Hey all,
I haven't heard a thing about the Store SIG [1] for months. Is that still going on behind the scenes or does it need revived?
2008/10/26 Ian Weller ianweller@gmail.com:
Hey all,
I haven't heard a thing about the Store SIG [1] for months. Is that still going on behind the scenes or does it need revived?
There was some discussion about reviving it FADNA this last month. Not sure there was a conclusion other than to say that we all were interested in discussing it more and getting it going IIRC.
Cheers,
Clint
2008/10/26 Ian Weller ianweller@gmail.com:
Hey all,
I haven't heard a thing about the Store SIG [1] for months. Is that still going on behind the scenes or does it need revived?
The Store SIG is pretty much dead, AFAICS. But I'm actually thinking about just opening a store at spreadshirt.net (or similar) for Europe. There's been too much talking about this topic instead of just realizing the simple idea.
If nobody has a sound objection, I'm going to propose/discuss this shortly at the upcoming FAD EMEA 2008 in Basel in mid-November before opening such a store for Europe (except France, where such a shop exists already).
It's time to act.
-- red
On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 5:58 AM, Sandro red Mathys red@fedoraproject.org wrote:
The Store SIG is pretty much dead, AFAICS. But I'm actually thinking about just opening a store at spreadshirt.net (or similar) for Europe. There's been too much talking about this topic instead of just realizing the simple idea.
As Clint mentioned the Store SIG was discussed at the FADNA this year in Ohio. I was able to show the various quality of shirts from cafepress and spreadshirt in comparison to a similar shirt actually made at a screen printer. Though the color accuracy of spreadshirt is off a bit, it was deemed close enough to not be a major issue.
While setting up the store seems simple there are a couple of details that need decided. One was what potential ramifications does it have on Fedora Project to sell items with a small profit. In the US that would require reporting said profit which Fedora Project is not really in the position to do. The EMEA group would likely be able to work around this by opening the store under their control and having it fall under the non-profit status. We do not have that in the US as of now.
The other issue, which largely just requires some organization is to make sure access to the behind the scenes portion of the store is not left to a single person. People get busy and their amount of time to volunteer varies. So having a group of trusted people to manage the store is important as well - again, not a major issue but a decision that does need made.
The Store SIG was also attempting to provide a front-end at store.fp.o to lead people to the on demand vendor of choice. That way ambassadors and such could easily refer people to store.fp.o when a person wanted to order an item from the store.
Another decision the Store SIG had to reach was whether a single entity could serve everyone. After looking at the various options it is most likely that one store cannot adequately serve all areas of the world. Spreadshirt does lend itself well though to having one based in the European region and a second in the North American region to get started - though they would be two separate stores - they could be given a similar look and feel.
Also, the French already have a spreadshirt store, so it might be wise for the EMEA to see about working with them to avoid paying the annual fees to have a customizable store twice.
Thanks, Jeffrey
Jeffrey Tadlock wrote:
(...) sell items with a small profit. In the US that would require reporting said profit which Fedora Project is not really in the position to do. The EMEA group would likely be able to work around this by opening the store under their control and having it fall under the non-profit status. We do not have that in the US as of now.
Good point. I didn't thought about profit reporting yet, but I thought about having EMEA's association deal with the European store anyway since we need someone to control and distribute the profits.
Why not open the NA-store with the EMEA NPO, too? Might make it more difficult or even impossible to have the profits help the NA ambassadors. But at least people in NA would be able to get merchandise stuff (which again is some sort of advertisement for us) which they hardly can nowadays. We could still transfer that store to the NA NPO as soon as one is established.
Another decision the Store SIG had to reach was whether a single entity could serve everyone. After looking at the various options it is most likely that one store cannot adequately serve all areas of the world.
I totally agree on this. I actually think that's the point where the Store SIG spent too much time, trying to have one global store. And spreadshirt is really perfectly organized to cover north America and Europe with just two stores.
Also, the French already have a spreadshirt store, so it might be wise for the EMEA to see about working with them to avoid paying the annual fees to have a customizable store twice.
I think it might prove difficult to do this as the French store collects money for the French association, while the European store is meant to get the EMEA association some money. But we'll look at this - what do you think about that, MrTom?
I'd also like to ask spreadshirt if it's possible to have 2 or 3 stores (NA, EU, maybe FR) that have the same items and pricing and only pay the annual fee once...somehow. Or maybe for a reduced fee.
-- red
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Clint Savage wrote:
There was some discussion about reviving it FADNA this last month. Not sure there was a conclusion other than to say that we all were interested in discussing it more and getting it going IIRC.
IMHO, the Store SIG was a more interesting idea before we got to the point where NA and EMEA ambassadors are both regionally self-sufficient in producing all the things they need.
It seems like the evolution of Ambassadors may have rendered one of the Store SIG's goals irrelevant. That's not a bad thing -- progress was made on the root problem, just in a different way.
Personally, I think the Store SIG can be retired for the time being.
--Max
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Max Spevack wrote: IMHO, the Store SIG was a more interesting idea before we got to the point where NA and EMEA ambassadors are both regionally self-sufficient in producing all the things they need.
I think that's true for ambassadors producing the polos and swag they need for events.
But we'd still need a store for people who want to buy some merchandise over the internet. The online store can also offer more different products (with different printings) than we can at an event (because we're restricted in money to stock those things and in space to offer them at the events).
Sandro red Mathys wrote:
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Max Spevack wrote: IMHO, the Store SIG was a more interesting idea before we got to the point where NA and EMEA ambassadors are both regionally self-sufficient in producing all the things they need.
I think that's true for ambassadors producing the polos and swag they need for events.
But we'd still need a store for people who want to buy some merchandise over the internet. The online store can also offer more different products (with different printings) than we can at an event (because we're restricted in money to stock those things and in space to offer them at the events).
Seconded.
Putting on my contributer hat (which I don't have, because there is no store), I don't want a store for ambassadors to get shirts, I'd like a store so /I/ can get shirts.
(Heck, I've even bought a OpenBSD shirt because they had a store and a nice logo. Open source shirts are a good thing.)
Where do I do that for Fedora today?
Our options are limited to going to events -- and not everyone can go to events. Lots more people use Fedora and cheap-advertising on people's backs (especially things we don't have to pay for) is a way to spread the message.
--Michael
marketing@lists.fedoraproject.org
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Clint Savage -
Ian Weller -
Jeffrey Tadlock -
Max Spevack -
Michael DeHaan -
Sandro "red" Mathys