Free Shag Print

Hi there,

We just launched a site to help manage online waiting lists and lotteries. As part of the event, we're giving away a free print from Shag called "The Yawner". Simply click on the URL below, click on Join, create a profile and just wait a few days to see if you win! A number of well known artists will be using this site in future releases. Good luck!

http://www.fairq.com/home/viewq/WVdFpccQ

About FairQ.com
FairQ is a web application that allows individuals or businesses with a limited number of items to sell, or give away, and a lot of people who want them to create and manage online lotteries and waiting lists. We call these "Qs". You define all the terms of the Q including a picture of the item, detailed description, the number of people who will win, when registration begins and ends, and winner qualifications. Once you setup a Q, you will be given a Q Identification Code. Anyone with this Q Identification Code can access and register for your Q as long as he or she has a profile. At the end of the Q registration period, FairQ will randomly choose and anotify the number of people, as defined by you, to win what you are selling or giving away. Think of it as a virtual name-in-the-hat system. FairQ is not responsible for any fulfillment, but rather provides winners and users a customized message, created by you, giving them instructions on what to do next. This could include sending them to your store, an email address or phone number to contact, and any other messages you'd like to communicate to both the winners and losers.
It's free to sign up and only takes a few minutes to create a Q of your own. FairQ hosts and manages the entire process to ensure that everyone stands an equal chance of getting what he or she wants.

[ Edited by: fairqhelp 2007-10-30 15:10 ]

Fair Q?

Is that SUPPOSED to sound like "fuck you", or am I just crankier than normal today?

maybe thats what you get after you enroll and the sell all your info and hack your paypal.....bastards.......

So we are Pavlov's Tikiphyles and salivate at the thought of winning a Shag.

"Now for a limited time only we will throw in not one , not two but six...thats right, I said SIX Ginsu Knives! This offer won't last long so log in now. LOG IN NOW!!!!"

Pant. Pant. Pant. - the tikiphyle frantically types away as he enters his bank account, social security number and his children's college savings account information.

Mahalo!

Has anyone seen my barcode?

[ Edited by: Bohemiann 2007-10-30 18:16 ]

Actually, we don't ask for your PayPal passwords or any password for that matter. It's used to prevent people from entering more than once. All information is safely stored in our database and never given out. Check out our privacy policy at the bottom of the site. Thanks!

Also, Street address is no longer required.

mind you, after registering with my email address and clicking resend confirmation twice, I still have no confirmation email.
Hmmm. Attempting to log in using that same email results in a "confirmation sent, please complete confirmation in your email" message.

Hi there,

What email system are you using? For some reason, the confirmation emails are getting blocked by some ISVs . Also, please check your Spam/Bulk/Junk folder just in case. Thanks!

Well, it didn't work with multiple attempts from Hotmail, but it worked first try with gmail.
Interesting.

Yes, we're having problems with hotmail but should hopefully have that resolved soon. Good luck in the Q!

fairqhelp,

No offense, I think it's that personally I prefer not to be solicited in these forums. I have often seen entities using the forums just to promote or market without actually being a part of, or contributing to the "community". I don't mind folks like Thor doing some marketing because they also participate in discussions, interact and "Get It". It's the ones just interested in using the forums as a platform to target a market and could care less about polynesian Pop.

Plus, I am a hopeless smart-ass.

Good luck with your online venture.

[ Edited by: Bohemiann 2007-10-31 08:00 ]

On 2007-10-31 07:49, Bohemiann wrote:
fairqhelp,

No offense, I think it's that personally I prefer not to be solicited in these forums. I have often seen entities using the forums just to promote or market without actually being a part of, or contributing to the "community". I don't mind folks like Thor doing some marketing because they also participate in discussions, interact and "Get It". It's the ones just interested in using the forums as a platform to target a market and could care less about polynesian Pop.

Plus, I am a hopeless smart-ass.

Good luck with your online venture.

http://www.fairq.com/home/viewq/WVdFpccQ

---

[ Edited by: Bohemiann 2007-10-31 08:00 ]

No, point taken. I apologize for implying that we're trying to exploit the community. For what it's worth, I own a few original Shag pieces and thought it would be a good promotion to give away a print for you guys. We've received positive feedback so far and in the end this service will help artists sell to their fans as it doesn't require F5ing or waiting in front of your keyboard. I will no longer solicit the community for the FairQ service.

Thanks,
FairQ.com

Hey Q guy... Don't let the 'koolkids bring you down ... if you got something that's worth a.. stick out your chest and tell us !!!!!

Thanks! This all started a few months ago when I got sick of losing out on getting some prints I wanted from artists and then seeing them on eBay. I found out that I'm not the only one. So, I got together with some friends and this is what we came up with. I need to test out the system to make sure that things are running smoothly and the only way to do that is to get people to use it. Hence, I thought I would incent people by giving away some free artwork. Oh, and the site is free to use by the way. It's 100% advertising funded (meaning that if you click on the ads, we get some money).

The Shag print ( http://www.fairq.com/home/viewq/WVdFpccQ ) is a print that I've got laying around for a while and haven't framed. So, I thought it would be most applicable for you guys. The other Q is a show catalog from Antony Micallef's Impure Idols show... which is here: http://www.fairq.com/home/viewq/94O4KqMc

Anyway, I encourage you guys to register for these Qs as they are legit and I promise that I'll go through with the transaction. Thanks!

How are people randomly selected? Do you pull names from a hat? Is it really a fair and impartial drawing? How do you do it?

I'm also a bit confused as to why you would call it a "Q". As most people know, a queue (also pronounced "Q") is a line. People in this line are waiting for either goods or services and are taken care of in the order they arrive. Your "Q" is a random drawing. I find this misleading. Maybe you should change the name now while it's still early.

Additionally, would it be possible to make some of the photos larger? The Antony Micallef show catalog looks marginally interesting but even the large image of the single page (582x800) is too small to see the detail. Maybe for something like that you could show multiple pages. You should also post more details about the show catalog, such as dimensions and number of pages.

It would also be great if the webpage could show how many others are already in the "Q" for an item.

On 2007-10-31 20:31, Hakalugi wrote:
How are people randomly selected? Do you pull names from a hat? Is it really a fair and impartial drawing? How do you do it?

I'm also a bit confused as to why you would call it a "Q". As most people know, a queue (also pronounced "Q") is a line. People in this line are waiting for either goods or services and are taken care of in the order they arrive. Your "Q" is a random drawing. I find this misleading. Maybe you should change the name now while it's still early.

Additionally, would it be possible to make some of the photos larger? The Antony Micallef show catalog looks marginally interesting but even the large image of the single page (582x800) is too small to see the detail. Maybe for something like that you could show multiple pages. You should also post more details about the show catalog, such as dimensions and number of pages.

It would also be great if the webpage could show how many others are already in the "Q" for an item.

To answer your questions:

• Users can select how many winners they want to win whatever they have in their Q
• As people sign up they are assigned a number. At the end of the registration period, the system uses a random number generator and selects numbers which match up to the people who sign up. Again, it doesn't matter when people sign up as the numbers are selected randomly
• I intentionally left off the feature which shows how many people are waiting in the Q for a number of reasons, but we can easily put it in. The Q owner (the person who has setup the Q) can see how many people registered though.
• Yup, we can make the image bigger. I'll add that to our to do list
• as for the name, point taken. But, the message is that while it is a Q (you're waiting for something) the process is also made "Fair" as it's not a first come first serve deal :wink:

Thank you very much for the feedback though. Tihs is exactly what we need to make the product better.

[ Edited by: fairqhelp 2007-10-31 21:01 ]

Peace!

Hey! I ain't no "koolkid"! er....wait.... does that make me a "Not so Koolkid", Or maybe I'm just an over-opinionated and jaded dork. Damn! I've been "Labeled", Time for self-reflection and a MaiTai.

I did check it out and... it does look like a cool idea. I gave up on trying to get some artist pieces in frustration at the process. I figured in order to get them you would have to know somebody with an "IN", attend the show or pay out the nose in the aftermarket. It's a shame because I've almost lost interest in collecting or obtaining some artwork because of the over-inflation and hype of "Limited Editions". If your system fairly levels the playing field, well done. I suppose the key is getting the artists on board. Please, make it as simple as possible for us dorks, we have limited attention spans you know.

Cheers!

I gotta admit, and this is an admission that makes me look kinda dumb, is I thought the thing looked like a phishing scheme in part because the name "fairQ" is so close to Fark You or F*ck You. shrug. Your reasoning for the name makes sense though.

The image being larger would definately be a bonus.

You could have a very large niche acting as a go between agent for music promo. Small time bands often run contests or freebie give aways through their small websites, and they usually hate trying to pick a winner or sort for one (I've had several as marketing clients). Approaching bands about hosting that sort of thing could actually provide an income stream. (Not that that is what you are interested in per se).

I'd personally recommend against listing the number of people in a Q because that showcases the odds and makes it easier for people to go, Oh, that one's about to end and has almost no one registered! I'll enter it just to try and win the thing to resell on ebay.

Good initiative coming up with the concept!

Good luck.

On 2007-11-01 09:12, Tiki-Atari wrote:
I gotta admit, and this is an admission that makes me look kinda dumb, is I thought the thing looked like a phishing scheme in part because the name "fairQ" is so close to Fark You or F*ck You. shrug. Your reasoning for the name makes sense though.

The image being larger would definately be a bonus.

You could have a very large niche acting as a go between agent for music promo. Small time bands often run contests or freebie give aways through their small websites, and they usually hate trying to pick a winner or sort for one (I've had several as marketing clients). Approaching bands about hosting that sort of thing could actually provide an income stream. (Not that that is what you are interested in per se).

I'd personally recommend against listing the number of people in a Q because that showcases the odds and makes it easier for people to go, Oh, that one's about to end and has almost no one registered! I'll enter it just to try and win the thing to resell on ebay.

Good initiative coming up with the concept!

Good luck.

Thank you for the input. Yes, we're planning on doing a public launch of the site next week and will be doing a heavy push to the public.

We'll always have the basic service be for free, but we are thinking of some premium services (API access, custom templates, etc.) in the future. Right now, the strategy is to just get people to use it. I like the idea of approaching bands for this.

Also, I agree with listing the # of people in a Q as that was our original intent. To keep people completely unbiased when it comes to registering.

We're working with a very well known artist for their November release so keep your eyes peeled!

Regards,
FairQ.com