all tagged as free for commercial use
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