SUNDAY JOINT, 11-15-2020: “I OPENED MY FAVORITE NEWSLETTER AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY FUNDRAISER”

Hey All,

The 2020 Encyclopedia of Surfing fundraiser begins now with a special Spinal Tap video kickoff, but if you want to skip ahead, click here to donate, and here to subscribe or send a gift sub.

A brief update on where Encyclopedia of Surfing stands, and where it might go in 2021.

We added just over 500 subscribers this year, and there are now 2,500 of you, give or take. That is enough to keep EOS ad-free and moving forward. The bills are paid, including my $25,000 salary, and those of the other two other members of the EOS power trio (Mark Augias, lead guitar and coding; Brad Barrett, drums and data entry). This was the year the Sunday Joint ate my website, which is a good development, mostly. The Joint brought me back to writing after a few years on the sidelines, and it keeps me in touch with all of you. But prepping and writing the Joint chews up a lot of hours, and shooting the shit via email with everybody on Joint-related topics is my pleasurable task on Monday and part of Tuesday—all of which means less time spent building the site itself.

You see where this is going.

The EOS 2020 fundraiser is 100% dedicated to raising money to buy more work hours. The site should be growing faster. Just look at the Surfboards section. Seven boards posted so far. There should be 100 on there by now, and more added weekly. The Contest section is way behind too, and I know a lot of you aren’t into competition but if you open those pages you will find some amazing little time capsules. (Try the 1959 Makaha Championships, and don’t forget to hit play on the video clip.)

Finally, there is a staggering amount of material—magazines, books, movies, video, photos, and more—that needs to be collected, digitized, archived, and databased. This is a project unto itself. Ultimately, in fact, it is the most important part of the EOS mission. A huge number of surf movies and videos are yet to be digitized, for example, and will vanish forever if we don’t grab ’em. SURFER and Surfing magazines, and dozens of other titles, have not yet been scanned. This is the tedious but incredibly necessary work that will continue long after I hit “send” on my final Joint, and the more we get done now, the better.

So let’s raise 30K. EOS needs another pair of hands. Two pairs would be even better. I’d like a small raise, too, if I’m being honest.

To sum up: your donation will keep the Sunday Joint rolling, add new pages to EOS, and preserve surf history and culture.

Here is a shameless feel-good EOS clip designed to trigger the credit-card extension reflex.

Donate here. Subscribe or buy a gift sub here.

Thanks for reading, everybody, and thanks for supporting Encyclopedia of Surfing!

Matt

[Photo: John Severson]