The GOALS of KillTheCan (October 2021)

I’ve had numerous conversations about this over the past several days (weeks, months, etc.)

Just putting this out there really to solidify it in my mind. I’m going to copy/paste some convos I’ve had, add to some, subtract from others, etc.

KTC started nearly 15 years ago. The idea was to develop a place to help people get (AND STAY) quit. Smokeless tobacco was, and continues to be, the enemy in my mind. Period, end of fucking story.

Through the years things have changed. It’s been talked about ad nauseum so I won’t bore you with a history lesson but it includes things like platform changes, the advent of social media, new things that didn’t exist like chat, offshoot sites, massive growth and decline of engagement.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of looking at this place as an opportunity to be BIG.

“Let’s grow the site. Let’s grow the membership. Let’s be bigger than the rest.”

That has NEVER been the goal. The goal has ALWAYS been getting people to be free from their addiction to smokeless tobacco.

I don’t think when the founders of AA were thinking it was a business opportunity. They just wanted to help people.

That’s what KTC is. Period. Everything else is nice… but not the main mission.

It has become readily apparent through the years that building ACCOUNTABILTY seems to be a major factor in success rates. Building BROTHERHOOD seems to be a major factor in building that accountability. That’s where ACCOUTABILITY + BROTHERHOOD = SUCCESS comes from. Seems silly to point it out, but I find it helpful to see it written out that way.

So… if all things stem from BROTHERHOOD it seems natural to figure out how to grow that. That’s why you hear the term ENGAGEMENT thrown around. In my mind this isn’t a marketing term. This is about chatting, talking, feeling, understanding your brothers and sisters in quit. This is about KNOWING what these folks are going through, being EMPHATHETIC and PAYING FORWARD with we WE know and have experienced.

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

This has NEVER been about being the biggest. It’s about QUITTING. If that means it’s 6 guys bullshitting together all day then that’s what it means.

I’ve seen more of the above on Discord in recent weeks that I’ve seen in YEARS on the forums. I’m not suggesting Discord is perfect… it’s not. But in my eyes its giving us something we’ve not had recently. ENGAGEMENT (again… not the marketing term).

Brotherhood leads to Accountability leads to Success (getting and staying quit). PERIOD.

Chewie