Would you want to see a live video Q&A with me?

Thank you, Julian. It's good to hear that you're enjoying what I'm already sending out. :)

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Lee! I'm glad that sounds like fun to you. :)

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Margot. I'm now thinking I'd do this at noon PST on a Saturday which would be 3:00 P.M. on the East Coast of the U.S. and 9:00 P.M. in Europe. But before I launched this, I would definitely have a poll about the best time for me to do it. And I hear you (and all the rest of you sweet, awesome folk) about me not over-extending to create the perfect experience. I am excited about the features that Crowdcast would bring to the table. But I'll balance that against the expense for sure.

Alex Woolfson

Not to worry, Bill -- no matter what I do, the livestream would definitely be recorded so even if you forgot the time (and missed the reminder emails that a service like Crowdcast sends), you'd still be able to view it. And yes, getting a chance to interact with our readers directly is always super-inspiring to me. It's something that makes this a fun, exciting idea for me as well.

Alex Woolfson

I voted NO - because I'm not overly into the even podcast thing, let alone a live event such as this (actual conventions are a different kettle of fish!) especially if it's going to cost you a lot. I fully endorse the points others have made on that front. Again, as others say, you already provide a lot of 'extras' - no need for more... You're the boss! Thanks for the fun.

Julian White

Wow, before I read all the above comments, I had no idea it was such a complicated question. Regardless, my answer remains the same. Hell yes! Thanks very much for the offer.

Lee Rawitscher

It would be really cool ! the only thing that could be a bit annoying for me is that I think we don't have the same time zone at all :'( I hope, if it happend, that I will be able to see it. But like a lot of peoples have said, everything you're doing for us is rewarding enough :) ! Please don't put too much money into that even if it could be a really good experience if it cost you too much it isn't worth it.

Your devoted fan. bill

william clapie

After reading some of the above comments both short and profound, I find myself wondering about my yes vote. I have not and likely will not ever have the chance to meet you in person. I have only ever met one celebrity and lets just say he was a ghostbuster. I don't want to post his name, not sure how he stands on gay/gay comics and what not. I have commented on your show/comicon photos as having only one look to your expression to which you replied something along the lines of you had found an expression that worked for you and where sticking with it. Hum. Now. Video conference, live. I have trouble with these. I NEVER remember the bloody time! I don't doubt that many of your fans would be there with bells, whistles and great whishes however and maybe, just maybe a pump prime or two for the creative juices? Nothing like a live open audience for that is there?

william clapie

Thank you, Frater. It makes me really happy to hear that you like what I've been doing here. And even though I'm excited about the cool experience I think Crowdcast could create for y'all, I'm definitely going to explore less expensive alternatives.

Alex Woolfson

It's good to hear that you really enjoyed the livestream of another creator. And thank you for the tip about Picarto. If that's what other creators are using, I'm definitely going to give that a look. Good to hear that the sidebar chat fosters an even greater sense of community than the comments. Do you know if readers would be able to vote on each others' questions in the chat with Picarto? That's one feature of Crowdcast that I like: that y'all could ask questions and then vote on the one for me to answer next. And the times I've exhibited at TCAF have been wonderful experiences. In a side note, could you please PM me with your first name and what year we met? I sometimes get a bit confused about who folks are with the nicknames on here, and I'd love to be able to put your membership here with my experience of meeting you!

Alex Woolfson

You make a very good point, Malik. If a livestream is something that folks would really enjoy, it could indeed encourage other readers to become Patrons. And (being a former video editor) I definitely see your point about using the video to create mini-promotional pieces. And that could help justify the costs of using a high-end service like Crowdcast.

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Jennifer! It was lovely having you stop by to say hello when I've been at a convention too. :)

Alex Woolfson

I'm now thinking I'd do this at noon PST on a Saturday which would be 3:00 P.M. on the East Coast of the U.S. and 9:00 P.M. in Europe. But before I launched this, I would definitely have a poll about the best time for me to do it. And whatever platform I choose to do this with, I would want the livestream to be recorded so folks could watch it later. Crowdcast does this automatically, I believe.

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Adam. It's really good to hear that you like the rewards I've been sending out so far. And your kind words mean the world to me. I didn't expect this response in the comments, and it's really... Well, it just makes me love y'all even more (which I didn't think was possible.) And the overall message I'm hearing is that y'all would like me to do this, but not if it costs me anything, especially with me being in the red. There are some other options y'all are recommending that are different than Crowdcast. I'm going to look into them to see if they can still let me deliver the awesome experience I want for y'all with this.

Alex Woolfson

I appreciate the offer. I voted YES. I don't want it to cost you anything extra, however. You already do so much for us. Thank you for being there and doing what you do.

^ definitely lending my support to the opinions already expressed above. It would be awesome to watch a live Q&A session (one of the other creators I follow on Patreon did this in January and it was so much fun), but it doesn't make sense if it will be an additional expense for you. The creators I follow who do livestreams have all used Picarto. I believe it's either free or quite inexpensive for the creators, and is totally free for the viewers. You can set up private streams that require clicking on a specific link in order to view them, so all you have to do is post the link to a Patreon update and it automatically directs folks into the stream. Super easy, super streamlined (at least from a viewer's perspective -- I've never tried to set one up as a creator) and there's a sidebar chat for instant feedback and questions from those viewing the stream. Meeting you in person at TCAF a few years back was really nice, and I always love hearing creators give more inside info into their process and various details that might never be communicated otherwise. And having everyone in the sidebar chat really fosters a sense of community among the patrons, even moreso than the comments sections on updates. If you find a way to do this that isn't going to have you paying a bunch out of pocket, I say YES!

Goodyear

Hey Alex. I voted yes too. Like a lot of other people, i don't want you to expend your resources on something just to give more to your already-loyal supporters. I don't want you overextending yourself, true, but i'm also totally selfish: i want to be able to keep reading these stories for a long time to come. I voted yes, though, because i think this could be a good opportunity for you. If you're on for an hour or so and you record the video, you can potentially use that to promote the comic. Slice it up into ten-minute segments, and they can be posted to YouTube as a series. You would just need to record some kind of intro that could go at the front of each video, and some kind of call to action for the end (the same one could go on all of them). It might actually be a way to drive more people to the comic and Patreon, especially if you post the link here and have your followers/patrons go watch to boost views. Just something to consider as a possible way to make this a benefit to everyone. I kind of hope you do it and it makes things even better!

Malik M.L. Williams

I voted yes. Cause the few times I have managed to be at a convention you were at, I loved stopping by to say hello even if I didn't have funds to buy anything. You were/are a great person to talk to. And I think you are plenty interesting, specially when you are talking about something you like.

Jennifer Funke

Well as usual I just fear I won't have time when the livestream happens because of timezones etc. but a common solution for this was to at least maybe offer a transcript afterwards? I know it is a LOT of work, the session would need to be recorded and someone needs to do the transcription, but if that would be a possibility maybe that'd be great! But even if not I guess it is a nice thing for anyone who is able to actually take part in this! :D

Nadin Brokop

I want to echo basically everyone else in that you give so much, Alex, above and beyond what other content creators are doing. Not only do I, as a patron, know I'm helping even just a little bit to help you with your amazing comic, I already get cool stuff like voting for favorite panels and the sketches. Maybe this says I'm not giving enough if this feels like reward enough? (j/k) Maybe you've received other feedback, I don't know. If this wasn't any kind of drag on you in terms of time or cost, I'd be all for it because I think it'd be *really* awesome. That being said, you've been in the red on the comic for a good while now, and I'd feel bad for you to dig further into that hole. Keep on being awesome, Alex, and if you get back into a better financial position, I will wholeheartedly jump on this particular bandwagon. So while in my heart I voted yes because I love the concept, I voted NO above for these reasons.

Adam Irving

No, there wouldn't be any charge for y'all at all with Crowdcast. You wouldn't even have to download anything. It's all in-browser. Your other suggestions are super helpful. And maybe if this really caught on, and it were to become a regular thing, I would look into options that would be less expensive. And even with Crowdcast, I wouldn't sign up for more than a month., and the truth is, if this would be a special treat for y'all, and maybe even attract some new Patrons, it would totally be worth me paying a little something for it. I would want it to be something special for y'all. Ultimately, I just needed to know if having me answer questions would be something you'd enjoy. I tend to think of myself as not as interesting as my comics. Hearing that a Live Q&A would be an amazing experience for you is very helpful. If enough other readers feel that way, one way or another I will figure out the best method to make that happen. :) Thank you again for your very thoughtful and considerate comment. Y'all show me again and again how lucky I am. We really do have the best readers in the world.

Alex Woolfson

Thank you, Robb. That means a lot to me.

Alex Woolfson

It is good for me to know that me answering questions would be something you would like. As y'all know, I can be a bit of a private person, which is mainly because I think my comics are a lot more interesting than I am personally. But if me answering questions would be something fun for y'all, that's very good information for me to have. :)

Alex Woolfson

Wow. I really appreciate the very kind words. And yes, there would be an expense to make this happen, but I'd make sure whatever however I chose to make this happen, I wouldn't let it endanger our comic. I know how important it is to y'all, and it's just as important to me. But it's very important to me that y'all feel rewarded for your amazing and generous support of this work. And if this is something you'd truly find awesome, even if it could only be something I do once in a while, I want to find a way to make it happen. :)

Alex Woolfson

I like Bob's reasoning. I don't think you need to invest into an additional service that costs something regularly. Does it also cost something for the viewer? Of course you can use the service provided by Patreon, but there are free and very good services/platforms out there. I've been streaming for fun for a few years and I use Twitch.tv - it's completely free for the streamer and the user, and together with a streaming software (like Streamlab or OBS, both free), you can set up a stream without too much hussle. I think quite a few people even just use their mobile phones to stream nowadays - haven't tried that yet - but that means that it must have become even easier to stream on Twitch - especially if you don't want to stream a very fast 3D game with perfect graphics. You have the option on Twitch (in your account settings) to record your streams and save them to your account there. You can then either highlight them (which should make them available forever, and not only for 2 weeks) or download them and host them somewhere else. Or you just record them locally (if you stream through a PC or Mac for example your streaming software has that integrated option to record whatever you are streaming.) An alternative option (and a bit less exciting maybe than a live stream) could be an indirect Q&A. We write questions in comments on patreon and you record the answers when you have time and either upload on Youtube (where you choose if it's a public or private video), or even a Google drive, or any other hosting service. Or you just record sound which you could again host on several sites. The "not live" option or a mix of both (questions on Patreon & questions from the live stream chat) would be fun for anybody who can't make it to your live stream (timezones ...). Some questions where you can prepare answers in advance are also super helpful to start the Q&A, till people login and start chatting. edit: (ugh my comment was cut off...) I'll vote YAY, provided that it doesn't cost you more - it will already cost you time 😓 Live Q&As are an amazing experience for creator and fans and a very personal thing. So yes, it would be awesome! But investing time into it should be enough cost for you 💕💕💕

Celila

Alex, I feel rewarded enough just getting to read this great work.

Robb Krueger

You are already spending money from your savings to continue this effort. I really would rather have you work with your phenomenal artists on the pages than cost your operation more money for a 'nice to have'. The product that you an your artists put out for us TWICE a week is wonderful. I would hate to see the output scaled back to once a week, but what I have been enjoying for SEVERAL YEARS now, I would like to continue. You are a masterful story teller and your artists are tuned into your visions. Bob Wheatley in Richmond, VA

The video 'chat' to answer questions would be AWESOME, Alex.. I voted 'NAH' .