The Future of Silver Seven
Here’s what comes next, and how you can help
Four weeks ago, I had the unpleasant duty of announcing that Vox was cutting off funding to Silver Seven at the end of February. To describe the intervening period as a whirlwind would be an understatement, but today I can say that the future of the site is beginning to take shape.
Here is where we stand:
- The official end date for our site’s relationship with SB Nation and Vox Media has been extended to March 31st. On April 1st, we will assume ownership of the site, including the domain name. There will be a new Silver Seven on April 1st — so I might as well get ahead of it now and tell you: no, it won’t be an April Fool’s Joke!
- The bad news is that all the infrastructure that SB Nation provides is going with them on April 1st. To continue operating, we will need to find our own service provider, manage our own backend, and, perhaps most pressingly, fund our own costs.
- The good news is that the entire staff has already been putting in the work to make that transition a reality.
- The even better news is that going independent is going to free us up to create some brand new content for our loyal readers that just wasn’t possible before. We’re all a bit nervous and scared, but we’re also very excited. I can’t wait to share some of new our ideas and features with you all.
This is where you come in. Silver Seven is something that we are proud to be a part of because of the community. Everyone that writes for this site does so for two reasons: 1) we love the Ottawa Senators and 2) we love this community. Today, we need your help.
While we work on the business side of what the future of the site looks like, we need assistance to defray the costs of building the infrastructure and backend, as well as to cover our regular monthly costs. I’ve set the initial target at $3,000 USD because that is roughly what it would take to cover the cost of moving the site and two months of expenses. Any amount that you are able to donate would be immensely appreciated and will help make the next version of Silver Seven the best it can be.
As we get closer to the launch of the new Silver Seven, we will continue to share our plans. Together, we’re going to keep this thing going — better than ever!