Are you there internet? It's me, Serena.
Some thoughts and plans, and really, just a cathartic journaling session. Thanks for being here.
Hey y’all,
It’s Serena. Clubstack has run into some unprecedented attention on instagram thanks to Charlotte de Witte and an algorithm that may be the death of me. It’s led me to reflect on what this project means to me, and I figured I’d share my ponderings with you, in real time, as I word vomit them onto my computer at midnight on a Monday.
I made Clubstack to bring people and dance spaces together who shared the mission of love and connection. My deep love for dancing to beats that literally coarse through my body and purge me of my worries had been threatened too many times by a dance floor texter and outrageously high ticket prices. I wanted to celebrate the people that championed dance floors that expanded my love for moving my body and to do so with community behind it. So I proposed the idea of this project to Pete, my hinge match turned dance floor partner in crime, and with his beautiful brain and steadfast work ethic, Clubstack was born and fated to evolve for the rest of eternity, so long as we both shall dance.
Pete and I built the hotline to free our community of the need to use social media to shake their ass and to offer our suggestions of the dance floors that align with our values. And to be cheeky, duh. But we had to use instagram to get people to learn about the hotline, a fateful catch 22 situation. Playing the ambiguous game of the instagram algorithm to reach more nyc dance goers who we can be of service to, and also attracting a lot of spiteful instagram trolls that think we are pieces of shit, has been a wake up call for sure. And dare I say, a beautiful lesson in overcoming self doubt and shielding oneself from the sludge that is the internet. As we are learning, we are thinking about the best way to balance a strong sense of community and maintaining our love for this project. We’re open to feedback on how we can be of best service to y’all, the people that wanna shake their ass like we do.
Moving forward, our plan is to communicate and build through the hotline, good ol’ paper based marketing (flyers, stickers), and…exciting news… our new texting service that was FINALLY approved by the feds (just in time for when I decided to break up with instagram). Until Pete uses his mastermind brain to code a database where we can store all of your consent to text you, you can text DANCE to the hotline to chat with us. Think of this as a dance floor concierge - ask us where to go, for what kind of music, what kind of vibe, etc and we’ll do our best to oracle you to the best rave in town. Energy to do this is subject to how much interest we get - we’re just spitballing here, trying to figure out the sweet balance of having fun ~and~ being a useful resource. When we get the database launched, we will be able to text you weekly blasts of the run down of events in addition to the hotline service.
While it was becoming my new bit to say I was a dance influencer, I have now renounced that ambition and would like to take a vacation from the god forsaken instagram algorithm that is draining me of my passion. As much as I want to make a what’s in my crossbody bag at basement reel, I am going to abstain for now. Looking forward to what this celibacy is going to bring for the project. Maybe instagram retention will give me even more motivation to dance???
In other news I am moving to….wait for it…San Francisco. To be a THERAPIST. Not very techno of me, I know. But actually kind of super techno of me?? Dance floors have been a space for me to process sooo much and if I can weave throwing ass into my work saving people from their own demons, you betcha I will find a way. It’s pretty effed that 1/2 of Clubstack isn’t going to live in New York, but I actually probably wouldn’t have pursued this project if I hadn’t felt like I needed a creative endeavor in my limbo stage between working and my impending grad school. So hey, we’re gonna make it work…and dare I say, go bicoastal?!
I am absolutely stoked to be moving on many accounts of nature and sunlight that doesn’t suffocate me with humidity, but frankly, am terrified of moving there when it comes to ass shaking. I have no idea where to begin. But the fun part is I have this project to help motivate me to find buried treasure. I can’t wait to meet people on and off the dance floor to introduce me to these new spaces and to embark on the journey with Clubstack. If you’re in the bay, know anything about the bay - really anything - like not just dancing - cheap food recs, trail recs, part time job recs, etc. please send them my way.
Phew, this was a good chat. I’m feeling lighter in spirit already, hbu?? Oh, just me? Well thanks for making it this far in my first Substack therapy sesh. Til next time on the dance floor.
xo,
Serena