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Happy holidays to you, true believers in the movie culture of Champaign, Urbana<\/strong>, and the cities beyond! We have not had a very productive December here on C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> and hope to ramp up our posting again in the New Year. Obviously, much of that can be chalked up to our current efforts to accumulate enough in monetary assets to produce the tenth issue of C-U Confidential<\/span><\/strong> digest. Both our GoFundMe<\/strong> drive<\/span><\/a> and the booking window for paid advertising<\/span><\/a> are set to expire after this Sunday, December 30<\/strong>, and we\u2019re honestly not sure how this will proceed if we fall short. Of the projected $2,200 print budget, we have raised little more than 50% of that sum total between the parallel efforts. Considering how much it felt like we pulled our community\u2019s teeth to do enough business to afford each of the last two issues, this lagging result is not entirely a surprise and an absolute downer all the same. So, what happens if we can\u2019t go the traditional offset printing route that enables us to distribute a minimum 1,000 copies into the hands of our friends and neighbors for free<\/em>? Options might include:<\/p>\n Ugh<\/em>. We know<\/em>. This choose-your-own-self-publishing adventure does not<\/em> account for the possibility of future CUZine<\/span><\/strong> editions. Why should it if the immediate future is tentative? As much as we\u2019ve enjoyed getting our old school on, niche printed material with a limited reach is not<\/em> the most enticing media in this day and age. Clearly, our campaign is failing to strike a chord with any subset of Champaign-Urbana including townies, those in the arts and media, or the overall culturally minded. We also have to accept that our former advertising base has evaporated. People are mostly not responding to our sharing our needs. This reality bites.<\/p>\n Please think about what the Confidential project has meant to you. Purchase an ad in CUZine<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a> if you have purpose for it. Contribute to the CUZine<\/span><\/strong> GoFundMe<\/span><\/a> if your heart\u2019s still in it. We\u2019ll have decisions to make once the confetti has fallen and echoes of \u201cAuld Lang Syne<\/strong>\u201d have faded, no doubt.<\/p>\n ~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n p.s.<\/em> It\u2019s no accident we avoided New Year\u2019s Eve<\/strong> and New Year\u2019s Day<\/strong> as deadlines. It\u2019s also no accident your humble editor selected his birthday just before as the deadline. Do him a solid and support the cause on behalf of the creator if for no other reason. Danke<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n