why do you read clipboard?

Welcome to clipboard, a weekly newsletter about clothes, hospo and Tāmaki Makaurau, by Reilly Hodson. This week: I’m asking you, dear reader, why it is that you read this newsletter, and how I could make it better. If you enjoy clipboard, please share it with your friends, and consider chipping in financially by clicking the button below:

what is clipboard for?

This week, when thinking of what I wanted to write about, I found myself wondering, not for the first time, why it is that people choose to read this newsletter.

The clipboard community has grown over the past year and change that I’ve been writing it, organically through word of mouth, despite my own lack of abilities at spreading the word, to now be big enough to fill quite a large restaurant, many of the people in which I have never met or spoken to. It’s pretty cool.

What it does mean, though, is that I’m unsure why you all choose to come back every Sunday, or what it is you enjoy about clipboard. Is it my ruminations on the destructive capabilities of consumerism? Is it my recommendations for cool new shoes to buy, or restaurants to eat at? Do you really just enjoy a window into my strange, specific mind, no matter the topic (somehow, I doubt it).

Anyway, to make sure that I’m doing something that is what the people want, and with an eye to growing clipboard into a bigger community, I’m asking you, dear reader, to fill out a very short survey at this link, to tell me a bit about your clipboard experience.

I’d love it if all of you could fill out this survey, so that I can figure out your interests and where I want to take the newsletter in the future. I’d also love to hear your thoughts via email, if you’d prefer to go longer form. I’d love to take a step back to look at this newsletter and figure out what it’s for, and your feedback is crucial to figuring out where to go next.

For your context, here are a couple of ideas I’ve had for the future of clipboard:

• Leaning harder into the fashion/personal style side of it all, becoming an old-school fashion blogger

• Incorporating interviews with interesting people into the content, so it isn’t all about me (and Mitchell) all the time

• Trying to singlehandedly solve “men’s” lifestyle media in New Zealand (sorry M2, but you’re a bit shit), becoming Ensemble with a male slant, or a mash up of Mel and GQ

• Doing more hospo/food and drink reviews

• Perhaps breaking out of just email newsletters, doing more online or social

• Figuring out more of a visual identity, beyond my awesome logo (thanks, Hugo!), and cool fit pics

• Bringing on more regular contributors, and not just writers: I’d love to feature photography, art and design from people

• Answering reader questions, Ask Reilly

• More of the same (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?)

Anyway, I can’t do all of it, so I’d love to hear from you. Again, you can share your thoughts at this link, or just reply to this email. It’s also not free to do any of these ideas, so if you’d like to contribute to the financial future of this project, you can subscribe by clicking this button:

Now, links.

clips

• If you’ve been looking for someone to get angry at about the Covid response, this article about terrible opinion pieces in the media will give you some good people to be frustrated with (as well as the actual politicians making the decisions, of course)

• My mother-out-of-law bought me this kiwi negroni kit from By the Bottle for a late birthday present, and let me tell you now, negronis are gonna be my house cocktail for summer.

• Yesterday was a good day to get vaccinated, but you know what? Today is a great day to do it, too.

• Atlanta Tailor Sid Mashburn’s ‘Hey Sid’ column is a treasure trove of good, classic style tips. This week’s edition is no different, with great suggestions for people struggling with business casual in the workplace (although, what is a workplace anymore?)

• I am very much hoping that the fact that at least 4 staff members at the relevant publications already read my work will give me a good chance at this cool new cadetship programme at The Spinoff, Metro, North and South, the Pantograph Punch and New Zealand Geographic, which, if you want to do magazine writing, you should also apply for (especially if you aren’t a cishet Pākehā like I am).

• Your regular reminder that the Checks Downtown sale and clearance sections are packed with extraordinary deals (like this perfect oxford cloth button down shirt)

That’s all for clipboard this week, thanks for reading! I’ll be back same time, same place next Sunday, see you then! Until then, fill out the survey, follow clipboard on Instagram, and get in touch via email!