My Dear Sponsors,
I have some very exciting news. On Monday I submitted an offer to buy the building on Haight Street that I've been talking about. And, on Wednesday morning, the offer was accepted. It's possible we're going to have a permanent home for Borderlands!
The Building
Located just a bit east of Masonic Ave, the building is a three story Victorian built in 1902. There are two large flats upstairs and a retail space on the ground floor. There is also a backyard and a full basement. It's a little bit smaller that our current spot but, by putting the office and storage in the basement and being smarter with the layout, I think we can fit all our current stock and more. Sadly, there is no room to accommodate the cafe. (Please note -- that does not mean I'm planning on closing the cafe. More on that later.)
The address of the store is 1373 Haight. If you try to look at it on Google street view, the place that pops up is actually across the street so "turn" south. Currently it's the location of Recycled Records but, when we move, we're not going to displace them. The owner of the record shop owns the building and he's planning on retiring. He'll be closing up shop and moving out shortly after the sale closes. He's still open for now so, if you'd like to take a look at the place, you can. But, if you decide to visit, please don't worry about the condition of the interior -- both the bookstore and the cafe were in much, much worse shape when we arrived. When we're done, it will be beautiful.
The Catch
Here's the catch -- I need to raise a lot of money if this is going to happen. Due to the price and having a very low down payment, the lenders that I've spoken to are not interested in financing the purchase. So, I'm going to need personal loans for a significant portion of the price. Having started on Monday to raise the money, I already have $265,000. But I need to raise . . . $1,900,000 in total.
I don't know if this is going to be possible but I believe it is worth trying. We have, including today, 19 days to get the money. After 19 days, I cannot cancel the deal without losing our deposit.
On one hand, I think it's ridiculous for me to think that achieving this is even within the realm of possibility.
On the other hand, two and a half years ago, I was just about positive that we were going to close the shop. If someone had told me what would happen when we started the sponsor program, I would have thought they were completely nuts.
I was talking with someone last night about this deal and they asked me if I was freaking out about it. I realized that I wasn't. There have been a few times in my life when it just didn't matter whether I succeeded or failed. All that mattered was that I act with a clear mind and follow the course that I had set. This is one of those times.
If we succeed, we will have removed the greatest obstacle that exists to my dream of creating a bookstore that can last and last and last. On second thought, perhaps I should say, "our dream".
You're a sponsor because you want Borderlands to continue to exist. In the 20 years that I've been in business, rent has steadily trended upwards in San Francisco. If we don't ensure the cost of our location -- we will have to close at some point. I don't know when it will be but I'm sure it will happen. Only by owning it ourselves can we rely on the physical space which we must have to exist.
The Loan
So, let's give it a try, shall we?
I'm looking for lenders who can offer loans of $100,000 or more. If you're one of those people, let me know by replying to this note or emailing me directly at abeatts@borderlands-books.com.
I'm flexible on the terms of the loan. But I do have a rough outline of what is most desirable (and, I know what's impossible). To give a decent return on a (relatively) small amount while also keeping the expense in the range that we can manage, I've been thinking of 3% interest. To allow a reasonable amount of time to get our feet under us, a term of 9 years would be nice. Paying interest-only makes the bookkeeping easy as well as suiting some other factors. But, to be absolutely clear: none of that is set, including the interest rate. I would take a lower rate and I'm willing to talk about higher rates. In short, if you would be willing to consider that loan under terms that are to be determined, please get in touch and let's discuss it. We've gotten this far by being imaginative and talking about ideas, it would be dumb to stop now.
If you would be interested in lending but have a smaller amount in mind, I appreciate that very much. For now however, I'm trying to keep the total number of loans down by asking for a higher amount. That may change as things move along.
The Last Word
I'm sure that you have a lot of questions: When would we move? How are you going to manage the upkeep? What are the apartments upstairs like? How has the process been so far? and so on. I was going to write a big, long note that would try to answer all that stuff but I decided not to do that. The important thing is to get the word out and start finding the loans.
So, instead of writing a enormous missive tonight, I'm going to spread all the info out over the next couple of weeks. I normally don't send out more than one email per month but this is a special situation. I figure you'd like to know how we're progressing so I'm going to be writing frequently until either the deal goes through or the deal dies. (If frequent emails are bugging you, please don't unsubscribe -- just drop a note to sponsors@borderlands-books asking us to stop pestering you. We'll temporarily remove you from the email list.)
The Real Last Word
If you have a personal policy of not lending money.
Or, if that sort of amount is completely out of your reach (it sure as hell would be for me, personally).
Or, if you think that what I'm doing is just a bad idea.
Or, . . . any of the thousands of reasons that you can't or won't make a loan.
Please, don't feel badly. You sponsored Borderlands. You and your compatriots are the only reason we're still around. You've already done so much for us, we feel gratitude of a magnitude that we can't express. There is no need to do more, unless you wish to and it is safe for you to do so.
Warm Regards,
Alan
Friday, October 13, 2017
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Sponsor Letter, October 3rd 2017
Dear Sponsors,
Advisory Group
One of the things I appreciate about you all is how willing you've been to give me advice. I appreciate even more how good, cogent and considered that advice has been. But, there are times when questions come up suddenly and need to be answered before the next Sponsor Note is scheduled. Also, sometimes major questions come up that I need to have face-to-face discussions about (like last year when I was talking with small groups of sponsors about how to fund a building purchase). So, I've decided to create an advisory group composed of sponsors. There aren't any required qualifications aside from the willingness to reply to email promptly and come to monthly meetings in San Francisco. The members of the board will be asked to advise on a wide range of matters regarding the operation of the store and the sponsorship program. Members may also be asked to volunteer to work on specific projects. If you're interested in serving, please drop me an email and we'll go from there.
Building News
First off, thank you to everyone who wrote with their thoughts and advice about moving to Haight Street. There were a couple of consistent comments that I received. Many people felt that moving so much farther away from BART would be a problem. I agree with that 100% but, proximity to BART is desirable enough that it affects building prices. I don't want to move out of the Mission District but, we may not have a choice if we're going to purchase a building. And I do think we need to buy a building if possible, for all the reasons I've discussed in the past. On the bright side, a number of very public-transit-savvy sponsors pointed out that there are a number of pretty simple and direct bus options to get from BART to upper Haight. Granted, the buses in San Francisco kind of suck but that's better than nothing. My final conclusion is that the lack of BART access might be a deal breaker, but that's something I'm going to determine if and when it looks like we might be able to work a deal on a building. The flip side of those comments is that there were also a number of folks who wrote me saying that upper Haight is much closer to them and that it would make it much easier to visit the shop.
Another comment was that the street situation on upper Haight is less than stellar. The young street kids that panhandle in the area can be somewhat aggressive and there's a minority of them that are real trouble-makers. I agree with that assessment completely but, I think that the actual threat is probably lower there than it is on Valencia St. It is certainly lower there than it is on Mission Street. On upper Haight the problem is mostly ne'er-do-well homeless kids. In the Mission the problem is gang members, drug dealers, and armed robbers -- all folks who are much more low-profile than street kids and also profoundly more dangerous. But, the comfort of our customers is something that needs to be considered and it's not fun to be aggressively panhandled. So, I don't think that consideration is a deal-breaker but it certainly is a downside.
On the positive side of the equation, the neighborhood is more diverse from a shopping standpoint than the Mission. There are two other bookstores there, three music stores, great used clothing stores, and so on. From a retail standpoint, it's the way Valencia Street was ten years ago. It is also more centrally located within the city. And, of course, there the final advantage - it's a building of the right sort that we might be able to afford.
Overall, the response from you was slightly in favor of the location and so I'm going to keep pursuing it. The building is supposed to hit the market on Monday so I should have some news about it in the next sponsor note.
Note: As usual, to RSVP for any event, just reply to this email and we'll take care of the rest.
Jingle version:
Note: Based on a suggestion at the General Meeting in March, we started a monthly game night at the cafe. After a strong start, attendance has been dropping steadily and so we're going to stop doing it on a monthly basis. Next year we'll certainly have at least one game night and we might consider doing it quarterly.
(1) Wednesday, October 11th at 5:00pm - Free tickets to The Internet Archive's anniversary party.
(2) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm - Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park. A (hopefully) sunny day in the park with grill and friends.
(3) Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 pm - Cocktail night at Churchill. Time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors at a great little bar on Church and Market called Churchill (198 Church Street at Market).
(4) Saturday, November 4th at 3:00 pm - Sponsor's Scotch Tasting at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
(5) Saturday, November 4th at 9:00 pm - World Fantasy Convention party for Borderlands 20th Anniversary in San Antonio, Texas.
(6) Saturday, November 18th - Borderlands Books' 20th Anniversary Party!
(7) December, date TBA - Trip to Dickens Fair.
Magnum Opus version:
(1) Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 5:00-9:30pm - Free tickets to The Internet Archive's anniversary party at The Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. San Francisco. From our friends at the Internet Archive comes this invitation which includes free admission for the first 100 sponsors to sign up using the special code VIPBORDERLANDS. Direct link here: https://internetarchive20ctimemachine.eventbrite.com?discount=VIPBorderlands.
From their website, "We invite you to enter our 20th Century Time Machine to experience the audio, books, films, web sites, ephemera and software fast disappearing from our midst. We’ll be connecting the centuries -- transporting 20th century treasures to curious minds in the 21st. Come explore the possibilities at our Annual Bash on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, from 5-9:30 pm. We’ll kick off the evening with cocktails, food trucks and hands-on demos of our coolest collections. Come scan a book, play in a virtual reality arcade, or spin a 78 rpm recording. When you arrive, be sure to get your library card. If you "check out" all the stations on your card, we'll reward you with a special Internet Archive gift. Starting at 7 p.m., we'll unveil the latest media the Internet Archive has to offer, presented by the artists, writers, and scientists who lose themselves in our collections every day. And to keep you dancing into the evening, DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, will be spinning records from 8-9:30. Come join our celebration!"
(2) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm - Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park
We are once again braving the outside world for a potluck cookout celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco. We're taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park, on Sunday, October 22nd at 2pm. We have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved table #1 in Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the south side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ . Please note that several streets are closed in the park on Sundays and parking is often challenging.
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com.
(3) Tuesday, October 24, 2017 starting at 7:00pm - Cocktail night at Churchill.
Sponsor Cocktail night continues 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) Saturday, November 4th at 3:00 pm - Sponsor's Scotch Tasting at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
As usual, we'll be hosting a Scotch tasting for our sponsors and their guests at the World Fantasy Convention this year. We don't have the room number yet but, if you'll drop me an email and let me know that you'd like to attend, I'll make sure to get you that information as soon as I have it. You can just reply to this note and tell me that you'll be coming. You're welcome to bring a guest or two if you like.
(5) Saturday, November 4th at 9:00 pm - World Fantasy Convention party for Borderlands 20th Anniversary in San Antonio, Texas.
In addition to our private party in the afternoon, we'll be having a public one Saturday evening at the convention to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I think it'll be a lot of fun (our convention parties usually are) and I hope that, if you're going to be at the con, you'll make time to attend.
(6) Saturday, November 18th - Borderlands Books 20th Anniversary Party!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this note, it's thanks to all of you that we get to celebrate 20 years in business. We're still nailing down all the details for the party but we've decided on a couple of things. There will be a regular-customers only pre-party and sale starting at 10 am. You'll need a password to get in (which I'll be sending out in the November note and in the newsletter) and we'll have Mimosas, snacks, some special deals, a store-wide 10% off sale, and we'll unveil our commemorative 20th Anniversary hoodie. At noon we'll open to the general public and we've got some fun stuff planned for that part of the day including many, many authors signing their work (the full list is to come and it's going to be a long, long one) and, probably, some live music. Then at six we'll close up to get ready for the Sponsor Social, which will start at 7 pm as usual. I'm still planning the details of that part but there'll be some killer food for sure and some special cocktails. And, if that's not enough for you, at 11 pm when that party stops, the after-party will move across the street to the Phoenix Pub where we'll close the place. As I said last month -- this is going to be epic.
(7) December, date TBA - Trip to Dickens Fair.
We're putting together a group trip to Dicken's Fair <https://dickensfair.com>. Scott and I are still working out the details but the trip will be sometime in the first half of December and we'll have some sort of discounted tickets (that detail is still being worked out -- and thank you to all our sponsors who are affiliated with the Fair for all the possible hook-ups for those tickets). Look for more details in the next sponsor note.
Advisory Group
One of the things I appreciate about you all is how willing you've been to give me advice. I appreciate even more how good, cogent and considered that advice has been. But, there are times when questions come up suddenly and need to be answered before the next Sponsor Note is scheduled. Also, sometimes major questions come up that I need to have face-to-face discussions about (like last year when I was talking with small groups of sponsors about how to fund a building purchase). So, I've decided to create an advisory group composed of sponsors. There aren't any required qualifications aside from the willingness to reply to email promptly and come to monthly meetings in San Francisco. The members of the board will be asked to advise on a wide range of matters regarding the operation of the store and the sponsorship program. Members may also be asked to volunteer to work on specific projects. If you're interested in serving, please drop me an email and we'll go from there.
Building News
First off, thank you to everyone who wrote with their thoughts and advice about moving to Haight Street. There were a couple of consistent comments that I received. Many people felt that moving so much farther away from BART would be a problem. I agree with that 100% but, proximity to BART is desirable enough that it affects building prices. I don't want to move out of the Mission District but, we may not have a choice if we're going to purchase a building. And I do think we need to buy a building if possible, for all the reasons I've discussed in the past. On the bright side, a number of very public-transit-savvy sponsors pointed out that there are a number of pretty simple and direct bus options to get from BART to upper Haight. Granted, the buses in San Francisco kind of suck but that's better than nothing. My final conclusion is that the lack of BART access might be a deal breaker, but that's something I'm going to determine if and when it looks like we might be able to work a deal on a building. The flip side of those comments is that there were also a number of folks who wrote me saying that upper Haight is much closer to them and that it would make it much easier to visit the shop.
Another comment was that the street situation on upper Haight is less than stellar. The young street kids that panhandle in the area can be somewhat aggressive and there's a minority of them that are real trouble-makers. I agree with that assessment completely but, I think that the actual threat is probably lower there than it is on Valencia St. It is certainly lower there than it is on Mission Street. On upper Haight the problem is mostly ne'er-do-well homeless kids. In the Mission the problem is gang members, drug dealers, and armed robbers -- all folks who are much more low-profile than street kids and also profoundly more dangerous. But, the comfort of our customers is something that needs to be considered and it's not fun to be aggressively panhandled. So, I don't think that consideration is a deal-breaker but it certainly is a downside.
On the positive side of the equation, the neighborhood is more diverse from a shopping standpoint than the Mission. There are two other bookstores there, three music stores, great used clothing stores, and so on. From a retail standpoint, it's the way Valencia Street was ten years ago. It is also more centrally located within the city. And, of course, there the final advantage - it's a building of the right sort that we might be able to afford.
Overall, the response from you was slightly in favor of the location and so I'm going to keep pursuing it. The building is supposed to hit the market on Monday so I should have some news about it in the next sponsor note.
Note: As usual, to RSVP for any event, just reply to this email and we'll take care of the rest.
Jingle version:
Note: Based on a suggestion at the General Meeting in March, we started a monthly game night at the cafe. After a strong start, attendance has been dropping steadily and so we're going to stop doing it on a monthly basis. Next year we'll certainly have at least one game night and we might consider doing it quarterly.
(1) Wednesday, October 11th at 5:00pm - Free tickets to The Internet Archive's anniversary party.
(2) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm - Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park. A (hopefully) sunny day in the park with grill and friends.
(3) Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 pm - Cocktail night at Churchill. Time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors at a great little bar on Church and Market called Churchill (198 Church Street at Market).
(4) Saturday, November 4th at 3:00 pm - Sponsor's Scotch Tasting at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
(5) Saturday, November 4th at 9:00 pm - World Fantasy Convention party for Borderlands 20th Anniversary in San Antonio, Texas.
(6) Saturday, November 18th - Borderlands Books' 20th Anniversary Party!
(7) December, date TBA - Trip to Dickens Fair.
Magnum Opus version:
(1) Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 5:00-9:30pm - Free tickets to The Internet Archive's anniversary party at The Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. San Francisco. From our friends at the Internet Archive comes this invitation which includes free admission for the first 100 sponsors to sign up using the special code VIPBORDERLANDS. Direct link here: https://internetarchive20ctimemachine.eventbrite.com?discount=VIPBorderlands.
From their website, "We invite you to enter our 20th Century Time Machine to experience the audio, books, films, web sites, ephemera and software fast disappearing from our midst. We’ll be connecting the centuries -- transporting 20th century treasures to curious minds in the 21st. Come explore the possibilities at our Annual Bash on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, from 5-9:30 pm. We’ll kick off the evening with cocktails, food trucks and hands-on demos of our coolest collections. Come scan a book, play in a virtual reality arcade, or spin a 78 rpm recording. When you arrive, be sure to get your library card. If you "check out" all the stations on your card, we'll reward you with a special Internet Archive gift. Starting at 7 p.m., we'll unveil the latest media the Internet Archive has to offer, presented by the artists, writers, and scientists who lose themselves in our collections every day. And to keep you dancing into the evening, DJ Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus, will be spinning records from 8-9:30. Come join our celebration!"
(2) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm - Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park
We are once again braving the outside world for a potluck cookout celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco. We're taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park, on Sunday, October 22nd at 2pm. We have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved table #1 in Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the south side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ . Please note that several streets are closed in the park on Sundays and parking is often challenging.
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com.
(3) Tuesday, October 24, 2017 starting at 7:00pm - Cocktail night at Churchill.
Sponsor Cocktail night continues 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) Saturday, November 4th at 3:00 pm - Sponsor's Scotch Tasting at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
As usual, we'll be hosting a Scotch tasting for our sponsors and their guests at the World Fantasy Convention this year. We don't have the room number yet but, if you'll drop me an email and let me know that you'd like to attend, I'll make sure to get you that information as soon as I have it. You can just reply to this note and tell me that you'll be coming. You're welcome to bring a guest or two if you like.
(5) Saturday, November 4th at 9:00 pm - World Fantasy Convention party for Borderlands 20th Anniversary in San Antonio, Texas.
In addition to our private party in the afternoon, we'll be having a public one Saturday evening at the convention to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I think it'll be a lot of fun (our convention parties usually are) and I hope that, if you're going to be at the con, you'll make time to attend.
(6) Saturday, November 18th - Borderlands Books 20th Anniversary Party!
As I mentioned at the beginning of this note, it's thanks to all of you that we get to celebrate 20 years in business. We're still nailing down all the details for the party but we've decided on a couple of things. There will be a regular-customers only pre-party and sale starting at 10 am. You'll need a password to get in (which I'll be sending out in the November note and in the newsletter) and we'll have Mimosas, snacks, some special deals, a store-wide 10% off sale, and we'll unveil our commemorative 20th Anniversary hoodie. At noon we'll open to the general public and we've got some fun stuff planned for that part of the day including many, many authors signing their work (the full list is to come and it's going to be a long, long one) and, probably, some live music. Then at six we'll close up to get ready for the Sponsor Social, which will start at 7 pm as usual. I'm still planning the details of that part but there'll be some killer food for sure and some special cocktails. And, if that's not enough for you, at 11 pm when that party stops, the after-party will move across the street to the Phoenix Pub where we'll close the place. As I said last month -- this is going to be epic.
(7) December, date TBA - Trip to Dickens Fair.
We're putting together a group trip to Dicken's Fair <https://dickensfair.com>. Scott and I are still working out the details but the trip will be sometime in the first half of December and we'll have some sort of discounted tickets (that detail is still being worked out -- and thank you to all our sponsors who are affiliated with the Fair for all the possible hook-ups for those tickets). Look for more details in the next sponsor note.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Sponser Letter, September 18th 2017
Dear Sponsors,
I've lots of entertaining news about what I've been up to recently but, before I get into that, I've a question for you.
Do you think that a location on Upper Haight Street (i.e. around Ashbury and the park) would work for the bookstore?
I'm looking at a property to buy on Haight Street and I think that it would work as a location, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. As I see it, parking is about the same as our current location, as is local public transit service. However, transit from outside SF is slightly worse (it's pretty far from BART and freeway access is not as good). Walking traffic is good (although not as good as Valencia St.) But, the neighborhood "feels" more like our sort of place than Valencia (and the Mission in general) does nowadays.
Obviously, this would be dependent on the numbers working out, financing being possible, and the "bones" of the building being good, but all those things are looking promising so far. Your thoughts are, as always, very much appreciated.
Buildings and the buying of them, has been the theme of my last month-and-a-half. Since the last time I wrote, I've looked very seriously at three buildings that might be possible for the store, and I've made offers on two of them (both offers turned down, as you may guess). I can't say much about the third building since that is still in play (and, for the same reason, I can't say anything about the building on Haight Street). But I'm happy to tell you about the others.
The first one was a return to the building that I was looking at in the beginning of this year. It's an odd one on Mission St. (2965 Mission to be precise). We came back to it because the seller seemed open to a price that was more reasonable. Last time, they were asking 2.5 million and I offered 1.6 (which was very low but was also where the math worked out). They came back with an offer of 2.4 and so we said thanks but; no. Last month my realtor got in touch with them (because the building still hadn't sold - it went on the market in October of last year) and asked if they would be open to talking about another offer. After a bit of back and forth, they said they were open to something under 2 million. After some thought, I decided we could offer 1.75 million. We did and they (rather unprofessionally) declined. But, that one is still on the table. Neither I nor my realtor think that they're going to get much interest at their asking price and so, in a few months, we might come back to them.
The lack of success there is both good and bad. The building is kind of weird in that it's two narrow but deep store fronts with a two-story building at the rear of the lot. The yard between the two buildings was covered over at some point in the past but it was a pretty poor job. And there were two unpermitted apartments built into the rear building. We would have to do a lot of work to make the whole place legal and workable for the store so taking it on would be a hassle.
But, the total square footage is 3500, which is almost twice the current bookstore. The location is excellent with great public transit access, very good freeway access, good foot traffic and close to many other neat businesses. And, both buildings were unusual. The front structure is 1920s art-deco with much of the original plaster work inside and the rear building was an old livery stable (probably from the 1890s). All in all, a headache but a really neat one with plenty of character.
The other building that I looked at was kind of weird right out of the gate. Before I could get any information about it from the listing realtor, they insisted that I sign a non-disclosure agreement (which was a first for both me and my realtor). I'm not going to break that agreement here but I can tell you all the public information on the property. The building is at 3901 18th St. and so it's only five blocks westerly from our current location. It is a single story building with two retail store fronts, one a cafe and the other a nail salon. The size is good (around 2700 square feet) but the layout was awkward. The price, however, was hard to beat -- 1.3 million. So, we started the process of getting details about the building and ran into that silly NDA thing. We dealt with that and then heard nothing for days and days. Finally, we decided to jump-start the process by sending in an offer at 1.25 million. That finally produced a reply. Informally the listing realtor told my realtor that they had already received and turned down offers in the neighborhood of 15% over the listing price. At that price, the limitations in the building made it much less attractive so we walked.
My realtor and I have been joking about there being a pattern to the buildings we offer on -- specifically that the building will, for one reason or another, not be "straight-forward" and then the seller and/or the agent will do some strange stuff. Thus far we've had a seller who seems to not be very interested in selling the building (pro tip here: if a building has been on the market for almost a frickin' _year_, the price is probably too high and you should lower it), a seller who lists a building at a price far below the amount that they'll accept (which is a waste of everyone's time), realtors who are slow to respond to actual buyers (three of those so far, and I think we might be headed to number four), and it goes on and on.
Seriously though, that pattern isn't surprising to me. What we're looking for is an odd sort of property and we're in an odd situation as buyers in that we're planning on being owner-occupiers, we're actively searching for older buildings with some problems (since those problems lower the price and I've got the skills / contacts to sort out most kinds of problems), and we're trying to do this on a shoe-string budget. I'm very grateful that our realtor is willing to work with us, has a boatload of experience, and understands that this is going to be a long process.
That's about all my news for now. I'll have more to tell you about the building process next month, as well as information about our 20th anniversary party (which will be epic) and other upcoming events.
All Best,
Alan
The scattered showers version:
(1) Tuesday, September 26th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(2) Thursday, October 5th at 7:00 pm - Advance Preview of "BladeRunner 2049" at the Balboa Theatre, thanks to SF in SF.
(3) Monday, October 9th at 7:00 pm - Sponsor Game Night. Join us to hang out and bring your favorite game!
(4) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm -- Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park. A (hopefully) sunny day in the park with grill and friends.
The deluge of biblical proportions version:
(1) Tuesday, September 26th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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.
(2) Thursday, October 5th at 7:00 pm - Advance Preview of "BladeRunner 2049" at the Balboa Theatre, Balboa Theatre 3630 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121. SF in SF is hosting a sneak preview of BLADE RUNNER 2049! 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. This will be a sell-out, so you'll want to get your tickets early! Program starts promptly at 7:00 pm, with special guest Paul Sammon, who wrote FUTURE NOIR: THE MAKING OF BLADE RUNNER, (the ultimate reference tool for fans of the movie). Paul will give a half hour talk, and answer questions and sign books after the movie in the lobby. Borderlands Books will be on hand with his book, as well as other PKD titles. Film begins at exactly 7:30 pm. Note - Sponsors may purchase up to a maximum of six tickets each, so please bring your friends. Tickets will be $8.50 each. Payment via Venmo or PayPal (please choose "send to friends or family option") to sfinsfevents@gmail.com. Rina Weisman will be in the lobby as of 6:15PM to the left of the box office with your ticket(s). If you are buying tix for more than one person, you will need to collect all tix at the same time. For more info, email sfinsfevents@gmail.com
(3) Monday, October 9th at 7:00 pm - Sponsor Game Night. 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! 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.
(4) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm -- Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park
BBQ Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We are once again braving the outside world for a potluck cookout celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco. We're taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park, on Sunday, October 22nd at 2pm. We have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved table #1 in Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the south side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ . Please note that several streets are closed in the park on Sundays and parking is often challenging.
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com
I've lots of entertaining news about what I've been up to recently but, before I get into that, I've a question for you.
Do you think that a location on Upper Haight Street (i.e. around Ashbury and the park) would work for the bookstore?
I'm looking at a property to buy on Haight Street and I think that it would work as a location, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. As I see it, parking is about the same as our current location, as is local public transit service. However, transit from outside SF is slightly worse (it's pretty far from BART and freeway access is not as good). Walking traffic is good (although not as good as Valencia St.) But, the neighborhood "feels" more like our sort of place than Valencia (and the Mission in general) does nowadays.
Obviously, this would be dependent on the numbers working out, financing being possible, and the "bones" of the building being good, but all those things are looking promising so far. Your thoughts are, as always, very much appreciated.
Buildings and the buying of them, has been the theme of my last month-and-a-half. Since the last time I wrote, I've looked very seriously at three buildings that might be possible for the store, and I've made offers on two of them (both offers turned down, as you may guess). I can't say much about the third building since that is still in play (and, for the same reason, I can't say anything about the building on Haight Street). But I'm happy to tell you about the others.
The first one was a return to the building that I was looking at in the beginning of this year. It's an odd one on Mission St. (2965 Mission to be precise). We came back to it because the seller seemed open to a price that was more reasonable. Last time, they were asking 2.5 million and I offered 1.6 (which was very low but was also where the math worked out). They came back with an offer of 2.4 and so we said thanks but; no. Last month my realtor got in touch with them (because the building still hadn't sold - it went on the market in October of last year) and asked if they would be open to talking about another offer. After a bit of back and forth, they said they were open to something under 2 million. After some thought, I decided we could offer 1.75 million. We did and they (rather unprofessionally) declined. But, that one is still on the table. Neither I nor my realtor think that they're going to get much interest at their asking price and so, in a few months, we might come back to them.
The lack of success there is both good and bad. The building is kind of weird in that it's two narrow but deep store fronts with a two-story building at the rear of the lot. The yard between the two buildings was covered over at some point in the past but it was a pretty poor job. And there were two unpermitted apartments built into the rear building. We would have to do a lot of work to make the whole place legal and workable for the store so taking it on would be a hassle.
But, the total square footage is 3500, which is almost twice the current bookstore. The location is excellent with great public transit access, very good freeway access, good foot traffic and close to many other neat businesses. And, both buildings were unusual. The front structure is 1920s art-deco with much of the original plaster work inside and the rear building was an old livery stable (probably from the 1890s). All in all, a headache but a really neat one with plenty of character.
The other building that I looked at was kind of weird right out of the gate. Before I could get any information about it from the listing realtor, they insisted that I sign a non-disclosure agreement (which was a first for both me and my realtor). I'm not going to break that agreement here but I can tell you all the public information on the property. The building is at 3901 18th St. and so it's only five blocks westerly from our current location. It is a single story building with two retail store fronts, one a cafe and the other a nail salon. The size is good (around 2700 square feet) but the layout was awkward. The price, however, was hard to beat -- 1.3 million. So, we started the process of getting details about the building and ran into that silly NDA thing. We dealt with that and then heard nothing for days and days. Finally, we decided to jump-start the process by sending in an offer at 1.25 million. That finally produced a reply. Informally the listing realtor told my realtor that they had already received and turned down offers in the neighborhood of 15% over the listing price. At that price, the limitations in the building made it much less attractive so we walked.
My realtor and I have been joking about there being a pattern to the buildings we offer on -- specifically that the building will, for one reason or another, not be "straight-forward" and then the seller and/or the agent will do some strange stuff. Thus far we've had a seller who seems to not be very interested in selling the building (pro tip here: if a building has been on the market for almost a frickin' _year_, the price is probably too high and you should lower it), a seller who lists a building at a price far below the amount that they'll accept (which is a waste of everyone's time), realtors who are slow to respond to actual buyers (three of those so far, and I think we might be headed to number four), and it goes on and on.
Seriously though, that pattern isn't surprising to me. What we're looking for is an odd sort of property and we're in an odd situation as buyers in that we're planning on being owner-occupiers, we're actively searching for older buildings with some problems (since those problems lower the price and I've got the skills / contacts to sort out most kinds of problems), and we're trying to do this on a shoe-string budget. I'm very grateful that our realtor is willing to work with us, has a boatload of experience, and understands that this is going to be a long process.
That's about all my news for now. I'll have more to tell you about the building process next month, as well as information about our 20th anniversary party (which will be epic) and other upcoming events.
All Best,
Alan
The scattered showers version:
(1) Tuesday, September 26th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(2) Thursday, October 5th at 7:00 pm - Advance Preview of "BladeRunner 2049" at the Balboa Theatre, thanks to SF in SF.
(3) Monday, October 9th at 7:00 pm - Sponsor Game Night. Join us to hang out and bring your favorite game!
(4) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm -- Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park. A (hopefully) sunny day in the park with grill and friends.
The deluge of biblical proportions version:
(1) Tuesday, September 26th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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.
(2) Thursday, October 5th at 7:00 pm - Advance Preview of "BladeRunner 2049" at the Balboa Theatre, Balboa Theatre 3630 Balboa St, San Francisco, CA 94121. SF in SF is hosting a sneak preview of BLADE RUNNER 2049! 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. This will be a sell-out, so you'll want to get your tickets early! Program starts promptly at 7:00 pm, with special guest Paul Sammon, who wrote FUTURE NOIR: THE MAKING OF BLADE RUNNER, (the ultimate reference tool for fans of the movie). Paul will give a half hour talk, and answer questions and sign books after the movie in the lobby. Borderlands Books will be on hand with his book, as well as other PKD titles. Film begins at exactly 7:30 pm. Note - Sponsors may purchase up to a maximum of six tickets each, so please bring your friends. Tickets will be $8.50 each. Payment via Venmo or PayPal (please choose "send to friends or family option") to sfinsfevents@gmail.com. Rina Weisman will be in the lobby as of 6:15PM to the left of the box office with your ticket(s). If you are buying tix for more than one person, you will need to collect all tix at the same time. For more info, email sfinsfevents@gmail.com
(3) Monday, October 9th at 7:00 pm - Sponsor Game Night. 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! 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.
(4) Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00pm -- Sponsor Picnic at Golden Gate Park
BBQ Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We are once again braving the outside world for a potluck cookout celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco. We're taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park, on Sunday, October 22nd at 2pm. We have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved table #1 in Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the south side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ . Please note that several streets are closed in the park on Sundays and parking is often challenging.
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Sponsor Letter, August 7th, 2017
Hello Everyone,
If you're doing such a thing, I hope that your summer vacations are (or have been) lovely. I'm not taking a summer vacation since I managed to get ten days in New Orleans this spring, but I'm with you in spirt. At the store we've been busy helping all the people visiting for their vacations and it has been great fun. One of the things I like the best about this business (and get to do the least) is make suggestions and help people find the book they're looking for. Especially when they don't actually know what book they're looking for. Summer time and the Holiday Season are the two times that I get to do the most of it, so it has been a good couple of weeks.
Speaking of summer travel, a lot of folks that we know are heading off to Helsinki for the World Science Fiction convention. One of our sponsors, Gay Chung, is going to be there and she has offered to coordinate a get-together for any other sponsors who are going to be attending. Exactly where, when and what it'll be is going to have to wait 'til Gay gets in town (which'll be tomorrow) and has a chance to check out the lay of the land. But, if you'd like to connect with her and other sponsors, you should drop her a note at blbsponsors@gmail.com. Once she has the details, she'll drop you a line. I wish I was going to be there, but I'm sure you'll all send me some great pictures (yes, that is a hint).
And, now on to the list of upcoming events.
Warm Regards,
Alan
Note: As usual, to RSVP for any event, just reply to this email and we'll take care of the rest.
Short:
(1) Monday, August 14th from 7:00 pm -- 10:00 pm -- Game Night. Inspired by the rousing success of the last couple, we'll be doing a monthly game night at the Cafe on the second Monday of each month. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(2) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm -- 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. Cookies, cookies, cookies! Instead of our usual pot-luck, we'd like you to bring cookies. We want to taste your favorite family recipe, your go-to binge, or even your favorite local bakery's confections. We'll have few ports and sherries on hand to try different pairings, but as always, feel free to bring any of your favorite libations. And we'll have all the usual entertainments in the form of door prizes, board games at the back of the cafe, and Alan will be giving a limited number of tours of the (sorta creepy) basement of the shop. Feel free to bring a guest and RSVPs are much appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, August 22nd at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(4) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(5) Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm to 6 pm -- Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We'll be at table #1 in Lindley Meadow (see map here - http://sfpsociety.org/large_ggp_map.jpg). Any number of guests are welcome and RSVPs are appreciated. We'll take care of the coals and some basic food stuff, but please do bring things to share (however, please, per park rules, no beverages in glass bottles).
Long:
(1) Monday, August 14th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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.
(2) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. Cookies, cookies, cookies! Instead of our usual pot-luck, we'd like you to bring cookies. We want to taste your favorite family recipe, your go-to binge, or even your favorite local bakery's confections. We'll have few ports and sherries on hand to try different pairings, but as always, feel free to bring any of your favorite libations. And we'll have all the usual entertainments in the form of door prizes, board games at the back of the cafe, and Alan will be giving a limited number of tours of the (sorta creepy) basement of the shop. Given the sweets-focused nature of this social, you might want to have dinner before arriving (although we will have some "real" food on hand for the folks who didn't have time for dinner - i.e. the staff at the very least). Feel free to bring a guest and RSVPs are much appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, August 22nd at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(5) Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm to 6 pm -- Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We are celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco by taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park! We're actually leaving the store and venturing into the outside world for a potluck cookout! And, since it's October in San Francisco, we have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved Table #1 at Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the South side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ .
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com
If you're doing such a thing, I hope that your summer vacations are (or have been) lovely. I'm not taking a summer vacation since I managed to get ten days in New Orleans this spring, but I'm with you in spirt. At the store we've been busy helping all the people visiting for their vacations and it has been great fun. One of the things I like the best about this business (and get to do the least) is make suggestions and help people find the book they're looking for. Especially when they don't actually know what book they're looking for. Summer time and the Holiday Season are the two times that I get to do the most of it, so it has been a good couple of weeks.
Speaking of summer travel, a lot of folks that we know are heading off to Helsinki for the World Science Fiction convention. One of our sponsors, Gay Chung, is going to be there and she has offered to coordinate a get-together for any other sponsors who are going to be attending. Exactly where, when and what it'll be is going to have to wait 'til Gay gets in town (which'll be tomorrow) and has a chance to check out the lay of the land. But, if you'd like to connect with her and other sponsors, you should drop her a note at blbsponsors@gmail.com. Once she has the details, she'll drop you a line. I wish I was going to be there, but I'm sure you'll all send me some great pictures (yes, that is a hint).
And, now on to the list of upcoming events.
Warm Regards,
Alan
Note: As usual, to RSVP for any event, just reply to this email and we'll take care of the rest.
Short:
(1) Monday, August 14th from 7:00 pm -- 10:00 pm -- Game Night. Inspired by the rousing success of the last couple, we'll be doing a monthly game night at the Cafe on the second Monday of each month. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(2) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm -- 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. Cookies, cookies, cookies! Instead of our usual pot-luck, we'd like you to bring cookies. We want to taste your favorite family recipe, your go-to binge, or even your favorite local bakery's confections. We'll have few ports and sherries on hand to try different pairings, but as always, feel free to bring any of your favorite libations. And we'll have all the usual entertainments in the form of door prizes, board games at the back of the cafe, and Alan will be giving a limited number of tours of the (sorta creepy) basement of the shop. Feel free to bring a guest and RSVPs are much appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, August 22nd at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(4) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(5) Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm to 6 pm -- Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We'll be at table #1 in Lindley Meadow (see map here - http://sfpsociety.org/large_ggp_map.jpg). Any number of guests are welcome and RSVPs are appreciated. We'll take care of the coals and some basic food stuff, but please do bring things to share (however, please, per park rules, no beverages in glass bottles).
Long:
(1) Monday, August 14th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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.
(2) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. Cookies, cookies, cookies! Instead of our usual pot-luck, we'd like you to bring cookies. We want to taste your favorite family recipe, your go-to binge, or even your favorite local bakery's confections. We'll have few ports and sherries on hand to try different pairings, but as always, feel free to bring any of your favorite libations. And we'll have all the usual entertainments in the form of door prizes, board games at the back of the cafe, and Alan will be giving a limited number of tours of the (sorta creepy) basement of the shop. Given the sweets-focused nature of this social, you might want to have dinner before arriving (although we will have some "real" food on hand for the folks who didn't have time for dinner - i.e. the staff at the very least). Feel free to bring a guest and RSVPs are much appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, August 22nd at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(5) Sunday, October 22nd, 2 pm to 6 pm -- Picnic in Golden Gate Park. We are celebrating "Summer" in San Francisco by taking our October Sponsor event to Golden Gate Park! We're actually leaving the store and venturing into the outside world for a potluck cookout! And, since it's October in San Francisco, we have high hopes that we won't be shivering and shrouded in fog. We've reserved Table #1 at Lindley Meadow. Directions are at the link below, but the short version is that Lindley Meadow is on the South side of JFK Drive, across from the 30th Avenue and Fulton Street entrance in Golden Gate Park. (At 30th Avenue and JFK, there is a sign for Lindley Meadow.) http://sfrecpark.org/destination/golden-gate-park/ggp-lindley-meadow-picnic-area/ .
Bring something to put on the grill or something to share as a side; bring your picnic blanket and a frisbee, and probably a jacket for possibly unpredictable summer weather. Wine and beer are fine to bring but, please, no liquor and no glass, per the Park's request. Friends and guests (including children) are super welcome so please do bring 'em along. If you're planning on coming, please let us know at sponsors@borderlands-books.com
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Sponsor Letter, July 6th 2017
Hi Everyone and Happy Summer,
As is usual for San Francisco, it's been chilly and windy a fair bit but at least 4th of July weekend was nice and sunny. I hope that you're all having a good summer so far. I've been working on various assorted small projects, both work and personal. And there is one that has pointed out to me just how San Francisco is changing.
A few weeks ago someone backed into my motorcycle and knocked it over the side-stand. For you who don't ride, that means it hit the ground pretty hard. Various stuff was bent and broken, but it was all stuff that's pretty easy to replace, except -- the stay that mounts the rider's footpeg was cracked. And I couldn't find a new replacement. So, I decided to have it welded.
I went to Al's Welding, where I've been going for more than two decades. They couldn't take the job because they were moving to Richmond. The reason? Their rent was getting too high. I got in touch with my mechanic for a referral. The guy he sent me to was closing up shop. Rent, again. Next I looked online and found a guy who seemed pretty good. Called him. He moved to Petaluma about six months ago. And, you guessed it -- his rent went up when his lease ran out. I called another mechanic. He not only didn't have a referral but he asked me to let him know if I found anyone because the two welders he usually worked with had both moved out of town. I finally found a shop that was still operating and I should have the bike back on the road soon, but I'm wondering how long that shop will be able to stay in business. I'm also wondering what other services that I've always taken for granted may have been priced out of San Francisco.
I haven't been spending all my time working on my own stuff. There are a few things in progress around the shop that should gel in the next couple of months. One on them is my project to set up an online forum or message board so that sponsors can communicate with each other more easily. At this year's general meeting this was something that people were enthusiastic about and so it's high on my to-do list. At the time, we had some discussion about the best way of going at it. Several people suggested using Slack, others preferred a more traditional forum, and some others suggested that an email list-serve would be good.
After giving it some thought, I decided that an email list would be too intrusive for general chatting. Though I like them very much for working on projects and for sending out things like these notes and our newsletter, it seemed to me that it would work one of two ways; either people would use it a lot, in which case there would be too much traffic (we have over 600 sponsors), or people wouldn't use it much at all, in which case why bother to set it up. That left the choice between Slack and a forum. I think that there are good points for either of them. Slack is conducive to something that feels much more like a free-flowing conversation, but (in the free mode) it doesn't support archiving, which means that the conversation gets lost over time. Forums, on the other hand, are more rigid and (smart) people tend to be more careful about what they post, since it does get archived. And forums are better suited to being a long-term repository for information. Finally, we would "own" our forum and the data, whereas Slack is a single company and (as they should) runs things to suit themselves.
My final conclusion was to try a forum and see how it works for six months or so. Over the years I've been burned several times by becoming dependent on an outside company, only to have them change their business practices. That makes me hesitant to create that sort of dependency unless I really have to. I hope that the forum will be a desirable and successful part of what we do with the sponsor program. If it becomes that, I don't want to risk it being ruined because of another company's decisions.
All that said, if the forum isn't active and working well in six months, I think I'll shut it down and give Slack a try. Of course and as usual, any comments or thoughts about this from you are super welcome -- just reply to this email and it'll go right to me.
All Best,
Alan
Upcoming Sponsor Events
If you would like to RSVP for any sponsor event, just reply to this email and, if necessary, let us know if you're bringing a guest. That's all there is to it. And, same goes if you want to get in touch with me -- just reply to this and it'll get to me.
The Pithy version:
(1) Every Saturday in July at 8:00 pm -- Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv has been kind enough to give sponsors a discount code good for 30% off unlimited tickets to the Star Trek themed improv show "Warp Speed", Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm.
(2) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. Guests are welcome and RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, July 25th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(4) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. Sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak have again very graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! The event will take place at the bookstore and the cost will be $10. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.
(5) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(6) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm (note earlier time) -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
The Protracted version:
(1) Every Saturday in July at 8:00 pm -- We have several sponsor friends involved with the marvelous Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv, and BATS has been kind enough to give Borderlands sponsors a discount code good for 30% off unlimited tickets to their new Star Trek-themed show, "Warp Speed"! The show's happening every Saturday in July, 8:00 pm, at The Bayfront Theater, Building B, Third floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. You can purchase tickets here: http://www.improv.org/shows/tickets/?eid=19479&edid=69232 and the discount code to use is REDSHIRTS. Go support their wonderful creative endeavors and have a great time at a discount! Their website, with further info about BATS and their shows, is here: www.improv.org
(2) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. RSVPs are appreciated but not required, 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.
(3) Tuesday, July 25th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. We're very grateful to sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak, who have again graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! Here's the way it will work: We'll be hosting the event in the bookstore. You're welcome to show up early, if you like, or just come to the door at eight or so. Joe and John will be bringing the wine, with covered labels, and we'll be pouring and chatting about what we think, guided by Joe & John, for a couple of hours. The cost will be $10, and the proceeds will go to the Borderlands' Building Fund. We might even have a prize or two for the folks with the best (or luckiest) palates. This will be a very low-key event and so, if you don't know much about wine, this is a perfect chance to get your "feet" wet. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. Oh, and please do be over 21 years old. It also might be a good idea if you've had dinner before you arrive. The glasses are pretty small but there might be a lot of them.
(5) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(6) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm (please note earlier start time) -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
As is usual for San Francisco, it's been chilly and windy a fair bit but at least 4th of July weekend was nice and sunny. I hope that you're all having a good summer so far. I've been working on various assorted small projects, both work and personal. And there is one that has pointed out to me just how San Francisco is changing.
A few weeks ago someone backed into my motorcycle and knocked it over the side-stand. For you who don't ride, that means it hit the ground pretty hard. Various stuff was bent and broken, but it was all stuff that's pretty easy to replace, except -- the stay that mounts the rider's footpeg was cracked. And I couldn't find a new replacement. So, I decided to have it welded.
I went to Al's Welding, where I've been going for more than two decades. They couldn't take the job because they were moving to Richmond. The reason? Their rent was getting too high. I got in touch with my mechanic for a referral. The guy he sent me to was closing up shop. Rent, again. Next I looked online and found a guy who seemed pretty good. Called him. He moved to Petaluma about six months ago. And, you guessed it -- his rent went up when his lease ran out. I called another mechanic. He not only didn't have a referral but he asked me to let him know if I found anyone because the two welders he usually worked with had both moved out of town. I finally found a shop that was still operating and I should have the bike back on the road soon, but I'm wondering how long that shop will be able to stay in business. I'm also wondering what other services that I've always taken for granted may have been priced out of San Francisco.
I haven't been spending all my time working on my own stuff. There are a few things in progress around the shop that should gel in the next couple of months. One on them is my project to set up an online forum or message board so that sponsors can communicate with each other more easily. At this year's general meeting this was something that people were enthusiastic about and so it's high on my to-do list. At the time, we had some discussion about the best way of going at it. Several people suggested using Slack, others preferred a more traditional forum, and some others suggested that an email list-serve would be good.
After giving it some thought, I decided that an email list would be too intrusive for general chatting. Though I like them very much for working on projects and for sending out things like these notes and our newsletter, it seemed to me that it would work one of two ways; either people would use it a lot, in which case there would be too much traffic (we have over 600 sponsors), or people wouldn't use it much at all, in which case why bother to set it up. That left the choice between Slack and a forum. I think that there are good points for either of them. Slack is conducive to something that feels much more like a free-flowing conversation, but (in the free mode) it doesn't support archiving, which means that the conversation gets lost over time. Forums, on the other hand, are more rigid and (smart) people tend to be more careful about what they post, since it does get archived. And forums are better suited to being a long-term repository for information. Finally, we would "own" our forum and the data, whereas Slack is a single company and (as they should) runs things to suit themselves.
My final conclusion was to try a forum and see how it works for six months or so. Over the years I've been burned several times by becoming dependent on an outside company, only to have them change their business practices. That makes me hesitant to create that sort of dependency unless I really have to. I hope that the forum will be a desirable and successful part of what we do with the sponsor program. If it becomes that, I don't want to risk it being ruined because of another company's decisions.
All that said, if the forum isn't active and working well in six months, I think I'll shut it down and give Slack a try. Of course and as usual, any comments or thoughts about this from you are super welcome -- just reply to this email and it'll go right to me.
All Best,
Alan
Upcoming Sponsor Events
If you would like to RSVP for any sponsor event, just reply to this email and, if necessary, let us know if you're bringing a guest. That's all there is to it. And, same goes if you want to get in touch with me -- just reply to this and it'll get to me.
The Pithy version:
(1) Every Saturday in July at 8:00 pm -- Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv has been kind enough to give sponsors a discount code good for 30% off unlimited tickets to the Star Trek themed improv show "Warp Speed", Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm.
(2) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. Guests are welcome and RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
(3) Tuesday, July 25th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(4) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. Sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak have again very graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! The event will take place at the bookstore and the cost will be $10. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.
(5) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(6) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm (note earlier time) -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
The Protracted version:
(1) Every Saturday in July at 8:00 pm -- We have several sponsor friends involved with the marvelous Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv, and BATS has been kind enough to give Borderlands sponsors a discount code good for 30% off unlimited tickets to their new Star Trek-themed show, "Warp Speed"! The show's happening every Saturday in July, 8:00 pm, at The Bayfront Theater, Building B, Third floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. You can purchase tickets here: http://www.improv.org/shows/tickets/?eid=19479&edid=69232 and the discount code to use is REDSHIRTS. Go support their wonderful creative endeavors and have a great time at a discount! Their website, with further info about BATS and their shows, is here: www.improv.org
(2) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. RSVPs are appreciated but not required, 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.
(3) Tuesday, July 25th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. We're very grateful to sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak, who have again graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! Here's the way it will work: We'll be hosting the event in the bookstore. You're welcome to show up early, if you like, or just come to the door at eight or so. Joe and John will be bringing the wine, with covered labels, and we'll be pouring and chatting about what we think, guided by Joe & John, for a couple of hours. The cost will be $10, and the proceeds will go to the Borderlands' Building Fund. We might even have a prize or two for the folks with the best (or luckiest) palates. This will be a very low-key event and so, if you don't know much about wine, this is a perfect chance to get your "feet" wet. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. Oh, and please do be over 21 years old. It also might be a good idea if you've had dinner before you arrive. The glasses are pretty small but there might be a lot of them.
(5) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(6) Thursday, September 7th at 6:00 pm (please note earlier start time) -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Sponsor Letter, June 12th 2017
Hello Everyone,
This is going to be a short intro for the sponsor note this month. I've got all sorts of things to work on and so I'm going to make this quick.
After considering the feedback from the General Meeting at the end of March, I've decided that I'm going to focus on improving the store and cafe this year and leave the larger world for next year. You can expect to see some small and large improvements around the place throughout this year. Two of them are almost done now.
First, thanks to help from my friend Bruce, the WiFi in the cafe has improved substantially. With some better hardware, speeds on the sponsor network are almost double what they were before. And, it should be much more reliable from here on out (not that it was bad before but . . . there's always room for improvement). Since we were doing all that work, I've also changed the password for the sponsors-only WiFi. If you need the new password, drop me a note or ask at the counter in either the bookstore or the cafe.
Second, almost a full year after I intended to get it done, we've got a very nice set up in the cafe to show movies and other video content. With the help of a stone cold pro on the subject, I got a very nice screen and video projector. We tested it out this last weekend to show the movie based on Dan Well's excellent novel I Am Not A Serial Killer. Despite some little technical glitches, it worked out very well. So, if you've thought about throwing a party at the cafe sometime, movies are now an option. Of course, there are a number of ways that this projection capacity is going to make for neat events.
Over the next few months, I hope to be getting the back room at the store open as a used book section, sorting our some long standing problems with the audio clarity of author events, and getting some paint and repairs done.
As always, thank you for all the support and I'll look forward to seeing you around the shop.
All Best,
Alan
PS Just as I was about to send out this note, I got some very sad news. Dark Carnival bookstore in Berkeley will be closing after 41 years of operation. This is a big loss to our field and I'm going to be very sorry to see it go. Back in 2013 they were having some financial problems which I wrote about at the time <http://borderlands-books.blogspot.com/2013/12/dark-carnival-bookstore.html>. It seems that things just didn't get better for them, hence the current decision <http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/06/12/41-years-berkeley-sci-fi-bookstore-dark-carnival-closing/>.
Stores like Dark Carnival and Borderlands are becoming increasingly rare. When I opened my shop in 1997, there were four other science fiction specialty stores in the Bay Area alone. Now, we're the only one left. In fact, to my knowledge, there are only two stores like ours west of the Rockies, and only five or six left in the whole country.
Thank you all for saving us. That means even more to me and our field as the remaining stores close.
The mouse version:
If you would like to RSVP for any sponsor event, just reply to this email and, if necessary, let us know if you're bringing a guest. That's all there is to it. And, same goes if you want to get in touch with me -- just reply to this and it'll get to me.
Short:
(1) On Thursday, June 15th at 6:45 pm, we're exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. We'll be taking a Ghost Walk tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. We're currently full, but if you would still like to join, please contact us ASAP and we'll place you on a waiting list.
(2) Tuesday, June 27th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(3) Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am, join us for a guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103). The cost for the tour is $10. Please RSVP if you're interested. You may bring one guest.
(4) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(5) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. Sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak have again very graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! The event will take place at the bookstore and the cost will be $10. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.
(6) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(7) Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(8) Win tickets to BATS Improv! We have 2 sets of two tickets to give away for any Bay Area Theatresports Improv show. Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm, this dynamic improv company presents "Warp Speed", Star Trek themed improv theatre! We'll select winners from local folks who reply to this email by Friday, June 23rd and include the words "Beam me up" in their notes.
The mammoth version:
(1) Ghost Tour -- On Thursday, June 15th at 6:45 pm, we're exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. We're currently full, but if you would still like to join, please contact us ASAP and we'll place you on a waiting list.
From their website: "The original San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour, SF's first ghost tour, is a historical walking tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood, one of the few neighborhoods to survive The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. You'll walk a mile on tree-lined streets in a safe residential area with fine Victorian architecture. You'll learn about real historic names of San Francisco -- how they lived, how they died, and the reports of their hauntings ever since. We don't make it up. We just report it. You'll enjoy 90 minutes to 2 hours of guaranteed unearthly fun!" The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour meets on the corner of Octavia and Bush Streets, in front of 1801 Bush Street. NOTE: Please meet us by 6:45 pm for the 7:00 pm tour -- it starts promptly. The lovely folks at SF Ghost Hunt have offered us a Borderlands discount, so tickets will run only $15 per person. If interested in joining us, please reply to this email and we'll get you on a waiting list.
(2) Tuesday, June 27th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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.
(3) Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am, join us for a guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103). 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.
(4) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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.
(5) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. We're very grateful to sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak, who have again graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! Here's the way it will work: We'll be hosting the event in the bookstore. You're welcome to show up early, if you like, or just come to the door at eight or so. Joe and John will be bringing the wine, with covered labels, and we'll be pouring and chatting about what we think, guided by Joe & John, for a couple of hours. The cost will be $10, and the proceeds will go to the Borderlands' Building Fund. We might even have a prize or two for the folks with the best (or luckiest) palates. This will be a very low-key event and so, if you don't know much about wine, this is a perfect chance to get your "feet" wet. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. Oh, and please do be over 21 years old. It also might be a good idea if you've had dinner before you arrive. The glasses are pretty small but there might be a lot of them.
(6) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(7) Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(8) Win tickets to BATS Improv! Thanks to the kindness of brand-new sponsor Regina Saisi, we have 2 sets of two tickets to give away for any Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv show at The Bayfront Theater, Building B, Third floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm, this dynamic improvisational theatre company presents "Warp Speed", a Star Trek themed improv show, so perhaps you'll want to attend one of those shows! We'll select winners on Saturday, June 24th from local folks who reply to this email and include the words "Beam me up" in their reply, so email us by 8 pm PST on Friday, June 23rd to enter the contest. Winners will need to pick up their passes at the store by July 8th. For more information about BATS Improv, check out their website: http://www.improv.org/
Useful links for sponsors:
Sponsors' Twitter feed - @bl_sponsors
Google Event Calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ud8v8s1cfutjemfeusiv72ubvo%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles
This is going to be a short intro for the sponsor note this month. I've got all sorts of things to work on and so I'm going to make this quick.
After considering the feedback from the General Meeting at the end of March, I've decided that I'm going to focus on improving the store and cafe this year and leave the larger world for next year. You can expect to see some small and large improvements around the place throughout this year. Two of them are almost done now.
First, thanks to help from my friend Bruce, the WiFi in the cafe has improved substantially. With some better hardware, speeds on the sponsor network are almost double what they were before. And, it should be much more reliable from here on out (not that it was bad before but . . . there's always room for improvement). Since we were doing all that work, I've also changed the password for the sponsors-only WiFi. If you need the new password, drop me a note or ask at the counter in either the bookstore or the cafe.
Second, almost a full year after I intended to get it done, we've got a very nice set up in the cafe to show movies and other video content. With the help of a stone cold pro on the subject, I got a very nice screen and video projector. We tested it out this last weekend to show the movie based on Dan Well's excellent novel I Am Not A Serial Killer. Despite some little technical glitches, it worked out very well. So, if you've thought about throwing a party at the cafe sometime, movies are now an option. Of course, there are a number of ways that this projection capacity is going to make for neat events.
Over the next few months, I hope to be getting the back room at the store open as a used book section, sorting our some long standing problems with the audio clarity of author events, and getting some paint and repairs done.
As always, thank you for all the support and I'll look forward to seeing you around the shop.
All Best,
Alan
PS Just as I was about to send out this note, I got some very sad news. Dark Carnival bookstore in Berkeley will be closing after 41 years of operation. This is a big loss to our field and I'm going to be very sorry to see it go. Back in 2013 they were having some financial problems which I wrote about at the time <http://borderlands-books.blogspot.com/2013/12/dark-carnival-bookstore.html>. It seems that things just didn't get better for them, hence the current decision <http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/06/12/41-years-berkeley-sci-fi-bookstore-dark-carnival-closing/>.
Stores like Dark Carnival and Borderlands are becoming increasingly rare. When I opened my shop in 1997, there were four other science fiction specialty stores in the Bay Area alone. Now, we're the only one left. In fact, to my knowledge, there are only two stores like ours west of the Rockies, and only five or six left in the whole country.
Thank you all for saving us. That means even more to me and our field as the remaining stores close.
The mouse version:
If you would like to RSVP for any sponsor event, just reply to this email and, if necessary, let us know if you're bringing a guest. That's all there is to it. And, same goes if you want to get in touch with me -- just reply to this and it'll get to me.
Short:
(1) On Thursday, June 15th at 6:45 pm, we're exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. We'll be taking a Ghost Walk tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. We're currently full, but if you would still like to join, please contact us ASAP and we'll place you on a waiting list.
(2) Tuesday, June 27th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Who doesn't love drinking at Churchill? We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Meet us at Churchill, 198 Church Street at Market Street.
(3) Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am, join us for a guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103). The cost for the tour is $10. Please RSVP if you're interested. You may bring one guest.
(4) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(5) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. Sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak have again very graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! The event will take place at the bookstore and the cost will be $10. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.
(6) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(7) Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(8) Win tickets to BATS Improv! We have 2 sets of two tickets to give away for any Bay Area Theatresports Improv show. Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm, this dynamic improv company presents "Warp Speed", Star Trek themed improv theatre! We'll select winners from local folks who reply to this email by Friday, June 23rd and include the words "Beam me up" in their notes.
The mammoth version:
(1) Ghost Tour -- On Thursday, June 15th at 6:45 pm, we're exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. We're currently full, but if you would still like to join, please contact us ASAP and we'll place you on a waiting list.
From their website: "The original San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour, SF's first ghost tour, is a historical walking tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood, one of the few neighborhoods to survive The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. You'll walk a mile on tree-lined streets in a safe residential area with fine Victorian architecture. You'll learn about real historic names of San Francisco -- how they lived, how they died, and the reports of their hauntings ever since. We don't make it up. We just report it. You'll enjoy 90 minutes to 2 hours of guaranteed unearthly fun!" The San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour meets on the corner of Octavia and Bush Streets, in front of 1801 Bush Street. NOTE: Please meet us by 6:45 pm for the 7:00 pm tour -- it starts promptly. The lovely folks at SF Ghost Hunt have offered us a Borderlands discount, so tickets will run only $15 per person. If interested in joining us, please reply to this email and we'll get you on a waiting list.
(2) Tuesday, June 27th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Cocktails. Our next Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night will be 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.
(3) Sunday, July 2nd at 10:00 am, join us for a guided tour of the San Francisco Center for the Book (375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103). 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.
(4) Monday, July 10th from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm -- Game Night. 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.
(5) Friday, August 4th at 8:00 pm -- Blind Wine Tasting. We're very grateful to sponsors Joe Thomas and John Plevyak, who have again graciously offered to host a blind wine tasting for sponsors! Here's the way it will work: We'll be hosting the event in the bookstore. You're welcome to show up early, if you like, or just come to the door at eight or so. Joe and John will be bringing the wine, with covered labels, and we'll be pouring and chatting about what we think, guided by Joe & John, for a couple of hours. The cost will be $10, and the proceeds will go to the Borderlands' Building Fund. We might even have a prize or two for the folks with the best (or luckiest) palates. This will be a very low-key event and so, if you don't know much about wine, this is a perfect chance to get your "feet" wet. Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. Oh, and please do be over 21 years old. It also might be a good idea if you've had dinner before you arrive. The glasses are pretty small but there might be a lot of them.
(6) Saturday, August 19th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm -- Summer Sponsor Social. More details to come next month!
(7) Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm -- Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco). Nebula Award winning author, singer/songwriter, snake handler, Borderlands sponsor, and all-around amazing person Seanan McGuire has graciously offered to be a special guest at the very first Borderlands Sponsor Karaoke Night! This will be an enormously entertaining event, and we hope you'll join us to show off your vocal prowess (or your irrepressible attitude, if you happen to lack vocal prowess -- that's great, too). The Mint is located at 1942 Market Street, San Francisco, and we have reserved space for sponsors. Some pertinent info about The Mint: it is a bar, so this event will be for those 21 and over. There is no cover charge, but there is a 2-drink minimum. Guests are welcome, and please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
(8) Win tickets to BATS Improv! Thanks to the kindness of brand-new sponsor Regina Saisi, we have 2 sets of two tickets to give away for any Bay Area Theatre Sports Improv show at The Bayfront Theater, Building B, Third floor, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. Saturdays in July at 8:00 pm, this dynamic improvisational theatre company presents "Warp Speed", a Star Trek themed improv show, so perhaps you'll want to attend one of those shows! We'll select winners on Saturday, June 24th from local folks who reply to this email and include the words "Beam me up" in their reply, so email us by 8 pm PST on Friday, June 23rd to enter the contest. Winners will need to pick up their passes at the store by July 8th. For more information about BATS Improv, check out their website: http://www.improv.org/
Useful links for sponsors:
Sponsors' Twitter feed - @bl_sponsors
Google Event Calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ud8v8s1cfutjemfeusiv72ubvo%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles
Monday, May 8, 2017
Sponsor Letter, May 8th 2017
Hi Everyone,
Whew, getting closer to on-time with these notes. And we've also managed to get our events planned months . . . do your hear me, months! . . . in advance, so check out all the cool stuff we've got coming up.
But, before you dive into that, I've two questions and a bit of business. Business first -- the write-up for the General Meeting on the 31st of March is up at the Sponsors' Blog <http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com/2017/05/report-on-sponsors-general-meeting-of.html>. I warn you though, it's a long, dense bit of writing (I think I need to start talking less at these meetings). If you didn't make the meeting and you have any questions or comments, please do drop me a line and we'll chat.
And now, the questions.
First, during the meeting there was a suggestion that we should start a Sponsors' forum / message board sort of thing. There are two ways that we can go about that. It can be a typical forum sort of setup (check out SFF World for an example - http://www.sffworld.com/forum/) or we could use something called Slack <https://slack.com>. I've discussed the two options with several knowledgable folks and there are pros and cons to each option. If you're familiar with both of the possibilities and you've got an opinion, I'd appreciate it if you'd drop me a line.
Second, Jude, Scott and I were talking about future events (did I mention that we've got them planned months . . . Months! . . . MONTHS! in advance?) Um. Where was I? Oh, right, future events. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to do a group trip to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair <http://www.dickensfair.com> in December. Tickets are usually pretty expensive ($30 for adults) and so we planned on getting in touch about a group ticket rate. Then Jude pointed out that we might have a sponsor who was connected (in a slightly Mafia-sort-of-way) with the event. So, anyone out there with a useful hook-up for group tickets to Dickens Fair? If not, no worries, I'm sure we can make a deal though the usual channels. And, honestly, I don't mind at all helping to support them -- it's a really cool event.
Now, on to the event schedule which, as you may have heard, extends MONTHS! into the future.
All Best and Warmest Regards,
Alan
Inch worm write-up:
(1) 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.
(2) 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! You may bring one guest, and RSVP's are appreciated.
(3) Our first Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night at Churchill was a huge success. We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Our May Sponsor Cocktail night will be Tuesday, May 23rd at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) starting at 7:00 pm. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(4) A first for Borderlands Sponsors; we’re going to the theatre. Our very own bookseller Scott is performing in an uproarious comedy called Sordid Lives. The play starts at 8pm on Thursday, June 8th. We have a block of discounted reserved seats, so please come by the store to purchase your ticket at the discounted rate of $25.00.
(5) We’re exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. On Thursday, June 15th we’re taking a Ghost Walk tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. Please RSVP if you're interested (you're welcome to bring a guest). The tour will cost $15 per person.
(6) 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.
(7) The third Sponsor Social of 2017 will be on Saturday, August 19th, from 7 pm to 11 pm. More details to come.
(8) Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco) on Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm! 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
Whew, getting closer to on-time with these notes. And we've also managed to get our events planned months . . . do your hear me, months! . . . in advance, so check out all the cool stuff we've got coming up.
But, before you dive into that, I've two questions and a bit of business. Business first -- the write-up for the General Meeting on the 31st of March is up at the Sponsors' Blog <http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com/2017/05/report-on-sponsors-general-meeting-of.html>. I warn you though, it's a long, dense bit of writing (I think I need to start talking less at these meetings). If you didn't make the meeting and you have any questions or comments, please do drop me a line and we'll chat.
And now, the questions.
First, during the meeting there was a suggestion that we should start a Sponsors' forum / message board sort of thing. There are two ways that we can go about that. It can be a typical forum sort of setup (check out SFF World for an example - http://www.sffworld.com/forum/) or we could use something called Slack <https://slack.com>. I've discussed the two options with several knowledgable folks and there are pros and cons to each option. If you're familiar with both of the possibilities and you've got an opinion, I'd appreciate it if you'd drop me a line.
Second, Jude, Scott and I were talking about future events (did I mention that we've got them planned months . . . Months! . . . MONTHS! in advance?) Um. Where was I? Oh, right, future events. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to do a group trip to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair <http://www.dickensfair.com> in December. Tickets are usually pretty expensive ($30 for adults) and so we planned on getting in touch about a group ticket rate. Then Jude pointed out that we might have a sponsor who was connected (in a slightly Mafia-sort-of-way) with the event. So, anyone out there with a useful hook-up for group tickets to Dickens Fair? If not, no worries, I'm sure we can make a deal though the usual channels. And, honestly, I don't mind at all helping to support them -- it's a really cool event.
Now, on to the event schedule which, as you may have heard, extends MONTHS! into the future.
All Best and Warmest Regards,
Alan
Inch worm write-up:
(1) 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.
(2) 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! You may bring one guest, and RSVP's are appreciated.
(3) Our first Monthly Sponsor Cocktail night at Churchill was a huge success. We will definitely be out again this month at the same location and time to enjoy the company of fellow sponsors. Our May Sponsor Cocktail night will be Tuesday, May 23rd at Churchill (198 Church Street at Market) starting at 7:00 pm. Guests are welcome and no RSVPs are necessary.
(4) A first for Borderlands Sponsors; we’re going to the theatre. Our very own bookseller Scott is performing in an uproarious comedy called Sordid Lives. The play starts at 8pm on Thursday, June 8th. We have a block of discounted reserved seats, so please come by the store to purchase your ticket at the discounted rate of $25.00.
(5) We’re exploring the haunted side of San Francisco history. On Thursday, June 15th we’re taking a Ghost Walk tour of the Pacific Heights neighborhood. Please RSVP if you're interested (you're welcome to bring a guest). The tour will cost $15 per person.
(6) 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.
(7) The third Sponsor Social of 2017 will be on Saturday, August 19th, from 7 pm to 11 pm. More details to come.
(8) Sponsor Karaoke with Seanan McGuire at The Mint (1942 Market Street, San Francisco) on Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm! 21 and over, no cover charge (but there is a 2-drink minimum), guests welcome. Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)