Well, that was fun.

The first edition of the Sprawl—covering Calgary’s municipal election—has officially ended.

It’s been an amazing month. We are grateful. We are tired. We need to lie down.

Thank you to everyone who decided to support the Sprawl, whether financially (this is how we're funded!), lending us equipment or just offering an encouraging word when we needed it. What we did together in a month is hard to believe.

There are too many people to thank, but we’re especially grateful to Jeremy Zhao and Grant Neufeld, who hosted our all-day YouTube livestream on Election Day. And to Sprawl correspondents Amy Tucker, Santana Blanchette, Skye Cunningham, Noel Harper and Willem Klumpenhouwer who all did amazing work in the field. And Jocelyn Kabatoff for helping with social media and t-shirt sales. And Sam Hester for her awesome comics.

You’re all amazing.

So.

What’s next for the Sprawl? See for yourself in the video below.

Here’s an FAQ for answers to more questions.

People loved this. Why are you taking it down? Can you just keep it going all the time, given the high level of interest?
No. Going quiet is integral to the Sprawl’s design. It was created to be set up and put away for specific times, with each edition tied to a Calgary theme. This is what makes it doable, at least for now.

We get it: you like the Sprawl, we like doing the Sprawl, everyone (well, not everyone) likes the Sprawl. But it’s largely a one-person show, and going non-stop indefinitely is not realistic. It doesn’t benefit anyone if the editor burns out within months.

But we support you monthly. You want us to support you even when the Sprawl is “put away?”
Yes, absolutely. That’s when a lot of the important work happens in building the next edition. We need your support to do that.

How else can we support the Sprawl?
Soon you’ll be able to buy some merch! We’ve got some nice charcoal heather t-shirts for sale. We haven’t had time to set up an online store yet, but will be doing that soon. We’ll put that info here once it’s up.

How long until we see the next edition?
We really need to regroup and recharge before committing to a date, as all our energy and focus has been on the election edition. If you support the Sprawl through Patreon, you will be the first to hear details about what’s next.

What will the next edition be about?
You sure ask a lot of questions, don’t you?

Have you considered doing a Sprawl podcast?
Yes, quite a few people have suggested that. We’ll be looking into it.

I decided to support you but you haven’t yet thanked me publicly. What’s up with that? That’s one of your listed Patreon rewards, man!
This is one of the things we’ll be working on over the next bit. We’ve simply been too busy covering the election (and hope you understand!).

We wanted to sign up to support you financially during the first edition but never got around to it. Is it too late?
It’s never too late! You can become a supporter anytime. Please do.

We want to support you but would rather give a one-time payment than monthly contributions. Can we do that?
The Sprawl is sustained by monthly supporters. This is important because it gives us steady income we can rely on. We recommend taking what you would give as a one-time (or annual) payment, dividing that amount by 12 and supporting The Sprawl.

What’s the best way to reach you once you’ve “gone quiet”?
Probably email: sprawlcalgary@gmail.com

Take care, okay?
We will. You too.