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BL Merchandise (previously calendar voting)

Vote for the 2nd CALENDAR- Not for the other items, only the calendar!

  • Total voters
    26
  • Poll closed .
in the spirit of bluelights cause/mission statement; combining social/scientific spectrums of drug use (legal and otherwise) for the aim of greater awareness; feel that the calendar should have a drug based theme (eg. in form of molecular structure and its makeup/history per month, and or highlighting specific scientists that are sometimes forgottten (yet deserve to be named/recognized) in granting humanity with these gifts.

as a consumer, ive bought several items from thinkgeek.com of similar nature (eg. the caffeine molecule mug that i refill regularly on my desk, everyday; that encourages good conversation, and for others to help themselves to the endless supply) and would much rather purchase a product that is informative, isnt covered in nerd stains, and has a greater lifespan than the intended 12 month period.

nude calendars have been done, lounge based themes have come and gone; i say we go back to basics. and appreciate bluelight, and its TRUE cause (especially where fundraising and greater awareness is concerned).

...kytnism...:|
 
n3ophy7e said:
Bear I think this is an excellent idea and it is something we should try and look in to at some point. In the capacity of the online store we've got set up, we can only do merchandise that they already have in stock (i.e. plain t-shirts, mugs, caps etc which then get printed on), so if we were to do the BL Logo'd Marquis tests we would have to look in to that separately. Do you have any thoughts as to how/where we could do something like that?

/QUOTE]

Have you seen some of the messages in the 'advanced drug discussions'? :D Users like 'Fastnbulbous' could probably make these in his sleep! Failing that we could simply contact 'dancesafe' - buy in bulk and sell on at a profit. Get a link up on Pillreports and were flying:) - I would say the majority of my PM's are regarding test kits / where to buy / whats the best kit etc.

I have now started to advise everyone 'worldwide' to use dancesafe - as EZTEST has become a piss take.
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It would be nice to have a referral code for testing kit sales. Then we can promote them and make a small profit for any sold through the link.
 
xenocat said:
in the spirit of bluelights cause/mission statement; combining social/scientific spectrums of drug use (legal and otherwise) for the aim of greater awareness; feel that the calendar should have a drug based theme (eg. in form of molecular structure and its makeup/history per month, and or highlighting specific scientists that are sometimes forgottten (yet deserve to be named/recognized) in granting humanity with these gifts.

as a consumer, ive bought several items from thinkgeek.com of similar nature (eg. the caffeine molecule mug that i refill regularly on my desk, everyday; that encourages good conversation, and for others to help themselves to the endless supply) and would much rather purchase a product that is informative, isnt covered in nerd stains, and has a greater lifespan than the intended 12 month period.

nude calendars have been done, lounge based themes have come and gone; i say we go back to basics. and appreciate bluelight, and its TRUE cause (especially where fundraising and greater awareness is concerned).

...kytnism...:|
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Great post, excellent points. I think this is all something that should be taken in to consideration, I'd love to see molecule designs and various other informative creations like this. Very good point, xeno

Ahh! I cant decide! I wish this poll was multiple choice!
 
fizzle said:
Great post, excellent points. I think this is all something that should be taken in to consideration, I'd love to see molecule designs and various other informative creations like this. Very good point, xeno

Ahh! I cant decide! I wish this poll was multiple choice!
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Remember- the poll is ONLY for the calendar.
We can do something like kyt's idea, or any of the many other great ideas for other items.
The calenders staying in house/public friendly is the goal really so it can reach a larger scale.
The Girls of BL Calendar is something that you can't really hang in your living room if you have family or friends you don't want to have to explain things to :D
I think some of the other ideas thrown around in this thread, and the non-contest winners would be awesome for other things, like postcards, mugs, T-Shirts etc.
My thoughts anyway :D
 
@Bearlove: Marquis is dead easy to make, but the legality of marketing it (not to mention just shipping it) can be tricky. If people are interested in actually getting some kits made, I can supply the know-how.
 
why is the calendars theme strictly limited to/determined by five choices on a poll (centered solely around the social forums of bluelight)?

bluelight as a whole; is not playboy/facebook/deviantart; nor is the member base driven here via means of sole social networking, nudity and or giving a shit about your personal talents/who your pets are; or what bluelight means to you personally?

when networking socially with the members of this community, those things have a strong influence on you returning and become to aid you in feeling comfort/loyality to the site (and the people involved); but above and beyond all, bluelight is/was formed as an information source and public/open forum for education, insight and greater knowledge of drug use/abuse and the effects of/on society at large. it is for that reason that members find themselves here to begin with (and non members will continue to seek out/appreciate it).

i agree wholeheartedly that we have many talented artists, members with a plethora of adorable animals; and are potentially the most physically attractive (clothed, naked, and non biased) social forum; within a network; on the intertubes. albeit, that is not bluelights intended cause for funding nor our branding/marketing niche.

it is the information and freedom of knowledge/expression that the website contains; factually, logically, scientifically, socially AND candidly; from a personal perspective/point of view related to substances/topics (otherwise negatively portrayed via sources of mis/information and at times; propaganda) that forms the spirit/glue that holds this community together and makes it worthy of its moniker in being unique and righteous to its cause, insightful in its knowledge/honesty; and ever appealing to those seeking harm reducing tips /"a fly on the wall" opinion.

i am not suggesting that anyone’s ideas are lesser than my own; what i am proposing is that the calendar this year emphasizes and markets the crux of bluelight and its mission (how/whatever that may be), in a manor that is acceptable for all ages/lifestyles/agendas, in hope that members of bluelight and the general public would unite and support the cause through mutual respect/greater awareness and appreciation of the mission at hand.

the one thing that everyone who has ever visited bluelight can relate to where bluelight is concerned is its mission. many lives have already been changed for the positive/saved from tragedy/touched by that. why limit ourselves to sexuality, vanity, cats and dogs and bum and fart jokes? if i wanted a calendar of that agenda, id have cafepressed someones facebook profile.

...kytnism...:|
 
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^We gave a couple weeks to put in ideas for the poll. The choices there are what was chosen in that time period.
I think you have a great idea and a great vision and would love to incorporate that into something-
We're wanting to have something that won't have to be hidden in the back room of the house when family comes over, if you know what I mean.......
If you could, write out the ideas you have in more detail here or in PM to me and we can figure out a way we can put them into other items we sell instead of the calendar. (Maybe create what you imagine and post it here?)
Again, we're going to try to focus on a number of different items for BL Merchandise- this is just a start.
 
I'm working on putting together a proposal for using Blurb for on-demand printing of a coffee table photobook (using donated photos culled from the photo threads and contests, with the owner's full written permission first, of course) and possibly a BL cookbook. Their pricing looks decent, although not stellar, but as they are print-on-demand there are no warehousing costs/inconveniences, and no up-front cost (other than the time needed to compile the content). I'm just looking around for offsite reviews in order to get a more balanced opinion of their quality and service.

Should have something to present by Sunday afternoon. :)
 
^there was a BL cookbook in the works years ago. nowami (i think i spelled it right?) was the person in charge of it. but nothing ended up coming from it. it would be cool to have people submit their favorite recipe or two with a good quality picture. i am more than glad to help with the project.

edit: here is the old thread. apparently it was mariposa's idea :)
 
I have to say i was a tad disappointed that we didn't incorporate the artwork of bluelight into the calender. Id love to see some bluelighters artworks highlighted.
 
animal_cookie said:
^there was a BL cookbook in the works years ago. nowami (i think i spelled it right?) was the person in charge of it. but nothing ended up coming from it. it would be cool to have people submit their favorite recipe or two with a good quality picture. i am more than glad to help with the project.

edit: here is the old thread. apparently it was mariposa's idea :)
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Nice find!

I don't remember whether it was Nowonmai's or my idea originally *paging Nowonmai* but no, we didn't follow up on it. Next big meetup, anyone's free to publicly flog me. :D Chrissie had the idea for a .pdf/e-book of the recipe thread. I am fairly short on time right now but can likely make some for a long overdue and potentially really awesome project. Any money from hard copies should absolutely go directly to BL's maintenance/server fees, etc. I can donate a couple hours of time per week for formatting indexing, etc., and would be willing to spend a couple bucks to have supplies (paper, printer cartridges, etc.) delivered to anyone with the time/initiative to put it together. There are many professional designers on the board (I am not one).

I love the recipe thread. It definitely needs to be immortalized in some way. Dave, if you've an interest, shoot me an e-mail or PM (I so owe you one) and provided this idea is workable, a task list can be put together to incorporate others as well.
 
^i think dave's idea of using a print when orders come in site makes the most sense. once we have the recipes, it will take some work to format them and then create a layout for the book. i think it would be cool if we could include some pictures of the prepared recipes too. and maybe personal antidotes of why the person chose to submit the recipe. i like personal touches like that in cookbooks.
 
animal_cookie said:
^i think dave's idea of using a print when orders come in site makes the most sense.
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Absolutely! Then no-one has to worry about storing the books anywhere, and distributing them whenever orders come in etc. That's the great thing about those types of online stores, they handle it all for us! :)

Dave thank you very much for the Blurb suggestion!
 
The only issue being, of course, that it costs a bit more. But, since there are no upfront monetary costs, it really does make the most sense, to me at least. As long as we set the sale price reasonably, we could make a few bucks this way, for sure.
 
Bumper stickers or just stickers in general-If I had a car I'd have an "I'd rather be Bluelighting" sticker on it. Plus ppl-yes, myself included,LOVE to sticker up my plexiglass bongs(although I haven't been high in...shit I can't count that high:) ) stash boxes,guitar cases ect...
doesn't have to be anything fancy...you know you see these stickers(most that are on vehicles are vinyl and weatherproof,but these don't have to be) everywhere...this one stands for Grateful Dead.All different bands and places are seen in simple initials in side an oval shape-a nice blue oval W BL inside-cheap-especially when mass producing. Stikers w/ just a Blue light bulb...they are cheap and the possibilities are endless-you can sell them individually or in "choose 5 for- whatever price goes here".
baseball caps,skull caps,ect...

have we done a poll to se what type of merchandise members would purchase if available???

anyway-just some ideas-when starting out selling merchandise-the cheaper cost to make a product that yields the greatest profit is the way to go.
Sorry-old economics class coming back to me...we actually as a class decided on a product-marketed it,took pre-orders(another good idea when getting a product up and going) as well as had some overstock made and then we sold the shit out of them. It was a really proud project from my past.

nbd;js

i have an assload of ideas if you guys are still looking-just a cpl of the top of my head.

***EDIT- think of the average BLers age-certainly far from my end of the spectrum...sell to your audience,and they will buy!
just another thought. :)
 
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