What’s going on, everyone. Eric here with a friendly reminder that we’re launching our Kickstarter this Sunday, January 27th.
We’ve spent the last two weeks getting everything ready to release this 30 day campaign. We’ve been collaborating closely with the Holochain team, a few media outlets and most importantly, members in our own community. We’re stoked to share what’s been brewing with you all in a few days.
I truly believe a culture where more people live with a deeper sense of freedom is not far out of reach. Unapologetic self-expression is contagious and we can all help inspire this confidence in each other. We don’t have to be stuck in existing norms that don’t serve our best interests - restrictive standards are malleable and we can encourage healthier patterns of communication, expression, and collaboration.
We are calling on you to help move Junto forward. It will take many of us contributing to this campaign to realize this vision. Let’s all work together to accelerate this shift towards a decentralized internet and cultivate an atmosphere that inspires each individual's most natural form of expression.
Keep an eye out for an email this Sunday and, as always, thank you for your support.
Eric
eric@junto.foundation
// new to Junto? read about it here: https://junto.foundation/
What’s new
#HowYouCanHelp
If it’s within your bounds, donate to our campaign!
We are going to be pushing out some promotional content starting January 27th. Please share them with your friends, family and circles. We will follow up this Sunday with important links to everything
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to get in touch, ask questions or collaborate in some way
#CreateWithUs
We’re looking for two engineers (one mobile, one web) to join us. Below is a description of what we’re about and who we’re looking for. If you want to help bring this to life or know someone who might be a good fit, don’t hesitate to reach out at eric@junto.foundation. https://junto.substack.com/p/flux-13-create-with-us
#VolunteerInitiative
We just rolled out an official volunteer initiative for Junto. The goal is to provide anyone the opportunity to contribute to this project on a more hands-on basis. We’ve set up a Slack channel, formalized the first cohort, and just had our first monthly call. Volunteers are involved in anything from outreach, writing, feedback and design to being the first to test the beta and recommend new features moving forward. Interested? Fill out this typeform and we’ll get back to you as soon as we begin on-boarding more people :)
#HoloUpdate
Read this update from Holo to check out their prototype packaging for Holo and other relevant milestones. (Source: Medium)
#JanuaryAtJunto
Jan 26 - Our launch party in NYC! If you’d like to come by, shoot us an email at hi@junto.foundation
Jan 27 - Junto’s Kickstarter Campaign launches!
Jan 31 - Junto packs up back to Brooklyn :)
#WeeklyResonations
Here’s what our team found valuable this week:
From Yaz:
Hello guys!
It’s sure been a busy and exciting two weeks for us. I’m typing this little blurb on a greyhound bus as I’m just returning to NYC after spending a few days working out of Rochester, New York, with Drea. Our agenda was to visit with old friends and to share Junto with University of Rochester students, staff and friends. It was certainly a blast to the past and a wonderful reminder of how grateful we are for the Rochester community (Drea is a UR graduate and I’m technically on leave of absence from the University - thankful to UR for holding my spot while I’ve chosen to devote my time to Junto). Special shoutout to our old professor, Steve Roessner for buying us lunch and for his continual support, friendship and belief in Junto! In addition, thank you to our wonderful friends Liora, Madeline, Gaia, Jackie and Kate for having us in their beautiful new home (we also love their kitten, Frida). To all of those whose paths we crossed in Rochester, it was absolutely great to see you again. Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on our content, writing and designs and to everyone who’s new to the project - we can’t wait to continue sharing the unfolding of Junto with you.
Stay tuned. We’re lifting off!!!
From Dora:
Teenage film-maker, Noémie Boullé’s first short film ‘Millions of Planets’ will capture your heart. This film will transport you into the life of a young girl, whose closest “friend” and role model is Willow, a musician and activist that passed away before she was even born. Find out how she overcomes spiraling into isolation and how she discovers her soul’s power to do great things.
From Drea:
Long story short, thank you all.
As Yaz explained, this past weekend we embarked on a journey to our alma mater University of Rochester - just in time for one of the biggest snowstorms of the season. But even a foot and a half of snow featuring windchills below zero were no match for the warmth of my full heart =‘’) !!!!!!
Striking up conversation with people you haven’t been around in months isn’t always comfortable. But I cannot even begin to explain how aligned it feels when friends bring up Junto by their own volition, talk about how much they enjoy keeping up with our story via newsletter, and express continuous support and appreciation for what we’re doing.
Especially when things at Junto are as busy as they’ve been lately, it’s not always easy to remember what the dream was born of in the first place. We spend so much time drawing from inspiration’s past to accommodate the abstract social conditions of various communities that, at least within myself, there can sometimes be a degree of separation from what it actually felt like to thrive within that living community we care so much about.
But at the end of the day, we’re doing this for you all. Thank you for reminding me of why that matters. We’ve witnessed the divisive impact today’s popular social media can have on real world interactions, and nobody needs that. More happiness, more real-world interactions, more authentic expression. OK that’s all, & shoutout to all you ROC homies reading this <3.
We want your feedback.
Like what you see? Share it! Think we can be doing things better? Let us know. We’re open to ideas so DM us at hi@junto.foundation or drop any of the team members a note at their individual emails listed on our website here.