Thank You to 100k Subscribers on YouTube!
Strong Towns is about to take our annual two-week-long break from publishing, so that our team can regroup and prep for all the exciting content we’re going to work on for next year. That said, we wanted to share one last post to close out the year, as we’ve just hit 100,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel—which means we owe all of you who have subscribed a big thank you!
—Strong Towns Content Manager/Editor Shina Shayesteh
When I was brought onto the team in late November of last year, we had no idea if my planned approach for YouTube would work. Sitting at around 30,000 subscribers, the team had tried a few things with relative success, but there was no guarantee the channel wasn’t “dead.” I was confident that if we made good videos according to what I learned while working for other large channels, we would see growth. My ambitious goal was 100,000 subscribers, but there was a real chance that the whole YouTube relaunch would be a dud.
We just hit 100,000 subscribers, marking 11 months since my first video was posted. It’s been an awesome year, and we are leaning into this success. Thank you so much for your support; we are so excited to bring even more meaningful stories your way. In light of this achievement, I wanted to share my three favorite videos I’ve gotten to work on:
My video about parking minimums in Fayetteville, Arkansas, set the standard for how I want all of our videos to feel: While this is a success story, it also captures the frustration many of us feel that things aren’t moving as quickly as we wish. This felt like a thank-you letter to people like Matthew Petty, who have been pushing for stronger towns for years. This tension allowed me to make a film that was emotionally resonant and honest.
We made a video about Brattleboro, Vermont, because they won our Strongest Town Contest. I’m not sure I ever would have heard of this gem of a town, otherwise. What began as a simple examination of how Brattleboro is both “urban and rural” became a genuinely hopeful exploration of how community doesn’t just “happen,” but is the result of an interdependency and mutual respect among neighbors. I really love the ending tone of this one.
I live in Chicago, and while a lot of the things we talk about are aimed at smaller cities and towns, I love getting to to highlight this city that I admire so much. The process of finding original documents, maps, and photos helped me appreciate the building styles and history I get to walk by every day. This video also was a helpful reminder that I need to deliver on my promises earlier—I promise the audience that we will talk about the “experiment that undid our cities” with the title, but don’t get to that experiment until about four minutes in. While it did well, the retention drop-off was an insightful reminder that my storytelling can always be tighter.
The growth of our YouTube audience wouldn’t be possible without all of you, so thank you for watching, sharing, and engaging with the channel.
Michael Pasternock is the Video Producer for Strong Towns. After graduating from the University of Missouri, he taught high school English and government in CoMo. Mike and his wife then moved to Arizona, making his side-hustle wedding filmmaking business his full-time job. Mike also worked as chief editor for several prominent YouTubers around the Phoenix area. After discovering Strong Towns and resonating with the message, he realized that his hometown of Chicago was a better fit for his family’s lifestyle. He now lives near the lake and loves to document his travels on camera, play board games with friends, and explore the many delicious restaurants near his lively neighborhood.