The toad turns 1
illustration by @Austintheaugstin
We’ve all been a bit distracted here lately- myself included. So it was startling to say the least when I looked at the calendar and realized a seemingly insignificant date had gone by without any fanfare whatsoever.
On April 1st, the Toad turned one year old. ONE. YEAR.
That’s one year and 3 months now, actually.
One year (+) of artist interviews and dumb tweets and beautiful art and poetry all full of feels.
One year of culture, brought to you solely from the people of humble Joplin Missouri. When we started this thing, we didn’t know what it was. Tell you the truth, we still really don’t. So here on the one year anniversary- (+ those 3 tense months)- let me reflect not so much on what the toad IS but rather on what it’s DONE.
Let’s start with stats.
>> Over 7803 of you have visited joplintoad.com this year.
>> That’s, Seven thousand, eight hundred and three to the site since we began.
>>885 of you are following on instagram, whilst 1058 jog slightly ahead on facebook. (we won’t get into twitter numbers. Twitter does not have game in Joplin).
>>only one person did a search on our site this past month; that search was for the phrase ‘toilet paper’. We’ll take it.
>>we have 82 RSS subscribers.
>> there are 104 of you in China, 112 in Canada, and 87 in Ireland. Interesting.
>>if someone yells “have you seen the joplin toad?!” in Joplin Avenue Coffee Company, 57% of customers will know what that person is yelling about. 83% will wish the person would just stop shouting, though. 100% of Joplin Ave customers are just happy it’s open again.
>>We’ve published 2,978 features! Just kidding. We have no idea how many, it would take too long to count them all.
>>We’ve posted 467 times on instagram.
A hidden Nic, from our blanket fort contest winner, Hannah Jack.
>>25 Nic Cage references.
>>The Toad has published 4 full length “issues” and numerous week-to-week posts.
So what’s the point?
Ok. Here’s why. Not that we haven’t said it before, but just as a reminder… here’s our creedo:The Joplin Toad is an intergalactic, Joplin Missouri publication. We exist to highlight and contribute to the culture in the little city of Joplin. We started because we noticed an outrageous amount of creative PEOPLE in this southwest missouri town, but a serious lack of quality, ad-free publications that celebrated such people in an accessible, grassroots way.
You’ll notice our stubbornness; no ads. If you ever see one, it’s just because we sold out bigtime, not because we’re losers that did this for advertising money. So far, nobody wants to bribe us to well out, so we’re good.
We want(ed) to CELEBRATE our city- not to act like it’s a perfect city or be flippantly positive, but to project an honest portrayal of the inspiration that lives within our city limits, inspiring the folks here to take some pride in their municipality and maybe even encourage communities everywhere to stand up and notice what’s good about their own towns.
Eric Haun celebrates the toads via bottle caps: image by Mark N photo
That starts with the creatives.
We celebrate Joplin in the following ways.
1: ART -there are a high number of people here making many beautiful things. It’s not hard to track them down and show them to you.
2: LITERATURE -Same goes for writers; through poetry, satire, fiction, and creative journalism, our writers have a lot to say.
3: HUMOR -we believe strongly in humor as the awkward glue that binds us all; when we can laugh together, we grow closer and more committed to our common threads. Humor can range from slapstick to comic-style to pure satire, and we dip our toes into it all at times.
4: LOCAL -Joplin, as any community, has specialties very unique to its’ city limits. We like to show off what we’ve got.
5: WEIRD -We’re no Austin, or Portland, but we ARE pretty weird; and we celebrate the diversity and expanse of our weirdness here, from the cowboy to the meth-head to the international student to the fine painter. We’ve got a lil’ bit of everything.
So...now…? We made it a full year, which was, to be honest, far longer than the initial experiment held out for. The toad has made it clear that it’s NOT just an experiment; it’s something that only keeps growing in traction….something the folks of Joplin have elected to stay (even if they won't elect to wear masks, but oh well).
We’ve even delved into ‘the political’, a spectrum we didn’t expect to enter and have done clunkily but with heart, still keeping that conversation focused on what’s happening IN our town. Current circumstances frankly demanded it.
We won’t lie. We have a lot to figure out. Running the toad is currently a nearly full time job with no pay… that’s not a complaint, just a fact. My blood and sweat (pardon the hyperbole, I have yet to actually bleed for the toad) is in this digital publication. So….
Here’s what’s next:
THE TOAD IN PRINT:: we’re currently working on our FIRST printed issue; available for purchase sometime later this year.
WEEKLY ONLINE FEATURES, for the foreseeable future
FUNDRAISING: at some point, the toad will need fundraising for sustainability. We eventually WILL need more consistent income- not to become an outright business, but simply to be sustainable long term, without being overtaken by advertising (the usual source of magazine funding). We’re looking into pattern to fulfill that funding.
MERCH: we have a teespring store ready to release, and plan to also continue working with local artisans for limited runs of special release toad clothing and merchandise.
ONLINE ISSUES: we plan to have collections of features geared around certain dates; halloween and Christmas being prime examples.
SO NOW WHAT?We’ve made one thing clear, to ourselves and to you all; we aren’t going anywhere. We love Joplin, and so do you- its’ not perfect, but it’s home. We continue to exist out of that love. We continue to thrive because of YOU readers and YOU artists and writers who contribute and submit their work. Keep reading, sharing, submitting your own work, and supporting. We sure need you,
-Mark (chief Toad)