Advertising idea - comments appreciated

[Kaiser Los III]

(since Fax made me promise to have something here for him to advise me on last night)Fax has an idea for a paid ad that sounds really good, and I still want to do that and will post something on it later once I have a few things cleared up with certain people.But free publicity would also be nice. I'm thinking Order of the Chimera. If we can give that award to someone who might mention it in a public place full of people who are of the right sort to be interested in us, then that's an added bonus.I am thinking theferrett. At least four of us read his journal pretty often, which is as many of us share an interest in anything, so it's not like he wouldn't be one of the people we like even without ulterior motives. He's big-time enough that if he were to mention it, people would see it, but small-time enough that he might be intrigued enough by it to notice.My questions for you are:1. You think it's a good idea?2. You think he'd post about it?3. You think any such posts would be positive or at least not "look at these losers"?4. You have any better people to give it to?5. Fax, have you commented enough in his journal that you think he knows who you are, so that you could tell it to him and it wouldn't look like some random stranger out of the blue?

[Gryphon the Pure]

I think we should put together a cooler crest than just the simple vector art we have for the order if we want it to draw publicity. Preferrably, something that can identify it as a Shirithian crest. Gryphon the Pure- Shirithian Elder - Dutch of Kildare - Minister of the Interior - High Priest of Apostrophe aka Grammar Fuhrer - Director of the Shirithian Census - Imperial Advisor -q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);

[Fax Celestis]

He knows who I am, though he doesn't read my journal, as far as I know. I do know he as recently read at least part of the Siege of the Questing Stone, though I didn't hear anything from that.I don't know. I think it's worth a shot, but we need to do it in such a way that doesn't make us sound desperate or like we're manipulating him.I definitely don't think that he'd make fun of us. At worst, he'd ignore it. At best, he'd join.I also think that other people who deserve such awards are the people we're advertising with: Greg and Liz Dean (of RealLife), and Howard Tayler (of Schlock, Mercenary). Both have been helpful and informative about advertising, even going so far as to suggest advertising tricks or offering us good deals (like RealLife's 300,000 ad-views for $35). And who would have thought that my fate, it would conjure this twist in the road on which I have wandered?Each vision and dream now completely dismembered, to give one's whole life and find nothing's remembered...And what good is a life that leaves nothing behind? Not a thought or a dream that might echo in timeEdited by: Fax Celestis  at: 8/7/05 17:40

[Fax Celestis]

On a side note, do you still have that "A Storm Is Coming..." graphic we had up on http://www.shireroth.org before there was any actual site content? That might be modified into a nifty ad too. And who would have thought that my fate, it would conjure this twist in the road on which I have wandered?Each vision and dream now completely dismembered, to give one's whole life and find nothing's remembered...And what good is a life that leaves nothing behind? Not a thought or a dream that might echo in time

[Gryphon Avocatio]

I'm all for paying for advertisement under two conditions:1) The site is paid for.2) The Board is paid for.After that, I have no issues. 3e knowe ek that in fourme of speche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand 3eer, and wordes tho / That hadden pris now wonder nyce and straunge / Us thenketh hem, and 3et thei spake hem so, / And spedde as wel in loue as men now do...

[Gryphon the Pure]

I'm with Nick on this. Especially now that we've got ShireWiki up sucking our bandwidth, we need to make sure the site stays up before we make any more financial endeavors.Btw, Kaiser, may I send that petition to EzBoard? Gryphon the Pure- Shirithian Elder - Dutch of Kildare - Minister of the Interior - High Priest of Apostrophe aka Grammar Fuhrer - Director of the Shirithian Census - Imperial Advisor -q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);q=parseInt(Math.random()*gryphSig.length);q=(isNaN(q))?0:q;document.write(gryphSig[q]);

[Kaiser Los III]

You may.Gold doesn't come round until November, and I don't want to donate early just because the last time we did, the bug erased all of our donations. The site doesn't come round until mid-next year and it would not be at all easy gathering the money before we want to use it (probably, once again, we'll have to send stuff through the mail to Erik). I'm very reluctant to ask people to donate for that now and have to keep the money safe somewhere, and Fax says this advertisement opportunity only lasts for a week.

[Shyriath]

The site's not due for that long? Weird. It feels like it should be sooner than that. Ah, how the months blur...Well, if there's only a brief window of opportunity for advertising, and a longer while till the nearest essential payment, I say let's go for it. If we have a shot, we should take it; I'd be willing to shell out enough for one of those "300,000 ad-views for $35" deals.

[Fax Celestis]

Shyriath, email me (shasta@shireroth.org) and we can work from there. Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

[Gryphon Avocatio]

Agreed...if there is but a short window, we ought to at least try...I just think that it'd be folly to advertise, and then when people arrive have them find a half disabled message board and a non-existant site. Shirerothian's aren't known for their deep pockets, so I know that if people pay for advertisements they might be less likely to pay for other more necessary services that have more proven benefits.But that's me being logical. My gut instinct says go for it. If it works, we can always try to cajole new cits into paying for the site ;P. 3e knowe ek that in fourme of speche is chaunge / With-inne a thousand 3eer, and wordes tho / That hadden pris now wonder nyce and straunge / Us thenketh hem, and 3et thei spake hem so, / And spedde as wel in loue as men now do...

[Ari Rahikkala]

Requesting declassification per Declassification act of 3742.