Wednesday Paid Subscriber Event, Some Notes on Hopium Year 2 and Renewals

Welcome New Subscribers!/Wed 7pm ET - Our Monthly Get Together - Please Register Today

Friends, got a few things today:

Wednesday Get Together - We have our monthly paid subscriber get together this Wednesday at 7pm ET. Register and check out our full upcoming schedule, below. I look forward to seeing everyone!

Year 2 of Hopium and Some Notes on Renewals and Paid Subscribers - As we are now a little more than a year old, our earliest supporters have begun to go through the renewal process. The process I’ve come to learn here at Substack is automatic. Your card on file just gets charged. If you have changed credit cards in the past year, however, you will need to input a new card to ensure you keep your paid subscription current. To check your Hopium status visit here and scroll down to “subscriptions.” If you are not current please renew today!

In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing some ideas on how I’d like to see Hopium evolve in our second year and in this all important Presidential election year. Some of the things I‘m thinking about: find ways to offer deeper dives on topics outside of the daily email; more shorter, video based commentary - quick hits on important topics of the day; more recorded (not live) 20-25 minute interviews with thought and political leaders; and better ways of showcasing people in our community who are doing remarkable things.

Any of these improvements will require me to finally start bringing on some staff or additional professional capacity. I am also traveling more so I may need to bring on some writing help too. Doing any of this will require a bit more money than the site is currently bringing in, and we also have increasing costs coming from the growth of our community and interest in our work. So later this week I’ll be announcing that the base paid subscription rate at Hopium is going to increase to $50 annually, and $6 a month on May 1st. Any one who subscribes by May 1st can do so at the current $45 annual/$5 monthly rate, which will be one’s subscription rate as long as one is a paid member here. Substack grandfathers in your original subscription rate as long as you remain an active, paid subscriber. My hope is that this incentive will bring in another 1,000-2,000 paid subscribers which will then allow me to be able to invest in growing the site’s offerings and better manage our community’s expansion and growth. I will also be announcing that I’m setting up ways for people to make larger contributions to Hopium beyond the two levels currently offered, as I have had generous supporters offer to make larger investments in our growth.

Feel free to use the chat below to let me know what you think of any of this. Would love to hear from you. I am really happy with what we’ve built together in our first year, and am excited about what’s ahead. Evolution is critical to the success of any venture, and it feels like its time for Hopium to enter a period of experimentation, evolution and growth now.

Thanks again all. Your generous financial support has allowed me to go full time here at Hopium, shedding other projects I was involved in that helped pay the bills; it helps keep most of our content here free and accessible to the broader Democratic family, something we simply have to do in this critical election year; and has allowed us to grow, rapidly, to bring our vital message to more and more people. Your support really matters, and I am deeply grateful for your faith in me and in this wonderful Hopium project.

Keep working hard everyone. It’s how we win - Simon

Upcoming Events Schedule/Register Today