movement19-hive-blog-post-cover-image-pic-usman

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^{Flew Shot is the title of my serial posts about whatever random things a g'won. From writing about blogging to promoting my podcasting career, curating music & art to writing about sociopolitical issues, I'll create one of these at least weekly, often more. I will also sometimes use specific tags and communities for these posts.}

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--- # Ahead of the game for a change.

This past weekend I managed to churn out my posts a day ahead of schedule. It was completely unintentional, I had the dates screwed up and thought it was Sunday on Saturday. Well, it worked out. I'm ahead of schedule and loving it. I'm gonna try to keep up with this as best I can. So here goes, I'm writing my Tuesday post on Monday evening. Yay!

What I want to share with you today is a message I sent to some friends on social media a day ago. Now that I'm ready to move forward at a steady pace on several projects and career moves, I am also ready to start putting out a call for people to join my team and help move things along.

Throughout my life I've managed to connect with some amazingly talented and skilled individuals . People with a real vision and plenty of passion. Many of these people whom I've crossed paths with since my teens are close friends to this day, most of them I consider family. And, for the most part, we've done so many awesome things together including making music, throwing raves, and creating a lifetime of memories, many of which are making their way into a book I'm writing.

Below I want to share with you the message I sent them to which I am receiving incredibly positive responses.

I've already been talking to some of you and showing off the new website and a few of you have already seen the rough draft of the monthly journal I'm launching. With that is an online marketplace which I've been putting together for a few years now. This marketplace currently exists in a Discord server which is designed to function sort of like an underground record store in the 90s, which is why I've chosen most of the people in here.

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If you recall, many of the record stores we frequented were more than a place to simply buy music. They were places where ravers, hip hop heads, DJs, producers, artists, promoters and fans would congregate during the day. The staff was often comprised of DJs and enthusiasts who would spin tunes, sell merchandise, promote events and make friends. Many of these records stores either rented space in a shop or boutique which carried unique and exclusive brands. Think of places like Temple and Liquid Sky, Satellite and Wish, Urban Tribe, Sonic Groove, Dub Spot, Halcyon or Fat Beats to name just a few. I'd even include Mikey's Hook Up in Brooklyn even though it opened in the 2000s and wasn't a record store.

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These places often hosted events such as in-store appearances and performances, product launches and demos, release and listening parties, etc. You could buy music, art, clothing, footwear, accessories, skateboards, DJ and recording gear, collectibles. You would get free stickers, t-shirts, mixes, promos, comps to events. Producers would test new tunes, while some shops even had a studio in the back where classics would be created.

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In 2022 it would be difficult for all of us to be able to recreate this in one physical location. Besides the logistics and cost, our community is spread all over the globe today. And the world has become accustomed to shopping online. People are connected electronically 24/7 via computers and mobile devices. And while many of us may miss the good old days when we could take the train to our favorite record shop in a cool downtown neighborhood to meet up with our friends, toke up, grab a bite then go home to mix our new records, try on our dope new outfit and break in the new wheels on our deck, we now get to do this from the comfort of our homes, with all of our friends all over the world at any given time of day or night.

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There are probably millions of online stores today which cater to our demographics and targets. From sites like Beatport, Bandcamp and Soundcloud to eBay, iDJNOW and marketplaces like FB, IG, etsy and so on. There are many chats, groups and forums all over the world wide web. Some websites offer both features, buying/selling and a way for the public to engage through chats and threads. Yet I have not seen one place on the internet where I could hear new music, discover some dope art, order an exclusive t-shirt design, buy some very high end replacement cables or headphones, get my wife a bracelet crafted by someone I just met and had a great conversation with all while hitting my dab rig and listening to one of my favorite DJs spinning tunes that won't even be released until 2023.

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If I included you in this message you either know EXACTLY what I'm talking about and we've done these things together in the past, we've worked or owned a record store together, you frequented one of my stores back in the day or I frequented yours. Or, you're someone I've met along the way who I believe has something to offer this project. If this is something which interested you I will only be continuing to discuss this, make plans and move forward using the free Discord app. My user name is AbadaniSolutions#0266. This is because the shop is just about ready to go fully public and once it is up and running I will have to tend to many aspects of the business and Discord is the primary app I use to communicate, podcast and network. The shop is also equipped with a virtual radio station streaming 24/7. Discord makes it extremely easy for people to chat, talk, stream, watch and listen. It is also a very fun app with many customizable features. As a business and a team we will have custom branding and with Discord we can customize our experience in ways which major social media platforms don't allow.

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At this time, I cannot offer to pay anyone here, which means I will be extremely realistic about what I would want/need/ask/request/expect from you. I have spend quite a bit of money to get this started. I am incurring monthly expenses before I expect to make a dime from this. I have a partner who I hired a couple of years ago to do graphic design work for my business, who now dedicates much of his time to this partly pro bono, partly as a labor of love. We will provide everyone who helps this project along with custom branding formatted for web and print. I will also provide you with a branded NFC device so that you can promote yourself and this project everywhere you go without having to print anything. Eventually I will provide some merch like t-shirts and stickers, this is going to be pricey since we are only working with companies that are full sustainable and environmentally sound. Please be patient.

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I hope this message finds you all well. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and certainly hope you've got a positive attitude towards this new year. I look forward to seeing you all pop up in the Discord server and can't wait to start seeing how this turns out! Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Today I had a great conversation with one of the people I sent the above message to. He is someone I've known a long time and have run in the same circles with way longer than I've known him. He's a very kindred spirit. He's an extremely talented DJ and producer and is someone I know will do an incredible job representing the organization and helping it grow and scale. I think after today's conversation things are really shaping up nicely and I'm much more motivated and inspired.

Tomorrow I will be doing some side work to make money to continue funding the operation. As I stated in the above message, I have already incurred monthly expenses. Some of those bills are due in a couple of week. As of now, I have at least two clients lined up to pay for our services, one DJ who needs a logo and press kit and one business owner who needs a landing page and lead generation. 2022 is looking pretty sharp so far.

_{We are currently running a delegate-a-thon with a goal of reaching ONE MILLION HIVE POWER. The HP will be used to reward all of he participants on Post Up, our weekly live curation podcast on @msp-waves. The links below will take you to hivesigner, a secure way to delegate your HP to any user. You can delegate for as long as you wish, for it to be effective we ask that you do so for at least a month.}

| 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 1000 | 1500 | 2000 | 2500 | 5000 |

_{After clicking the link check the value, you may change it to any amount you desire. Enter your Hive username and use your Private Active Key to delegate. Please be sure to leave at least 50 HP in your own account. Also, new delegations override any old ones. If you need help feel free to leave a comment or contact us on Discord - Movement19#0266.}

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