Making the Move to Substack

GNYPIG has been over-due for a tech over-haul

It’s no secret that the pandemic was hard on pen clubs - and some have bounced back better than others. GNYPIG meetups have been sparse since covid disrupted all of our lives, but that hasn’t just been due to a loss-of-momentum.

Using our Wordpress-based website, it was surprisingly difficult for organizers to send email announcements out to the membership. Without going into the nuts-and-bolts, let’s just say the stars had to be aligned just right, and we had to cross all our fingers and toes when hitting ‘Send’.

At Pelikan Hubs back in September, we promised to bring back more meetups, and we realized that our existing system was a clear impediment to making that happen. We’ve moved the GNYPIG mailing list to Substack as a first step to fixing that.

Phil and I feel strongly that RSVPing for GNYPIG events shouldn’t require an account with a big web or social media company. With Substack, subscribing (i.e. joining GNYPIG) doesn’t require a password, account, or login - and we don’t have to hold our breath and hope our emails will reach everyone. We’ll pair up Substack with gath.io, a free, privacy-respecting event system that doesn’t require accounts, is entirely link-based, and removes past events a week after they’re over.

We hope the move to Substack and gath.io makes being part of GNYPIG easier than ever - both for members to attend events, and for organizers to create and announce them!

Keep that ink flowing,
Dave & Phil