It’s an exciting time here at the Triad City Beat offices.

We’re settling in, picking up our beats, loading the site, finding our way. The first issue comes out next week, on Wednesday, and we’re eager to show everybody what we can do.

I won’t lie: It’s been exhilarating. But it’s also the biggest challenge I’ve faced in my career. Maintaining a vibrant website while putting out a weekly newspaper is an enormous pain in the ass, but it’s what I do best, I think. And it’s what makes me happy.

The staff has been going gangbusters all week in preparation for the first issue. This is an amazing group of people, and I feel privileged to stand with them as we move forward in this endeavor.

But we can’t do this alone.

A free newspaper like this needs support. We need readers, and to that end we pledge to keep up our end of the deal: investigative reporting, breaking news, reasoned opinion, authoritative cultural coverage.

We also need advertisers, because that’s how we pay the bills.

We’ve got a seasoned sales force out on the streets this week ginning up revenue for the first issue and beyond, and they’ve already built a strong portfolio of businesses that share our ethos. But the Triad is a massive geographical space, too much for our team to cover in this first week, though I know they’ll eventually get to everybody.

If you haven’t been visited by a Triad City Beat sales rep yet but you want to purchase ad space in our first paper, here are some numbers to call:

Maria: 336-442-0919

Ellen: 702-325-1739 — Yes, it’s a Las Vegas extension, and no, she cannot take sports bets.

Any reader or business owner can email me at any time at [email protected].

And our publisher, Allen Broach, is at [email protected].

Here’s the fact: Without advertising revenue, we will not be able to sustain Triad City Beat for a meaningful period of time. This is an employee-owned, DIY crew. We’ve invested our savings and our careers in this project — no big pot of money here — and we’re in it for the long haul.

But we need support. And that’s the ask.

That’s all you’ll hear from me on this subject. I’ve got to get back to newspapering. That first issue comes out on Wednesday. Until then, keep up with the website and wish us well while we take care of business. That’s TCB.

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