March Sponsor News
Happy March, Dear Sponsors! It's hard for me to believe, but it has been a year since I officially announced that you had saved the store, and wow, are things different now! The current 2016 Sponsor count stands at nearly 600, and all of us at Borderlands are very, very grateful.
The Radio Version:
1) Live-streaming has taken longer & been more complicated than we anticipated (who would have guessed?). However, we should have it functional for the March 31st General Meeting.
2) March's sponsor event will be a tour of the American Bookbinders' Museum (355 Clementina) on Wednesday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm. The cost will be $7 per person. Please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com if you'd like to join in. Capacity will be limited to 30 people and you may bring one guest, so reserve your space soon if you would like to attend.
3) Sponsors' General Meeting is on Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 pm and will take place at the Cafe (870 Valencia St. SF CA 94110). We're not sure how long it will run; it all depends on how many questions you have for me. Afterwards, there will probably be drinks at the lovely Phoenix Pub just across the street.
4) Next Sponsor Social is scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd from 7:00 - 11:00 pm. Guests will be Fly By Night Gifts and the wonderful folks at Speakeasy Ales and Lagers will be bringing a broad range of their beers for your enjoyment. As usual, one guest per sponsor. Also, this will be the last social which non-renewed 2015 sponsors may attend.
5) Speaking of sponsorship renewals, if you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2016 this will be the last sponsor email you'll receive. Of course, if you would like to renew now, we'd love to have you. You can stop by the store, call, email, or even send us an old-fashioned check. And, you can renew on-line right here - https://borderlands-books.com/buysponsorship16.html .
The Extended Dance Remix:
1) Live-streaming has taken longer & been more complicated to set up reliably than I anticipated. We had it working for a short time, and then it went sideways. However, I have invested in some new equipment and Jeremy has done a lot of frantic studying, and we should have it fully functional so that long-distance sponsors can watch the March 31st General Meeting. I'll be sending out a quick update will the details to this list prior to the meeting.
2) Due to logistical whatnots, I have rescheduled the tour of the 3D printing/prototyping place for the summer. But, with the kind assistance of author and sponsor Madeleine Robins, we've arranged a private Borderlands' Sponsors tour of the amazing American Bookbinders' Museum for this month! The Museum houses an extensive collection of mostly-operational bookbinding equipment from the 18th and 19th centuries. It really must be seen to be believed. This quote from their website explains briefly why it is important (and fascinating) to study these tools, particularly right now: "Our relationship to the book is rapidly evolving, making it the ideal time to tell the history of [the printed book] and memorialize its significance in regards to where we are today. The American Bookbinders Museum is an important library of equipment and archive materials on bookbinding in America. We offer an authentic experience of what a factory of the day felt like and enable visitors to experience the machinery and tools."
The tour will take place on Wednesday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm. We'll meet at the Museum, which is located at 355 Clementina. The cost for the tour will be $7 per person (cash, please, payable at the venue), a 30% discount off the regular price. You can also bring drinks or snacks if you'll like; we'll have a short informal reception after the tour. Please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com to let us know you'll be attending; one guest per sponsor is welcome (but each attendee will still need to pay $7). The maximum number of attendees is 30, so reserve your space soon. More information about the museum, as well as a virtual tour if you cannot attend in person, can be found here: http://www.bookbindersmuseum.org/
PS Very sorry for the short notice for this event. As I said, "logistical whatnots".
3) The Sponsors' General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 pm. I'd really like to have a chance to talk with you about how things have gone through our first year as a sponsored store. I want to know what we've done right, what we've done wrong, and what we can do better -- as well as answering any questions you have. Also, I need to talk with you about some ideas I have for the future. What I have in mind is something much like the meeting we had last year, which was the genesis for what saved the store. I'll outline where we stand as a business, discuss future plans and then ask for comments and ideas. If there's anything you'd like to discuss that you think I might not cover, please email me ahead of time so I can be prepared to respond. I hope to see as many of you there as possible because some of the topics on my mind are pretty important. If you can't attend in person, also feel free to email me with your comments, sponsors@borderlands-books.com.
4) The next Sponsor Social is scheduled for April 2nd from 7:00 - 11:00 pm. As usual, it will be a potluck, so bring your specialty dish to show off, or a bottle of something to share. You can bring one non-sponsor guest with you. RSVPs are appreciated but not required. Unfortunately, with all the rain we've had, I doubt the basement will be dry enough for "backstage" tours. However, I'm setting up some other exciting things:
Our guest vendor will be Fly By Night Gifts. Fly By Night will have a large and impressive selection of hand-stamped and embossed cards, hair adornments, and jewelry with a science fiction theme for sale, and the items will be 30% off for all sponsors, with a free gift with purchase over $10. Fly By Night is operated by Rina Weisman who is, among other things, one of the driving forces behind the long-running SF in SF reading series. She's really quite a renaissance woman, and her products have been great sellers at the store for years. However, we've never had her full line of items for sale before so expect to see some really neat treats.
Our beverage guest will be the fine folks from Speakeasy Ales and Lagers < http://www.goodbeer.com >. Speakeasy is not just a truly great craft brewery, but they're also 100% San Francisco local. They'll be bringing down all sorts of interesting beers, including their newest release: Phliz' Payback Coffee Porter (just coming out this Saturday - http://www.goodbeer.com/events/2016/3/19/release-party-payback-coffee-porter). Their staff will be on hand to tell you anything you could possibly want to know about their beers and brewery. Note: Since they'll be providing all the beer that we could possibly want, free of charge -- if you're going to bring something in the beverage department to share, you might want to give beer a miss this time.
And as usual, there will be much merriment, weird & fabulous raffle prizes, and probably an embarrassing story or two about the pre-history of Borderlands. Finally, as I mentioned at the beginning of this year, this will be the last social which non-renewed 2015 sponsors may attend. I hope to see all of you there.
5) Speaking of sponsorship renewals, if you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2016 this will be the last sponsor email you'll receive. This is not because we want to exclude you but, rather than spamming former sponsors, we will be purging our 2015 mailing list and replacing it with the current list of sponsors. If you'd still like to see what is going on with the sponsorship program, all that information will continue to appear at the sponsors' blog - http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com - which is (and will remain) open for public viewing. Of course, if you would like to renew now, we'd love to have you. You can stop by the store, call, email, or even send us an old-fashioned check. And, you can renew on-line right here - https://borderlands-books.com/buysponsorship16.html .
