@NOBLE , although this is an okay idea, I feel like administrative attention should be given to the current sites flaws and activity issues that have been identified, but remain unaddressed. I am not sure if having a second site along with the live event organization will do the current site much favor. It seems that the current site is becoming more and more secondary.... The fact that I have to beg admin, mods, and users alike to vote on a LBA battle is pretty revealing. No hate intended at all towards you, any individual, and the magazine of course.

:guns: shots fired.

Imagine we're living in a house together and we have lots of issues. The mortgage is 3 months past due, the water bill hasn't been paid, the roof is leaking, the dishes haven't been washed, etc. Some of these issues will take longer than others to resolve. For example, it will take us longer to come up with the money to pay the mortgage bill than to fix the leaking roof. If you see us sweeping the floor and washing the dishes in the meanwhile, that doesn't mean we are unaware or are not working towards fixing the other issues which will take longer. It just means that, yea, it will take us a while to come up the resources to make all the fixes but we'll do what we can in the meanwhile. The owners and admins care very much about this site and there are a lot of things being worked on behind the scenes that will just take time to implement.

The ol behind the scenes speech lol. Founded in 2008 by previous owners.

Totally understand, @NOBLE , and certainly don't mean any disrespect. As a long time active LB member, I also feel invested in the site and definitely understand the nature of long term solutions taking time. I really was and am expressing concern due to recent major drop in activity.

As you know I tend to want to help when possible. I showed up to the original NYC event and am certainly willing to attend more and even live battle potentially. As you know due to making Tinychat moderator about 3 years ago, I am all about holding tinychat events and feel I can pick up doing that again to help out.

I am connected into the In Crowd Elite scene as well, but that has recently been majorly inactive as well. I am excited about the potential partnership opportunities with Absyrd and his Assault & Battling League as far as live events.

I just want to make sure that the site activity is revived a bit more. I feel restoring some version of FVC would be beneficial, despite issues that it has and will likely continue to have to some degree. I do commend you on the voting awards as well!

Thanks for all the hard work, and sorry if I came off as completely negative.

---------- Post added at 10:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 PM ----------

I also feel @Punk was thrown under the bus a bit with the removal of his modship, especially since certain mods have since proven to be far worse. I hope you two can resolve yalls differences as he should have some roll in the Magazine as its past producer.

The magazine could potentially bring more people to the site dude. Since the magazine will be covering hip hop in general.

This thread is starting to move way off topic. Not that the direction the site's going in or Punk's mod/patriarch status aren't worthy conversations to have, but THIS particular thread is asking who wants to help write. So perhaps we can start new threads and talk about these other things. Any comment after this that's unrelated to whether or not you want to be an author in this thread may be deleted...just a heads up.
But yea, like Subreal said, if you really think about it, this magazine has the biggest potential to increase our membership more than many moves we've made in the past as long as the community gets involved and shares the articles on social media. Increase the membership and you also increase activity/voting and some of the other issues you're addressing. We've been planning this move for at least 2 years, and recently, a lot of members were pushing for it. Yes, there are still unresolved issues, but this is one off our to-do list and now we move on to the next.

@Subreal , I certainly understand the potential of online blogs/magazines, especially when combined with social media.... BUT,

@NOBLE , I am wondering how the LB magazine will compete with Worldstar , Spin , Rolling Stone, The Juice, etc. ? Will the magazine be mostly reflective of live battling scene and LB activity?

How will it differentiate itself as general hip hop news if that is part of the goal.

I would be interested in writing, but I am a bit confused as to the nature of the Magazine as far as content. I have some online publications and am a fairly solid writer, but wouldn't want to write the same news that another site provides....

Sorry for all the questions. I am just wondering about the logistics and goals of the magazine.

---------- Post added at 11:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 PM ----------

@NOBLE , can you provide a little clearer vision for what the magazine will look like visually and as far as written content?

---------- Post added at 11:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:32 PM ----------

So far I understand the magazine will cover:

1. Hip Hop / Rap Singles & Albums (Reviews)
2. Live Battle Events
3. LB activity
4. Other Topics (THIS IS WHAT NEEDS A BIT MORE EXPLANATION)

I mean... are we talking about social justice issues like covering aspects of Black Lives Matter, etc. Personal rights legal issues? Science? Art? Just wondering.... what is acceptable beyond what we all know will be included.

P.S. I only brought up the Punk issue, because he probably would be a writer, but it seems there is some bad blood. I'm unconcerned about the Patriarch aspect.

The goal isn't necessarily to compete with WorldStar or Rolling Stone at this particular moment. The basic goal is to 1) provide an alternative outlet for LetsBeef members to express and promote themselves, 2) attract new members/subscribers to the LetsBeef community and 3) have a networking platform and bridge to other communities.
The magazine will be reflective of what the LB community itself (the bloggers) are interested in or choose to highlight, and that will encompass more than the live battling scene and LB activity. That is also how it will differentiate itself.
Part of the idea is to give people what they want so that they grow accustomed to wanting what you have to give. Millions of people around the world care about the latest gossip of the Drake and Meek Mills beef, for example. But not too many people care about the latest happenings on LetsBeef other than LetsBeef members themselves. If we post articles about Rap celebrities that people may find in a search engine or on social media (the things they're already looking for), we may be able to convert some of those readers into LetsBeef members and grow our community. That's pretty much the plan in a nutshell.
As far as providing a clearer picture of what the magazine will look like visually, we will provide that in a couple hours when it goes live and I post the link in forums. We have populated the site with a few posts already.
But it's not NOBLE who will single-handedly determine the course of this magazine. It will be all of us and what we choose to share and how much we get involved.