Planning and Preparation
One of the first actions I took was contacting a friend of mine about printing and cost. I did not want to design a postcard and find out that I could not afford the printing cost. Plus, I did not know how this works. My friend clarified for me on how pricing usually works, and in the end it was better to buy a certain amount and create a standard size postcard. For example: if one were to buy 1000 standard size postcards versus someone else who buys 5000 standard postcards, the cost of a single postcard is cheaper when one buys 5000 instead of 1000. The more you buy the more cost effective it will be and custom sizing will cost extra. Plus it helped that there was a sale on 5000 postcards. (^_^)
My friend also gave me an idea on how big a box might be for 5000. So, spacing was not an issue. Since I would probably be getting 2% return out of the amount of postcards given out, the more that are passed out the more visitors the site would get. However, before I knew for sure that I was willing to purchase 5000 postcards, something else crossed my mind. How am I going to pass out all these cards?
If I was going to do this by myself, I cannot pass out all 5000 in three days. If I was going to pass it out by hand, someone suggested that it may be best just to do 1000 a day. That is still a lot even for one person, and I had other things to do during the convention. I ended up contacting three of my friends: Chet, Justin and Jordan. I explain to them the situation, and they agreed in helping me by passing out the postcards. So, yes I got a crew of helpers for all three days, but I was mentally prepared that anything can happen. Things might not work out due to other priorities or for any other reasons.
Even though I was still trying to figure things out, I was still going to buy something regardless. As a result, I was also focusing on the design, and I kept in mind the standard 4” x 6”. I have worked with printers before, but it helped to have the postcard template from the printer of choice. The template is a guide that helps one design the layout according to the margins for bleeding and cutting. However, finding the proper template required some digging on the company website. Eventually, I did find it and used it as a guide for my design.
Ok, so with a crew at hand and the design ready, I ordered 5000 4” x 6” one color sided postcards. It took about one to two weeks for it to arrive. The box was 60 lbs of 18 stacks of postcards! It was roughly 3 - 4lbs and 277 - 278 cards each. Yes, paper has weight, and if you hold it long enough it can tire you out. Since it was a three day convention, the cards would have to be divided for each day, because not every attendee comes in the same day. Plus, I had to make sure that each of my crew members can carry it home and then to the convention, and figure out if I wanted to keep leftovers for future events.
Passing It Out
In the end, I gave each member three stacks, each wrapped in a clear plastic bag to protect it from potential rain, to take home. Two of them had a strong over the shoulder messenger bag, while the other had a tote bag made out of fabric cloth like material. For them, it was one stack a day at the convention, while I had 1 – 2 stacks a day, and on Saturday my friend Stephanie helped me passed out one of the stacks. We gave out all the postcards that we carried to the convention by passing it out near the escalators and where the long lines were.
Knowing where to give out was trial and error, but the experience was interesting. If one is going to give out postcards, say “thank you,” be considerate and quick with one’s hands. Every time someone took a postcard from me, I said thank you to show my appreciation. Even though my goal was to pass out as many postcards as I can, I also had to be aware of who I am giving it out to. For example, I did not realize a person was a child, so I pulled back and gave it to the adult instead. Another instance was someone had a pile of food in his or her hands, so I pulled back and apologized for not realizing it. Now this is one of the reasons, why it is hard to realize who is the recipient. Once the ball rolls, it does not stop. There were moments where I kept passing out the postcards non-stop, so speed is required. So, when one's mind is focused in a moment like that, it takes another split second moment to stop the flow. However, because of the quickness, the postcards were given out much faster that way.
In regards to the people one may encounter, there will be people who are rude, polite and/or non-responsive. It is the way things are when you deal with a variety of people: customer service. However, there was this nice man, who took the postcard, but politely gave it back. I was with Jordan when he was passing out the postcards at the escalator. The man that Jordan gave the postcard to, turned around, and said to us that he does not read manga and kindly gave it back to us. Jordan and I both said that it was nice of him to do that. Instead of throwing the card in the garbage, the man gave us another chance to pass out the same postcard to someone who is interested. Plus, he probably knew that it cost time and money to produce it.
Conclusion
I do not think I have much more to say about the experience, but I hope to those who read this will learn a thing or two, especially those who want to try it for the first time. Remember that it is important to think things through, figure out your goal and see what needs to be done to accomplish that goal. Every step in the process has a goal to accomplish. If the goals in the steps are successful, the bigger goal becomes reachable. Just remember the hiccups and to have a backup plan. (^_^)
© 2011 Linda Thai
Photography by Linda Thai
For more pictures, check out the Something Deeper: Anime, Manga and Comics Page on Facebook
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