The Wrong Show

By Thom Milson.

As some of you folks will have heard by now, Facebook is being a major dick, and is currently testing a system of paid sponsored posts. Under this system there will still be free posts, but by using a free post you will only reach about 8% the people who “like” and care about the thing you do. Paying will let you reach 100%. I don’t know if they’ll start doing this for real, yet, but it’s definitely looking that way.

For groups like HOWL this is very bad news. We are not-for-profit, and don’t make a penny from anything we do (we lose money actually). We do it this way because we feel it’s best for you guys. We’re not trying to simply run a comedy night with HOWL, we’re trying to create a community, one that relies on everyone involved. Even now, it’s a wonderful, amazing thing, that is becoming something really special (I feel) and soon, instead of it growing, it might become very difficult to maintain, as we can’t afford paid posts, it’s as simple as that.

People have suggested to me that we charge entry for HOWL. I just want to say now, WE WILL NOT DO THAT. This is for a couple of reasons: 1) It destroys everything we set out to do with HOWL. 2) If we charged I would want to give that money to the wonderful comics that come down and put on a show with us every month. They deserve money way more than Facebook.

What this means, is that we’re going to need you guys more than ever. Basically we want you to keep doing what you’re doing and sharing things, liking things and writing about things to do with HOWL. Tell people you know in Leeds about HOWL if you think they’ll like it. Nothing is as great as word-of-mouth. Write on the Facebook page too, it’s as much yours as it is ours. Get others to write on it too. Don’t be scared to join in is what I’m trying to say.

Also, I’ve had a few ideas about stuff to make more of a community out of this, but I also want to take suggestions. What would you like to see us do? 

Here are some of the ideas I’ve had so far:

• A HOWL forum - Somewhere everyone can post anything they want that other HOWL fans might like. Somewhere for people who like HOWL can find other people who do, and all of the people who often come on their own can start getting to know other people. I like this idea because it allows us to get some big, long discussions going.
• A (live) Podcast - We tried a Podcast a while back and it never made it onto the web. It’s something we could bring back if we knew we had people who might want to listen. It might work better as a live event for badge holders. What do you guys think?

Again, if any of you guys have an idea you would love to suggest to us, or some idea of how to make this whole thing better, please give us a shout on Facebook.

Thom.