Helping Hands
Originally, Mormon Artist was a one-man operation. (Am I allowed to say “originally” here, since the magazine is still very much a newborn? 
) For the first two issues I was too foolish to know better and did pretty much everything myself — interviews, photography, transcription, editing, design, PR, etc. — with a few friends helping with proofreading at the very end of the process. Before long, however, I realized that if this magazine was going to grow at all, I needed to get some help, and soon. (In hindsight, it’s glaringly obvious, I know. )
But with no budget and no anonymous benefactors in sight, I wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to find anyone. Work for free? Not likely, especially considering how über-busy most twentieth-century people are. But I sent an email out to the magazine’s readership to see if I could find a couple hardy souls.
Wow. Within five hours I had thirty-five responses, and the number of volunteers has continued to blossom since then. (I’ve since discovered that this is a good thing — when people have to bow out because they’re busier than they expected, there are plenty of people to fill in the gaps. We have to do more training, but it’s worth it.) I didn’t expect such a strong response, but people have been more than happy to help out. It feels like one big service project, really. (In a way that’s kind of what it is, actually, now that we’ve decided to take the non-profit route.)
Anyway, we’re in the middle of producing the next issue of the magazine (the first with all this volunteer help), and I’ve been pleased at how well it’s working. It hasn’t been a completely smooth ride, true, but it sure beats doing it all myself.
Subscribe to RSS
January 3rd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I’d like to bear my testimony about the awesomeness of the thirty-plus women who run Segullah. They’re extraordinary. So glad you’ve got a batch of amazing volunteers too, Ben!