Author Topic: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com  (Read 7640 times)

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Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« on: March 03, 2013, 02:22:36 PM »
Ah, the onset of spring - brings the need for the return of income at the site.  And to others, too.  The story. . .

A few months ago Mike Nish and I started talking about the Utah Motorsports Foundation and how it is run - and who it helps.  If you don't know about it, either go to the home page of this site and find the link to the UMF (in the box of "Groups and Organizations) - or be lazy, so to speak, and follow it right here:  http://www.utahmotorsportsfoundation.com/UMF_ABOT.html  Well, Mike and I have exchanged a few bits of swag since then.  I sent a few items of landracing.com things to him for the annual Daytona 500 partyfundraiser last weekend, and he's now sent me some DVDs and a calendar.  Since I've already got a Nish Motorsports calendar hanging at Kudos, I'll include it with three DVDs in a package - for the first two of youse guys that offer at least $50 as donations to the site.  Postage is going to be about $5 -- 'cause I can send this stuff "media mail" and it won't cost as much as first class - - so if the website can net at least 45 dollars from each of the two of you we'll be happy.

The DVDs include a short feature on the 2011 Cook Motorsports Top Speed Shootout, showing Nish, Nearburg, Porterfield, Assen, and Poteet.  The video is labeled as having been made by ESPN.  Then there's an episode of "Fast and Furious: America's Wildest Roads", and that one shows lots of - - unh, mmm, "interesting" roads -- including a nice bit on the salt -- and, wouldja look at that, quite a bit about the Nish Family team and car.  And then there's the DVD produced by Ron Kirby Video Productions called "The Dream of 425 MPH", highlighting the Nish Royal Purple Streamliner.

You'll get all three of those and a 2013 calendar about the car and the new engine and the family.  And better still -- the calendar is still valid and useable for telling what date it is -- for more than 10.5 months!  Whoo-HOO - make sure you get one of these.  Like I say, I've got one in the shop -- you should too.

You're welcome to send donations via the Paypal buttons you'll find here and there on the site.  Like I said, I've got two sets of these Nish items, so that should mean at least two of you folks will get 'em -- and the website will make almost a hundred bucks.  Send more if you'd like -- I'll thank you here on the Forum (but won't divulge your amount unless you specifically tell me to do so.  Make sure you include a shipping address with your bid.

Thanks.  By the way -- there'll be some more fundraising stuff going on in the near future, so don't empty your wallet all at once.  The race season ain't free for the site, either.  But I'll talk about that stuff later.  I'll quit after showing you this photo I took of Nancy about five minutes ago.  Like I said when I started -- sure enough, spring is on the way.

Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
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Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2013, 06:25:34 PM »
Bump.  Let's see some activity, please.  The $$ is needed.  Thanks.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
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Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2013, 11:14:51 AM »
Ah, I kinda hate to get this part of the fundraising drive started -- 'cause I want to concentrate on land speed racing stuff instead of keeping the site running and growing - financially.  but --

First of all, there has been just about no interest in sending money in exchange for the stuff from the Nish family -- DVDs and the calendar.  One set (of two) has been paid for and sent away -- but the other hasn't generated even a bid.  Okay, I guess, but I'd sure like to have it leave here and go to your place.

Now -- the real stuff about fundraising in general.  I want to keep the site not only giving everyone a place to share stories and stuff about land speed racing, but also to be a viable and growing place for everyone.  And that means -- I've got to have more funds available to do stuff.  And that means, I'm afraid, that I'm going to have to start finding "real" sponsors -- businesses that are vitally interested in showing their support to L S R folks.  Businesses that have budgets that can make it possible for me to bring you the live streaming coverage that you've learned to appreciate and enjoy.  Taking a look at some other racing sites - I see the first I'm going to have to find. 

I don't want to make this site into a commercial site - so you see ads all over the danged place.  But -- I need to have a big enough budget to allow me to make sure I'm at the salt with the resources to have someone babysit the audio, and someone to take photos, and someone to get information printed ('cause not everyone can listen).  And those things take $$ -- way more than this site is bringing in these days.

There -- I won't belabor the point just now, but will hope that maybe some of you (all of you?) will come up with your ideas of how to get money coming in so I can do more for you.  I could mention that only a very small percentage of you send in contributions.  I try to thank each and every one that does send $$ -- and I don't have to write many thank you notes, darn it.  I could mention that we've got lots of old swag - shirts, both lr.com and Salt Talks, and stickers and cups and stuff -- that doesn't do much but hide in the basement.  But I won't - well, 'cept that I just did.

Get your thinking caps on.  Let me know if you know of a company - or maybe more than just one - that wants to show off in front of the biggest gathering of land speed racers in the world.  If you'd like to keep it private -- fine - send me an email or PM.  But do something.  I'm going to start - hope you will too.

And - see the next dispatch from here about Salt Talks shirts for 2013.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2013, 11:22:19 AM »
Salt Talks shirts have been a staple here for longer than I can remember.  Jon A. started having the shirts before Nancy and I started attending Salt Talks.  And now it's time to start thinking about the 2013 iteration of the shirts.

For the past few years I've tried to keep the cash flow positive by auctioning the spots on the shirts - to racers that wanted to not only see their chosen vehicle (or art, if you call the photo of Freud "art") but also to help keep the site up and running.  And it's sure helped -- we've not lost money on shirts since that idea came into being (Thanks, Stainless).  But we still have lots of shirts left each year.  And those shirts end up doing nothing but keeping boxes full in the basement - and giving the cats some cardboard lofts to use for resting places.  If we sold 'em all -- wow, that'd be great.

But we don't sell them all.  So - how do we turn Salt Talks shirts into a true fund raiser for the site?  Well, maybe it's time to reassess and decide that shirts aren't what we want.  After all, don't you have about two zillion shirts stuffed away in totes, drawers, bags, and boxes?  Do you really want another one?  Maybe you do -- but I need to know that you WILL buy one before I make a big batch in case you MIGHT want one.  I need some input here, ladies and gentlemen.

If you're ready to declare that Salt Talks 2013 shirts are required - let me know.  Nancy and I now make them in our shop, so we've managed to cut down on the size of the cash outlay we have to make before we can sell even the first one.  But we still have to buy a hundred or so blank shirts, and then get the art and the transfers and so on and so forth.  It's all money here -- and money that we need to keep the landracing.com site up and running and growing and strong.

Over to you. :-D
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Milwaukee Midget

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2013, 12:28:24 PM »
Yup, we've all got T-shirts.  Last week, I went through my t-shirt collection and donated two grocery sacks worth to Goodwill.

I don't think they should be entirely abandoned, but let me throw this idea out to you.

Mrs. Midget works for an advertising firm here in Beerhaven.  One of their clients is a large agri chemical firm, and what they've had great success with for promotions are shop rags.

?

Yup.  The farmers eat them up, and the logo and tag line is one color printed on the rag itself.

Now unless you’re Neil and working on a Manta in a white room environment, I don't know ANYBODY in this sport that can't use shop rags.

So here's the deal - you sell the rights to reproduce the images provided by a dozen teams, make 12 different one color screens, bundle them in packs of 12 and sell them ALL WEEK LONG at the salt.  The teams cover the cost of setting up the silkscreen, the rags are cheap - especially if you buy them by the case - you sell them as either collectables or as tools - two markets - and they won't go out of style.

Most of the T-shirts become shop rags anyway - just skip the middle and jump to the end.
"Problems are almost always a sign of progress."  Harold Bettes
Well, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .  :roll:

Offline Milwaukee Midget

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2013, 12:47:56 PM »
Oh, and

ONE SIZE FITS ALL.
"Problems are almost always a sign of progress."  Harold Bettes
Well, I guess we're making a LOT of progress . . .  :roll:

Offline Stainless1

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2013, 09:53:33 PM »
As a guy that only has a thousand and a couple of t-shirts I would recommend keeping shirts, they make good gifts, commemorate the event and raise a few bucks.  Who doesn't need another race shirt?  I would suggest a color other than white... ash or birch look like the salt these days and don't look dirty as fast.... I just look at a white shirt and it gets a spot  :-D
Stainless
Red Hat 228.039, 2001, 65ci, Bockscar Lakester #1000 with a little N2O

Offline TwinSpin

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2013, 10:34:17 PM »
SSS - -

I have an idea on how to sell some Salt Talks shirts and other items. Since it is new, I'll get your approval first.  Check your PM.


Stainless 1 - -

You have a "thousand and a couple of shirts. . . " Since your lakester (in the 200 club again last year, Hello Pork Pie) is car number 1,000, I thought that was as high as you could count? No?


Bill

Offline Stainless1

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2013, 12:37:31 AM »
Bill, that's why I said I had a thousand and a couple.... I stopped counting at a 1000... there were a couple hundred left to count   :-o  :-D
Stainless
Red Hat 228.039, 2001, 65ci, Bockscar Lakester #1000 with a little N2O

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2013, 07:48:13 PM »
Finally -- a set of photos of the old shirts we've got in stock.  Half of them are at the house (here) so I'll show and list them tonight.  Here are the '02 and '05 shirts.  I've got one of each, both are large.  Price -- donation to the site.  Use the Paypal button and include an extra few bucks to cover postage, please.  Remember that these cost about $7-8 each just to get made and delivered, so base your donation amount on that tidbit of information.  I'll post some more photos and descriptions in a minute.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2013, 07:56:04 PM »
Here's a chance for you to support two efforts for the price of one.  Dr. G. and Grumm made sure that I got some of the Spirit of Sunshine shirts when they visited Bville, and while I've worn at least one (in fact it's on me right now, although hidden under my flannel shirt) - while I've got some in use, I've got plenty left to sell.  They come in three colors as shown here.  Sizes followed by quantity:  3XL black, 3 each.  3XL yellow, 2 ea.  2XL yellow, 3 ea.  2XL white, 5 ea.  3XL white, 2 ea.  That's a total of fifteen shirts.  While they were given to Nancy and me to use as fund raisers -- I'll be happy to buy Grumm and Dr. Goggles some refreshments when next I see them -- in exchange for your donations to the site.  I'd hope you'd stand up and donate appropriately for these, because not many LSR folks in the US (or anywhere, for that matter) have one of these shirts.  Stand out in the crowd -- wearing a shirt that's from Australia.  The views are back first, then front.  Send the money via the Paypal button or mail it by check or money order or drop off some cash.  Please remember to add a few dollars for each shirt for shipping.  Thanks.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2013, 08:01:20 PM »
Finally for tonight -- here are some of the most recent iteration of the landracing.com t-shirt.  We've got the following, again in color, then size, followed by quantity.

Black  3XL  2 each.   White 3XL  4 ea.  White  L  8 ea.   White XL  8 ea.

Yes, I know they're a bit dated -- what with showing that we race at Maxton and at Lovelock, but nevertheless, we paid for them -- and would like to recover our investment, at least, if not show a profit.  In the photos you'll first see the front and then the back.  Please buy them, first of all, and if you do -- think about getting a couple of 'em, paying enough to benefit the site and also a couple of dollaroonies for the post office.  Thanks very much.

I'll post a bunch more tomorrow when I'm at Kudos Laser.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

Offline Seldom Seen Slim

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2013, 08:23:43 PM »
While digging through the tote of shirts I discovered some landracing.com hats.  They're the standard "One size fits most heads" style with the LR.com logo.  We've got 2 of the black and 6 of the white.  And - get this folks, AND -- we've got 4 of the ladies style.  Not that they're restricted for ladies only, but they're of a more "European style - - sort of "swoopy" and the top part isn't quite so big as on the others.  Here's your photo of the back of Nancy's head and the hat.  There is no printing on the front on these.

Payment by Paypal or any other method except credit card, and don't forget to include something (in the way of remuneration) for the cost of shipping.  Even if you don't want a hat for yourself (and what self-respecting land speed racer would be without a hat at El Mirage or Bonneville or Wilmington and the rest of the venues) - buy one or more to give out to others that have forgot to have a hat handy when they're at the event to cheer you on.  They'll cheer louder if you've helped them to protect their heads from sunburn.

That's the salesroom for tonight.  More tomorrow.  Get busy and support this site, please.  Thank you very much.
Jon E. Wennerberg
 a/k/a Seldom Seen Slim
 Skandia, Michigan
 (that's way up north)
2 Club member x2
Owner of landracing.com

gkabbt

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2013, 08:52:34 PM »
SSS,

Please hold one of the black hats for me.
I don't do Paypal so I'll get a check off to you tomorrow for the hat and a donation for the site.

Thanks,
Gregg Adams

Offline Queeziryder

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Re: March 2013 fund raising for landracing.com
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2013, 12:45:04 PM »
Jon

You have an email  :-D

Neil
Old enough to know better, but too interested in speed to care