(I left this as a comment on our editor’s letter, regarding some disappointment that we are partnering with Urban Outfitters for the Road Trip.)

Hi guys,

I’m so glad you’re excited! And I am sorry that we can’t all be 2gethzzz at the same time. We formed the route based on the demographics survey we asked you to take a couple months ago through a link in our sidebar, so we could do this according to most highly-Rookie-reader-populated areas. One day we’ll do an international spaceship tour or something.

About the hesitation with UO: we totally understand, and had similar concerns before we decided to do this. We thought about and discussed it for a long time, and came to this: we are not associating Rookie with any parts of their brand which clearly are not part of our site’s mission or the road trip’s mission. We are partnering with UO, not their owner, Richard Hayne. It’s true that he gives money to organizations that don’t correspond with our beliefs and mission here at Rookie, but we’re not giving them money, you don’t have to come to a road trip event and give them money, and other moneys of theirs are going towards this trip, which I think will be a positive thing, and towards a feminist website that is pro-LGBTQ and pro-reproductive rights. I don’t think that by partnering with them for this, we are saying we agree with every decision they have ever made.

We’re a small team, a business not even a year old, and frankly, there is no way we would ever be able to do something like this without a sponsor or collaboration of some kind. And frankly, it’s hard to imagine a company that would be ethical in every way, share our exact beliefs, give us complete creative freedom (which UO has), and have enough money to support this project.

Hope this makes sense and thanks, as always, for being rad enough to ask these questions.

Love,

Tavi