catapult magazine

in doing some thinking (and most likely discussing in the near future) about the direction we’re headed with *cino, i would like to know…

what do you need from *cino and catapult? what would you like to see more/less of? what keeps you coming back? what drew you here in the first place?

Rob and Kirstin drew me in first. Then I just flapped around for awhile by myself. Now it is a staple read in my literary diet. I do not get to post as often as I would like. I wish I could write more than I get the chance to. I wish I could write better than I do…but that’s a different issue…

The comments and intriguing conversation keep me coming back. The fact that I can throw a question, concern or gnawing thought out and get feedback and direction from the community makes me feel connected to people that I might not ever meet physically.

I would liek to see the gallery get back up. I would liek to learn how to spell “like”.

I love the blog. The Diary Of A Mad Housewife is hysterical and yet enriching as, having a two and three year old, my wife and I can relate. The Overhang blog is fun as I can relate to the treachery of the music biz and the frustration of truly trying to get your thoughts and feelings onto a musical canvas.

Is that enough?

Good question. I’ve been giving this some thought, having only recently had the opportunity – working from home – to participate semi-regularly, and I haven’t caught up on a lot of the back issues/discussion.

I enjoy the articles and reviews. I see tremendous potential for growth here, and would love to see that potential realized.

I like the discussion, and the fact that there is a wide mix of people that I know and enjoy keeping in touch with, as well as some interesting voices I don’t know and hope to meet some day. Similarly, I would like to see the *cino community expand from/build on the obvious reformed/dutch base to become a place where Christians from every tradition participate and bring their unique perspectives to the table. I am concerned that a certain “in” flavour permeates the discussions, that may be potentially alienating to someone who feels “out”. Comments from any non-dutch/reformed members?

I would love to see *catapult’s cultural analysis become so sharp and illuminating that people who are not Christians are drawn to the site, and feel welcome there, because they find the perspectives offered are so rich and refreshing that they can’t stay away. It would be great to see *catapult become a sort of Paris Review of cultural commentary.

I look forward to the *camping is not optional website, because I love camping/hiking/the outdoors and I would love to participate in a forum which celebrates the outdoors, which could also potentially become a focus for stewardly ecological awareness/activism.

Most of all, I would like to see the *cino staff properly compensated for their excellent work. I know first-hand the strain and burnout that serious economic limitations can put on a community/organization/vision/marriage and I encourage you to make fiscal solvency your top priority. Without you, there is no future for *cino. I think you should look for someone, or a group of people, who believes in the *cino vision and ask them to volunteer a portion of their time to aggressive fund-raising for *cino. If you’re doing some vision plannning now, it would also be a great time to do strategic planning. Within the next couple of years I would love to see *cino: 1) pay yourselves properly; 2) hire a full-time development/advancement professional; 3) pay your contributors.

Let us know how we can help.

thank you, Henry, for your very thoughtful response. we’re feeling more and more the burden of running an organization on a less-than-a-shoestring budget and funding is a serious priority. watch for more on our vision for acts+two communities that will serve the purposes of both fundraising and building relaionships among like-minded believers…

i would like to hear from more people on this topic because we take your needs and wishes very seriously. the service we’re seeking to provide is not for ourselves and so it makes no sense for us to vision in isolation.