Posts Tagged ‘voting’
18 items.
Normally, a site like this one isn’t a place you visit to be confronted by issues, but because it’s Election Day, I’m making a special exception.
I’m not political by any means, but I’m voting today and strongly suggest you do, too.
If the campaigns in your state have been anything like ours here in Iowa (bitter, name-calling diatribes equivalent to 5th grade hair-pulling), you might be turned off to the concept of voting altogether. But in the face of the alternative, democracy is an institution worth taking a few moments out of your day for.
This year, each political seat is being hotly contested. I plan on voting for the corporate-sponsored whore who ran the less offensive campaign. For me, 9 times out of 10 it’s a Democrat. That’s not an endorsement, but in my experience, I can’t shake the stereotype that most Republicans are greedy, old white men who don’t live anywhere near the tax-bracket or planet I come from.
I find the attachment of the Christian-right to the Republican party particularly scary. I’m often offended that Republicans use “family values” as an issue when attacking their rivals. I can’t tell you how many ads I’ve seen where an ominous voice-over declares “Candidate X doesn’t represent Iowa values”. As if we all shared the same brain, or something. I know what’s good for my own family, thank you. I don’t need your mandate to make these choices for me. I can’t find myself voting for a party that believes we should all behave like some homogenized 1950’s nuclear family. Life is more complex than that.
Not that the Democrats don’t have their share of faults. More often than not, they seem to think throwing money at a problem will make it go away. It usually makes it more difficult for those who really need help to actually get any.
In the end, it all comes down to money. I guess the Democratic attitude towards it just offends me less.
I’m not trying to piss off anyone who is a die-hard, card-carrying member of either party. I’m just extolling a preference. So please redirect any energy you would misspend sending me hate mail and use it for getting your lazy 20-something brethren to go out and vote. That was the point of this blog all along.
I don’t vote because I believe in the candidates. I vote because I believe in the system the allowed these chuckleheads to get into power in the first place. If you cast aside your right to vote, you run the risk of losing it altogether. The best you can do is to mark your ballot and hope the guy you picked won’t screw as hard as the other guy would have.
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I’m becoming concerned that the audience for Theater Hopper isn’t what it could be. I see some of the more popular strips out there and wonder if there is something I could be doing differently.
The further I go with this hobby of mine, the more I admit to my pride in it’s longevity. I seriously never thought it would last past 50 strips. After kicking off this thing with the posters, I can see that there is a demand and support for things relating to Theater Hopper.
I want to push things further.
I’ve waffled back and forth about doing business with Top Web Comics from the first day I started Theater Hopper. At the time, I thought it was a shady business. There were too many controversies, too much vote whoring and generally a negative vibe about the place.
But I’ve passively observed it over the months and things have seem to have taken a turn for the better ever since the boys from True Nuff took over. It’s beginning to look like a professional venture.
I’ve always maintained that I’ve wanted Theater Hopper to succeed based on the merits of the work and not through shameless promotion. But I’m starting to soften my position. It’s like comparing it to a business. You feel strongly you have a superior product, but refuse to promote it in the Yellow Pages because you don’t like what it stands for. Think of the business you lose when no one can find you! Same goes here.
I’ve thought about kindling a relationship with the TWC on a short term basis – maybe just a month to see how it works out. In my mind’s eye, I see my regular readers voting for the site, propelling it into the Top 10 and giving others a taste of what they’ve been missing for so long. Whether or not that would actually happen, I can’t say for sure.
What do you have to say about it? Am I missing the benefits of hooking up with Top Web Comics? Please write to me with your opinions. Since this could possibly affect you, I would appreciate your feedback.
I guess my whole motivation behind this line of thought is because I feel if the site were more popular, it would force my hand into doing more things I’ve been meaning to do for a long time – that includes adding a forum or selling t-shirts. As things stand, my traffic doesn’t indicate that there would be enough of a community to support those ideas. But if the site were more popular it would be a moot point.
I just wanted to theorize out loud. Thanks for the indulgence.
In the meantime, if you write or draw for a web comic or know of a web comic that would like to trade links with me, drop me a line and I’ll make it happen.
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I don’t know if this is going to be buried underneath the giant post I made trying to absolve my soul in regard to hooking up with Top Web Comics, but I’m giving it a shot.
Anyway, poster sales are reaching the half way point and I want to finish strong. That’s why I’m putting out the call for those of you who have already bought posters to provide a little good press.
I plan on developing a “positive feedback” page in conjunction with the poster sale that details how pleased all of you are with your posters. If you’d like to participate, just send me your information – a picture of yourself with your poster and whatever kind words you wish to bestow. If you are a web comic creator – and I know there are a few of you out there who bought posters – I am ESPECIALLY interested in your feedback. If I can provide a link back to your site with the kudos, it adds that extra bit of credibility.
I’m not fishing for compliments, but am looking to employ a tactic from a marketing standpoint that will put the lean on all the procrastinators out there who aren’t convinced of the superior quality of these posters. Maybe some impartial consumer commentary will persuade them otherwise!
Thanks!
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Did you know your votes helped to boost Theater Hopper to number 26 on the Top 150 list at Top Web Comics? It’s like someone just handed me a big, heaping helping of awesome! It’s like God is rubbing my tummy! Thank you!
Now… Time to mobilize! Crush the puny crew of No Pants Tuesday! Feast on the blood of Briworld! Give me more votes so that I may decimate my enemies!
Wow. Who knew participating with the TWC could make me such a competitive ass-face?
Just kidding, guys. You know I love ‘ya. And that’s why I linked to ‘ya! Everyone check out their strips and send them a little vote love from me!
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Some of you may have noticed the handy, new graphic underneath the comic navigation. This is a link to buzzComix – a top 100 webcomic resource list not unlike Top Web Comics.
Since it appears that the TWC is no longer functioning and is without aim to bring its service back to those who rely on it as a source of free advertising, I’ve turned to buzzComix to help spread the word about Theater Hopper.
The way it works is disarmingly simple – Just click on the graphic every day and watch as our vote totals rocket us toward the top. I know many of you have fallen out of the habit of doing it, so when you remember, just give us a little clicky-click. To help things along, you might see this graphic in the news post from time to time:
Thanks to all of you in your continued support of Theater Hopper!
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I don’t want it to look like I’m harping on you guys, but please remember to vote for Theater Hopper at buzzComix EVERY DAY! I’ll probably mention this again in Friday’s blog since the one is kind of buried underneath my Jack Valenti rant. Just a head’s up
We’re slipping down the list and we’re currently languishing at number 14. Last time we held tight in the number 10 spot for the majority of November! I’m positive you can propel us into the stratosphere again!
Remember, there’s a pretty little art piece feature Theater Hopper characters I whipped up as an incentive if you just click a little link! Me thinks I may have to head back to the drawing board and whip up another!
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I wanted to let everyone know that the list over at buzzComix has reset for the month of June. Please remember to vote for Theater Hopper every day. To help remind you, I’ve placed this handy graphic to the right that keeps track of our placement on the list!
Last month Theater Hopper cracked the Top 5 for the first time. I’d be a real treat to see if we could break into the Top 3!
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I just wanted to send a quick shout out to my friend (and fellow Dayfree Press cohort) Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content for making it into The Hall of Fame over at buzzComix. It’s quite an achievement considering the short amount of time he’s been on the scene. I believe in some circles, that kind of meteoric rise is also known as “kicking ass and taking names.” Congrats, Jeph! (now if I can only figure out a way to get his readers to vote for me!)
Theater Hopper is currently in third over at buzzComix. If you’d like to vote to show your support, I’d appreciate it.
Remember a couple of weeks ago when Scary Go Round and WIGU joined buzzComix and everyone was all a-titter? Let’s just say that the irony does not escape me that they currently hold the number one and number two spot respectively. Oh, well. Such is life! I’m sure I’ll find a comfortable spot somewhere in the middle of the Top 10. RStevens just threw his hat into the ring with Diesel Sweeties. So I have that going for me… which is nice.
Actually, it’s really hard to pretend to be upset about this sort of thing. Simple science tells you that whenever any well-known creator joins a group you belong to, it raises the profile of everyone previously affiliated. Being so close to the top spot, I’m basking in some pretty sweet indirect attention! Why bother going to the trouble of making yourself distinctive when you can just quietly leech off the success of others!
Speaking of which, my good buddy Zach over at Joe and Monkey told his readers to vote for Theater Hopper this week. I’m inclined to return the favor. If you’re not reading Zach’s comic (and voting for it), then you’re really missing out!
Give a brother a hand!
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You know what day it is… get out and vote if you are eligible. I thought it was funny when I saw the news headline yesterday: “Last day of early voting.” Well duh, it’s no longer early when the party has started.
“I see a red state and I want to paint it blue…” – ANYMOUSE
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Okay, at first I wasn’t going to mention it because I didn’t want to harp on you guys about it like I did at the beginning of November. It was kind of sad. A little pathetic, really.
Then I thought, “One casual mention at the top of the month just to remind them couldn’t hurt. If we could cement a high placement early on, I wouldn’t have to bother them with it for the rest of the month.”
Then it appeared that buzzComix exceeded their bandwidth and the decision was made for me.
Well, buzzComix got their bandwidth back for the start of a new month. Incidentally, the top list has reset for the month.
Vote for Theater at buzzComix. It’s a nice thing to do. I promise I won’t annoy you about it. Just do it every day. We had a strong showing in November. I know we can do it again.
And that should be the last I’ll mention it.
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