I don't think anyone's saying District Weekly doesn't do its job in spreading the word about what's going on in Long Beach; you guys work hard to stay connected and spread the word. As a matter of fact, here I am on your site following up on old news stories, checking out the calendar, etc. It's just a point of fact that even fans of your magazine – ANY magazine, site, etc. – will sometimes miss an issue, or catch up late. And ultimately, not reading your article in time shouldn't have sealed the deal for someone finding out about the event.

I think what's lacking is more of the word-of-mouth buzz that surrounds some events; what the solution is, I have no idea. Even though Long Beach has a thriving arts and music scene and, for the most part, there seems to be a great spirit of collaboration, I find that there are only a handful of people like Shea/LBPP.net, 562CityLife, District Weekly, and myself who are as committed to spreading the word about community events outside of their own. When I lived up in Silver Lake, you almost couldn't escape the “Are you going to Junction?”/”Are you going to Fuck Yeah Fest?”/etc. – even the haters would pronounce that they “wouldn't be caught dead at…” Point is, there was always buzz, and whether it was a Street Carnival or a small art walk in Echo Park, there were flyers everywhere and people were talking and you couldn't help but be aware of the event for weeks in advance.

Again, not sure what the answer is. Keep doing what you're doing though, DW – you're definitely one voice dedicated to getting the word out and supporting those of us who are struggling to bring art, music and film to Long Beach.

But the comments from people about getting the word out early and often is definitely true. I thought everyone today was supposed to be so wired in to technology?