Tiki Central - The Year In Pictures

OK, we batted around the idea of producing a drink/food book, and it never really got off the ground. That could possibly be because we would have had to actually composed something, format and arrange it.

But what could be easier than producing a book of all the large and small Tiki Central events and gatherings for a given year?

There's always lots of pictures members take of this and that, that happens now and then.

We have The S.F. Tiki Crawl coming up, the Mondo Tiki gig in Las Vegas, The Hukilau, and numerous smaller events.

It could also include member's tiki carvings, cool tiki finds or whateva' (as Gecko would say).

Is there any member that has the equipment to take a number of pictures and produce a paper cover booklet?

We could do it like a yearbook and have everyone sign things like 'have a bitchen Mai Tai, dude' and stuff.

Or we could just do a compilation of previous and future events at some given point in time.

Come on! Let's move on this.

Some of us may need to see a business plan and a web site would be helpful. Would there be a charge for this? If so, don't expect money upfront. It would be best if you could complete the work first and not charge for the finished product (including shipping).

I see someone's still upset about the Tiki Gardens thing. Oh well, consider this DOA.

(Maybe the So Cal people will just do our own since most things happen here anyway...)

I'm sorry, but this just isn't something I'd pay for (and someone's got to pay someone for work and materials?) I like looking at posted pics and there are plenty of websites with event pics.
What I really would like to see is the Tiki Central calendar like we talked about in the beginning of the "Member Photos" thread. I think this is something people would pay for (not just for scantily clad chicks) but if we include info and amazing photos on different areas of tiki collectibles, ie. mugs, Witco, lamps, carvings, clothing, etc.
Would anyone be willing to work on this with me?
Does anyone know of connections willing to work/contribute $ for advertising? (Winky tiki, printers, Bamboo Ben, Sven, all you carvers, other retailers???)
Anyone know of stores we could sell these in?
Would TC allow it's name on this?
I know I'd buy one!
If anyone is really willing to work on this please e-mail me!

[ Edited by: laney on 2003-03-04 11:14 ]

I see someone's still upset about the Tiki Gardens thing.

Hey Bong,
I'm not upset. I just couldn't resist a chance to pee on your leg.
I sent scans of my pics from the Hukilau to Swanky and would contribute those same images if you or someone else needed them.
Good luck.

[ Edited by: Kailuageoff on 2003-03-04 11:27 ]

Aloha Mister Bong
I've got a plastic comb, binder, and punch machine for use (free) if you want. It does a great job. I used it a few yrs ago to publish and make a calendar of my cartoons. If we got the cover and pages printed up... we could put it together ourselves. I also have a heat sealing machine to bag it up if wanted. Just a thought.

You can use anything I got.

Only Baxdog pees on my leg!

Laney, I think your calendar idea is good. I'd be into that. Unlike the Tiki Garden idea, this wouldn't take as much up front capital.

I laid down $500 of my own credit for the OC Mini Crawl last year and got it all back, so it's not like I'm adverse to fronting some venture capital for this small of an undertaking.

With todays rather inexpensive technology, say Pagemaker or something, and a local print shop, this shouldn't be prohibitive. It would just take someone skilled in this type of work to take it on.

Maybe the proceeds could go to the Tiki Memorial Garden? That way people get something for their little contribution.

My thought regarding this thread was just to archieve the Tiki Central activities as they happen.

Believe it or not folks, one day we'll be real old reminiscing about Tiki Central and tiki in general with our grandkids and have nothing but faded memories to show for it.

Just a thought...

Bong, I think it's a good idea. It is hard to get these things off the ground, though. I had a friend putting together a scrapbook last year for her reunion and even with cheap binding, the color printing was quite expensive.

Here's what I would do to start. A relatively inexpensive way to collect all of this info would be for someone to donate some web space. That way, everyone could send all of the images to a single place where they could be held for future use (and displayed in the meantime) As long as everyone sent all of the stuff in and put detailed captions on all of the images (who/what/when/where), it would be a great reference.

Maybe...I hate to say the Y-word, but if started a yahoo group for each year, that would be a pretty fair amount of free storage. And figure out what to do with it all later.

-martin

I own the domain name TikiTropics.com if you want to use it for a website. There's no website as yet. I don't know if that will help or not.

Great idea Martiki6, we could just archieve the data for now until we decide what kind of format to put it in.

I think TC'rs would enjoy posting their favorite TC moments and then checking them out every so often.

And I admit it (damn it) I can run home studio recording equipment, but I'm either too lazy or impatient to screw with web sites and that kind of stuff.

Martiki6, can you set up a Yahoo group or maybe a Shutterfly to hold our pictures? Does that cost anything?

Maybe Hanford could set up a forum solely for pictures?

Bong,

A calendar or book is cool, and I'd be willing to pay for either, but also, I would be just as happy having the whole compilation of info and pictures on a CD. If I feel I absolutely have to have one of the pictures printed, then I'd either print it out myself, or take it to Kinko's for processing. Most of us who are frequent visitors/posters on TC are on the computer anyway, so popping in a CD is no big deal (to me). In addition, maybe some highlights of Florentina's videos she's taken at the different events can be added.

Just my 2 coconuts on saving printing and binding charges.

S u g a r C a d d y D a d d y

SCD,

Your idea is it! Your right, a CD would be the way to go, and cheaper to produce. I mean, when I check out pictures of some of the TC gigs, it brings a smile to my face :wink:

People, people, no need to fret!

There is a way to get a quality, glossy, Tiki Central Calendar up, and have people be able to buy it on the cheap. Cafepress offers a lovely 13 image calendar. I have a cafepress account, and so does Hanford (you may have noticed) so it would be simple to do.

We could submit photos to a TC thread, and then vote on the best ones that will be included in the calendar. Or, we could even do the pinup idea with a gals calendar and a guys calendar. Or we could do tiki pets calendars. OK, maybe thats going too far. But whatever we collectively decide, I'd be happy to take care of the collecting and uploading of the pictures to Cafepress. Just remember the pics have to be high quality - 150 dpi minimum resolution. Check out the calendar here:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/products/productdetail.aspx?prodtypeno=75

I myself am all for the pinup calendar. The 'classic moments' may fill an entire decade's worth of calendars!

I'm looking forward to Mig in a coconut bra.

Come to think of it. Is it a "hard copy" of pictures that everyone wants, or are we actually just wanting "Photo Albums" on the computer like we did back in the ol' Yahoo Group days?

Sounds like everybody has quite a few good ideas. A multimedia CD would be pretty cool and easy to produce grassroots style. We could also put music by some of our members on it as well as video.
Great idea for the calender Tikifish. I have checked out cafepress before and they seem hassle free, although kinda spendy.
I would be willing to help out in a web or graphic design capacity. I know a few things about multimedia production also and have experience as an art director.
These projects sounds fun! However, we all have seen good intention lose inertia with internet projects. If you are really serious about doing something like this I would recommend electing or selecting a few comittee people to take charge and set up a plan , then contact possible sponsers and volunteers. Then tackle an easy project. Bong it your idea, you have the drive I say you should be calling the shots on the picture dealio.
Tikifish has got the calander covered.
So you two should get yourselves some henchmen to help spread the load.

My two cents, a guitar pick, and a linty piece of surf wax.

Chongolio

[ Edited by: Chongolio on 2003-03-04 17:36 ]

How about this- we take SCDs idea, which is great. All the photos get submitted to a central person, along with detailed information, a CD is burned with all of the pictures numbered and grouped into folders by event, and then you include a text/word doc with all the captions for the numbered jpegs.

So we should do this for all the 2002 events since it's a finite list now.

Since I'm a sucker for punishment- I'll do it. Actually...I'll do half.

**But don't start sending me stuff! After the crawl!

Starting next week, send me everything and I'l put it together. But someone else on the list will have to step up to the plate to distribute. I'll send them the finished product to mail out to people.

Sound cool with everyone? Bong- please post here and remind me about this late next week.

(Addendum: If people want anything fancier i.e. slideshows/multimedia, it's out of my hands & beyond my abilities. I could alwayes slap some mp3s on the CD that you could play in the background while flipping through the pictures.)

-martin

[ Edited by: martiki6 on 2003-03-04 17:45 ]

jus let me know what ya need. sounds ono!

Shakaz

Hi all...

Well, if there's something to be done online, I can help there. I own an internet development company and private hosting network, so if web space is needed or any web work, I can lend a hand.

Let me know...

A6

Chongolio,

You're right, so as to keep this from falling off the face of tiki, we need someone to take charge. As an anal retent, I love organization. But as I said, I'm numb to all this new computerization of this and that (I still miss 8-track).

I'll be on the Board of Erectors as a manager, but we need some technical assistance for production. Any takers?

We also need an estimate of the cost involved to get this thing moving. I swear I'll donate, but we need to have some estimate.

Well ok then. I will design and build a site or join A6louie with it. The first thing we would need is a flowchart? ( Basically, a map of how the site will navigate, pages it will need, links etc) The second thing would be the content. (pics, copy, graphics etc.) I can create some of the graphics. I am planning a trip down to the southlands to do some biz, nerp some surf and hit a few tiki hotspots. Maybe a meeting can happen and we can knock around more ideas and pass off any content. I am planning my trip somewhere around the 20th of this month. Get back to me if this sounds like something that might be worthwhile.
Here is my e-mail if anybody wants to contact me off list:

[email protected]

Chongolio

Tikifish, so you can produce one or two hundred with this cafeprint idea? Just upload the pictures and they will "print" one calendar with no minimums for $12.99 each? That a pretty good deal, must be a catch somewhere - Have you done it?

Two things...

Chongolio, I'd be glad to work together on this. I'm a hack designer but a very excellent web programmer so I can take charge of that part of it. Let me know how you'd like to get in touch to discuss.

As for CafePress...I do know people who've used it and there's no catch. It's all digital, baby, so it's actually great for very low production runs (as with most digital printing services) and terrible for big production runs (where you'd be better off actually having the item in question printed / manufactured because you'd get volume discounts).

A6

Mahalo 6 - I have a commercial printing company and did not know they could do it that cheap.

On 2003-03-05 14:20, A6Louie wrote:
As for CafePress... I do know people who've used it and there's no catch. It's all digital, baby, so it's actually great for very low production runs

Hi ya'all... long time no see.
Yup - CafePress is the way to go. The Tiki Central Store is there and our little band has a store there as well.. selling "Atomic Tiki" logo merchandise.
http://www.cafeshops.com/cherrycapri

So a calendar could sell on the Tiki Central Store and Hanford could reap a litle mana from it.

I'd like to help if I can with the project.. I'm a graphic designer with time on my hands due to unemployment. When I'm not carving tikis I'm plugging away on my Mac G4 making pretty logos and such. I can donate graphics and email them to the responsible parties if you'd like... I've got Tiki Fonts by House Industries as well as some other retro fonts...

Alright Lake surfer! We can put you to work in the art dept, But Bong is Captain so what he says goes. A6, we will need to know the size of space we get to sit on. I can create a review site once I have a username and password for the ftp site.
I try not too get into too much java or dhtml, so the code and programing stuff should be fairly simple. Maybe we can use flash for a couple things.
The art monkeys can get started on comps once we get a flow chart and other info together. I am sure Bong will give us an update when he gets out of the water.

Chongolio

Looks like folks are 'volunteering' Hanford to do it. But we haven't heard from him yet! hee hee

Cafe Press is good just for TC members to order their own calendar - but not good if you want 200 to sell in stores or something. I wasn't thinking of profit - just fun.

Anyway sounds like there's already another project on the go that people seem more into, so I will go back to my regularily scheduled programming.

http://www.cafeshops.com/tikifish

If you want some tikifish stuff, check out my cafepress shop! My boss ordered a clock, and it is quite good quality, I was impressed. People had asked me for other items back in the day but I can't remember what they were - I remember a request for a tikfish 'puffer fish' logo shirt though - any other requests?

Hey Tikifish,
I am waiting for Hanford to chime in also with his thoughts on all this.
I think there is plenty of room for the callander project in addition to the photo collection. My guess is that if Hanford is up for it he would still appreciate somebody helpin out getting it together. So you aren't off the hook yet. Get it Hook...Fish, tikifish, hook, get it?
Pure comedy,
Chongolio

Tikifish,

I checked you site on Cafepress - cool stuff. I would definately be into a puffer fish shirt. Are they coming?

Yes, they are coming! I think I have to vectorize the image and do other nerd stuff but when I have done so I will put up the link sp you can buy. Thanks!

Alrighty then,

Chongolio, don't worry about how much space we're sitting on. Let's just say 'lots' and leave it at that for now :)

Is there a domain name you want to use? Let me know and I'll register it & set it up (unless you have one that you want to use and already own it, and then we'll just change the DNS or transfer it to the registrar we use).

As far as web programming goes, I meant that if there needs to be anything dynamic, I can take care of that, working within whatever design is created.

A6

Hi Chongolio (and everyone),

This sounds neat! I don't have the time to take a project on like this, though, but I could help out with creating a "club page" ala the Tiki Bar Crawl or the Tiki Gardens Memorial page.

~Hanford

Hanford, did I just hear you say 'neat'?

Ok, so way back when, jungletrader offered the use of the tikitropics.com domain name...do we want to use that?

If so I'll get in touch with jungletrader about transferring the domain or changing DNS and I'll set up the account so at least there's a place to put everything.

A6

[ Edited by: A6Louie on 2003-03-09 00:32 ]

Hey!, one good thing about being a project manager with a bunch of talented people is, I don't have to do anything!

It sounds as though the project group is well on their way. I feel like Johnny Appleseed tossing the seed and away it grows.

I just know that however this turns out, we will all be glad for the investment of time and effort.

I've already finished everyone's performance evaluations - Excellent!

A6Louie, I'm thinking you could use the domain name long enough to setup the project and get it out all the while providing a link on it to my other web site. You probably only need it for a few months eh? What do you think?

A6Louie, it looks like TikiFish has this thing covered. I don't think you'll need the domain name.

jungletrader...I think I missed something...I looked through the thread and the only thing I saw from tikifish was that she was going back to working on her own stuff.

What were you referring to?

A6

Louie, I guess I didn't read it all the way thru.
How long would you need the domain name?

Ok, I'm assuming by your question that you think you might need it back at some point, so don't worry about it. I went ahead and registered tikicove.com to use for this project.

So...whoever needs FTP access please contact me and I'll give you the IP address (since the domain won't propagate for a day or two) and the login info.

A6

A6, Nice work and follow up. Send me the login info and I can get a reveiw site up.
I can put up a page with info and links regarding this project. So here is a list of the people who are on board the web wagon:

Tiki_Bong= Lead dude

A6louie= Technical lead dude

Lakesurfer= Graphics/design dude

Myself= graphics/design dude

Jungletrader are you still interested in helping out? Did I miss anyone?

Now for a couple of questions that I have been wondering about. Is this site going to be an extension of Tiki Central and are we going to be using Shecky and the TC logo? Or are we a splinter group and doing our own thing? I would also like to know what exactly this site is going to contain. I think we need to be realistic and keep it simple but leave room for it to grow. I would like to have the site showcase all the talent here in the TC ohana, not just the party pics. A page with homebar photos and links would be sweet also. At this point, I feel we should start defining our goals. I also think we need some kind of a chant to help strengthen our resolve and unity. (joking)

Chongolio

Chongolio, I doubt if I could be of much help. Except to contribute a few images when you're ready.

[ Edited by: jungletrader on 2003-03-10 12:46 ]

On 2003-03-10 10:41, Chongolio wrote:
Is this site going to be an extension of Tiki Central and are we going to be using Shecky and the TC logo? I would also like to know what exactly this site is going to contain. I would like to have the site showcase all the talent here in the TC ohana, not just the party pics. A page with homebar photos and links would be sweet also.

My two cents...

I think this site would work nicely if it could be linked from TC as a photo archive (similar to the Photos section in Yahoo Clubs). Ideally, the site look, feel, act, etc like the main message board. In other words, TC'ers shouldn't feel like they left the site -- rather, just feel as though they entered the photos section.

Photo categories could include Events, Collecitons, Home Bars, etc.

Again, just my two cents...

I think it'd be cool if it ended up (whenever) being sort of an encyclopedia of tiki (in a sense). Maybe something like this:

Tiki Central Member Photos

• Events
• Collections
• Home Bars
• (etc)
  Collectibles
• Mugs
  -- (picture archive with info)
• Other Barware
  -- (picture archive with info)
• Dishes
  -- (picture archive with info)
• (etc)
  Audio
• (LPs, 45s, CDs, tapes, etc)
  Video
• (list of video titles with decidedly tiki themes)
  Menus
• (scan archive with info, nothing currently under copyright without permission)
  Recipes
• Drink Recipes
• Food Recipes

And so on and so forth

A6

[ Edited by: A6Louie on 2003-03-10 17:37 ]

I like A6Louie's thoughts on content. I also like PolyPop's suggestion that the feel of the site should be as it's just an extension of Tiki Central, as it's our birth place (Go Tiki Central!).

It should be more than just party pictures. It should include the many aspects of this lifestyle we call TIKI.

The site could give a 101 course to new members as to what we're all about. The good, the bad, the Baxdog.

I guess one of the big questions is how do we handle content?

Once the design is in place, I can start working on the backend of things, and it's no problem to have user-defined content. However, there are several ways of doing this, such as:

Anybody can upload content but 'moderators' are responsible for approving (and thereby, allowing to be posted) the content

or

Anybody can upload content to any section and there are no checks done (this is the 'easiest' way to go, but there are always some party crashers who just like to cause trouble)

or

Anybody can upload content, but they have to register first and be logged in. No approval / moderators are needed for content to appear, but moderators can disable content if needed (for whatever reason...copyright violation, inappropriate content, etc.)

Those are probably the three most common scenarios.

Thoughts?

A6

A6Louie,

I think your last option would be the most appropriate - Anyone can upload content, but they have to register first and be logged in. No approval/moderators needed for content to appear, but moderators can disable content if needed.