What Weekly

We launched a hyper-local online magazine that brought together creators with a mission to tell inspiring stories and uplift the community

We rallied hundreds of writers and content creators

Over 2,000 original positive stories about Baltimore

Read by hundreds of thousands of people in over 200 countries around the world

What Weekly: An online magazine focused on events, art and culture in Baltimore.
Our most compelling content takes the form of Photo Essays, Artist Profiles, Innovator Profiles,
Commentary, and stuff that will make you laugh. We also love music.
The Guardian has said What Weekly is the “best blog for travelers… with their fingers on the pulse of all things hot and creative in Charm City.”
New York Magazine said What Weekly was “rated the city’s best new magazine.”
Baltimore Magazine honored us with numerous ‘Best Of’ awards.
The erstwhile City Paper was the first to feature What Weekly.
Huffington Post covered What Weekly too.

Igniting civic pride for Baltimore residents

After moving to Baltimore and getting heavily involved in the creative and entrepreneurial community, Justin and Brooke wanted to create an antidote to the overwhelmingly negative media coverage of Baltimore City. Our experience as creatives in the community was quite different than what we read online about the city. While Baltimore faces many challenges, the outward perception of the city does not match the experience of many people who live there. We noticed that mainstream media was overlooking an emerging movement to revitalize the city. We decided we wanted to rally the folks who were creating solutions and innovations for Baltimore in an effort to promote the health and success of the city.

A New Magazine Documenting the Baltimore Renaissance

We launched What Weekly Magazine as a self-initiated, self-funded project in 2010. As an online publication, What Weekly worked to expand Baltimore’s narrative by focusing on the positive stories and remarkable artists, entrepreneurs and innovators who live in Baltimore. We were able to build momentum by developing an authentic mission that inspired residents to contribute their stories, images, and art for publication. Every week, for seven years, we distributed spectacular and engaging original content that showed the city in a new light. One of the goals was to have an impact on recruitment and retainment of residents, talent, and businesses in order to help Baltimore fulfill its potential. But the primary motivation was to build something beautiful each week that inspired the people of our community.

Rallying a Movement

Over seven years, What Weekly rallied and organized hundreds of local contributors and published thousands of stories about Baltimore that were read by hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. Many stories that were originated by What Weekly were then picked up by mainstream and alternative media outlets.

Best of Baltimore

What Weekly was named “Best New Magazine” by Baltimore Magazine twice and was featured in national and international publications such as The Guardian, New York Magazine, Huffington Post and others. The Guardian has said What Weekly is the “best blog for travelers… with their fingers on the pulse of all things hot and creative in Charm City.” New York Magazine said What Weekly was “rated the city’s best new magazine.” Baltimore Magazine said “Documenting the city’s renaissance, What Weekly’s collective of artists, entrepreneurs, educators, and writers produce media ‘dedicated to telling the positive stories about Baltimore.’ The mission: ‘to create positive social change by amplifying the good stuff.’ What we really like about What Weekly are the killer images and photography.”

Custom Website Design and Development

What Weekly’s flagship website set the standard for online publications in Baltimore and was widely emulated by competitors. This version of the website was design by Brooke Hall Allen and graciously developed pro bono by Kyle Fritz.

Email Magazine and Social Media

What Weekly was conceptualized as an email magazine where the core content was delivered via weekly email and through social media channels.

Original Short Documentary Films and Original Video Content

We distributed original short documentaries produced for What Weekly by Lee Boot, director of the Imaging Research Center at UMBC, and street artist, Nether. Other contributors developed original video content documenting our gatherings.

Curated Event Calendar

One of the problems we were seeking to solve was that there was no curated digital events calendars that were user-friendly in Baltimore. Each week, we researched, curated, and published a list of the best events in the city.

“Best Party of the Year”

As our collective began to grow, we had a strong desire to bring everyone together in real life. Our first public party was The Hoodoo Party – part book release, part jazz jam session, with costumes and outrageous decor. WYPR’s Aaron Henkin said it was “the best party of the year!” The video recap of the Hoodoo party was produced by Shaun Callahan, with photos by Philip Laubner and Theresa Keil.

Crowdfunding Campaign

What Weekly conceptualized and launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to raise $10,000, and once we hit that goal, the amount raised was matched by a foundation for a total of $20,000. The campaign included original videos, a social media campaign, and email marketing.

Campaign Video #1
A group of core contributors got together conceptualized a fun little video for the campaign: A True Baltimore Love Story.

Starring: Justin Allen and Brooke Hall
Directed by: Nancy Murray
Cinematography by: Carr Kizzier
Script by: Nancy Murray, Justin Allen, Philip Laubner, David London, Brooke Hall
Photography: Philip Laubner
Make-up and Wardrobe: Julie Bent
Editing and post-production: Brooke Hall and David London
Total cost of video production: $22

Campaign Video #2
A group of What Weekly advocates participated in a second video which explained why What Weekly mattered to them.
Produced by: Matt Kelley
Original music by: Shodekeh and Jason Bender

The Fabulous Fritz Ball

As a “thank you” to Kyle Fritz for developing our original website for free, we threw a party in his honor at Geppi’s Entertainment Museum. Complete with costumes and a sword swallower, the comic book museum served as a phenomenal backdrop for an unforgettable event. Check out the photos.

Photos, parties, and more parties

Over the years, we’ve published some amazing photo essays. We also threw a lot of parties. Check out the photo galleries below.

10 Light Street Rooftop Party

What Weekly Christmas Party

What Party

The FritzBall

The Mount Vernon Tasting Society

What Weekly launched a sub-brand focused on food and beverage in collaboration with Cureate Connect, a company that aligns food and beverage entrepreneurs with opportunities from larger businesses and institutions. We published a Mount Vernon Tasting Society article every two weeks that featured beautiful photos and editorial to engage the foodie demographic.