Kickstarter seminar + Odd Encounter
I went down to the Westside yesterday to attend a Kickstarter seminar with Tracy R. It was 'interesting.' My favorite question was someone who asked if it was a good idea to put up some kind of ticker counting down the time until their Kickstarter launched.
(In a remarkable display of self-restraint, instead of saying "WTF kind of dumb idea is that?!! You think you're some kind of superstar with a million followers?" they said it wasn't a good idea because you would not want to 'dilute' the impact of your launch...or something to that effect.)
Someone else expressed hesitation about linking their Facebook page to their Kickstarter because "They didn't want random people seeing it." The KS people had to explain that you WANTED random people to see your project and maybe support it.
Another person asked if they should hire a publicist for their Kickstarer. Umm...if you can afford a publicist, you can probably afford to finance your own damn project.
I did feel OK about how I ran mine, since there was only one thing they said you should do that I didn't do (Write emails thanking every backer personally.) I guess I thought that sounded kind of like bugging people, and I was already worried I was doing too many updates. Well, I'll do the Thank You thing when I send out the rewards.
So anyways, because the seminar ended late I spent the night at Tracy's, then today we went to a park in Long Beach where they filmed some scenes from Dexter. The park was neat, but it was about 500 degrees outside, so the park trip didn't last too long. I did manage to get overheated enough that I've had a headache for the rest of the day.
When I left I had to stop and get gas before hitting the freeway. I stopped at the Shell station on the corner of Venice and Sepulvida (your old stomping grounds, Ruggles!)
After I was done filling up and about to leave, I noticed the elderly man on the other side of the pump was having some problems. He kept loudly asking How do you pay here?! I tried to point out where the cashier was, but he didn't seem to understand. So I asked if he was paying cash or card. Then I showed him where the slot for the card reader was on the pump. Then he wanted to know what kind of cards it took, so I pointed that out. Then he couldn't figure out how to run his card through the reader, so he actually gave it to me to do it for him!
When it asked for his zip code to verify, he couldn't remember it except the first 2 digits, so he had to find his driver's license to read his zip code, which I had to punch in for him, then it still wouldn't verify the card. I'd noticed when he opened his wallet to get his driver's license that he had at least one $100 bill in there, so I pointed him at the cashier and told him to go pay cash. Then I had to keep shouting at him to remember he was at pump #8!
Then I hustled myself out of there, since there were other people waiting for the pump. But honestly, if this guy was so confused he couldn't work the gas pump or remember his zip code, should he have been out driving? What does one do in that situation? He was not an immigrant or someone who genuiniely would not know how to work the equipment.
(In a remarkable display of self-restraint, instead of saying "WTF kind of dumb idea is that?!! You think you're some kind of superstar with a million followers?" they said it wasn't a good idea because you would not want to 'dilute' the impact of your launch...or something to that effect.)
Someone else expressed hesitation about linking their Facebook page to their Kickstarter because "They didn't want random people seeing it." The KS people had to explain that you WANTED random people to see your project and maybe support it.
Another person asked if they should hire a publicist for their Kickstarer. Umm...if you can afford a publicist, you can probably afford to finance your own damn project.
I did feel OK about how I ran mine, since there was only one thing they said you should do that I didn't do (Write emails thanking every backer personally.) I guess I thought that sounded kind of like bugging people, and I was already worried I was doing too many updates. Well, I'll do the Thank You thing when I send out the rewards.
So anyways, because the seminar ended late I spent the night at Tracy's, then today we went to a park in Long Beach where they filmed some scenes from Dexter. The park was neat, but it was about 500 degrees outside, so the park trip didn't last too long. I did manage to get overheated enough that I've had a headache for the rest of the day.
When I left I had to stop and get gas before hitting the freeway. I stopped at the Shell station on the corner of Venice and Sepulvida (your old stomping grounds, Ruggles!)
After I was done filling up and about to leave, I noticed the elderly man on the other side of the pump was having some problems. He kept loudly asking How do you pay here?! I tried to point out where the cashier was, but he didn't seem to understand. So I asked if he was paying cash or card. Then I showed him where the slot for the card reader was on the pump. Then he wanted to know what kind of cards it took, so I pointed that out. Then he couldn't figure out how to run his card through the reader, so he actually gave it to me to do it for him!
When it asked for his zip code to verify, he couldn't remember it except the first 2 digits, so he had to find his driver's license to read his zip code, which I had to punch in for him, then it still wouldn't verify the card. I'd noticed when he opened his wallet to get his driver's license that he had at least one $100 bill in there, so I pointed him at the cashier and told him to go pay cash. Then I had to keep shouting at him to remember he was at pump #8!
Then I hustled myself out of there, since there were other people waiting for the pump. But honestly, if this guy was so confused he couldn't work the gas pump or remember his zip code, should he have been out driving? What does one do in that situation? He was not an immigrant or someone who genuiniely would not know how to work the equipment.