First Giveaway a Success!
I am excited to announce that the winners of our giveaway of the pre-release print edition of Volume 1, Issue 0, have been notified. It was quite a scene early this morning. We had a room full of math PhDs crunching numbers, creating algorithms, running different equations, and ensuring that we genuinely did randomly draw winners. Lots of white lab coats and pocket protectors. Ok, well, maybe not quite, but we did randomly draw 7 winners. These winners represented a blend of new people who signed up for our newsletter for a chance to win along with all of the current subscribers.
Emails went out this morning, and winners were notified. If there happens to be a winner who doesn’t claim their prize, we’ll reopen the giveaway again. So far, there have been lots of excitement in the email responses from the winners. (Psst … there will be another giveaway soon for something completely new.)
For me, this is “mission accomplished.” Here’s what I mean. As I shared before, doing a pre-release print issue allowed me to begin getting our workflow lined up. I found and worked with a local printer and couldn’t be more excited with how it turned out. Those who’ve seen it are also ecstatic. I went with a smaller magazine size (5.5x8.5), which has also received lots of positive feedback. This pre-release magazine also gave me an opportunity to experiment with the layout.
More than anything, I feel like this is truly a community endeavor. If you look at the footer on our website, you’ll see our mission … “To inform, inspire, and connect trail builders together around the common goal of building, maintaining, and advocating for more trails.” This magazine is about you because it celebrates you. You are the true heroes in mountain biking. More than that, so many of you have reached out (and continue to do so) about contributing in some capacity, whether stories, news, reviews, photography, and more. That’s the goal. A global community of trail builders sharing ideas and stories with one another. I love looking at our social media analytics and those who’ve signed up for our newsletter to see how many countries are represented. Exciting stuff.
So where do we go from here? The next destination on the horizon will be Volume 1, Issue 1 of Trail Builder Mag. However, we have some exciting things we’re rolling out soon that we think you’ll enjoy. You’ll be the first to know!
I am humbled and truly grateful for each of you and your support and encouragement. Our DMs are bombarded daily with your messages, shares, and tags. We love hearing from you! Keep it going!
Words: Sean Benesh Photos: Sean Benesh
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sean Benesh
Sean is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Trail Builder Mag. He is also the Communications Director for the Northwest Trail Alliance in Portland, Oregon. While in grad school, he worked as a mountain biking guide in Southern Arizona. Sean also spends time in the classroom as a digital media instructor at Warner Pacific University.
