This Week's Hi-5:
This newsletter is basically a time machine.
Alex Hillman
If my calculations are correct, by the time you’re reading this I’m somewhere in Savannah, GA for a long weekend.
I’m writing to you from three days in the past, where it’s still Wednesday and I have no idea if the weather down there is nice yet.
(Btw, if you haven’t watched Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, equal parts completely silly, creative, and a win for art. It’s worth renting.)
Enjoy these 5 quick things that made past me wanna share a high five with future you:
1. Victoria and Crew Sweep the Podium 🏆
I featured Victoria Adams in last week’s member spotlight.
Apparently that was just her warmup.
This past weekend, Victoria and her running buddies swept the podium at a trail race: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
Congrats to Victoria and crew!
2. Broad Street Review Breaks Records 📰
Neil B shared some big news in our community: Broad Street Review just wrapped their most successful fundraising campaign ever, hitting $10K to close a spring funding gap.
Neil said it “blew our previous efforts out of the water.”
I know how much of a relief that must be!
Big congrats to Neil and the whole BSR crew. Keep up the good work covering Philly’s arts and culture community.
3. Layer Tennis, and Why I’m Still Thinking About It 🎾
At the risk of dating myself, I posted about Layer Tennis in our design channel this week, and took the conversation back in time to the mid/late 2000s.
Coudal Partners ran a live design competition called Layer Tennis: two designers kicked a single Photoshop file back and forth. On each of 10 volleys, the player had to maintain one element from the other’s design, embellishing or riffing in increasingly creative ways.
Every round had liveblog-style commentary running alongside it — this was before Twitter was big, so it was the real-time social layer of its day.
I want to go back there, and turns out I wasn’t alone.
Victoria said it “arguably got me into design in the first place.” Chris misses craft-based competitions like it and says they “move the profession forward.”
My favorite part? Some of the players I used to study back then eventually became peers and friends.
A couple of them are Indy Hall members now. 👀
What could a 2026 version of this look like? Should we try it?
4. Secret DJ Returns 💿
Indy Hall member Graham B announced that Indy Hall Secret DJ is back for round two.
It’s a Secret Santa-style mix CD exchange open to any member: sign up, get matched, make a mix, swap.
Javon immediately left a spindle of blank CDs and a CD burner on the shelf with a handwritten note: “Ask me about burning CDs if you need help.”
I’m so excited to do this again.
If you haven’t noticed, this newsletter has been a full-on time machine today.
5. Minibar Is Back 🍸
Indy Hall MiniBar is back for its 3rd edition.
If you haven’t been: it’s our quarterly member brainstorm where we get together and think out loud about Indy Hall’s future. Thought-provoking prompts, small groups, sticky notes, and ideas that actually survive contact with other people.
This one’s a little extra. We’re heading into our 20th anniversary year, and we’ve got some questions for the community that we hope will frame the whole celebration.
Your perspective is exactly what we need in the room.
One of my favorite things about Minibar: it’s not members-only. Past sessions have drawn a mix of longtime members, people who joined the week before, meetup regulars, and folks who found us online and made this their very first visit to Indy Hall.
If you’re curious about us, this is a great way in.
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