The Moment We're In

There is always a moment standing off stage, before the lights come up and the show begins, when the calmness of anticipation sets in. All the work to prepare has been done—the stage is set, the lines are rehearsed, the props in place—and now it’s time.

There’s stillness in that moment, but it’s not the kind that you’d associate with peacefulness. It’s more the calm before the storm. The acceptance that, ready or not, things are about to get real.

I’ve been in that place hundreds of times and I must admit to you all: I love that moment. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a sense that, whatever the people in the audience out there think they are about to experience, what’s coming is orders of magnitude beyond. Minds are about to be blown. A whole lot of people are going to be walking out of there different than they walked in.

We’ve been living in that calm moment here at Strong Towns for a few weeks, and I’ve been loving it. The decade-plus that we’ve been at this project has been building towards an unveiling of our ideas on a big stage. We’ve done the work, put in the time, subjected ourselves to the harsh introspection. There is a hush of anticipation around us. I can feel it. Things are about to get real.

This week is our Spring Member Drive, the last one we will do before the October 1 release of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (more on that below). It’s the last one before we launch the Strong America Tour. The last one before we kick off a major media campaign that we’ve been putting together for months.

In other words, it’s your last chance to be one of the early supporters of the Strong Towns movement. And we could really use your support.

Membership is our largest source of revenue. When you become a member, you are supporting the financial foundation of this movement. It’s our members that allow us to invest in great content. It’s our members that give us the capacity to put this message in front of thousands of new people each day. And it’s the financial generosity of our members that allows us to support the expanding Strong Towns conversation as it spreads across North America (and beyond).

I’m really excited that this member drive we are able to provide something special: Each new member who signs up at the $10/mo level or above, we’re going to send a personalized copy of my upcoming book, Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. I’m going to sign it and personalize it for you and we’ll ship it directly sometime shortly after the release date in October. You’re going to want to read this book and, if you act this week, you’ll be one of a small number of people who has theirs personalized. I’m excited to do it.

Our web traffic is way up. Our engagement levels are crazy. Attendance at our events has never been higher. Our social feeds are blowing up. And the sheer number of requests we get each week is overwhelming. I’ve been here since the start and it’s all reaching a frantic level. But most of all, we’re seeing more and more places taking Strong Towns actions, many of them pointing to this conversation as their inspiration (stay tuned for some amazing testimonials this week).

This is what we promised we’d do—this is the movement we promised we’d grow—when we asked people to become members years ago. Let’s keep the momentum going. If you’re not yet a member of Strong Towns, take a moment right now and sign up. Let’s wear out my wrist from signing so many books.

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