An Evolution

Welcome to the new home of Midnight Slate! In addition to launching this brand-new website, I want to give you a status update and share some behind the scenes with you.

Before we get to the updates, let’s talk a little history and intent for a few iterations of Midnight Slate over the years.

Midnight Slate Labs (2017-2019)

The goal all along for this business to be a creative outlet and side-hustle. I originally formed the LLC to provide creative and consulting services to clients, which started off with the boom of commercial drone services. I consider this iteration as a success as it was able to cover expenses and expand the offerings to provide value to clients while utilizing that creative outlet. Goal achieved!

Midnight Slate Labs V2 (2019-2021)

Initially, I carried on with various client work, opened an office location that was slated to be a creator collaboration hub in Rochester… then COVID-19 hit. For a while, the office/studio became my personal playground to experiment since lockdown was ongoing, and eventually have some friends come work remotely. This went on for some time until COVID-19 spiked again over Winter 2020/2021. 2021 the office was mostly underutilized, and some decisions had to be made. Countless organizations have looked at their physical footprint and what makes sense in an ever-increasing remote-work world. At some point, I had to decide that it was a better financial decision to let the office go and evolve this thing once again, or let it go entirely.

What is this thing?

At some point in your entrepreneurship, you may forget why you embarked on the journey in the first place. Creatives can relate, as social media has muddied the waters and rained the “why” of their creation. There is a push and pull of what I want to create and what the trends or external forces want us to create.

To me, Midnight Slate was always to be a creative outlet, but mostly for what my clients have required. Today, the next evolution begins.

Midnight Slate, in this form, is an online magazine dedicated to creative, gaming, travel, lifestyle, and technology. My goal is simple: I want to create engaging content on topics that I am passionate about, that can also be a resource for other creatives. Here you will find practical advice, tips & tricks, and thought-provoking content in various mediums.

Larger blogs/magazines are run by larger corporations, fueled by advertising money. Midnight Slate is entirely self-funded. We will form partnerships where it makes sense, and only partnerships that we believe in. Transparency and integrity are core values, and we will ensure you as a consumer of content are aware of these partnerships and the terms of engagement.

So with this online magazine, I simply try to open my mind up to you. Topics range from pure practicality such as what camera and streaming equipment I use, to more philosophical articles, or even personal adventures. Fresh content will be published throughout each and every week!

Subscriptions? A newsletter? What’s this about?

By default, the vast majority of content will be freely available. There are certain resources and a monthly newsletter you can subscribe for free to obtain. Captain’s Log is a monthly newsletter of all topics we cover, delivered straight to your inbox and written by yours truly. It is intended to be a quick update with my thoughts sprinkled in. We have other newsletters planned for focused topics and those will be announced soon!

Subscriptions have an optional premium tier as a “Supporter.” This tier is available as a monthly or yearly (discounted) subscription that not only supports our content creation, but gives you exclusive community access to likeminded individuals and direct access to our experts. Check out Membership for more information on tiers and benefits.

We’re just getting started with this journey and will always be investigating how to improve! Your feedback is more than welcome. The best place to send me your thoughts is always on Twitter @JetBlk in real-time or via email.

Chat soon,

Nick