#NerdsUnite: All the hype money can buy
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Jordan. He was one of the first writers here on TNTML and he's a really rad mofo. I forget how we first started talking - but he lives allllllll the way over in Kansas and wants to talk to you about life from his side of the monitor in the keyword of nerd. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT JORDAN!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi
In the last few years I have been blessed to be part of many different things that have all brought me great joy and self satisfaction. Of course being a writer for talk nerdy to me lover has been amazing and opened up many new doors in my life. Not to mention connected me to so many wonderful individuals. In fact this site continues to drive me to crazy places and fosters steps in my life. I recently won a culinary award for my cooking that has been sold to people across the country. I have drawn the logo's and art for now very famous people across the web. I have interacted with stars and people of importance alike. I feel like my life just continually gets better. I have developed a passion for what ever it is I am doing and more so a love and courage to keep trying new things. Even working at the place I do isn't so much a grind, as it is an adventure with friends. Some days of course can be better than others but, I digress. Today I'm here to talk about something new. A new spin on an old way of doing things. Newspapers!
Not too long ago three very close friends of mine left the town we all love and moved to Oregon. There they got involved with a newspaper that was home brewed called The Alchemist. After a year, Sarah and Jimbo moved back to Manhattan and together started work on a local paper hoping to reveal some of the lesser known aspects of this small town life. Like starting anything beginning a newspaper was pretty difficult. They called upon the favors they had with their friends and establishments alike here in town. They started piecing together just how they wanted this paper to look like. The type of writing it would have in it. With competition from two other newspapers in town the legit town paper, “The Manhattan Mercury” and the K-State paper, “The Collegian.” Both of which were already circulated and had their own fan base. It was an already over saturated market for newsprint. Lets face it Newsprint is a dying breed of journalism. So with that in mind they sought out a voice from the people that rarely got to speak. The people that aren't so much a transitive property to Manhattan, KS. Manhattan being a major college town and many of its residents only living her for 4 to 6 years. The Townies if you will became the target. Aiming their spear at that audience they launched into supporting local businesses. Doing fundraisers for struggling charities, and promoting local music. Their articles while some might assume them to be very liberal in stance were heart felt and touched the souls of the people in this town. Giving them pride in what their town had to offer them. Little by little their notoriety grew. With a weekly Calendar that housed the many sporadic events happening all over town it became a well spring of information. A much better informed community finally knew a head of time about things that were happening instead of a facebook invite or their friends text. The Magazine garnered a following.
Now we're a little over half a year into this exploration of print. While none of us are really getting paid; we put our selves into this weekly publication, because we care about the content people read. We care about our own stories reaching the ears of the community. Maybe our thoughtful points on issues may just break through and people would find their minds folding around new ideas and ideals. We care that the people of our town finally have an escape from the few and often times boring and biased publications. We do live in a highly republican state and being the voice of reason isn't always easy. So we push through and often time with a sly wit about it, we breach topics no other ledger would even think of publishing. We are the alternative newspaper and we take pride in the quality of our work and the staff delivering it. Co-owner and Co-founder Sarah Sullivan has this to say about her Paper, “The Hype is here to 'hype' the community, we want our fellow Manhattanites to get involved with and really become a part of their community. We want all the small businesses to succeed, the local artists and bands to make it, and there to always be a way to raise money and awareness for a good cause. That is what the Hype is all about.”
As a writer and artist for the hype I gotta say I agree with Sarah and never have I seen so many people picking up a newspaper and leafing through it. Seems like everywhere I turn people are reading these things and becoming more informed about Manhattan. Recently, thanks to a lot of the work I have found through TNTML I was featured in the Hype's Awesome Alert.
Shameless self promotion I know but I eat that stuff up. If you are a fan of my writing here on Talk Nerdy To Me Lover, be sure to check out the articles I have written for a more local crowd. Who knows maybe “The Hype” will make you think twice before writing Kansas off as a desert wasteland with nothing to do. Don't get me wrong, 70 percent of Kansas is just that. However, Manhattan is the place I call home. I love all the crazy things we get ourselves into here. I love the cheap drinks and bars without covers, I love the fact that you never meet a stranger just someone you have yet to be friends with. There isn't a social caste system here if you want to you can party anywhere with anyone. People are just that accepting of anyone. Every night can be an adventure and that's why I love Manhattan. That's why the Hype works as a newsprint here. We are the alternative and we aim to misbehave.
That link again if you didn't click on it at the top of the page http://thehypeweekly.com/
or you can follow them on twitter @TheHypeWeekly
#nerdsunite
click here to follow Jordan on the twittah!