Hi {{first_name|there}},
More than 300 people now read this email, up from a few dozen in July. More than half of you open it every week. For a free weekly email about our witch city, those are numbers I did not expect this quickly, so thank you.
Of the people who have told me, about three in four live in Salem right now. The rest used to live here, visit often, or are moving in. The local wins the majority of this newsletter, and I am glad the need for this is resonating with you too the rest of you too. If you moved away and still keep an eye on the place, or you come back a few times a year, you are reading over a local's shoulder. Best seat in the house.
You also told me what to get right. The top answer was what's on this week. Second, which I did not expect, was the practical stuff: parking, traffic, city politics, how to get around. Food and drink came third.
What's coming
The Thursday email is not changing. It works.
Around it, four things:
A second edition about the city itself. Parking updates, traffic, town meetings, the things that actually decide your week. I am still working out the right shape for it, so if you have thoughts on what belongs in it, I want them. Feel free to send me a reply.
October. It is going to be loud here. I write it for the people living through the month, and for everyone else who loves this town enough to follow along from wherever you are. Starting in october, event emails are going to twice a week for the month. To give you a sense of why: this past week alone had 100+ things happening, and October is already tracking at to have a record number of events. I consolidate them on the website and I have received some great feedback on trying to get the word out more to your inboxes, without just sending you a wall of text in your email.
A dinner club, in November. At least six tables of five, one restaurant, people who show up as strangers and leave as regulars. Take a look if you want in, and I will come back to the people who do first.
A sponsor slot at the top of the event email, for the businesses reading this. One slot per send, and it is for one thing only: promoting one specific event. Not a logo, not a banner. Your show, your tasting, your run club, your opening night, in front of a few hundred people who live here and already read this to decide what to do. If that is useful to you, reply and I will send details before I open it up more widely. Early partners get first pick of dates.
Tell me one thing you want covered
Hit reply. I read every one.
A good part of what is already on my research list arrived exactly that way: what they are building near the train station, segmenting out art, pet friendly, and family friendly events, whether anything is happening with the North Street lot, how you get around Salem without the Skipper, which businesses quietly give residents a discount, where the McIntire district actually begins and ends. Hopefully we don’t have any more fun water surprises this week 😀 .
A street, a rumor, a restaurant, a ghost. Fair game.
Thanks for being here.
Zach
From Witch City, postmarked Salem, Mass.