Doesn’t time fly? And don’t ships sail? A year ago, we launched our Smashing Membership programme so that members of the Smashing readership could support us for a small amount of money (most people pay $5 or $9 a month, and can cancel at any time). In return get access to our ebooks, members-only webinars, discounts on printed books and conferences, and other benefits.

We did this because we wanted to reduce advertising on the site; ad revenues were declining, and the tech-savvy Smashing audience was becoming increasingly aware of the security and privacy implications of ads. And we were inspired by the example of The Guardian, a British newspaper that decided to keep its content outside a paywall but ask readers for support. Just last week, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief revealed that they have the financal support of 1 million people.

Into Year Two

We recently welcomed Bruce Lawson to the team as our Membership Commissioning Editor. Bruce is well known for his work on accessibility and web standards, as well as his fashion blog and world-class jokes.

So now that the team is larger, we’ll be bringing you more content — going up to three webinars a month. The price stays the same. And, of course, we’d love your input on subjects or speakers — let us know on Slack.

When we set up Membership, we promised that it would be an inclusive place where lesser-heard voices (in addition to big names) would be beamed straight to your living room/ home office/ sauna over Smashing TV. Next month, for example, Bruce is pleased to host a webinar by Eka, Jing, and Sophia from Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines to tell us about the state of the web in South East Asia. Perhaps you’d like to join us?

Please consider becoming a Smashing Member. Your support allows us to bring you great content, pay all our contributors fairly, and reduce advertising on the site.

Thank you so much to all who have helped to make it happen! We sincerely appreciate it.