ALLEGRA: The Newsletter!

As is unclear to no one who has been following our posts recently, one of the main ideas for Allegra is to find creative ways to fill the ‘DEAD SPACE’ in between scholarly discussions ongoing today and eventual publications appearing in a few years. So for in this experiments we have taken to Facebook, Twitter and U-Tube, all pretty standard outlets for academic blogs (yet also ones accompanied by certain experiences worth sharing, something we will do soon; for example, just what kind of information can the operator of any odd website receive of its users via the programs that allow overview of its users?!)

Today we continue with one additional experiment: Allegra’s very own newsletter! This is something that we have been dabbling with for a little while now, after this new platform was brought to our attention. Since we are not in the business – literally – of endorsing products of any sort, we won’t mention more on this platform either, except to say that it offers options to operate totally free of charge (which is the case with us).

What does the newsletter entail & why have we seen the need to establish it? Well, on more than one occasion we have received feedback that things at Allegra move just a tad fast… That there are new posts both on the website, and in particular on Facebook with a pace that causes even our most devoted followers to miss out. It is in this spirit that we thought to just see what a newsletter would feel like – sort of like the ‘weekend edition’, if you will, of all the madness of the week, all nicely wrapped in one package to be enjoyed over a nice, hassle-free brunch… (Or that’s at least what we envision’s Allegra’s friends’ weekends to look like!)

Admitted, the newsletter is not yet everything we hope that it would be. Some have pointed out that our dear website looks a bit messy & difficult to navigate – well, sadly the same is more than true in our view of the newsletter… Also, since we have refused to drop some cash, we have been unable to remove ads from the site, or customise it with our characteristic (pink) aesthetics. And also, an observant reader notices all of our ‘witty’ accompanying comments familiar from Facebook absent from the articles. Yet, even with these caveats we consider this experiment still as worthwhile sharing – if for nothing else, added inspiration for different ways that scholars can assume a growing presence in increasing societal information flows.

And since the platform is quite easy to use (as we keep on repeating, we’re no computer wizards ourselves, and we managed to set the newsletter up with NO outside help!), we think that it might come in handy for different purposes – why not, for example, create your own newsletter for a course you’re running on recent media coverage of your given topic! Why not use it create your own publication for Conference Papers, or highlight your own project as an extension of the traditional project website?! The main point being: it exists, it is easy to use – why not give it a go!

We hope that you enjoy this experiment & we are happy for all feedback on where to go next! Sign up to receive the newsletter every week – and then it is just Happy Newsletter-Brunching for all joyful weekends to come!