Happy New Year to all the readers and members of the Good Oil.
It has been an eventful year and one where we’ve made huge changes. The new site and membership system makes for a far better reader/member experience.
I love our new newsletter system, where we can be more granular with newsletters, and I am open to suggestions as to what sort of newsletter you want.
We are also open to other suggestions for improving our offerings and content. Drop us a line. One reader suggested a discounted rate for Gold Card holders (I think Winston would like to hear about this). I like this idea and am working out a verification process, but this is a good idea that we are going to implement.
We are still a few memberships away from where we’d like to be. You’ve seen The Spinoff are on the bludge for more cash after their government money ran dry. We have never had government money, ever: we are a member-funded organisation. We are only as powerful as you let us be by showing your support and becoming a paid member.
This year we are going to have to do something to replace the advertising revenue. That might be making more articles paywalled at the basic level or perhaps making commenting a paid activity. I don’t want to have to do either, but those are two options. If you have other options then, by all means, don’t keep them a secret.
20 Year Celebrations
We are going to party like it is 2005. This year is the 20th anniversary of my blogging, writing and being a political commentator.
In the 20 years since I started, I’ve managed to significantly change the course of NZ politics. There is a very, very long list of political scalps and stories that made an impact on political machinations here in New Zealand.
To celebrate I am going to do two things:
- A nationwide tour to meet and greet supporters, with stays where there are significant Good Oil sumps (it’s great to use that term again). So Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch are definite spots on the tour. I have yet to work out the timing of that.
- We are going to have a 20th celebration and it’s all booked, locked and loaded.
Mark down 5 July in your calendars: that’s the date. The only thing to confirm is the venue. The event will be MC’d by Maurice Williamson and includes a roast of me led by Winston Peters, who cheekily asked if it was an all-day event. That will be followed by an Q+A session with Barry Soper and me, where the audience and the wider membership will be able to submit questions. There will likely be many politicians in attendance and I will invite Martyn Bradbury (so he can see what success looks like) and Nicky Hager. The event will be live streamed to X and other platforms.
Pricing of the event and a location will be announced soon. I’m looking forward to seeing you all this year.
Please fill out this registration form so we can gauge interest and the size of the venue needed:
Have a great New Year. I am looking to forward to meeting as many of you as possible.
