Jul 23

Jul 23 AN OPEN 'MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL EMPLOYMENT' COVER LETTER (RÉSUMÉ NOT ATTACHED)

Aug 18th Sep 28th, 2023

To whom it may concern:

My name is Jeremy and I have been attempting to run/build a collaborative community 'online idea' called “95EH” (facebook, instagram, website, calendar, newsletter, radio) from a small platzl apartment in Kimberley BC since the summer of 2016 (while also successfully running an unsuccessful “music blog” at the same time).

It's a self-propelled project that's been on different levels of on-again-off-again over the years, BUT, I think that's just part of the natural process when openly trying to figure something out as you go *ESPECIALLY* when a global pandemic comes along in the middle and removes the existence of community events for a couple years… just one month after I announced my first attempt at a ‘monetization idea’ centred around running a local events calendar at the start of 2020 (because ain’t that just the way, eh) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ANYWAYS… I think it feels safe to say that community events are back to being ON again in our neck of the woods (*knocks on wood*) and since The 95EH Events Calendar was an appreciated community tool by more than a few before the 'pandemic pause button’ was pushed, I've only gone and got the same Kimberley AND Cranbrook events calendar setup again to work the same way as before (ie. it's FREE for ANYONE to get a local area event added and it can be as simple as just creating a public Facebook event, which most people are already doing for their events, so there’s some real “2 birds, 1 stone” efficiency here) — and that handy local highway 95/a events calendar can now be found at the easy to remember domain: moun.town/events

To try and create a foundation of support for all the interconnected human-work that goes into running a local area events calendar, this time around I'm hoping to try out an idea I'm calling "Mutually Beneficial Employment"… and I'm hoping to try that idea out with around 10-20 local businesses/organizations (you can see which businesses/organizations have already signed up over on The 95EH Events Calendar, where their names are linked to their websites + going forward I also plan to share more about what gets worked on with the different businesses/organizations via a combo of blog posts & newsletter & social media, as I think there are a lot of ‘layers of interesting’ to unwrap with this approach).

For visual context, here’s a snapshot of the calendar from September 28th (and you can just ‘click on the pic’ to visit the actual calendar if you haven’t done that recently):

The general idea of “Mutually Beneficial Employment” is to try & think differently about the way that ‘marketing / advertising / sponsorship’ spending is valued in terms of paying somebody for the human-time that goes into all the interconnected work, rather than focusing on the harder to pin down "value" of promised clicks, likes, exposure, SEO, viral online content and the even-more-viral 'word of mouth' that comes with the usual advertising/sponsorship pitches (not that those things can't be real things that translate into real "value" or that those things aren't in play with what we're talking about here) — BUT ALSO — the general idea of ‘Mutually Beneficial Employment’ involves including in the evaluation a layer of more measurable "I will also directly work with/for the collaborating business/organization on things where my collection of diy internet skills can be put to useful use" value.

For a more specific example: the first tier of ‘Mutually Beneficial Employment’ packages involved with supporting the work that goes into running THE 95EH EVENTS CALENDAR are $95/month, and those packages come with 2 HOURS of me (Jeremy / HI54LOFI) working directly with the supporting business/organization on work that we agree to spend time on (for example, I have some website / internet / social media / writing / graphic design / etc skills acquired thru all my years of building & running online projects that I think could come in handy on a few hours a month basis for a bunch of different small businesses/organizations — not to mention the possibilities that come from collaborating on content that can live & breathe online longer than the usual 24-hour social media window).

And if breaking down $95/month into an easy-to-think-about hourly rate that gets close-ish to what the statistics say should be considered a "living" wage in British Columbia (while keeping the math easy), my brain says "$95/month divides nicely into 5 hours at $19/hr" — even though my last google says that a living wage should be at least $24/hr in British Columbia (all while our provincial minimum wage is sitting at $15.65, hmm 🤔).

ANYWAYS… since the $95/month package comes with 2 HOURS of me working directly with the business/organization on work we agree on PLUS the business/organization becomes a named/linked supporter of some of the interconnected work that goes into running THE 95EH EVENTS CALENDAR, my brain sees that $95/month as me being paid '2 HOURS @ $19/hr for working directly with the business/organization on work we agree on' + me being paid '3 HOURS @ $19/hr for working on some of the many interconnected parts I need to work on to keep THE 95EH EVENTS CALENDAR fully-stocked and up-to-date’, not to mention the ways in which upcoming event information is shared online & on the socials + all the other online content points-of-entry that create new connection possibilities (which is work that can lead to some of that hard to quantify marketing and sponsorship "value", even if we're putting the focus on the hours worked and not on that harder-to-measure "value" of how others interact with the work that was done).

At the same time, a different part of my brain reminds me that another way to look at the $95/month packages, especially if the 2 HOURS of me working directly with the business/organization involves the kind of 'computer stuff' work that can often come with a pretty high hourly rate, even if the business/organization sees no "value" in any of the associated marketing/advertising/sponsorship style "exposure" that exists thru supporting the effort that goes into running a local events calendar for both Kimberley AND Cranbrook (and the local highway 95/a area), $95 divided by 2 HOURS is $47.50/hr and that isn't really all that crazy of an hourly rate if I end up helping out with 'computer stuff' for 2 HOURS that month (although I am looking to work/collaborate with people who see the multiple layers of “value” possible with this idea, for both sides — aka: mutually beneficial — but I also feel that being able to consider things from this other perspective is helpful when evaluating the overall "value" being proposed here).

SEPTEMBER 28th, 2023 UPDATE:

After the first 2 months of working with some local businesses/organizations on the $95/month tier of ‘Mutually Beneficial Employment’ (while also attempting to contact a whole bunch more), I think I’ve come to the realization that it would be beneficial to the overall idea if I were to offer a tier of ‘MBE’ for $95/quarter (and then my 2 HOURS of direct work could be spread out over a 3-month window).

I will still be doing the $95/month tier, as it makes for a good working relationship when it's the right fit (ie. when the business/organization can see a longer vision of how having my skillset for a couple hours every month fits into their future plans), but I also can see how a $95/quarter tier might be a better fit for some businesses/organizations (because of budget reasons, but also because trying to envision how my 2 HOURS should/could be spent is easier to process when thinking of it on a quarterly basis).

Because a part of “Mutually Beneficial Employment”, whether it’s the monthly tier or the quarterly tier, comes with being an acknowledged supporter of the interconnected work that goes into running a local Kimberley AND Cranbrook events calendar, there will be a distinction made between who is a Monthly or Quarterly supporter on the calendar page + I’m thinking of creating a page specifically for shouting out all of the different supporter tiers… including those non-business/organization humans that have gone chosen the $95/year route of support (but those updates will come once things get rolled out a bit further).

And now that I've started officially rolling this “Mutually Beneficial Employment” idea out into the real world, here are some examples of how my '2hrs of direct work' has been used by local businesses who've already signed up to support The 95EH Events Calendar through ‘MBE’: I've made visual changes to websites, I've written press releases, I've created website & social content, I’ve helped edit website content, I’ve helped brainstorm on long-term project planning — AND — as I mentioned earlier, I am also planning on talking more about this whole process and what gets worked on with who on my socials and on the blahgs + in my weekly newsletter as things progress (August 2023 was the first month of 'MBE rollout' after all).

So, if you've made it all the way down to here and would be interested in having a chat about whether supporting the work that goes into The 95EH Events Calendar through a "Mutually Beneficial Employment" arrangement is a good fit for you (or if you have any other thoughts/questions about what I do) — WELL — please feel warmly encouraged to shoot an email to ‘hey@95eh.ca’ and I will gladly pick the conversation up with you there!

Until we meet again on the URLs and/or IRLs… 🍻

JEREMY / @HI54LOFI