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

Sorry bout that Swizz.
Could you get somebody to hold some for you here in the states till you do make a trip back?
I would do it for you but who wants to come to OHIO.

And damn you can't tell me nobody on Facebook knows about this.
But I would say sure post the idea of something being done.

Tiki people are so weird about what's in what's out who is or who isn't, I think it's all that aloha Ohana sprit that just gets them inside.

Good morning everyone :)
I know 10,000 swizzles seems like a lot, but, I think I was thinking along different lines with the swizzle run.

My thought was that if we are still going to try doing a party....OR....what I think would be even better..... a multiple location party, with the locations streamed together!! :)

But, if this did happen....then I think we would be able to have the swizzles, and napkins distributed to various locations, to be used in the drinks.... which brings me to the thought that we should create a signature drink for the party!! The cost of the drink could be increased by as little as a dollar, which would end up covering the cost of the swizzle, and the napkin....with a little extra, that together would reduce the amount of contribution to the swizzle upfront cost....or be directly put into the fund for TC.

In regards to selling the extra swizzles, pins, etc......that is where I think someone like PinTiki could be a big help in that (if he wanted to)....could sell them from his already established website. Obviously, there would be a discussion regarding percentage of profit he would retain for those services....and how much would go to TC.

Speaking of.....we would need to setup some account for where profits would go for TC.

MadDogMike,
I'm sure you would mention if you knew, but, I'm hoping that you've heard from Hanford?? and that there is some discussion about using the Brand Name?

We would probably also want to add a backing card to the pin. The price for these are pretty nominal and it would be an opportunity to add a little more written info on the back of the card. I usually get them in quantities of 500, but you don’t have to get that many. Then the pins need to be mounted to the cards. It makes a nicer presentation than just delivering them in the little plastic bags they come in.

PinTiki,
Absolutely agree!!!! thi actually was already brought up by....I think Hamo....or...maybe MadDogMike. Possibly the card can have a short....I mean very short history bit of Tiki Central,

"Tiki Central was created by Hanford Lemoore in 2000 to create a forum for celebrating classic and modern Polynesian pop. January 12, 2020 will be the 20th Anniversary. Tiki Central has been your Online Ohana for 20 years and is Open 24 Hours. Visit http://www.tikicentral.com for more info."

...or...something to that effect. I think Hanford co-founded it (right?) so, we should probably have his co-founder on the card as well? These would be good clarifications with Hanford himself.
***** *** I just found the reference from Hanford's message for the turnover of Admin from Hakalugi to MadDogMike. He stated that he and Jennifer Thompson created the site in 2000 as a Yahoo Forum *** *****....and yes, I just learned how to do bold lettering on TC.

Could you maybe also do a version of the pin that looks like the forum logo? Just to see how that might look?

I would be very curious if the enamel can be used to give it the light green line around the lettering, so that it looks kinda like the neon :) You mentioned that the enamel needs the edges of metal and said that there could be colored metal......can you check to see if the metal can be colored only in certain areas? If so....then you could color the metal only around the edges of the Tiki Central words, with the enamel in the center, to give it the looks of the neon?

I also like the alternate logo that you have, from the swizzle top, and maybe add the Open 24 Hours, below the Tiki Central words, with the wood board on the right hand side that has 20 years.

I have another question, and I know this is diving into some finicky details, but, as I have collected several pins, I would like to ask you what the difference would be to add a second backing post? Some pins that only have one post spin around too easily, or, depending on where the post is, the pin doesn't stay put, and sits funny on your hat, lapel, etc. If we did a long pin like the forum logo above, it would be great to have a backing post on both sides.....if we do a pin like the square alternate logo, it could probably be ok with one post, depending on the size.

Thanks again PinTiki for helping out !!! :) It is great to be able to discuss with someone who has first hand knowledge of everything it takes to actually make pins !!

[ Edited by: PineappleWhip 2019-10-03 12:07 ]

PinTiki,
oohhh I almost forgot....one more question. You mentioned that the pins come in little bags. Are the bags big enough to include the card?

I only ask in that when they get shipped, it might be nice to have them in bags, but, if these are going to be sold at a booth (like in your booth :wink:) at an event, it definitely has a great presentation out of the bag.

So last night i created a poll on one of the Facebook Tiki groups and here are the current votes:

Swizzle stick = 120
Enamel pin = 22
Drink coasters = 14
T-shirt = 13
Stickers = 10
Cocktail umbrellas = 8

Obviously swizzle sticks are way out in front but considering there's nearly 8,000 members in that FB group and nearly 17,000 users here on TC that number is a tiny amount of people actually interested. And that's also not to say that all the people who voted would actually invest any money into the project/s. I'm sure most would happily spend a few dollars in return for a couple of sticks and postage but not (hypothetically) $30-40 for 50 sticks.

I think a GoFundMe account is the way to go and people get X amount of sticks according to how much they pay but obviously there needs to be enough people interested and enough money raised to actually pay for it.

"So last night i created a poll on one of the Facebook Tiki groups and here are the current votes:"

Any info is good I guess, but going to the Fakebook people is kinda like asking the KKK what should we do to celebrate Martin Luther King day.
I know that is a bit over the top but damn the first poll about TC should be on TC not the people that left TC.

Facebook people still see what is going on here, if they don't want to join in online so be it, but it's a bit fake and sour grapes really.

People rip on Disney mugs all the time while Disney mugs sell out and the price goes up on almost every one of them a scant year later.
Same with the TC Ohana hut people did not like it, it was too costly, bad design, etc.
What do TC Ohana huts sell for now?

Who here wants to buy a Shecky mug?

So buy this stuff don't buy this stuff and then you can get the items later at a higher cost.
That's how that will go.

Funny thing is ALL of the anti TC places AND groups were born of this place TC, yes TC is their Father.
So use the force and make cool stuff then they will come.

Or not, then less pissed off new people will come and happily buy the stuff for more just like the TC Ohana hut and Shecky mug.

Good Morning everyone,

I think an important piece of info to concentrate on is the following:

The swizzles, are the most popular !!

Of all the comments, here on TC, and the quick poll that Swizz conducted has shown that people like the swizzle. CosmoReverb ...I will say again, great work !!

Swizz,
Did you post a picture of the swizzle,...or...did the poll point people to the link for this thread? My point of this question is that, if we had designs for everything, and are able to show off all the different items, it might help with peoples decisions to go forward. I think it would be helpful to get a bit more time to get some designs together and then there is more to show people and for everyone to review.

I just have to say....I'm excited about all this :) I think it would be really awesome, and I think people will appreciate this once it comes together. Thanks everyone!!

Cheers!! :drink:

Good idea to do the poll. I think the swizzle are pretty damn cool too.

Just to follow up on Pineapplewhip’s questions re the pin. Here are a couple more quick mock-ups using the regular TC logo rather than the square. I made one with a yellow outline around the words. I’m not sure how tiny of an area they can fill so it may not be possible to go this thin or the pin may need to be made a bit larger.

As far as 2nd backing post – No problem and I would do that for sure for extra safety.

I don’t think they can color (plate) the metal in different areas in the pin differently but I can look into that. I’m sure that would affect the cost. It may also be possible to “print” the neon yellow onto the pin.

The plastic baggies that the pins are delivered in are not big enough to fit the backing card. They are just the size of the pin. We could get the correct size bags with hang-holes for like $22.00 for 500.

PinTiki,
Thanks for a super fast reply with more artwork !! I think they are great !! One thing I like about the pins, is....it seems a bit easier to attain as far as dollar amount and for quantities. Especially as you say that you can do another run after the mold and tooling is completed....and that that run gets slightly cheaper.

I would love to know what the manufacturer says about how think of a line they are able to fill with enamel.

On 2019-10-04 10:08, PinTiki wrote:

Pins are a fantastic idea! And I really like the direction you're heading with these mock ups! I personally wear my PinTikis and others all the time and frequently get comments on them. So they have the added bonus of being conversation starters which could help raise awareness of TC, which is the main impetus for doing this, right?

Thinking logistically... pins are light weight, easy to ship, and inexpensive to make. The minimum quantity is very reasonable, the initial monetary output is pretty negligible, and they're small so don't require a ton of room to store. I think we could easily sell 30-40 of them off the bat for $12-15 each, which would more than cover the cost of manufacturing so nobody is put out for extended periods of time or sitting on tons of boxes of unmovable merchandise.

If PinTiki is willing to take charge, we wouldn't necessarily have to do a crowd funding campaign either, since he's already got the infrastructure and promotional avenues in place for something like this. We would just need to work out the fine details. Presumably, Pintiki would be in charge of:

-Coming up with the final design of the pins and backing cards
-Placing the orders and dealing with the manufacturers
-Receiving the shipments
-Adding the backing cards
-Putting them in baggies
-Hosting them on his website
-Helping to promote sales through an email blast and posts on TC, FB, etc
-Handling all shipping

Anything I'm forgetting? That's a lot of work for someone without experience, but he does this regularly and likely has an efficient system in place.

Let's say they cost about $3 a piece to manufacture, including the mold fee, backing cards, baggies, etc, there's around $10 a piece profit from the sale of each one. So how much would he keep for himself for handling all this and how much goes back to TC for maintenance and improvements?

I have thoughts on swizzles as well, which I'll share later when I have time.

On 2019-09-26 14:40, CosmoReverb wrote:

OK, here are my thoughts on swizzles...

This is an awesome design and I want some. But 10,000 is a freakin lot!!! I know. I bought that many from Royer over a year ago and try to off as many as I can every day and still have thousands. There's no way we're going to sell that many, even at cost, which would defeat the purpose anyway, since the whole point of this ordeal is to raise money for the future betterment and sustainability of this website.

On the positive side, the price per unit is likely lower than any other swag we've considered, which should make them an easy sell. But with the incredibly high minimum order someone will have to shell out around $2500 to make this happen. Hopefully whoever finalizes the design (CosmoReverb?) offers their services out of the kindness of their heart so that price doesn't go even higher. Money would have to be raised through some sort of crowd funding campaign before they're ordered so no one is on the hook for that amount and gets stuck with giant boxes of sticks they can't sell on top of that.

I suggest somewhere around half of them be donated to bars or whoever hosts official anniversary events so they could stick them in drinks for the patrons (obviously organizing these events is a whole other mess that involves lots more planning). The rest could be sold in different sized "bundles" to folks who want them, with all proceeds benefiting TC. It's not uncommon on Kickstarter for people to price gouge on basic items. People donate knowing the money is going to a specific cause. That said, maybe we come up with a tiered system. Like 5 swizzles is 10 bucks. 25 is $45, 50 is $75, and so on. The more you buy, the cheaper they become per stick (but not to go below $1 each since we'll never get a return on them if we sell too close to cost).

Something to keep in mind, tons of people have home tiki bars but very few are likely to splurge $2500 on custom swizzles with their bars name or logo on them. But lots of folks would gladly buy 100-200 TC swizzles to have on hand to put in drinks they serve to friends. Is $100 for 100 commemorative swizzles unreasonable? I don't know. I don't think so. But we'd still have to sell quite a few bundles at that price to offset the cost of the overall production to make it worthwhile. I imagine between advertising a well put together campaign on here and the various FB groups, reddit, etc we could get over 100 people contributing at different levels, primarily on the lower end. But if just 20-25 of those people buy a $100 bundle of sticks, we've covered our costs. I don't think that's unobtainable.

Maybe as a bonus, for purchases of $50 or more, people also get a one year grand membership included. It could drum up many renewals and bring new people on board.

The big question though, who's going to be in charge of putting together, managing and promoting a campaign, placing the order, receiving the shipment, storing the goods, sending out orders, etc.

On a final note, I doubt we'll sell much more than 3000 swizzles, which means there will be a hefty surplus remaining. That's why I suggested donating a bunch to the people hosting the "official" anniversary parties. But what do those look like? Who's in charge? What takes place? Where do they happen? Maybe this aspect warrants it's own thread.

On 2019-10-04 15:30, mikehooker wrote:

Something to keep in mind, tons of people have home tiki bars but very few are likely to splurge $2500 on custom swizzles with their bars name or logo on them. But lots of folks would gladly buy 100-200 TC swizzles to have on hand to put in drinks they serve to friends. Is $100 for 100 commemorative swizzles unreasonable? I don't know. I don't think so. But we'd still have to sell quite a few bundles at that price to offset the cost of the overall production to make it worthwhile. I imagine between advertising a well put together campaign on here and the various FB groups, reddit, etc we could get over 100 people contributing at different levels, primarily on the lower end. But if just 20-25 of those people buy a $100 bundle of sticks, we've covered our costs. I don't think that's unobtainable.

Bolding mine-
I said as much earlier in this thread. With a 10k count, I will NEVER end up commissioning the custom swizzles I wanted to do. I'd just as soon have TC swizes as my home brand, if you will.
And even at $1/ea I'd probably pony up for 100 of them, although if we hit that $0.25/per mark I'd personally say that $00.75/ea at higher order counts is still doing pretty well for TC funding for the future.

"I suggest somewhere around half of them be donated to bars or whoever hosts official anniversary events so they could stick them in drinks for the patrons"

This sounds problematic to me for a few reasons.
I would if I were in a local bar that was giving these away in drinks, just buy a few drinks and get the swizzles free, Heck most people only want a few.

Second, you know some enterprising person that works at one of the "here are your free swizzle sticks bars" will take some give them to friends and even sell them wherever.
That's how I got a ton of Trader Vic's swizzles, "hey bartender here's a big tip can I get a few swizzles"

They gave me so many Kahiki swizzles that I would put them in with my light sales for free. I still have a ton of them!

It might be much better to have some kind of donation for the promo package that a place holding an event or other to at least become a sponsor so then TC gets a few bucks and the bar gets free advertising everybody happy.

You give these away and you will be competing trying to sell swizzles to people that can get them for free at their local bar, and from friends that work at bars, and for sale online.

Just sayin, think about how far that could dig into your sales.

The pins are so cool, great job on those!
And the swizzles too!

On 2019-10-04 15:30, mikehooker wrote:

........since the whole point of this ordeal is to raise money for the future betterment and sustainability of this website.

Sorry, but since when? Hamo did say something about this in his initial post but isn't this about having something made for the members of this group to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Tiki Central? Unless Hanford chimes in and says that we have permission to use the TC logo and have stuff made but ONLY if X amount of 'profits' go to him for site maintenance then the whole point of this ordeal is to mark the occasion with some sort of ephemera being made.

As i've already stated i have i have no issue with donating something back to Hanford but i'm not paying $100 for 100 swizzle sticks, only keeping 20 and then donating the rest to who knows who and what they are going to do with them.

Swizzle sticks are obviously the clear favourite but the logistics of paying for 10,000 to be made and then dispatching them to all the people that have invested just doesn't seem feasible. And WHO is going to do that? Even if it's only 50 people that invest, who is going to pack up 50 packages and go to the post office?

Now just to comment on a couple of the most recent posts;

PineappleWhip, yes i did post a picture of the swizzle stick and also PinTiki's mock-ups for some square pins (although i said that they were the ideas for coasters and/or stickers. Not sure why i said that, maybe because i was a little drunk when i posted but i'm sure that would be the artwork decided on if we went down that route) but i didn't post a link to this thread. I (or someone) can do that later when a more final decision is made as to what will be happening.

PinTiki, love the new logo designs also. The yellow outline looks great and hopefully that is possible to do but i much prefer the font for '20 years' on the lower image. Also, as i've mentioned before, maybe a ring/loop could be added to top to allow for cord to be attached so it can double as a pendant. People could get two that way and just cut the pins off of the back on one of them.

Mikehooker, in regards to your comments i'm just repeating what i've already said, no matter how much i would love swizzle sticks made i just don't think it is feasible. I personally thing $100 for 100 sticks is not unreasonable (although that's different for you guys, i still have to factor in postage and convert to Aus. dollars) but i don't need 100 sticks. I'd rather pay $50 (or less) and get a pin, some stickers, coasters, cocktail umbrellas, napkins, etc. They all can be made in small amounts and are also cheap. If PinTiki is going to take the reigns on having the pins made and because he does have the infrastructure set up to sell and ship them then maybe he could put a pack together with all the other items. He could add on a handling fee but those who pre-paid via GoFundMe (or whatever platform is used) to have all the different items made could get a code so that they pay cost and anything left over could be sold on his website at a higher amount for anyone else with those profits going back to TC.

Seems to me there's a lot of putting the cart before the horse going on here. Has anyone received a response at all from Hanford regarding using the logo on any merch? Has he agreed to make "improvements/upgrades" to the site with the money you seem to be trying to raise for that cause? Has he given his blessing on any of this?

I don't mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but 8 pages of this conversation are moot if Hanford doesn't agree to any of it.

I’m sorry you see this as a waste of time. I see a group of talented, creative people with similar interests from all over the world, who have come together as a community to discuss ways to celebrate 20 years of this community. Kind of a community bonding experience. The thoughts, ideas and suggestions shared have been fine-tuned into some very good things.

Now, I don’t know Hanford or MadDogMike personally, but I believe when Hanford handed over the reins of ADMIN to MDM,
it was for more than just the daily operations, but also as a decision maker for the future of Tiki Central.

Lets say by some miracle we were able to do all the ideas presented, I think not only would we have Hanfords blessing,
he would be glad to see we stepped up as a community to do this, as it does benefit the future of this site and this community.
As long as some other individual or group is not profiting off the website,
I will bet Hanford will not mind at all if Tiki Central uses Tiki Centrals logo to make things that benefit Tiki Central and its users
But I could be wrong

Also, I Agree with Swizzle about this being more to celebrate the members rather than upgrading the website, That would be a whole different conversation.

[ Edited by: TucsonTiki Jeff 2019-10-06 15:27 ]

Good afternoon everyone!! Aloha!!
I completely agree. I think all the discussion and ideas generated this far are great!!

One note I do wish to make. I had a few Personal Messages with MadDogMike. He did write to me to say that his one on one conversation with Hanford about this subject was that Hanford has given a preliminary blessing to use the name, but (as I would figure) would appreciate seeing the final artwork, items, ephemera, etc. before giving a final approval. I think this is completely understandable.

With that said.....I think we can continue with ideas, and get a vote for what we all like the best, and then we can present these for a final buy off from Hanford.

I think MDM can keep Hanford informed of the progress, but, I think we would all like to see Hanford post on here for his final approval. I know that he is very busy with quite a lot, but, once we get to the point that we are ready to hit the GO button.....it would be reassuring to have his stamp of approval.

In regards to the creating items for the TC20 celebration, and whether any profits go to TC for improvements.......I have a few thoughts about this;

I think Hamo started this thread with the simple thought of let’s celebrate the 20 Aniv, some way; party, merch, etc. As we all know......everything that happens in the physical world (unlike online) takes some kind of money to make it happen. As soon as we started getting closer to actual physical reality for the items....money gets involved, and there is a naturall curiosity as to where the money goes. Because of this, I think that’s where the idea of profits going to TC kind of organically grew from, as I think everyone on here has to some degree appreciated TC, and would like for it to continue. I am pretty sure that Hanford makes very little to negligible from this site. I know he wanted it to be a free resource for people to enjoy....which is very admirable.....and I would thank him profusely and shake his hand till it hurt, if I ever get the chance to meet him in person. But, if it is important to us all, those who want to, can contribute to help that situation. In this, if there was merch that was a slight bit more, I think people would be more willing to add an extra dollar, instead of putting in a ton of money for investing in the startup of merch. This way nobody is wondering if money is going to someone’s pocket instead of the one place that we are on here to collaborate on.....lol.

There are a lot of moving parts in this project. Everyone has ideas of what they would like this to produce. I also think that we could probably figure out how to make this all work, if we had some time, but, I know that with the internet, there is a desire to have everything happen at the speed of the internet.

I believe it is possible for us to achieve these things, because the amount of combined creativity, resources, and common interest on this site is more than most large companies!! :)

We are on the right path....it might just come together a bit past the actual anniversary date....but.....we can just celebrate the whole year :) right?

Cheers!! :drink:

.

mikehooker,
So, you made some swizzles from Royer? What swizzles were these for? Your own home tiki bar? Or from somewhere else? Do you still have ay of them? I might be interested in buyin some from you......lol. :wink:

Ok, this is going to be my last post on the subject until it comes down to the final decision making on what is going to be made and how it will be paid for.

But first, PineappleWhip! You keep talking about donating the profits to TC. Besides it being mentioned by Hamo in his initial post, which is "How Should We Celebrate Tiki Central's 20th Anniversary", not "How Should We Raise Money To Donate To Tiki Central", you and mikehooker are the only two that have brought that up. As i've already stated several times i have no problem donating a small amount somehow back to TC, as i'm sure most members would do, but the item/s that are decided on need to be purchased in a way that they are all sold before they are even made. Not made and then have 30-3000 left over no-one knows what to do with but then when/if they sell the money goes back to TC.

Now no offense to PinTiki but we do not need him to have the pin made. He has already stated that the cost of having 100 made would be about $200, so about $2 per pin. This isn't something for him to be making a profit on. This is something being organized BY the sites members FOR the sites members. Now i have zero problem paying him a couple of dollars for a handling and packing fee (shipping is a separate thing altogether) but that's about it.

So on that note these are my (final) thoughts. Without sounding like a broken record, no matter how much i would like swizzle sticks to be made and that they are the most popular item people are interested in, having and paying for 10,000 just doesn't seem feasible. I've already said a few times that i think a 'pack' of several items is the way to go and here's why.

1.) You end up with several different items instead of just one at a very affordable price.

2.) All the ephemera talked about (besides swizzle sticks) can be ordered in small numbers with 100 being most likely the minimum. If it is more than that it is only going to be numbers like 250 or 500.

So for arguments sake and just using random figures at the moment without knowing exact costs it can be broken down like this;

MINIMUM ORDER
100 pins @ $2.50 each
100 sm. stickers @ .50c each
100 lg. stickers @ .65c each
250 coasters @ .30c each (We have 500 made so it divides into 100 evenly and everyone gets 5)
500 umbrellas @ 1.25 each

So people buy a 'pack' and get;

1 pin
1 sm. sticker
1 lg. sticker
5 coasters
5 umbrellas

For a total cost of $11.40 (plus postage) if my calculations are correct.

So we get EXACT quotes for each item, break down the price per ITEM, put together a pack and THEN discuss how much, if any, money goes towards TC. Then a GoFundMe (or whatever account works best for something like this) can be started with the payments being used to pay for each individual item to be manufactured. Now obviously people can buy more than one 'pack' (i most likely would) which means more more could be made of each item and then that would bring the costs down further.

Now, if PinTiki is happy to organize the pins and also have all the other items sent to him and put together the packs and mail them out, that's when we discuss paying him a handling fee (and a TC donation) which can be added to the total so hypothetically the pack becomes $15 with the items costing $11.40 and $2.60 going to PinTiki and $1 back to TC from each pack sold.

I'm sure that makes sense to most of you what i'm getting at. I personally think that is the easiest way to go about this, although a poll needs to be conducted here but i'm not sure how that can be done. I can follow up on my post on Facebook after i get some feedback here to say what decision/s are being made and gauge interest over there especially considering people use FB more than TC these days. They might not come here but that doesn't mean they aren't interested in buying some 20th Anniversary merchandise.

P.S. After proofreading this post it came to me that instead of using a GoFundMe thing, as PinTiki has his website and the infrastructure set up, maybe once a 'pack' price is decided upon (after final quotes are received and that is what's decided upon-maybe including swizzles as well) an order can just be placed directly with PinTiki on his website with a code being entered by TC members to get the 'pack' at the cost price discussed. Of course that all depends if he is willing to do that. If not, then who would do all of the shipping and handling?

Edited to add: I don't recall napkins being mentioned so there's something else that can be manufactured in bulk and would be cheap that could be added and someone over on FB mentioned matches, which i think would be great, but as i said to him, technically they are not allowed to travel by air so that makes shipping them a problem.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2019-10-06 21:03 ]

Jen you made a good point and it was not as I saw it bad, just a good point.

Swizz this whole thing is morphing and changing as it goes along so it's just ideas and other points being made, and that good cuz nobody want a person coming on and saying as I said before this is how it will be.

As far as Pin tiki guy only getting X for his work nobody would ask you to make mugs and ship and processes them for next to nothing.

All is going well so remember nobody is making any money that would make doing this worthwhile.

Just to throw an extra monkey wrench into things, in case we do end up getting to go the Pin route, I LOVE Swiz's idea to have an option to easily convert to a pendant. Part of the appeal is to wear it out, have people see it, and maybe generate more participation here. Pins are good for that and very popular, but I'm not putting pin prongs through my vintage shirts.

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.

On 2019-10-06 16:26, PineappleWhip wrote:
mikehooker,
So, you made some swizzles from Royer? What swizzles were these for? Your own home tiki bar? Or from somewhere else? Do you still have ay of them? I might be interested in buyin some from you......lol. :wink:

Mike had swizzles made for his pending tiki bar in Austin, Quiet Village. Here's a poor photo of one. They're quite cool:

As for what to do with all the extras if (and that's a big if) a 10,000-swizzle run is commissioned, I'd say earmark a bunch of 'em to go to regional tiki events to promote Tiki Central. Texas Tiki Week, Dallas Tiki Week, Tiki Kon, etc. The newer, regional events where there's less of an established tiki tradition would be more effective than, say, Hukilau or Tiki Oasis (where presumably most people have already at least heard of Tiki Central) but we'd have to potentially contend with a potential influx of new member applications.

bamalamalu,
Thanks for bringing this up again!! I do agree....the loop is a great idea.

PinTiki,
Could you do a version, with a loop on the top?.....for those that would like to convert their pins to pendants. Possibly we can do a separate run of pendants? I guess that all depends on how many people would like one.

Prikli Pear,
I keep hearing about Texas Tiki Week. Sounds like I need to figure out the date, and visit my cousins at that time :) Thanks for sharing the info about Quiet Village. The Mai Tai glass looks Awesome!!

"Just to throw an extra monkey wrench into things, in case we do end up getting to go the Pin route, I LOVE Swiz's idea to have an option to easily convert to a pendant."

Heck you could buy two of them and make ear rings as well.

Lots of activity here! That's good! I've been busy for a couple days and need to catch up.

There has been various discussion about part of the proceeds going back to Tiki Central. Hanford tells me there is no need for that. Whatever we come up with will be just for fun. If we build a little "brand awareness" in the process, that's just icing on the cake

MDM,
Great news to hear from Hanford on the subject. Thanks for posting this!!

if you were wanting to do decals - i do that for a living - these would be almost 2" x 5" and would run .40/ea - they would be contour cut (the pink line would be cutline, would not print)

I’ve been away from TC for a couple days. I will check with the pin production facility and let you guys know if the pendant ring is a viable option. Not sure if it would entail a separate mold or if it’s something they could easily do without much extra expense. I am open to the idea of carrying the TC pack of items on my website and fulfilling them, I would have to see what we land on for the pack and how much it would be for shipping and other fees. (Remember, there are also PayPal or other credit card processing fees in addition to shipping and packaging the items.) I would also have to keep track of how many items were sold and pay TC it’s cut. So there’s gonna be extra work on my part to pull all this off. Even if I don’t end up doing it, somebody will have to deal with all this.

I said i was done responding on this topic but after a personal message and further comments/developments i will comment once more.

First off, here are the current 'updated' numbers to the poll i posted on Facebook.

Swizzle stick = 120/150
Enamel pin = 22/33
Drink coasters = 14/23
T-shirt = 13/31
Stickers = 10/12
Cocktail umbrellas = 8/9

So obviously swizzle sticks are still way out in front.

About two days ago i did some math. Since then a few other posts have been added but at the time there were around 120 replies to this thread and of those 120 replies they were from 39 different people with 15 of those people commenting more than once. The majority of that number was made up of three people. Myself, MDM and Tikiskip.

So going by the numbers, including those who posted on Facebook, there are about 1/3 of the amount of people interested in getting a pin which the minimum number of having made is 100.

So just to drift off topic for a moment, laugh at my photoshop skills all you want ( i really don't care because i know i have none) but here is what i'm talking about about when i say can a pin be made that is a combination that is a pin as well as a pendant. (And PinTiki, i have had my own pins made before so i know that what i am proposing is not only possible but is able to be done with no extra cost).

For both options the metal base is stamped with either one loop or two. (Two make a pendant sit bitter and not flip over). Customers have the choice of buying either/or and can buy one or more and then cut/file off the loop or pins and turn the pin into a pendant or vice versa. Or buy two and have/make one of each. (Does that make sense? It does in my head).

Now in regards to the personal message and my response/thoughts; (and i'm not sure that the following is in the correct order, but...)

1.)Someone needs to take the reigns/control of this. Who that is, i don't know. Maybe Hamo considering he started this thread. (Not trying to throw you under the bus but so far it is all talk and no action).

2.) A decision needs to be made on what item/s are going to be made.

3.)The artwork on that/those item/s needs to be approved by those investing and then needs to be signed off on by Hanford.

4.) Approved artwork needs to be sent to the manufacturer and EXACT quotes be given so that everyone is happy with the costs.

5.) The way that all this is funded needs to be worked out.

Now PinTiki, there is NO cut going to TC so please forget/ignore that. And as i have stated several times, I, and i'm sure everyone who is interested in something happening have no problem paying you a handling fee (as long as it is in within reason) to pack and ship a pin and/or other items. The more items there are the more the fee is, as it should be.

So that really is the LAST time i will contribute to this thread until some sort of definitive decision is made. I'd LOVE to participate in this and buy some sort of ephemera but at the same time, if it doesn't happen i really don't care.

"Now PinTiki, there is NO cut going to TC so please forget/ignore that. And as i have stated several times, I, and i'm sure everyone who is interested in something happening have no problem paying you a handling fee (as long as it is in within reason) to pack and ship a pin and/or other items. The more items there are the more the fee is, as it should be."

"if it doesn't happen i really don't care."

I feel it would be great for both TC AND pin tiki to make money form this endeavor.
And they should make money from it.

For a guy who does not care if this happens you sure do have some very exact opinions about how and what and how much it should cost.

Pintiki please do not be discouraged by one persons very strong ideas on how this should go, you have done great work on this already and I would love to be able to buy a few of the pins you have shown here.
Thank you.

"There has been various discussion about part of the proceeds going back to Tiki Central. Hanford tells me there is no need for that. Whatever we come up with will be just for fun. If we build a little "brand awareness" in the process, that's just icing on the cake".

What part of that do you not understand?

As i have stated SEVERAL times, i have no problem paying PinTiki some sort of service/handling fee, BUT, i've already had my some pins made which i had made ALL ON MY OWN. That can be organized by anyone with nothing more than a simple email.

"For a guy who does not care if this happens you sure do have some very exact opinions about how and what and how much it should cost. "

Jentiki's response pissed me off because for someone who hasn't posted on this site for over a year to then chime in with her 'opinion' seemed very rude to me but she did actually have a point. Actions speak louder than words. But WHEN did i say anything about how much it should cost?

"Pintiki please do not be discouraged by one persons very strong ideas on how this should go, you have done great work on this already and I would love to be able to buy a few of the pins you have shown here".

Have i not praised PinTiki on his work? I think the artwork he has provided is not only ideal but exactly what 'I' would pay for to have made. Whether it is used for a pin, stickers, coasters, umbrellas or what ever.

The TC anniversary is fast approaching and with Christmas happening between now and then, if something is going to happen then it needs to happen soon. Or we could just derail the thread and talk shit about the Kahiki instead.

P.S. It's a shame i can't block people on TC like i can on FB.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2019-10-10 07:32 ]

PinTiki,
Because you and I are near enough in location, I will certainly help out in anyway that I can. As the saying goes "Many hands make light work"

Thank you very much for your help. It is appreciated.

All I'm saying is we know you want them to cost next to nothing, you want them to ship for next to nothing, you want anybody working on this to make next to nothing.

AND you want swizzles sticks, small and large with stickers maybe in a packet for.... right, next to nothing.

We get it you don't have much cash right now.
You could pay for this stuff by just not going to the bar one night.

I don't want to block anybody that's what makes TC great, you just want to hear your own opinions or people that agree with you.

THAT is what Facebook is for.

Just don't give a ton of ideas for everybody else to make happen, I'm sure that two different pins with two loops and one loop would drive the cost up as you would need two molds, that should stop that idea dead in it's tracks for you.

OK,
SSssooo.....

stevekh,
You had proposed some stickers. I think that would be great. Could you show a proposal for one that looks like the neon sign (with the open 24 hours) from the website logo?? I like the 20year one....of course.....cause it's the 20yr celebration....but, I think it would be cool to take a look at one that looks like the logo....cause that's what we all see when we get on this site :)

Also, maybe a smaller one that is like the square image on pg6 of this thread? It would be neat to have a few sizes, designs for review.

What is the minimum order number for that price per sticker? Cause that's a pretty good price per !!! :) Are these the paper printed ones? ...or...the plastic printed ones?

I did a little catch up on the thread today and have a couple comments

Tucson Tiki Jeff was asking if I have some control over TC. I don't. My main role is to help people with passwords, keep out SPAM, and try to have people remain civil to each other. I don't have much power beyond that.

Thank you Swizzle for that FaceBook poll. I realize that some of the people on FaceBook are those who have left TC but there is also some overlap. I think most of the people who participated in the poll are like-minded to those here and I think it's a valid tool to gauge interest. There isn't a good way to create a poll on TC but there are several web sites to make one and post a link here. That would be a great thing to do in the very near future, I think we need to have reasonable price estimate on each item so that people can make an informed decision.

There have been comments about people making a profit off of this merchandise. If we order pins or stickers or whatever, there will be profit built in. I would just as soon that a reasonable amount of profit goes to a TC member instead of someone outside of our community, I think Hanford would agree with that in his permission to use the logo.

Funding is going to be the biggest problem that I see. Take swizzles for example. 50 people at $50 each would give them each 200 swizzles and not leave any for someone who only wanted 10 or 20. Does this make idea sense? You sell 50 shares at $50 each to make the $2500 production costs. You sell swizzles in packs of 10 or 25 at slightly more that cost. At the end of a pre-determined sales period, each of the share holders gets 2% (1/50th) of the proceeds and 2% of unsold swizzles. At worst, that are committed to $50 and 200 swizzles. A more reasonable expectation is that they get $25 back and 100 swizzles or $33 back and 60 swizzles (approximate math)

I sense some frustration that we don't have a leader and cohesive plan. Hamo had a great idea but I think he's pretty busy right now. I am willing to help organize but like most of us, I have some time constraints too. I think this will require multiple people, all of whom will have a part.

I nominate Tiki_bong

:up: :lol:

On 2019-10-10 13:58, MadDogMike wrote:
I did a little catch up on the thread today and have a couple comments...

Funding is going to be the biggest problem that I see. Take swizzles for example. 50 people at $50 each would give them each 200 swizzles and not leave any for someone who only wanted 10 or 20. Does this make idea sense? You sell 50 shares at $50 each to make the $2500 production costs. You sell swizzles in packs of 10 or 25 at slightly more that cost. At the end of a pre-determined sales period, each of the share holders gets 2% (1/50th) of the proceeds and 2% of unsold swizzles. At worst, that are committed to $50 and 200 swizzles. A more reasonable expectation is that they get $25 back and 100 swizzles or $33 back and 60 swizzles (approximate math)

I sense some frustration that we don't have a leader and cohesive plan. Hamo had a great idea but I think he's pretty busy right now. I am willing to help organize but like most of us, I have some time constraints too. I think this will require multiple people, all of whom will have a part.

Bolding mine. In this particular case we're dealing with a MINIMUM ceiling, not a maximum. That being 10000 units.
I have some experience in ordering custom goods for niche groups, and in global shipping of said goods.

What I would suggest is that, for the swizzles in particular, we have an "Open Merch Window" of a set period of time, maybe 2 weeks, just as an example.

Say that we have a minimum of 50units (or ~$12.50 US base price, adjusted for currency and paypal fees) for an order- with the understanding that shipping will be charged after the fact when packing and postage is finally calculated, just to make sure we're not posting ONE swizzle stick across the world or something silly like that. LOL

People who opt in can send their paypal cash to the person in charge (or people if two-three members would like to help defray the initial cost, but ONE person makes for
just the right number of chefs in the kitchen IMO). They then post in the thread with their transaction ID#, and then when we hit critical mass and the window closes the order goes in.***

My other group that does a lot of merchandising is a 501(c) 3 with VERY specific rules about anyone profiting from merchandise, so in that group we account to basically $0.01/unit. We obviously don't have to do that here, so the person undertaking this for the group could and probably SHOULD pad each order by a buck or so to make up for the significant investment in time and sanity that these sorts of undertakings require.

***should we NOT hit the 10k order point then a few members might want to consider upping their numbers, or worst case, people get refunded. Paypal is awesome for this sort of thing.

Just my $0.02, which buys less and less every day.

[ Edited by: Sandbartender 2019-10-10 17:27 ]

Hey folks,
I checked with my pin manufacturer and yes, they can put a loop or loops on the pin, or even add a jump ring to make it work as a pendant. So that should not be a problem if we want to do that.

I understand that we don’t need to include any part of the price to go to TC, and I’m not planning on building profit in on my end either - just want to be compensated for my expenses. I would rather that more money go to making cool stuff for the TC Ohana.

Anyone going to Circa Caliente? Maybe I’ll see you there. : )

Very cool Pintiki, thanks again for you work so far.
I might want to get some tikiskip pins made with you myself in the future.

these would be printed on a vehicle wrap vinyl and laminated with a clear vinyl - exactly like they do outdoor signs or vehicle wraps - minimum order would be 100 decals per design - best would be if we were doing swizzles to send them to whoever is going to ordering those and have them throw how ever many are needed into that package rather than shipping ones and twos

On 2019-10-10 13:01, PineappleWhip wrote:
OK,
SSssooo.....

stevekh,
You had proposed some stickers. I think that would be great. Could you show a proposal for one that looks like the neon sign (with the open 24 hours) from the website logo?? I like the 20year one....of course.....cause it's the 20yr celebration....but, I think it would be cool to take a look at one that looks like the logo....cause that's what we all see when we get on this site :)

Also, maybe a smaller one that is like the square image on pg6 of this thread? It would be neat to have a few sizes, designs for review.

What is the minimum order number for that price per sticker? Cause that's a pretty good price per !!! :) Are these the paper printed ones? ...or...the plastic printed ones?

I didn't see a TC 20 post in Merchandise area. Link?

Thanks

On 2019-10-14 06:51, kala60 wrote:
I didn't see a TC 20 post in Merchandise area. Link?

Thanks

Not yet, but that's a good idea once we get it going, thanks kala60

Side thought on the massive number of swizzle sticks: thoughts on donating a box, or whatever, to our various tiki bars? Tonga Hut or Tiki Ti, etc?

Aloha everyone!!
OK, so, just so that everyone knows...I am by no means an artist. But, I did start on this little project for a coaster. Coasters were another item that people seemed to like.....and I thought I would post the little bit of work I did.

I only have the front side so far. I showed the die cut line, safety line, and bleed line, just for the purpose of posting, but, obviously, these blue lines would not show up on the final. There is a lot that I would want an artist to look over to make sure this (or whichever design we go for) is correct. The website had a lot of details for: the correct resolution at printed size=300dpi, colors are CMYK, file format gets properly uploaded to the manufacturer....some of this might need some artist to re-touch, to get things looking correct. For instance....I think the tapa print could be brightened to show up a bit better. I did the Emerald Green in the lettering, cause supposedly that's what the official color is for 20 years?? (at least that what a google search told me.... :lol:

Also, I have not yet done anything for the back....I thought I little info about Tiki Central something like:
**Tiki Central has been your Online Ohana
Open 24 Hours every day since 2000

A Main Ceremonial Gathering House created for those who
Celebrate Classic and Modern Polynesian Pop**

...maybe that's too cheesy?? I don't know??
Feel free to rip into it....make suggestions...whatever....lol.
I'm just excited that everyone is coming together to share ideas. :)
I'm looking forward to seeing what we all come up with in the end.

I found a place online that does coasters called...... coasterfactory.com
which has a great amount of info available online. I got a template online and pricing.

Below is the pricing chart for their Value Pack, using actual pulpboard, and with a minimum of 1,200. You can see they have 80PT (2mm thick); 60PT (1.4mm thick); 40PT (1mm thick); and 15PT (which I could not find a thickness for online.....I think this is VERY thin, and probably not much of a coaster).

Coaster Factory does also offer what they call Short Run....with as small of a minimum as 25 coasters!! But they are $1 each....which includes shipping!!

As opposed to the Value Pack above that if the 60PT these would be about 30cents ea.,......BUT,... does NOT include shipping in these prices.

One thing to consider, is....if we want coasters (whatever they might look like) is how many we would want. Personally, I would want a few....like 4 or 6, especially if they are 30cents. I might even want a 10pk.

Spent a little time trying to clean up the Logo Image on the front, and wording on the back.....is this better?

.

[ Edited by: PineappleWhip 2019-10-14 13:21 ]

[ Edited by: PineappleWhip 2019-10-15 14:52 ]

[ Edited by: PineappleWhip 2019-10-17 15:46 ]

[ Edited by: PineappleWhip 2019-10-17 16:27 ]

I'm in for 1 swizzle stick and 1 coaster.

Who do I send the check to?