Last weekend, some of the laid-off staffers of Creative Loafing, the former alt-weekly magazine and now digital-only outlet, held a "Rest In Paper" festival to raise money for a new venture they’re calling Queen City Nerve.
The new publication will distribute its first print issue on Dec. 5. Queen City Nerve will print bi-weekly and have a website updated daily with the same kinds of stories you would’ve found in Creative Loafing Charlotte.
That’s according to Ryan Pitkin, the former Editor-In-Chief at Creative Loafing, a position he held for three months before he and the rest of the staff were laid off at the end of October.
Pitkin said seeing the number of people who showed up to the benefit concerts and events this weekend in NoDa to support the new venture affirmed his goal.
“It’s important for us to not hang around and just sort of sit on our hands and wonder if this is the right decision or not,” Pitkin said. “We know it’s the right decision, we need to turn it around real quick to make sure that the community doesn’t sort of forget about us and that we can continue to be there for the community.”
Bands performed from 12 p.m. Saturday to 12 a.m. Sunday at venues and restaurants in the NoDa neighborhood including the Canvas Tattoo & Art Gallery, the Evening Muse, Jack Beagle's, NoDa Company Store and Sanctuary NoDa.
The idea for the event came from a local band named "The Business People," but once a number of other bands and people expressed interest, Pitkin and others with Queen City Nerve got involved.
Pitkin says all kinds of people and groups reached out after the paper shut down and offered to help with advertising and business, and random people on the street would stop him and his colleagues to express appreciation for their work.
Pitkin says the new publication will host some small events throughout the year and will add more video to their website.
This story has been updated to reflect that the date of the first print edition has been changed to Dec. 5.
