Heyla, all!
A few of the more active members of the group have brought to my attention the current inactivity of many of the group's members. After thinking the matter over, I've decided to address the group about this issue.
First, I wish to remind everyone the reason for the formation of the group: profits. Let's be honest, here. We are developers who wish to improve our sales. We all came together and formed this group in the hopes of doing just that, for there are many things that, alone, we could never accomplish.
That being said, simply being a name listed in a group isn't going to help improve your profits. You still have to actively take part in the promotion of your products. I can only do so much. The rest of the work must be done by you, if you wish to reach the level of success you desire. Now, I understand that the Broke Developers Group is unusual in that it is a very active group, unlike many of the others you may have joined, so you may actually be unsure of exactly how to participate, as well as how much participation is expected. Hence, I am providing the following as a (hopefully clear) guideline of what is expected of the group's new, broke, or otherwise struggling developers who joined the group in the hopes of leaving that status behind to achieve the success they desire.
At the most minimum level of participation, all that is required of you is to come visit the brand new Broke Developers Shop at the SkyView Mall and drop your ThereDoc on the tables provided. That is all. If you find that there isn't enough space left on the tables I and others have set out for you, let me know, and we will find a way to provide more tables.
Events are running in the shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the events for our shop are pretty obvious, as they are named "Broke Developers Shop." You can find these events listed under Activities--Today's Events--Sales on ThereCentral. Through these events, you can teleport to the shop to drop your scroll.
At this point, you needn't do anything further, except keep an eye on your ThereDoc to see if it needs to be returned to the shop when it has been autoretrieved back to your inventory. We all understand and respect the fact that your real life takes precedence over your There life, as it very well should.
However, if you feel you wish to participate a bit more, why not try leaving comments on the posts I make on our group web site? I've finally figured out how to set the site so that anyone can leave comments on a post, whether they are a registered user or not, so all you have to do is click on "comment" and leave your messages about that post. Unable to make it to a showcase that has been posted? Leave a comment! Don't really like that picture of a proposed group shirt? Leave a comment! Congratulations! You're becomming a more active member of the group!
Want to take things to its next logical step? Try attending the group meetings, showcases, and fashion shows that I post about. Let your voice be heard and speak up during meetings about any ideas you may have that may better promote the group and increase every member's profits. Show off your designs during the showcases and make that hard sales pitch to our guests. Walk the runway and shine in your fabulous new duds.
Feeling even more active? How about hosting your own mini-showcase or fashion show in our second shop room? Just let us know when you'd like to do a little something to help increase your sales, and we'll cancel some of our generic shop events to give you time space to host your event. We'll even try to advertise it for you!
At this point, you will have become a greatly active, respected, and highly-valued member of the group, and hopefully, through this activity, you will have made the wonderful transition from broke developer to successful developer. My dream is to one day say that every member who joined as a new, broke, or otherwise struggling developer and chose to remain in this group had become a successful developer. But as I had mentioned before, all I can really do is open the door for you. Only you can make the decision to actually step through it.
TheKeeper
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Post-Showcase Report and Group News: Part Deux
Heyla, all!
Once again, a warm thank you to those who were able to make it to Part Deux of the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase! I know it was short notice, so that makes you guys even more awesome for attending!
Well, we didn't get as many guests as yesterday, this time, but we did finally get enough guests to sign in for the raffle to actually hold it at the end of the event.
The raffle winners are:
NyteLyte: Cocoa Chic Outfit by Hurt
Guilty: Such is Life by Hurt
Punkin Masher by teely (For reference, she had left the group)
Temper: Kunoichi: The Black Rose by TheKeeper
Ceashure: Men's Fire Elemental by TheKeeper
(DSI) Inferno by DJ_Phoenix
polymatrixdragon: Dracomancer by DJ_Phoenix
We actually still had more prizes to give away, kindly and surprisingly donated by poly and... I believe someone from CK Designs? Well, we were given two of poly's vehicles and one vehicle by Grimm. We decided to save those for our next event to raffle off! (Besides, we just didn't have enough people signed up for the raffle to give away all of our prizes to.)
Speaking of surprises, this weekend was full of many of them! For one thing, both showcases brought in new members, most of whom joined to help the group out, either by providing advice for new devs or by helping to spread the word about us, or both! So let us please welcome our helpers, polymatrixdragon, Dwayne1961, flameblue, and NyteLyte. Thank you, all, for doing what you can to help out the new, broke, or otherwise struggling devs of there! We are truly honored and grateful that you chose to help us!
Another big surprise was finding that, thanks to the daily auction sales events we had been hosting at the Broke Dev. Group House, one of our Broke Developers has actually gone from broke to successful! Let's give a round of applause and congratulations for Monte101, a.k.a. SkyView_Valley!
In fact, he was so happy that the daily auction sales gave him a chance to get his name out to the public that he decided that he wanted to return the favor. Greenie gave him the opening he needed when she approached him about opening up not one, but two shop spaces just for the Broke Developers Group at the SkyView Mall! Yes, you did read that correctly! The Broke Developers Group has two shop spaces at the SkyView Mall, which is growing with popularity with every passing day!
When I first heard this news, I was fairly worried, thinking that the group would be a financial drain on them both with this generous gift. However, Monte flat out told me not to give a thought to the rent of the spaces. For one thing, neither he nor Greenie would have done such a thing for us if that would have been the case. They did this for us because they could and because they wanted to give back to the developer community that gave so much to them. For another... he owns the SKyView Mall. Yes, Monte101 owns the SkyView Mall, which you may have guessed from the name of his other avatar.
As I was reeling from this news, Monte had a few items to inform me about our new place at the SkyView Mall:
1) The entire group has hosting rights in both shops.
2) While an event is scheduled, we are free to decorate as we please. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
a) Do NOT use the clear layout option, as this will cause the entire mall to disappear. This would be quite embarrassing if that were to happen.
b) While we can drop ThereDocs, furniture, and other display items in the shops, we may not drop any vehicles. Vehicles are to be dropped in the dealership area of the mall, and then only with Monte's permission. This is to help reduce the lag in the mall, which, of course, is to everyone's advantage.
Just as I was beginning to recover from the shock of this sudden news, Monte had given us yet another surprise: He had given me hosting rights in his Performing Arts Center, which features a beautiful runway stage to hold group fashion shows in! This is definitely exciting news for our clothing designers!
Just as I was thinking that our fortunes couldn't possibly become any more surreal, Monte gave the group an extra 4,000 tbux to ensure that we will have more than enough money to submit a group banner--the preferred form of signage for use in the mall--to hang above our shop fronts in order to better attract the strolling customers in this gorgeous building. As the submission fee for the banner is 6,500 tbux, this will take our group funds down to 6,300 tbux, but once again, this will be money well-spent!
All I can say to such an unexpected turn of events is thank you! Thank you, Greenie and Monte! Thank you, so much, for both the wonderful opportunity to expose our products to a wider audience and for letting me know that the Broke Developers Group is actually doing what it's supposed to do! Thank you!
As of now, we are taking advantage of such a generous and wondrous opportunity by hosting our auction sales events, there, especially as October 21, 2007 will be the grand opening of the SkyView Mall. Hence, I cordially invite everyone in the group to come visit our new shops and drop your ThereDocs! The Broke Dev. Group House, for as long as it lasts, will now exclusively be our private meeting hall!
Two further items to discuss:
1) DJ_Phoenix, in a matter of minutes, managed to whip up a simple, yet elegant banner for the group. The banner is now in submissions. Hopefully, we will be placing it above our shop fronts by the end of the week.
2) Mooly, touched by the good fortunes of the group, has donated 400 tbux. Our group funds are now at 6,700. Thank you, Mooly, for such a generous offer!
At this point, that's about all the news I have for everyone. If anything else occurs, as usual, I'll let you know!
Quite giddy with joy,
TheKeeper
Once again, a warm thank you to those who were able to make it to Part Deux of the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase! I know it was short notice, so that makes you guys even more awesome for attending!
Well, we didn't get as many guests as yesterday, this time, but we did finally get enough guests to sign in for the raffle to actually hold it at the end of the event.
The raffle winners are:
NyteLyte: Cocoa Chic Outfit by Hurt
Guilty: Such is Life by Hurt
Punkin Masher by teely (For reference, she had left the group)
Temper: Kunoichi: The Black Rose by TheKeeper
Ceashure: Men's Fire Elemental by TheKeeper
(DSI) Inferno by DJ_Phoenix
polymatrixdragon: Dracomancer by DJ_Phoenix
We actually still had more prizes to give away, kindly and surprisingly donated by poly and... I believe someone from CK Designs? Well, we were given two of poly's vehicles and one vehicle by Grimm. We decided to save those for our next event to raffle off! (Besides, we just didn't have enough people signed up for the raffle to give away all of our prizes to.)
Speaking of surprises, this weekend was full of many of them! For one thing, both showcases brought in new members, most of whom joined to help the group out, either by providing advice for new devs or by helping to spread the word about us, or both! So let us please welcome our helpers, polymatrixdragon, Dwayne1961, flameblue, and NyteLyte. Thank you, all, for doing what you can to help out the new, broke, or otherwise struggling devs of there! We are truly honored and grateful that you chose to help us!
Another big surprise was finding that, thanks to the daily auction sales events we had been hosting at the Broke Dev. Group House, one of our Broke Developers has actually gone from broke to successful! Let's give a round of applause and congratulations for Monte101, a.k.a. SkyView_Valley!
In fact, he was so happy that the daily auction sales gave him a chance to get his name out to the public that he decided that he wanted to return the favor. Greenie gave him the opening he needed when she approached him about opening up not one, but two shop spaces just for the Broke Developers Group at the SkyView Mall! Yes, you did read that correctly! The Broke Developers Group has two shop spaces at the SkyView Mall, which is growing with popularity with every passing day!
When I first heard this news, I was fairly worried, thinking that the group would be a financial drain on them both with this generous gift. However, Monte flat out told me not to give a thought to the rent of the spaces. For one thing, neither he nor Greenie would have done such a thing for us if that would have been the case. They did this for us because they could and because they wanted to give back to the developer community that gave so much to them. For another... he owns the SKyView Mall. Yes, Monte101 owns the SkyView Mall, which you may have guessed from the name of his other avatar.
As I was reeling from this news, Monte had a few items to inform me about our new place at the SkyView Mall:
1) The entire group has hosting rights in both shops.
2) While an event is scheduled, we are free to decorate as we please. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
a) Do NOT use the clear layout option, as this will cause the entire mall to disappear. This would be quite embarrassing if that were to happen.
b) While we can drop ThereDocs, furniture, and other display items in the shops, we may not drop any vehicles. Vehicles are to be dropped in the dealership area of the mall, and then only with Monte's permission. This is to help reduce the lag in the mall, which, of course, is to everyone's advantage.
Just as I was beginning to recover from the shock of this sudden news, Monte had given us yet another surprise: He had given me hosting rights in his Performing Arts Center, which features a beautiful runway stage to hold group fashion shows in! This is definitely exciting news for our clothing designers!
Just as I was thinking that our fortunes couldn't possibly become any more surreal, Monte gave the group an extra 4,000 tbux to ensure that we will have more than enough money to submit a group banner--the preferred form of signage for use in the mall--to hang above our shop fronts in order to better attract the strolling customers in this gorgeous building. As the submission fee for the banner is 6,500 tbux, this will take our group funds down to 6,300 tbux, but once again, this will be money well-spent!
All I can say to such an unexpected turn of events is thank you! Thank you, Greenie and Monte! Thank you, so much, for both the wonderful opportunity to expose our products to a wider audience and for letting me know that the Broke Developers Group is actually doing what it's supposed to do! Thank you!
As of now, we are taking advantage of such a generous and wondrous opportunity by hosting our auction sales events, there, especially as October 21, 2007 will be the grand opening of the SkyView Mall. Hence, I cordially invite everyone in the group to come visit our new shops and drop your ThereDocs! The Broke Dev. Group House, for as long as it lasts, will now exclusively be our private meeting hall!
Two further items to discuss:
1) DJ_Phoenix, in a matter of minutes, managed to whip up a simple, yet elegant banner for the group. The banner is now in submissions. Hopefully, we will be placing it above our shop fronts by the end of the week.
2) Mooly, touched by the good fortunes of the group, has donated 400 tbux. Our group funds are now at 6,700. Thank you, Mooly, for such a generous offer!
At this point, that's about all the news I have for everyone. If anything else occurs, as usual, I'll let you know!
Quite giddy with joy,
TheKeeper
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Post-Showcase Report and Group News
Heyla, all!
As usual, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to those who were able to participate in the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase, yesterday, October 19, 2007. Thank you for taking the time to participate and helping our showcase become the mild success that it was!
Yes, you all heard me correctly: The Broke Developers Halloween Showcase was a success! Quite a few people attended the event. So many people came, in fact, that almost everyone who participated in the event managed to make at least one sale, yesterday.
Broke Develoeprs Halloween Showcase Sales Report:
DavyRocket - 1 sale
DJ_Phoenix - 1 sale
eleanorrigby - 4 sales
Hurt - 1 sale
TheKeeper - 5 sales
I wasn't able to get a sales report from MRS4MR, nickle_head, stephenWiz, or vmcl1998; however, I do know that nickle-head had mentioned making quite a few sales at the event.
The only real glitch in our showcase was that only 4 people had actually remembered to sign up for the raffles. Everyone else came in, took a look around, perhaps bought a few things, then left before we could remind them of the raffle. Because 4 people weren't enough to hold a raffle for the sheer number of prizes we have to give away, this month, those who participated in yesterday's showcase decided that we should hold another one, today, October 20, 2007. Hopefully, this will give everyone another shot at signing up for the raffle.
And so, in light of the success of yesterday's showcase, I invite everyone in the group to come on in and drop your ThereDocs and other items for display. As today is Saturday, chances are that we'll have at least just as many people come by to take a look at our wares. This, of course, means that chances are good that we'll make sales, today, as well.
Keep an eye on this post throughout the day, for I'll be posting a link to both the showcase set up event and the actual showcase event once we've scheduled them. Also, keep an eye out for the invites to both the set up event and the actual showcase event. Remember, the set up event is your chance to actually set everything up before the main event starts. Take advantage of it to get your displays just right.
--Update--
Here is the link to the set up event for part deux of the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase:
http://webapps.prod.there.com/eventmgmt/eventmgmt?op=view&id=574231305
Here is the link to the Broke Develoeprs Halloween Showcase: Part Deux:
http://webapps.prod.there.com/eventmgmt/eventmgmt?op=view&id=574231366
In other news, I have a few items to bring up:
1) I'd like everyone to know that the group funds are now at 8,800 Tbux. As many of you know, we had started out at 21,500, thanks to a donation from both Geea and Kasss. Here's the spending report:
2,000 - NikieWally: for a quest kit to write quests that advertise and promote the group's wares
200 - nickle_head: to list his 2 items in auctions so that he may participate in yesterday's showcase
9,500 - TheKeeper: for a group sign plate that DavyRocket created just for the group; the idea was to display this at group events and other events I catch wind of, such as _emma's monthly showcases, but we had actually been offered a place to display our sign at a popular vehicle loan shop; as this seems like a great opportunity to advertise the group and its auctions, I'll be following up on that offer once we get the sign
1,000 - TheKeeper: for a fashion banner to place by the clothing sellers' display tables; we needed a nice, generic sign that told everyone that the ThereDocs displayed on the two display tables were advertisements from the clothing sellers
And that is how the group money has been spent. The fashion banner worked wonderfully; the sign plate is already looking like a good advertising investment for the group; once the quest is up and running, we'll have many questing Thereians exposed to our wares, as many of them will be motivated to complete an easy quest for a chance to win 1,000 tbux in a raffle, the 1,000 tbux actually being provided by There, itself, as the quest is hosted by Right-Foot questing; finally, I'm very glad that we were able to help nickle_head out, for he was able to make quite a few sales! All in all, the money has been well-spent, so far.
2) Speaking of cash, I've had reports of some moderate success at our group auctions being held at the Broke Dev. Group House. El, in fact, has reported making at least 4 sales this week, alone. So, if you'd like to share in the profits, come on in and drop your ThereDocs! I'll be sending everyone an invite to the Broke Developers Group Auctions. Use the invite to get to the house to drop your ThereDocs. Good luck and fair profits to everyone!
3) DavyRocket has noticed that only a few core members of the group have done everything they can to actively participate by attending events, meetings, and simply doing whatever they can to help improve sales for everyone in the group. As a result, he will be rewarding these core members with a model of their choice, to texture and sell as they wish.
Remember, active participation is important if you really want to make sales. I'm doing my best to advertise the group's auctions, but there will be events where the actual developer would be more successful if he or she were present. Take last night's showcase, for example. While I had placed the group scroll linking to our auction links on this site in a prominent place, those who were present to actually mingle and model or discuss the wares they were selling were the ones who actually managed to make profit. In other words, I can't do it alone. If you'd like to share in the profits, you'll need to at least be present during the showcases. But the decision is up to you: I can open the doors for you, but it's up to you to actually walk through them.
4) DavyRocket had also come up with an excellent idea: Instead of making full custom signs for people, why not make a blank sign that people can buy, then make custom plate covers that fit onto the sign for people who request them. While the plate cover is the same to submit as the actual sign, the wholesale cost of the cover is actually much less than the sign, meaning that we can actually offer the sign plates at a lesser cost than the actual signs. As I had mentioned in the group funds spending report, I had actually bought a custom plate from Davy for the group, so you'll actually get to see how this idea works, first hand.
So, what does this idea have to do with everyone in the group? Davy has offered to send everyone templates of the sign plate so that everyone in the in group is able to take orders for custom plates. I do believe that this idea will take off and give everyone a chance to make more profits. Our group can be known as the first to make less expensive custom sign plates for people, so we can preserve our little niche in the market. You'll have to e-mail Davy to receive the templates, though, for he can't send attachments through the group e-mail form that There provides.
5) DavyRocket, yet again, has proposed a fun idea for the group: a group t-shirt contest. The t-shirt with the best logo and look will be adopted as the group t-shirt, and the group will chip in to help pay for the male and female versions of the shirt. So, if you're interested in participating, e-mail the group the jpegs of your creations!
6) Miss_doctor apparently changed her mind about working for us, so we're back to square one, it seems. We need one male and one female employee to help push our items. I'll be putting out a notice on the classifieds and in the forums, but if any of you find someone needing tbux, why not send them over to me for an interview?
Keep in mind that the avies have to have premium membership, as we can't give money to basic members.
7) We're looking for ideas on how to keep our showcase guests entertained while they wait for the end-of-showcase raffle. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to e-mail the group so that we can discuss it!
Finally, we've come to the end of my novel-length report. I hope to see you all at the showcase, tonight!
TheKeeper
As usual, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to those who were able to participate in the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase, yesterday, October 19, 2007. Thank you for taking the time to participate and helping our showcase become the mild success that it was!
Yes, you all heard me correctly: The Broke Developers Halloween Showcase was a success! Quite a few people attended the event. So many people came, in fact, that almost everyone who participated in the event managed to make at least one sale, yesterday.
Broke Develoeprs Halloween Showcase Sales Report:
DavyRocket - 1 sale
DJ_Phoenix - 1 sale
eleanorrigby - 4 sales
Hurt - 1 sale
TheKeeper - 5 sales
I wasn't able to get a sales report from MRS4MR, nickle_head, stephenWiz, or vmcl1998; however, I do know that nickle-head had mentioned making quite a few sales at the event.
The only real glitch in our showcase was that only 4 people had actually remembered to sign up for the raffles. Everyone else came in, took a look around, perhaps bought a few things, then left before we could remind them of the raffle. Because 4 people weren't enough to hold a raffle for the sheer number of prizes we have to give away, this month, those who participated in yesterday's showcase decided that we should hold another one, today, October 20, 2007. Hopefully, this will give everyone another shot at signing up for the raffle.
And so, in light of the success of yesterday's showcase, I invite everyone in the group to come on in and drop your ThereDocs and other items for display. As today is Saturday, chances are that we'll have at least just as many people come by to take a look at our wares. This, of course, means that chances are good that we'll make sales, today, as well.
Keep an eye on this post throughout the day, for I'll be posting a link to both the showcase set up event and the actual showcase event once we've scheduled them. Also, keep an eye out for the invites to both the set up event and the actual showcase event. Remember, the set up event is your chance to actually set everything up before the main event starts. Take advantage of it to get your displays just right.
--Update--
Here is the link to the set up event for part deux of the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase:
http://webapps.prod.there.com/eventmgmt/eventmgmt?op=view&id=574231305
Here is the link to the Broke Develoeprs Halloween Showcase: Part Deux:
http://webapps.prod.there.com/eventmgmt/eventmgmt?op=view&id=574231366
In other news, I have a few items to bring up:
1) I'd like everyone to know that the group funds are now at 8,800 Tbux. As many of you know, we had started out at 21,500, thanks to a donation from both Geea and Kasss. Here's the spending report:
2,000 - NikieWally: for a quest kit to write quests that advertise and promote the group's wares
200 - nickle_head: to list his 2 items in auctions so that he may participate in yesterday's showcase
9,500 - TheKeeper: for a group sign plate that DavyRocket created just for the group; the idea was to display this at group events and other events I catch wind of, such as _emma's monthly showcases, but we had actually been offered a place to display our sign at a popular vehicle loan shop; as this seems like a great opportunity to advertise the group and its auctions, I'll be following up on that offer once we get the sign
1,000 - TheKeeper: for a fashion banner to place by the clothing sellers' display tables; we needed a nice, generic sign that told everyone that the ThereDocs displayed on the two display tables were advertisements from the clothing sellers
And that is how the group money has been spent. The fashion banner worked wonderfully; the sign plate is already looking like a good advertising investment for the group; once the quest is up and running, we'll have many questing Thereians exposed to our wares, as many of them will be motivated to complete an easy quest for a chance to win 1,000 tbux in a raffle, the 1,000 tbux actually being provided by There, itself, as the quest is hosted by Right-Foot questing; finally, I'm very glad that we were able to help nickle_head out, for he was able to make quite a few sales! All in all, the money has been well-spent, so far.
2) Speaking of cash, I've had reports of some moderate success at our group auctions being held at the Broke Dev. Group House. El, in fact, has reported making at least 4 sales this week, alone. So, if you'd like to share in the profits, come on in and drop your ThereDocs! I'll be sending everyone an invite to the Broke Developers Group Auctions. Use the invite to get to the house to drop your ThereDocs. Good luck and fair profits to everyone!
3) DavyRocket has noticed that only a few core members of the group have done everything they can to actively participate by attending events, meetings, and simply doing whatever they can to help improve sales for everyone in the group. As a result, he will be rewarding these core members with a model of their choice, to texture and sell as they wish.
Remember, active participation is important if you really want to make sales. I'm doing my best to advertise the group's auctions, but there will be events where the actual developer would be more successful if he or she were present. Take last night's showcase, for example. While I had placed the group scroll linking to our auction links on this site in a prominent place, those who were present to actually mingle and model or discuss the wares they were selling were the ones who actually managed to make profit. In other words, I can't do it alone. If you'd like to share in the profits, you'll need to at least be present during the showcases. But the decision is up to you: I can open the doors for you, but it's up to you to actually walk through them.
4) DavyRocket had also come up with an excellent idea: Instead of making full custom signs for people, why not make a blank sign that people can buy, then make custom plate covers that fit onto the sign for people who request them. While the plate cover is the same to submit as the actual sign, the wholesale cost of the cover is actually much less than the sign, meaning that we can actually offer the sign plates at a lesser cost than the actual signs. As I had mentioned in the group funds spending report, I had actually bought a custom plate from Davy for the group, so you'll actually get to see how this idea works, first hand.
So, what does this idea have to do with everyone in the group? Davy has offered to send everyone templates of the sign plate so that everyone in the in group is able to take orders for custom plates. I do believe that this idea will take off and give everyone a chance to make more profits. Our group can be known as the first to make less expensive custom sign plates for people, so we can preserve our little niche in the market. You'll have to e-mail Davy to receive the templates, though, for he can't send attachments through the group e-mail form that There provides.
5) DavyRocket, yet again, has proposed a fun idea for the group: a group t-shirt contest. The t-shirt with the best logo and look will be adopted as the group t-shirt, and the group will chip in to help pay for the male and female versions of the shirt. So, if you're interested in participating, e-mail the group the jpegs of your creations!
6) Miss_doctor apparently changed her mind about working for us, so we're back to square one, it seems. We need one male and one female employee to help push our items. I'll be putting out a notice on the classifieds and in the forums, but if any of you find someone needing tbux, why not send them over to me for an interview?
Keep in mind that the avies have to have premium membership, as we can't give money to basic members.
7) We're looking for ideas on how to keep our showcase guests entertained while they wait for the end-of-showcase raffle. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to e-mail the group so that we can discuss it!
Finally, we've come to the end of my novel-length report. I hope to see you all at the showcase, tonight!
TheKeeper
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Broke Developers Group Post-Meeting Report
Heyla, all!
Once again, a warm thank you goes out to all those who were able to attend this latest and very impromtu meeting! Thank you, very much, for taking the time to come on out and hear what needed to be dsicussed on such short notice. You're awesome, guys!
Now, on to the items to be discussed:
1. The Broke Developers Halloween Showcase has now been officially scheduled for October 19, 2007, at 5 pm Pacific. Just before this event, we will be holding a 2 hour set up event. This will be everyone's chance to come on in and drop whatever ThereDocs and items they wish to display for sale.
This event will be different from the first, as we will be holding it at a frontier zone, this time, so there will be plenty of room for those with large objects to put on display. We will also have a parking deck available, now, for those with vehicles to put on display, as well as a house for people to decorate with the furniture and artowrk they've designed.
As we have put more planning and thought into this showcase, we are better able to advertise both it and the raffle we'll be holding at the end, so hopefully, we'll have a much, much better turnout for this month's showcase!
Broke Developers Halloween Showcase Set Up
Broke Developers Halloween Showcase
2. We have had quite a few new additions to our group in the past week or so. One very special addition to the group is Greenie, a well-respected and popular designer who was so touched by our efforts to actively promote ourselves that she decided to join in order to help us out! Please be advised that she isn't here to provide funding for the group. Instead, she is here to provide something more priceless and long-lasting: additional support in the promotion of the group. She has agreed to do what she can to help get the word out about us and the awesome products we have to offer. So let us all give Greenie a warm welcome and a thank you for joining our group!
3. Finally, on Novemeber 5, 2007, The Broke Dev. Group House will no longer exist. Unfortunately, Davy is simply unable to pay the rent at this time, and as I feel that the group is simply not ready to help contribute to paying rent on a group home, we have decided that we will simply enjoy the house while it lasts, then let it go.
However, I have been given permission to continue holding our daily auctions at Gnome Whimsicals, the fun zone our very first event was held at, so once the group house has been sold, we shall simply move all of our ThereDocs over there. Thank you, Davy and V, for generously allowing the group to continue holding its daily auctions at the fun zone!
Davy, DJ_Phoenix, and others have generously offered the use of their homes to hold our group meetings, so that, too, is not a problem.
So, come on by and take a last look at the Broke Dev. Group House while you can, for it shall soon quickly disappear.
Well, this pretty much wraps up the topics discussed at the impromtu meeting. I do have an additional item to bring up: The Group Rules of Behaviour has just been modified; I ask that you take the time to reveiw them, again.
And that's it! Keep an eye on the e-mails and this web site for any further news!
Hoping to see you at the showcase,
TheKeeper
Once again, a warm thank you goes out to all those who were able to attend this latest and very impromtu meeting! Thank you, very much, for taking the time to come on out and hear what needed to be dsicussed on such short notice. You're awesome, guys!
Now, on to the items to be discussed:
1. The Broke Developers Halloween Showcase has now been officially scheduled for October 19, 2007, at 5 pm Pacific. Just before this event, we will be holding a 2 hour set up event. This will be everyone's chance to come on in and drop whatever ThereDocs and items they wish to display for sale.
This event will be different from the first, as we will be holding it at a frontier zone, this time, so there will be plenty of room for those with large objects to put on display. We will also have a parking deck available, now, for those with vehicles to put on display, as well as a house for people to decorate with the furniture and artowrk they've designed.
As we have put more planning and thought into this showcase, we are better able to advertise both it and the raffle we'll be holding at the end, so hopefully, we'll have a much, much better turnout for this month's showcase!
Broke Developers Halloween Showcase Set Up
Broke Developers Halloween Showcase
2. We have had quite a few new additions to our group in the past week or so. One very special addition to the group is Greenie, a well-respected and popular designer who was so touched by our efforts to actively promote ourselves that she decided to join in order to help us out! Please be advised that she isn't here to provide funding for the group. Instead, she is here to provide something more priceless and long-lasting: additional support in the promotion of the group. She has agreed to do what she can to help get the word out about us and the awesome products we have to offer. So let us all give Greenie a warm welcome and a thank you for joining our group!
3. Finally, on Novemeber 5, 2007, The Broke Dev. Group House will no longer exist. Unfortunately, Davy is simply unable to pay the rent at this time, and as I feel that the group is simply not ready to help contribute to paying rent on a group home, we have decided that we will simply enjoy the house while it lasts, then let it go.
However, I have been given permission to continue holding our daily auctions at Gnome Whimsicals, the fun zone our very first event was held at, so once the group house has been sold, we shall simply move all of our ThereDocs over there. Thank you, Davy and V, for generously allowing the group to continue holding its daily auctions at the fun zone!
Davy, DJ_Phoenix, and others have generously offered the use of their homes to hold our group meetings, so that, too, is not a problem.
So, come on by and take a last look at the Broke Dev. Group House while you can, for it shall soon quickly disappear.
Well, this pretty much wraps up the topics discussed at the impromtu meeting. I do have an additional item to bring up: The Group Rules of Behaviour has just been modified; I ask that you take the time to reveiw them, again.
And that's it! Keep an eye on the e-mails and this web site for any further news!
Hoping to see you at the showcase,
TheKeeper
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The Broke Developers Group Post-Meeting Report
Heyla, all!
First of all, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to those were able to make it to the group meeting on October 5, 2007. While only a few attended, the meeting still managed to be amazingly productive, lasting a total of 9 hours!
I'd also like to extend an even warmer thank you to those few people who were able to give me due notice that they were going to be unable to attend Friday's meeting. I hope that this summary will prove sufficient to fill you in on the day's discussion.
With that said, let us move on to the items that were discussed on Friday:
1. The first item to be discussed was, of course, the group's official new headquarters: The Broke Dev. Group House. As many of us already know, this house was bought by DavyRocket earlier last week. No sooner did he buy this house than he generously named it The Broke Dev. Group House, donating the use of it to our group! Thank you, once again, Davy, for such a generous donation!
2. The second item to be discussed was our brand new group web site. I would advise everyone in the group to please keep an eye on the posts made to this web site, for not everything I post will be e-mailed to the group. More, I may update the news I e-mail to everyone through this site, rather than constantly e-mailing everyone updates.
3. The third item discussed was the establishment of group rules and event rules that I expect our members to follow. You may read those rules on the group site, which can be found through the appropriate links on the right side bar.
4. The fourth item discussed was the grand opening of Geea's brand new section on The Voice of There: The Broke Developers Showcase! As promised, Geea also managed to have the staff of There Fun Times link to this section, which you can find, here.
Please, if you would like your items to be showcased in this section, e-mail me your product pictures. I will then forward those pictures, along with your name and auction links, to Geea.
5. The fifth item discussed was the idea of hiring 2 employees for the group, one male and one female, to help push our items. These employees will have a base pay of 500 tbux a week, which will be paid through the group funds for as long as the funds last. (After that, we may dicuss whether the group wishes to keep these employees.) However, as an incentive to really push everyone's products, equally, we wish to offer a weekly 1k bonus to the employee if he or she can manage to sell at least 1 item from each and every group member. This 1k bonus should be paid out by the entire group, each contributing a few tbux each to total that 1k bonus. This is a fair deal, as everyone will have benefited from such an extraordinary push.
The question as to whether we can be certain that a recent sale was due to an employee or through another means of advertisement is solved by requiring the employee to make a daily sales report on who he or she sold to and what items were sold on the Broke Dev. Employees forum. (DavyRocket has already created this group.) From this list, we can cross-reference exactly who bought what in our transaction history by going to our profile, then clicking the link labelled "Transaction History." From there, we can click on the individual transactions to see what was bought or sold and by whom. While I understand that a few members have paid for front page advertising, please be assured that the majority of us have not. Thus, we will be able to easily tell exactly whether or not the sale was due to an employee or through some other means.
We already managed to hire one person, already, by the name of Miss_Doctor. We are still looking for a male avie to help push the male-oriented products.
For more information on how the employment process is to be carried out, please keep an eye out for the debut of the Broke Dev. Employees web site, which will feature a detailed employees manual that will outline the conditions of employment, how payments will be received, as well as any other pertinent information that needs to be shared.
6. Those who attended the meeting agreed to hold the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase on October 19, 2007, at around 5 or 6 pm, Pacific Standard Time. While having Halloween-themed items isn't necessary to participate in the showcase, be advised that our guests will be seeking items according to this theme!
El and Davy had come up with the splendid idea of holding a mini-event every showcase, from quests, to dog obstacle courses, to summons challenges, that our guests can take part in. Not only will this add an extra element of fun for our guests once they have finished perusing our items, but it will give us a way to enter our guests in the raffle (or, at least, one of the raffles). As we never really got to make use of the quest idea from our last showcase, we will be holding another mini-quest for this one. NickieWally, one of our newest members, has bravely volunteered to attempt the writing of this quest. Don't worry, Nickie, V, Davy, and El are all experienced quest writers, and I'm sure if you asked nicely, any of them would be more than happy to help you with this task!
In addition, after speaking to a few members of the group beforehand and having proposed this idea to those who had attended the meeting, I've come to the conclusion that asking at least one member every month to doanate, for the purposes of our monthly showcase raffles, at least one of the free items they receive upon the approval of their submissions is not too much to ask. This group is designed to help everyone, and it isn't fair for a member to reap the benefits without contributing even that little bit to the group.
The donated items for the Halloween showcase has been covered, so those members who have not donated to the group need not worry this time around. The items to be raffled off in our first Halloween showcase will be a limited edition vehicle by teely, a men's outfit by Dj, a women's outfit by Hurt, a men's outfit by me, and a women's outfit by me. I felt that for our very first Halloween showcase, we should really make it a gala event, with plenty of prizes and fun, which is why we're having so many items raffled off, this time. With plenty of planning and time to advertise, the hope is that, this time, such a big raffle will earn us a fairly decent turnout for our first Halloween event.
For reference, here is a complete list of people who have donated so much to the group, in terms of time, items, and/or tbux, at this point in time:
DavyRocket
DJ_Phoenix
eleanorrigby
Hurt
Kasss
NickieWally
teelynn518
vmcl1998
7. Another issue discussed at the meeting was what we should do with the group funds. Those who attended felt that it was better to use the funds in ways that will help generate more cash for our members, mainly advertising, which was why we agreed that using some of the funds to help pay our two employees would be a good investment.
We also chose to invest 2,000 tbux of our group funds on a quest kit for the group's showcases and other events. As our quests will also be used to aid in the heavy promotion of our group's products, it, too has been considered an advertising expense.
At this point, if anyone has any other advertising ideas that will help our group as a whole, please let me know via e-mail, IM, our group forums, or by leaving comments on this post at our web site. (In order to leave comments, you must have an account with www.blogger.com. This may also require a gmail account, which can be easily created.)
8. Finally, Hurt proposed a wonderful idea that I think would be both fun and profitable for our group to take part in. Hurt is part of a design company, and every now and then, in order to generate profits for every person in the company, they would each take part in designing pieces of an outfit, which they would submit under their own names, but in the description, name this outfit as part of a project by the group. They would then pick at least one part of the outfit to get front page advertising. This part of the outfit would link to the other pieces. In this way, the entire group can still get front page advertising, as buyers will invariably attempt to buy all parts of a well-made outfit.
I was thinking that, on a volunteer basis only, of course, our group can engage in a similar practice. At this point, those who had attended Friday's meeting are in the process of experimenting with our chosen theme. Once we've ironed out the bugs in this project, we will unveil the theme to the group, and give instructions in how everyone, should they choose to do so, can participate in this project. Those who participate in the project will help chip in cash to put the chosen item on the front page. From there, we can only hope that our project will garner enough attention from the people of There to earn us a decent profit. This is why our project is on a volunteer basis, only. We can't guarantee that something like this, especially a first attempt, will give us any real prrofit. But as the saying goes, with great risks come great rewards!
And that wraps up the summary of a nine-hour group meeting. If you feel exhausted from just reading this, imagine how the participants felt during the live meeting!
Hoping to hear from you,
TheKeeper
First of all, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to those were able to make it to the group meeting on October 5, 2007. While only a few attended, the meeting still managed to be amazingly productive, lasting a total of 9 hours!
I'd also like to extend an even warmer thank you to those few people who were able to give me due notice that they were going to be unable to attend Friday's meeting. I hope that this summary will prove sufficient to fill you in on the day's discussion.
With that said, let us move on to the items that were discussed on Friday:
1. The first item to be discussed was, of course, the group's official new headquarters: The Broke Dev. Group House. As many of us already know, this house was bought by DavyRocket earlier last week. No sooner did he buy this house than he generously named it The Broke Dev. Group House, donating the use of it to our group! Thank you, once again, Davy, for such a generous donation!
2. The second item to be discussed was our brand new group web site. I would advise everyone in the group to please keep an eye on the posts made to this web site, for not everything I post will be e-mailed to the group. More, I may update the news I e-mail to everyone through this site, rather than constantly e-mailing everyone updates.
3. The third item discussed was the establishment of group rules and event rules that I expect our members to follow. You may read those rules on the group site, which can be found through the appropriate links on the right side bar.
4. The fourth item discussed was the grand opening of Geea's brand new section on The Voice of There: The Broke Developers Showcase! As promised, Geea also managed to have the staff of There Fun Times link to this section, which you can find, here.
Please, if you would like your items to be showcased in this section, e-mail me your product pictures. I will then forward those pictures, along with your name and auction links, to Geea.
5. The fifth item discussed was the idea of hiring 2 employees for the group, one male and one female, to help push our items. These employees will have a base pay of 500 tbux a week, which will be paid through the group funds for as long as the funds last. (After that, we may dicuss whether the group wishes to keep these employees.) However, as an incentive to really push everyone's products, equally, we wish to offer a weekly 1k bonus to the employee if he or she can manage to sell at least 1 item from each and every group member. This 1k bonus should be paid out by the entire group, each contributing a few tbux each to total that 1k bonus. This is a fair deal, as everyone will have benefited from such an extraordinary push.
The question as to whether we can be certain that a recent sale was due to an employee or through another means of advertisement is solved by requiring the employee to make a daily sales report on who he or she sold to and what items were sold on the Broke Dev. Employees forum. (DavyRocket has already created this group.) From this list, we can cross-reference exactly who bought what in our transaction history by going to our profile, then clicking the link labelled "Transaction History." From there, we can click on the individual transactions to see what was bought or sold and by whom. While I understand that a few members have paid for front page advertising, please be assured that the majority of us have not. Thus, we will be able to easily tell exactly whether or not the sale was due to an employee or through some other means.
We already managed to hire one person, already, by the name of Miss_Doctor. We are still looking for a male avie to help push the male-oriented products.
For more information on how the employment process is to be carried out, please keep an eye out for the debut of the Broke Dev. Employees web site, which will feature a detailed employees manual that will outline the conditions of employment, how payments will be received, as well as any other pertinent information that needs to be shared.
6. Those who attended the meeting agreed to hold the Broke Developers Halloween Showcase on October 19, 2007, at around 5 or 6 pm, Pacific Standard Time. While having Halloween-themed items isn't necessary to participate in the showcase, be advised that our guests will be seeking items according to this theme!
El and Davy had come up with the splendid idea of holding a mini-event every showcase, from quests, to dog obstacle courses, to summons challenges, that our guests can take part in. Not only will this add an extra element of fun for our guests once they have finished perusing our items, but it will give us a way to enter our guests in the raffle (or, at least, one of the raffles). As we never really got to make use of the quest idea from our last showcase, we will be holding another mini-quest for this one. NickieWally, one of our newest members, has bravely volunteered to attempt the writing of this quest. Don't worry, Nickie, V, Davy, and El are all experienced quest writers, and I'm sure if you asked nicely, any of them would be more than happy to help you with this task!
In addition, after speaking to a few members of the group beforehand and having proposed this idea to those who had attended the meeting, I've come to the conclusion that asking at least one member every month to doanate, for the purposes of our monthly showcase raffles, at least one of the free items they receive upon the approval of their submissions is not too much to ask. This group is designed to help everyone, and it isn't fair for a member to reap the benefits without contributing even that little bit to the group.
The donated items for the Halloween showcase has been covered, so those members who have not donated to the group need not worry this time around. The items to be raffled off in our first Halloween showcase will be a limited edition vehicle by teely, a men's outfit by Dj, a women's outfit by Hurt, a men's outfit by me, and a women's outfit by me. I felt that for our very first Halloween showcase, we should really make it a gala event, with plenty of prizes and fun, which is why we're having so many items raffled off, this time. With plenty of planning and time to advertise, the hope is that, this time, such a big raffle will earn us a fairly decent turnout for our first Halloween event.
For reference, here is a complete list of people who have donated so much to the group, in terms of time, items, and/or tbux, at this point in time:
DavyRocket
DJ_Phoenix
eleanorrigby
Hurt
Kasss
NickieWally
teelynn518
vmcl1998
7. Another issue discussed at the meeting was what we should do with the group funds. Those who attended felt that it was better to use the funds in ways that will help generate more cash for our members, mainly advertising, which was why we agreed that using some of the funds to help pay our two employees would be a good investment.
We also chose to invest 2,000 tbux of our group funds on a quest kit for the group's showcases and other events. As our quests will also be used to aid in the heavy promotion of our group's products, it, too has been considered an advertising expense.
At this point, if anyone has any other advertising ideas that will help our group as a whole, please let me know via e-mail, IM, our group forums, or by leaving comments on this post at our web site. (In order to leave comments, you must have an account with www.blogger.com. This may also require a gmail account, which can be easily created.)
8. Finally, Hurt proposed a wonderful idea that I think would be both fun and profitable for our group to take part in. Hurt is part of a design company, and every now and then, in order to generate profits for every person in the company, they would each take part in designing pieces of an outfit, which they would submit under their own names, but in the description, name this outfit as part of a project by the group. They would then pick at least one part of the outfit to get front page advertising. This part of the outfit would link to the other pieces. In this way, the entire group can still get front page advertising, as buyers will invariably attempt to buy all parts of a well-made outfit.
I was thinking that, on a volunteer basis only, of course, our group can engage in a similar practice. At this point, those who had attended Friday's meeting are in the process of experimenting with our chosen theme. Once we've ironed out the bugs in this project, we will unveil the theme to the group, and give instructions in how everyone, should they choose to do so, can participate in this project. Those who participate in the project will help chip in cash to put the chosen item on the front page. From there, we can only hope that our project will garner enough attention from the people of There to earn us a decent profit. This is why our project is on a volunteer basis, only. We can't guarantee that something like this, especially a first attempt, will give us any real prrofit. But as the saying goes, with great risks come great rewards!
And that wraps up the summary of a nine-hour group meeting. If you feel exhausted from just reading this, imagine how the participants felt during the live meeting!
Hoping to hear from you,
TheKeeper
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The Broke Developers Group Has a Voice
Heyla, all!
The Broke Developers Group officially has a voice on The Voice of There! Come check out the first people to be featured on Geea's brand new section: The Broke Developers Showcase!
TheKeeper
The Broke Developers Group officially has a voice on The Voice of There! Come check out the first people to be featured on Geea's brand new section: The Broke Developers Showcase!
TheKeeper
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Broke Developers Group House and Auctions
Heyla, all!
Yesterday, on October 1, 2007, DavyRocket treated me to a very wonderful surprise: The Broke Developers Group House! Davy discovered that a certain There House he's had his eye on for a while was now in auctions, and he leaped at the chance to purchase it. But no sooner did he buy it than he bestowed upon it the wondrous name of the Broke Dev Group House. He truly felt that the group needed a place to really call their very own, and knowing that neither I nor the group was yet in a position to pay rent on a prota zone or club/There house, he generously donated to the group the use of his brand new home, to decorate as we like and to use in whatever way that will benefit the group!
Thank you, so much, Davy, for such a generous donation! I truly hope to be able to help carry the weight of the rent on this house, shortly.
The house has already been put to use, as I rescheduled the group meeting to take place in the Broke Dev Group House. In addition, I'm hosting several self-running auction events for the group. In fact, my hope is to have at least one self-running auction sales event a day. I invite everyone in the group to come on in and drop their ThereDocs for these events. While I am arranging to have a group scroll and group clue box that will link to this site, I feel that it would be nice if people can also have some additional information about us and what we sell through our own, individualized ThereDocs. So, come on in, take a look around at our snazzy new house and auction shop, and drop away!
TheKeeper
Broke Developers Get Together
Broke Developers Auctions
Yesterday, on October 1, 2007, DavyRocket treated me to a very wonderful surprise: The Broke Developers Group House! Davy discovered that a certain There House he's had his eye on for a while was now in auctions, and he leaped at the chance to purchase it. But no sooner did he buy it than he bestowed upon it the wondrous name of the Broke Dev Group House. He truly felt that the group needed a place to really call their very own, and knowing that neither I nor the group was yet in a position to pay rent on a prota zone or club/There house, he generously donated to the group the use of his brand new home, to decorate as we like and to use in whatever way that will benefit the group!
Thank you, so much, Davy, for such a generous donation! I truly hope to be able to help carry the weight of the rent on this house, shortly.
The house has already been put to use, as I rescheduled the group meeting to take place in the Broke Dev Group House. In addition, I'm hosting several self-running auction events for the group. In fact, my hope is to have at least one self-running auction sales event a day. I invite everyone in the group to come on in and drop their ThereDocs for these events. While I am arranging to have a group scroll and group clue box that will link to this site, I feel that it would be nice if people can also have some additional information about us and what we sell through our own, individualized ThereDocs. So, come on in, take a look around at our snazzy new house and auction shop, and drop away!
TheKeeper
Broke Developers Get Together
Broke Developers Auctions
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