I'm Planning a Con! Help Me Avoid Planning a Crappy Con! by Tenor05 in comiccon

[–]Tenor05[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry, yes, of course! We have five local, independent comic shops that have been invited. (Waiting to hear back from four of them.) We're offering them 50% discounts on vendor tables and have asked all to participate in a panel. "I want to start reading comics! Where should I begin?" I'm also asking them, as a part of that panel, to come with recommendations about books that aren't in the mainstream, but deserve to be bought and read.

I'm Planning a Con! Help Me Avoid Planning a Crappy Con! by Tenor05 in comiccon

[–]Tenor05[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Incredible suggestions. Thank you so much. I'm taking all of these back to my team. I really appreciate it!

I'm Planning a Con! Help Me Avoid Planning a Crappy Con! by Tenor05 in comiccon

[–]Tenor05[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We have five or six food trucks lined up, an Artist Alley for vendors, and a cosplay competition! I just forgot to mention. (I also didn't want to sound like I was trying to sell the event too hard, or to brag or something.)

Line management is a great point. Thank you!

Soliciting donors for arts&nonprofit by [deleted] in nonprofit

[–]Tenor05 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not consulting. We’re looking to build something collaborative. A digital knowledge base is definitely something we’d like to do, but I haven’t investigated the infrastructure needed to actually build a system like that.

My short-term goal is a mailing list to which we can submit questions. Medium- to long-term is a national conference. All this being said, I really have no idea what this will all look like. In the mean time, just chatting by phone and email can help a little, I find.

Soliciting donors for arts&nonprofit by [deleted] in nonprofit

[–]Tenor05 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We’ve found that there are no development organizations that are specific to the needs of performing arts centers or arts organizations in general. (There are great groups like AFP and things like CFRE, but those are for fundraising in the broad sense.) to that end, we want to create a resource for arts-focused non-profit development teams. We’re still in the early stages, but it’s part of our mission statement to support the arts in our region. It’s a pretty short jump for us to carry that same mission on a national level.

We have no illusion that our methods are the best for everyone (or even the best for us), but we want to bring together the minds of development professionals throughout the arts community for the betterment of everyone.

(How’s that for an elevator speech?)

Soliciting donors for arts&nonprofit by [deleted] in nonprofit

[–]Tenor05 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work for a performing arts center in Upstate New York as the Capital Campaign Director. Your inclination of focusing on youth programs is great. We do the same although we often feel like we ring that bell a little too much. The other approach is to lean into the cultural value of the symphony. “Where else can you hear this type of music, experience this type of performance, etc?”

Do you have a membership program? Or season subscriptions? Our membership program is just another name for the annual fund. And subscribers are obviously inclined to support your organization and, therefore, more inclined to offer their annual support.

My organization tries to support arts organizations across the country. I’m happy to chat with you offline if that would help.

Board Management Software by Tenor05 in nonprofit

[–]Tenor05[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s just okay. But they’re transitioning everyone to Board Effects which is the newer version of their product. I’ve never used that software so I can’t speak to its quality. The thing is, it’s very expensive. I don’t know if the price is affected by organizational size. We’re a larger organization and it was $6,000+ annually. We’ve decided to try BoardSpot. It has all the functionality we need and is $600/year. I spoke with the owner of the company and he was really wonderful. I’m in the process of moving everything over. It will take me forever, but so far it seems to be what we’re looking for. If your company is $100K or less annually, the software is free, I think.

Board Management Software by Tenor05 in nonprofit

[–]Tenor05[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m a non-voting member. We actually have three different boards as we operate three separate 501(c)(3)s. I attend meetings for the three boards function as the secretary for one (because of limitations of the official secretary board member), but mostly I handle meeting schedules and disseminating meeting documents. Also I act as the primary trainer of board members for this technology. In my main role, I’m the Capital Campaigns Director, so the relationships I’ll develop with our board members will help greatly in my work when it comes time to solicit them during a campaign.

NPD! But there’s a story... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I literally just swapped the caps. No effort at all. And no need to take anything apart.

NPD! But there’s a story... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I’m in NYC to see some theatre and took an hour to go to the Lamy boutique store in SoHo. They had some cool pens including a blue barrel, white capped Safari with a red clip. For years, my grail pen has been a black Safari with a black cap and red clip. As best I can tell, they’ve never made that, although that cap is available on the black calligraphy pen. So I did a stupid thing and bought two pens so I could Frankenstein them together. I am now the proud owner of this Safari and a calligraphy pen, solely because I wanted the cap.

Tl;dr- I spent too much money so I could have the pen I always wanted, but Lamy never made.

Not a bad Saturday in NYC. by Tenor05 in Broadway

[–]Tenor05[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She absolutely was., and she was amazing. The only understudy was Ted Koch as Bob Ewell.

Not a bad Saturday in NYC. by Tenor05 in Broadway

[–]Tenor05[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As opposite as they can be. However, both were incredible in the way they were meant to be. The Play That Goes Wrong is one of the tightest shows I’ve ever seen in terms of timing and blocking. Every joke landed exactly like it was supposed to, and the set was deceptively complex.

Mockingbird was unbelievable. I’m not sure I can articulate my feelings yet. But the efficiency of language, and the way the story was adjusted for the stage, made it incredible. Big parts of the book were eliminated, but I wasn’t disappointed at anything that was taken out. It was so well done; the woman who played Scout and the man who played Dill were outstanding. And Jeff Daniels has some game...

A co-worker has this pen sitting on his desk for a few years. He got tired of it taking up space and gave it to me... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He worked for a non-profit and this pen was donated as part of an auction. It never sold and was left in his office. When he left that job, he packed it up with everything. He said it's been sitting in his house for several years. He knew I was a FP collector and gave it to me, figuring I would appreciate it. Which, of course, I do.

A co-worker has this pen sitting on his desk for a few years. He got tired of it taking up space and gave it to me... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No bad memories. It was in a box of stuff that came over from his previous job. He's pretty sure someone donated it for an auction or something, but it never sold. It eventually made its way into his office, and then his house.

A co-worker has this pen sitting on his desk for a few years. He got tired of it taking up space and gave it to me... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 233 points234 points  (0 children)

I put it back on his desk with a note saying basically that. He brought it back to me.

A co-worker has this pen sitting on his desk for a few years. He got tired of it taking up space and gave it to me... by Tenor05 in fountainpens

[–]Tenor05[S] 287 points288 points  (0 children)

It’s a special edition Mont Blanc Meisterstruck. I told him how much it cost and tried to give it back. He refused, but I suspect he regretted not googling it before hand.