One of the things that stands out about ILLUMINATION, to me, is how well everyone works together as a team, and how each contributor has an opportunity to be as involved in the shaping and growth of this publication as its creator, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, contributing whatever they choose to contribute according to their own strengths.
Another thing that impresses me is that reader input is given significant weight. I have so little patience for writers who don’t respect or care about their audience, or try to understand what their readers want, need, and come back for time and time again. It does no good to have 10,000,000 subscribers if only 1000 are reading. Customer experience matters. All successful publications know this; not all share the data (anonymously, of course) with their contributors as readily as Dr. Y. does.
That Slack channel supplies something Medium does not: a live, real time “back channel” for constantly sharing ideas, asking questions, and improving on how we do things. It’s no secretive little enclave — more like a little section of the club where performers hang out and share what made the audience laugh or cry, and bat around ideas for doing more of whatever that was. And as we contributors get to know each other better, we can collaborate and lift each others’ diverse voices more effectively.
