This video made it super easy to totally circumvent a service like mailchimp and start collecting email's to send announcements. In case i am totally disabled from Facebook, I now have a way to still keep in touch. I plan to make this site a lot better over time and I encourage you guys to make a network too.
The further we move away from cookie cutter platforms like Facebook, or at least have backups - the better off we will be.
Never has it been so easy to set up a nice looking website using wix and collecting subs.
Here is the link:
Thank you so much and I appreciate all of your support.