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Re: Defcon Shirts Pre-Order
The shirts are gone. I had 17 people reserve shirts either through PM or on the board. By the middle of the second session on the second day of shooting, I only had four people claim their shirts, and had 13 people that did not appear for them. I had a bunch of people come up to me to get shirts that hadn't reserved them, and sold out of virtually every extra shirt I had (minus one 3XL which I'll bring back next year). I made the decision to sell off the reserved shirts first-come-first-served at the shoot so that I wasn't stuck with several hundred dollars of shirts, or had to run around the convention trying to track people down. Last year I did exactly that, spending way too many hours trying to Tweet/PM/EMail/Text people to connect with them. I don't know if this is how previous shirt organizers ended up dropping out, but it is a genuine PITA.
Having said that, I volunteer again to front the money for the shirts for DC22 (providing it isn't cancelled), arrange reservations, distribute shirts, and get extras for sale at the shoot. I hope to have more than four people working on ideas (tons of thanks to astcell for offering opinions about my take on things - without him I was feeling like I was talking to myself), and if nobody else steps up for designs, I volunteer for that.
Things I learned this year:
1) There is never enough time, and it always comes down to the wire. If we CAN get the ideas out there sooner, I have less stress, but most importantly the prices of the shirts can drop. Both this year and last we payed a hefty premium on rush order completion and rush shipping.
2) I need to find a way to get shirts to Wednesday night shooters. Several people came out after I sold the shirts saying they were at the shoot Wednesday and wanted to get their shirts. My sincere apologies for not getting them to you. I may end up going to the shoot both days for DC22, but not camping, just to solve this. If anyone else has ideas, let me know.
3) Black shirts look best. I tried dark charcoal, but it wasn't so great with this design.
4) MS Paint sucks for design. Yes, I seriously had to use MS Paint to finalize one graphic this year. I actually paid someone to do the rear graphic because I suck artistically, but at the last minute the crosshairs on the front had to be revised and I did it in Paint.
5) ooshirts.com doesn't suck as bad as I thought. They worked with me this year to make sure things came together, and I appreciated that.
6) ooshirts.com does suck a little. I had to go through four different tshirt styles/companies before finding a v-neck women's shirt that was in stock. Maybe if I didn't wait until the last minute it would be better.
7) Women like shirts, and women are built differently than men. I knew the second part, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to who bought what last year. This year I added in three women's shirts to the order, and they went fast. I probably won't order many more next year, but I will get some. Reservations would be the best way to get them. Children's shirts, too.
8) Gildan shirts are durable, but American Apparel feel nice. I can get either, and we'll discuss options when we go over shirt designs next year.
9) This is the biggest thing I learned: people need no know what to expect from me. I offered reservations, and a few people suffered because many people backed out. When I made the decision to sell off all the reserved shirts to the general public, I knew that there would be some people that missed out that had fully intended on getting a shirt. Again, I'm sorry. For DC22, I intend on laying out expectations ahead of time: Reserve a shirt, and I will order it in your name; if it isn't picked up by the second half of the second day of shooting, I will sell it. The only exceptions are for those that make some prior arrangements with me (even if it means I have to bring it to the DC23 shoot for them to pick up). For those that missed out on the DC21 shirt this year and really want one, let me know; I can add them onto the DC22 order and deliver them to you in 2014. I guess the same goes for DC20 shirts, but that might not be popular enough to drop the price.
Thanks again to everyone that helped - I'll see you all in the desert soon.
The shirts are gone. I had 17 people reserve shirts either through PM or on the board. By the middle of the second session on the second day of shooting, I only had four people claim their shirts, and had 13 people that did not appear for them. I had a bunch of people come up to me to get shirts that hadn't reserved them, and sold out of virtually every extra shirt I had (minus one 3XL which I'll bring back next year). I made the decision to sell off the reserved shirts first-come-first-served at the shoot so that I wasn't stuck with several hundred dollars of shirts, or had to run around the convention trying to track people down. Last year I did exactly that, spending way too many hours trying to Tweet/PM/EMail/Text people to connect with them. I don't know if this is how previous shirt organizers ended up dropping out, but it is a genuine PITA.
Having said that, I volunteer again to front the money for the shirts for DC22 (providing it isn't cancelled), arrange reservations, distribute shirts, and get extras for sale at the shoot. I hope to have more than four people working on ideas (tons of thanks to astcell for offering opinions about my take on things - without him I was feeling like I was talking to myself), and if nobody else steps up for designs, I volunteer for that.
Things I learned this year:
1) There is never enough time, and it always comes down to the wire. If we CAN get the ideas out there sooner, I have less stress, but most importantly the prices of the shirts can drop. Both this year and last we payed a hefty premium on rush order completion and rush shipping.
2) I need to find a way to get shirts to Wednesday night shooters. Several people came out after I sold the shirts saying they were at the shoot Wednesday and wanted to get their shirts. My sincere apologies for not getting them to you. I may end up going to the shoot both days for DC22, but not camping, just to solve this. If anyone else has ideas, let me know.
3) Black shirts look best. I tried dark charcoal, but it wasn't so great with this design.
4) MS Paint sucks for design. Yes, I seriously had to use MS Paint to finalize one graphic this year. I actually paid someone to do the rear graphic because I suck artistically, but at the last minute the crosshairs on the front had to be revised and I did it in Paint.
5) ooshirts.com doesn't suck as bad as I thought. They worked with me this year to make sure things came together, and I appreciated that.
6) ooshirts.com does suck a little. I had to go through four different tshirt styles/companies before finding a v-neck women's shirt that was in stock. Maybe if I didn't wait until the last minute it would be better.
7) Women like shirts, and women are built differently than men. I knew the second part, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to who bought what last year. This year I added in three women's shirts to the order, and they went fast. I probably won't order many more next year, but I will get some. Reservations would be the best way to get them. Children's shirts, too.
8) Gildan shirts are durable, but American Apparel feel nice. I can get either, and we'll discuss options when we go over shirt designs next year.
9) This is the biggest thing I learned: people need no know what to expect from me. I offered reservations, and a few people suffered because many people backed out. When I made the decision to sell off all the reserved shirts to the general public, I knew that there would be some people that missed out that had fully intended on getting a shirt. Again, I'm sorry. For DC22, I intend on laying out expectations ahead of time: Reserve a shirt, and I will order it in your name; if it isn't picked up by the second half of the second day of shooting, I will sell it. The only exceptions are for those that make some prior arrangements with me (even if it means I have to bring it to the DC23 shoot for them to pick up). For those that missed out on the DC21 shirt this year and really want one, let me know; I can add them onto the DC22 order and deliver them to you in 2014. I guess the same goes for DC20 shirts, but that might not be popular enough to drop the price.
Thanks again to everyone that helped - I'll see you all in the desert soon.
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