April Sponsor Newsletter
Thank you to everyone who attended the Sponsors' General Meeting on March 31st. It was a good evening. I got a bunch of ideas (some of which you'll find below) and very useful feedback on our second full year as a sponsored store. I'll be getting the notes from the meeting together in the next couple of weeks and I'll make sure you know where to find them on the sponsors' blog.
Full write-up aside, my main message at the meeting was that we're doing alright in terms of sales in the bookstore for this year so far, but the weather hasn't helped. That said, I'm not concerned. The cafe business is rock solid and Z'ev has taken on full responsibility for the day-to-day operations. He's doing a great job and it's a big load off of me.
From the sponsors I heard that we're doing well but that they'd like more chances to socialize with each other (and us) outside of the quarterly socials. So, as you'll see below, we're adding two regular monthly get-togethers. Assuming people turn up, we'll keep them going.
I hope that everyone one is either enjoying their spring, or at least "fixin' to".
All Best,
Alan
The Hare Version:
(1) If you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2017, 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/buysponsorship17.html . (Current sponsors take note -- we will be changing the password for the wireless in the cafe. Please ask at the counter or email me to get the new password.)
(2) Shall we "pester" you? If you'd like reminders about major events and sponsorship renewals, please let me know. I try not to spam people but I've head from a number of sources that reminders would be welcome, so -- if you like to hear from me more often, just reply to this note and put "pester me" in the subject or email.
(3) Due to popular sponsor demand, we'll be reviving the Sponsors' Cocktail nights. Due to urgent demand from Alan & Jude's livers, we'll be doing it only once a month, on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Our first Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be Tuesday, April 25th at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) starting at 7:00 pm.
(4) Guardians of the Galaxy II Sneak Preview Tickets! In appreciation of our sponsors, Rina Weisman at SF in SF is giving you first crack at tickets for the preview show on May 4th (time TBA), available only via SF in SF. Tickets will be $8.50; email your full name and a contact email to Rina Weisman, at sfinsfevents@gmail.com to be notified when tickets go on sale. Please note - Sponsors may purchase up to six tickets each so please, bring your friends.
(5) Game nights. Inspired by the rousing success of the first one, we'll be doing a monthly game night at the Cafe on the second Monday of each month. The first monthly Game Night will be Monday, May 8th from 6 pm - 10 pm. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(6) Our next Sponsor Social will be Saturday, May 13th from 7pm - 11pm. We'll have fencing (with swords, not wooden posts) demonstrations, a fabulous retail guest, free advance reading copies and much more!
(7) We're still working on the details of June's Sponsor event, which will probably be a San Francisco Ghost Walk.
(8) Join us for a guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103) on Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am. The cost for the tour is $10. Please RSVP if you're interested. You may bring one guest.
The Tortiose Version:
(1) If you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2017, 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 2016 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/buysponsorship17.html . (Current sponsors take note -- we will be changing the password for the wireless in the cafe. Please ask at the counter or email me to get the new password.)
(2) The "Pester Me" option: please let us know if you would like me to send you extra emails with reminders about sponsor renewal, upcoming major events, parties, and etc. Sponsors at the recent General Meeting mentioned that sometimes, reminders are really helpful and they appreciated the extra nudges. Confirm you'd like extra reminders by replying to this note with "pester me" in the subject or body of your email.
(3) Due to popular sponsor demand, we'll be reviving the Sponsors' Cocktail nights. Due to popular demand from Alan and Jude's livers, we'll be doing it only once a month (instead of once a week), on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Our first Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be Tuesday, April 25th at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) <http://www.churchillsf.com/>; some combination of us will be there from at least 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm. No need to RSVP and any number of guests and friends are welcome. The bar is INCREDIBLY convenient to public transit -- the MUNI Metro Underground (via F, K, L, and M lines at Church Street,) and J and N lines stop less than a block away.
(4) SF in SF is hosting a sneak preview of the upcoming sure-to-be-a-smash-hit GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY II! In appreciation of our sponsors, Rina Weisman at SF in SF is giving you first crack at tickets for this show, available only via SF in SF, beginning April 15th. If you are interested in being contacted when these tix go on sale, please email your full name and a contact email to Rina Weisman, at sfinsfevents@gmail.com. This will be a sell-out, so you'll want to RSVP early! Please note - Sponsors may purchase up to six tickets each so please, bring your friends. The preview will take place Thursday, May 4th at The Balboa Theatre (3630 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121) time to be announced, and tickets will be $8.50 each.
(5) Game nights. Inspired by the success of the first one in September of last year, we'll be doing a monthly game night at the Cafe on the second Monday of each month. The first Monthly Game Night will be Monday, May 8th from 6 pm - 10 pm. Join fellow sponsors & "game" staff for chess, Cards Against Humanity, Scrabble, Pictionary, or whatever other board games you'd like to bring to play! Please bring games that have a usual play-cycle of less than 3 hours, so probably NOT Monopoly, Seven Ages, Arkham Horror, or The Longest Day (that's the Normandy Invasion strategy game that takes an average of 90 hours to play). Are you a secret Balderdash champion? Kick butt at Connect 4? Here's your chance to shine! We'll have adult beverages (after eight pm), iced tea and lemonade on offer, but feel free to bring your favorite beverage to share. Also, you're welcome to bring food if you wish -- the cafe will be shutting down at eight. No need to RSVP, and please feel free to invite your friends along, as there really isn't any limit to the number of folks we can accommodate -- the more the merrier.
(6) Our next Sponsor Social will be Saturday, May 13th from 7pm - 11pm. We'll have fencing demonstrations, a fabulous retail guest, free advance reading copies and oh so much more!
(7) We're still working on June's Sponsor event, which will probably be a San Francisco Ghost Walk. More info as we have it.
(8) Join us for a fascinating guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103) on Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am. The San Francisco Center for the Book was co-founded in 1996 by Mary Austin and Kathleen Burch, "who recognized a growing need in San Francisco, the Bay Area and on the West Coast for a facility specifically designed and equipped to support the appreciation, teaching and creation of book arts." Attendees can expect a walk-through of the space, both the Bindery and Print Studio, with details about the equipment, what it's used for, and a little history of bookbinding and letterpress printing. There will be demos of some of the equipment so we can see how things work, and the tour will wrap up in the Print Studio with a letterpress demo. The Center also has a bookbinding workshop scheduled for July 2nd, so we will get to see some students at work. The cost for the tour will be $10, and the guided portion will take about an hour. Attendees can stay longer to explore the space if they wish. For more information about the Center, their website is here: https://www.sfcb.org/home . We will meet outside the Center at 9:45 am before the tour, and guests are welcome; however, please do RSVP for this event so we know how many people to expect.
