How Should We Celebrate Tiki Central's 20th Anniversary?

Hanford cofounded Tiki Central on January 12, 2000, which means we are four months from its 20th anniversary. I for one think we should mark this milestone in some grand fashion, and in discussion with a few other members, we've brainstormed some different ideas. They run the gamut from collectibles, to site "housekeeping", to experiences, to opportunities to "evangelize" TC to new people or remind old timers TC still exists, or some combination of the above.

*T-shirts
*Art prints
*Pins
*Stickers
*Swizzle sticks
*Mug or Mai Tai glasses
*Anniversary party
*Presentation/panel discussion/retrospective at an existing Tiki event
*Raise funds (via Kickstarter/Indiegogo/the like) to help support site maintenance/enhancements

So this thread is to float these ideas to the wider members, gather feedback, spark additional ideas, inspire artists, etc. What does everybody think? What would you buy/support/attend/create? What's missing?

support the idea completely. Please remember that not all members live in the USA and any shipping costs would have to be built into the idea.
Would love the idea of a mug but shipping to UK and other far away countries makes the price just too costly.

Swizzle sticks may be a cheaper option and with the way the world is going with trying to ban them, then they could well become a rare collectors item.

Just my opinion, keep up the good work, Chris

one thing i have done, for threads that i have contributed to substantially or find very compelling, is to archive the thread as a PDF for future reference.

are there any ways to wholesale archive threads or portions of sections, just to "back-up" the extensive information on TC? just floating a coconut.

On 2019-09-12 01:09, uk_chris123 wrote:
support the idea completely. Please remember that not all members live in the USA and any shipping costs would have to be built into the idea.
Would love the idea of a mug but shipping to UK and other far away countries makes the price just too costly.

Swizzle sticks may be a cheaper option and with the way the world is going with trying to ban them, then they could well become a rare collectors item.

Just my opinion, keep up the good work, Chris

Well said. Swizzle sticks were my first choice as well (because it is the cheapest option for everyone) and a kickstarter could be started for the cost of just a few dollars each (if enough people participated) and then that would hopefully cover the production costs of the minimum run required. BUT, as you said, not all members live in the US so therefore the cost of shipping to those outside of the US changes everything and who is going to be the one the who makes sure that everyone who contributed gets what's owing to them and makes sure everything gets shipped out properly?

I like the idea but working out the logistics is a different thing.

I don't suppose someone named "Swizzle" would have a bias towards swizzle sticks? :o Just kidding Robbie, good points. Any mugs or glassware are expensive to ship (especially overseas) because they require so much packing. Swizzle sticks are inexpensive to make and to ship. T-shirts can me made and shipped fairly inexpensively too but then you have the headache of the color and size complications

I definitely think we should do something and am willing to help however I can. We'll need Hanford's permission to use the TC logo but i'm sure that won't be a problem. Hamo, thanks for heading this up :D

On 2019-09-12 04:43, Johnny Dollar wrote:
one thing i have done, for threads that i have contributed to substantially or find very compelling, is to archive the thread as a PDF for future reference.

are there any ways to wholesale archive threads or portions of sections, just to "back-up" the extensive information on TC? just floating a coconut.

Johnny, Hanford has told me more that once that he is committed to keeping this site open for future generations. I don't think there is a way to back-up the entire site somewhere besides the Tiki Central server. But I like the idea of individuals saving copies of content that is important to them. Johnny, how did you save as a pdf? I tried to right click on a page, hit "save as webpage complete" and it will save that single page to your hard drive. It saves text but I think it only saves a link to the pictures, not the picture itself.

I'm gonna drink me a Mai Tai.

I would certainly be more than happy to help plan a Bay Area get-together to celebrate!

On 2019-09-12 17:14, HopeChest wrote:
I would certainly be more than happy to help plan a Bay Area get-together to celebrate!

Second

Swizzle sticks are a very cool option - easy to accommodate ohana from all around the world, too! Though I say we celebrate the 20th by upgrading our forums. :lol:

Here's a VERY CRUDE depiction of an idea for a swizzle stick (done in MS Paint at work :lol: ). The lettering and the outline of Tiki Central could be done in foil. I'm sure someone can come up with a better design. I know there are companies that make custom swizzles but I don't know the costs or manufacturing limitations.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2019-09-14 02:57 ]

That looks good Mike although i think the logo would be better running horizontally. Less vulnerable to breaking with those 'wings' stick out, especially if they're going to be shipped all over the place.

In regards to manufacturing, ROYER is the company to go to although you're looking at a minimum order of maybe 10,000 sticks plus the set up fee. I actually got a quote from them years ago and i honestly can't remember the exact costs but the die itself cost about $500 and then you paid for the minimum run on top of that with the sticks only really costing a few cents each but obviously that adds up. And i think that included having them printed as well.

Obviously China is most likely going to be an option as well but that would have to be researched.

There's also California Lustre in Palm Springs (who made my custom swizzles for me) but they are laser cut from acrylic which is not as durable as injection molded plastic (which can still break obviously) and you're not going to be able to get a very 3D looking stick with the laser cut ones. The more you buy the cost comes down per stick obviously but you're probably looking at at least $1 per stick compared to cents with ROYER although with them there's no minimum order. You can order just one stick if you really wanted to but you still have to pay the set up fee which was $75 from memory.

You are probably right about being vertical. I had looked at Royer's website but it doesn't give any minimum quantity or pricing info. I think we would have a hard time selling 10,000 swizzles :o I'm not sure how many active people are on the site?

If I may make a suggestion about the logo on the swizzle, perhaps having it canted at a (very classic mid-century) angle rather than either horizontal or vertical.

I can shop one later, I'm just out the door now and wanted to comment before I inevitably forget, LOL

On 2019-09-14 02:54, MadDogMike wrote:
Here's a VERY CRUDE depiction of an idea for a swizzle stick

Great design Mike!
Would not change it myself.

I still think a T-shirt would be a great idea.
You don't need to make ten thousand as it would be give size, give order, give money, then shirt would be made and sent.

Shipping would need to be paid by the person buying the shirt.
How many people at this time would be placing orders from far away?

Shirts are awesome as you can just cram it into a mailing bag and yer done.

Would not think that many orders would be placed anyway, how many Ohana huts were ordered?

Going to be less than that.

But still a great idea Hamo.

Now that we have thought about it we can go back to sleep and do nothing.:)

Swizzles and t shirts are great ideas! People are also making logo high ball glasses for their home bars. I'd be into a few Tiki Central glasses as well. Maybe getting commitments for orders ahead of time would make sense. that way no-one gets stuck for the over stock.

Not interested in a t-shirt at all. I have more than enough already to last me until i die and i probably only wear 1/5 of them anyway. You wear a few, do the washing and then they just get put back into the drawer on top of all the others and then the cycle just repeats itself.

If it's not going to be swizzles then my next vote would be for stickers. Most likely the cheapest option and the easiest to mail out anywhere and also once the set up cost has been paid and an initial order placed, small amounts at a time could be re-ordered at minimal cost.

Hang10Tiki had some vinyl decals made that he was able to put on glassware. That could be the best of both worlds: inexpensive and cheap to ship, you can use them as stickers if you want, or you buy your own glassware locally (no shipping) and make your own glassware. Not the best option for glassware but they would last if you used them carefully and no one is stuck with 300 Mai Tai glasses that didn't sell.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2019-09-14 19:30 ]

I realize the T-shirt option isn't for everyone but they can be done with no funding, we can easily do that in addition to anything else. We made a design and submit it to Zazzle or somewhere similar, they print on demand as people order them. It costs the individual a little more but no left-over merchandise, no Kickstarter, etc.

There's obviously going to be someone here who is able to do the artwork free of charge which is then used as the printable file to be sent to the company of whatever medium is decided upon, only having to pay the set up fee but not for having the artwork done.

With stickers they could also be made in different styles and different sizes of those styles and a 'pack' put together. For example, one could be just the words 'Tiki Central', with or without the diamond shape behind it, or both, and also another one the same as the full logo with the words OPEN 24 HOURS on it and then each of those could be made in two or three different sizes.

A quick look around finds 3x3, 3x4, or 4x4 stickers are about 30-40 cents each a quantity of 500. Price drops a little for 1000 but not much. (makestickers.com) These are intended for vehicles so they are weather resistant, should be good for hand washed glassware. At that price it looks like they are not printed edge to edge and have a white border which the buyer could cut off or leave.

Again, just a quick and dirty suggestion. Not as stunning as custom wrap-around printed glassware but a lot more affordable and ship-able

Just a head's up...I am a graphic designer... Matt/Spike/The Hula Girls is as well, since we're not in a particular rush I think it would be possible for several of us to get something together if time and participation allows. At least a range of possibilities to start.

kkocka, maybe Mike can get the files of the actual logo from Hanford and pass them on to you and then you can throw together a few ideas which members could vote on (if stickers are what's decided on).

And Mike, 30-40 cents sounds good to me and that's where having a few different styles and/or sizes putting a 'pack' together would be a good. I'm sure just about everyone interested would have no problem $5 or so for a handful stickers which would cover postage also. Although i think die-cut stickers on a clear background would be better. Also at least one design incorporating the tapa background is a must i think.

For me making something that is low cost just for the sake of keeping the price down well ya get what you pay for.

The stickers are a good idea too, but then a sticker on a glass is, what's that new word they use....Ratchet.

Stickers fade, but I would buy them.

Still have my World Series of Rock T-shirt from the 80s, it fits my wife at least, and often sells on eBay for way more than I paid for it.

Spike does good work he did a house sign for me once, so kkoca that is a great offer for you and he to do work.

How about a poll on TC that would have the ideas like stickers, T-shirt and maybe even Mai Tai glasses
(how about pendants or tiki mug too) along with the guess of what these things would cost and if you would buy them and how many you would buy.
That way you could get a rough idea of how well these would sell.

Maybe we could make those small smashed pennies with TC on them, those are small and would be cheap to mail.
These items should be something that a person would really want after time has passed.

The guy that gets "stuck" with any of these items could make some money selling them after the window to buy closes and everybody wants the stuff.
Put this stuff at Tiki Oasis/Hukilau and it would be gone the first day.
But still this needs to be a small run of this stuff.

It may take time but these would all sell.

How many Ohana huts or even Shecky mugs do you think you could sell right now?
Ohh, a Shecky shot glass? I know shots are not tiki, I would buy one though.

I will help however I can.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2019-09-15 03:28 ]

edit: I just read Mike's reply above. Sorry for the duplication.

Regarding the shirt and the setup costs- there are places like Teepublic.com where you can (as an artist) just submit the design and then people
can order the size and shirt color they want (and deal with shipping individually).

Obviously it's a bit more expensive per-item to do it this way than it is a bulk order, but it does relieve someone of the massive burden of trying to wrangle
all of the details that a bulk order would require.

[ Edited by: Sandbartender 2019-09-15 06:58 ]

Nobody likes the highball idea? (sob) Yeah, I think swizzles are my favorite idea so far.

"Nobody likes the highball idea?"

A Mai Tai glass is the tiki version of a Highball glass don't you think, I do.
But yeah, that's a good idea.

Not to confuse matters but coasters are another highly useful, inexpensive, and easy to ship product. Start at about 50 cents per 500.

Skip as much as I would like to see a new Ohana Hut style project, I don't see our current active membership volume supporting it. Hamo posted this 4 days ago, it has 500 views but only about 10 people have commented.

That is true Mike but then if I were a mug maker that would make me want to do it as making less mugs would be not as huge a task as 100 or more would be.
AND people are going to want these items when they can no longer get these items.

Man if I could just do a mold of a tiki light and pop those out I would surely want to be the person who made the TC anniversary trinket.

I still think a Shecky shot glass would be cool.

Coasters would be doable too.
Just don't know how epic they would be.
Maybe a cool design like the Mai Kai ones of old.

How bout a pendant cast in resin?

How about a 3-D printed, faux-bamboo framed, hand-painted-by-an-artist(s) name tag “frame” to wear or hang around our necks for when we attend tiki events? This type of item would be fun to have. I’m super stocked up on glassware and have stopped buying mugs cuz there are so many now and it’s never ending. A nice name tag holder (frame) would also be put on prominent display at my home bar when not being worn.

Yup, production could be pricey. And anything hand-painted and worn on the body would quickly show signs of wear, so there are some pretty big downsides unless molded from colored materials or encapsulated in clear resin. But they could be produced locally around the globe if the 3-D file were to be released.

Just thinking out loud here... Cool thread!

On 2019-09-16 05:15, Will carve wrote:
How bout a pendant cast in resin?

Yeah that could be cool.

A lot of great ideas!

Personally I would throw my hat in for swizzles, glasses, shirts, or pendant. I appreciate trying to keep costs down, but all of those options seem a little too ephemeral for the occasion.

On 2019-09-16 11:12, CosmoReverb wrote:
but all of those options seem a little too ephemeral for the occasion.

Well there's always the 25th :wink:

"seem a little too ephemeral for the occasion."

I bet Trader Vic thought the same thing about his collectable mugs.

On 2019-09-16 09:41, tikiskip wrote:

On 2019-09-16 05:15, Will carve wrote:
How bout a pendant cast in resin?

Yeah that could be cool.

I 3rd the pendant idea! Also love the coaster idea. And the t-shirt print on demand idea. And... :lol:

Shecky version II

Ha! could be his brother Wrecky.

I never knew.....

TOP DEFINITION
wrecky
To act reckless
P: You coming out tonight babe?

Mia: For sure. I need a wrecky night. I haven't had one in a while
#careless#free spirit#single#mad#vex

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2019-09-18 07:29 ]

Glasses are cool, but I'm guessing a lot of us already have so many and are a bit troublesome for shipping around the world. Swizzles seem the easiest and are always fun. A print would be nice, but again, with wall space at a premium...

I like the idea of some kind of pendant or pin - those are good because other people would actually see them and maybe ask about the place.

A symposium at an events (r a few of the events) would be good, too. There are just so many people who either aren't here anymore or never heard of Tiki Central at this point. Which is a shame.

But, naturally, my first thought was Party!

On 2019-09-18 16:27, bamalamalu wrote:
...

But, naturally, my first thought was Party!

How about it take place simultaneously on the same day in major cities just like Live Aid in 1985 or Wrestlemania II in 1986?

I personally love the idea of a mai tai glass but I'm partial to Mai Tai's! :wink:

I'd also buy a couple of swizzles and possibly a t-shirt depending on design. if I like it, I buy it. Being from the East Coast I don't have many tiki t-shirts.

Everyone want to come to NY/NJ for the party??? Kidding - not kidding. Someday I'll get to meet up with you guys in California. Won't be happening in the next few months though, sadly.

I'll try to remember to pop in more frequently to see how this progresses. If I forget, Mike nudge me on FB!

:up: :wink:

Maio Tai glass, swizzles, and coasters! I'm in!

How about it take place simultaneously on the same day in major cities just like Live Aid in 1985 or Wrestlemania II in 1986?

Sorry I haven’t been around for awhile; there’s some awesome stuff happening on this thread that I need to really absorb when I’m not on the verge of sleep, but real quick—I like Mike’s swizzle mock up. I was also thinking this alternative logo would work great on the end of a swizzle:

A couple of thoughts/suggestions.

That looks good Hamo but we need to keep in mind that injection molded swizzle sticks are two colours. One is the colour of the actual stick itself and the second is the raised sections that are printed.
If we're looking at something with three colours or more i think the only option is flat paddle style sticks which are screen printed but that's something that doesn't interest me personally at all.

Didn't even think of coasters but i like the idea of those also. As i mentioned previously, i think a 'pack' would be a great. Swizzles, coasters and a few stickers of different sizes.

And finally, pendants and pins have both been mentioned. Maybe the way to go there would be to have an enamel pin made that has a loop/ring built into it which people could thread some cord through and then that could be worn as a pendant. That way there is two uses out of one item at little or no extra cost.

I will donate money for anniversary swizzle sticks being made.
Not acrylic swizzle sticks, but real injection mold swizzle sticks.

Harco Plastics has a 5000 piece minimum. I've never ordered swizzle sticks so I cannot attest to the company. They did make the Clamato swizzle stick which I like the design of.
http://www.harcoplastics.com/
Nancy Freeman said that Royer has a 25000 stick minimum now.