Sponsor Letter, July 7th 2016

Hi Everyone,

I hope you're all enjoying your summer -- it's a traditional San Francisco July here: gray and cloudy which is confusing the tourists and recent arrivals while giving old-timers a sense of comfort and consistency.  I've been focusing on some family stuff and getting details around the shop ironed out (the former with much success and the latter with . . . some . . . success).  But, it's pretty much the usual summer status quo -- business is slow at the cafe, busy at the bookstore, and I'm playing catch-up.  I hope to see many of you next week at the social, which will be the usual low-key summer one -- no big announcements, no fire-dancers, but plenty of food, drink and chatting.

All Best,
Alan

The Eddard Stark version:

1)  We'll be hosting a private reception for a small group of sponsors with Charlie Stross, THIS SUNDAY, June 10th, at 6 pm after his public event at the store.  If you would like to be in the drawing to attend the private event, please reply to this email and say so (and, do look at the details below).

2)  The locked room event at the PanIQ Room was a blast.  Fortunately, all of the groups managed to escape their rooms, so we didn't have to leave anyone behind.  We may hold another Sponsor event there in the future, for those of you who weren't able to attend.

3)  The next Sponsor Social is scheduled for Thursday, July 14th from 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm.  As usual, one guest per sponsor, RSVP's appreciated, and we hope to see you there!  It's BYOB and pot-luck so feel free to bring some drink or food or both.  But don't worry if you don't have time or spine for that -- we don't usually run short on either.

4)  We have a new intern at the store!  You may have met her at the locked room event last Thursday.  Her name is Miranda Phaal, she's very friendly and mostly doesn't bite, so feel free to say hi and introduce yourself if you see her around.

The Tyrion Lannister version:

1)  We're going to be hosting an event at the store with Charles Stross, brilliant author of The Laundry Files series as well as many other fantastic titles, this Sunday at 3 pm.  As a special treat for some of our sponsors, Charlie will be going for drinks with a small group of you after the public event.  To make this an intimate gathering, rather than just a smaller version of the signing at the store, the number of people attending is sharply limited.  If you would like to come, please reply to this email and let me know.  The deadline to express interest is 8 pm Friday, July 8th.

After the deadline, I'll draw names out of a "hat" to determine who will be attending.  The private event is at 6 pm on Sunday, June 10th, will run about two hours, and is seven block walk from Borderlands.  Food and drinks will be available to purchase at the site.  Regrettably, it will not be possible to bring any guests.  I will be notifying the winners on Saturday afternoon and giving them further details.

Of course, the event at the store is open to the public and, as a sponsor, you can reserve a seat for yourself and one guest, if you like.  Just email sponsors@borderlands-books.com to reserve a seat.

2)  Sponsors (and staff) had a lot of fun at the PanIQ Room locked room event last Thursday.  All three groups managed to escape from their rooms, two of them in around 30 minutes, and the third in just over 50 minutes (they had the hardest room).  It was such a fun event that we may look into holding another Sponsor event there for those of you that couldn't make it this time, or who want to try to beat your record from last time.

3)  The next Sponsor Social is scheduled for Thursday, July 14th from 7:00 - 11:00 pm.  As usual, it will be a potluck, so bring your specialty dish to show off, or a bottle of something to share.  We will have some excellent beer, courtesy of the generous folks at local Speakeasy Ales and Lagers < http://www.goodbeer.com >, who were our beverage guests at the last social.  It has been dry enough that we may even be able to resume the "backstage" tours!  And as usual, there will be much merriment, weird & fabulous raffle prizes, (including a special little something courtesy of the fabulous Joe Hill!) and probably an embarrassing story or two about the history of Borderlands, as they always seem to come up.   You can bring one non-sponsor guest with you, and RSVPs are appreciated but not required.  I hope to see all of you there.

4)  We have a new Publicity and Marketing intern at the store!  Some of you met her last Thursday at the locked room event.  Her name is Miranda Phaal, she's going to school at Tufts University (located just outside of Boston), but she's a local San Franciscan and a Borderlands Sponsor.  She'll be writing some promotional materials for the store, helping out with Sponsor and author events, and possibly working to get more stuff up on our Youtube channel.  Other than at events, she'll be back in the office most of the time, but if you see her around, feel free to say hi and introduce yourself.  She's friendly, we promise.

--------------------------
Borderlands Books and Cafe
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco CA  94110 USA
415 824-8203
888 893-4008
http://www.borderlands-books.com

Sponsor Letter, June 6th 2016

Hi All,

First, I want to thank all the sponsors who took time to talk with me about the various schemes that might allow us to purchase a building.  As I expected, they were a lovely group of people and I had a really nice time talking with them.  Beyond the pleasant conversation, there were also a bunch of great ideas that came out of those meetings.  That's the good news.

I subsequently spent a couple of hours discussing those ideas with the attorney who has been volunteering his time on this.  As a result of that conversation, it seems that most of the ideas aren't really viable.  The core problem is that we're in a unique position as a for-profit business.  It's common that people will want to donate financially to non-profit projects, but that doesn't really come up for businesses like Borderlands.  As a result, there doesn't seem to be any simple, safe and legal way to make it work.

Which brings up the question of making Borderlands a non-profit.  I'm still working on running that to ground and I'll be meeting with an attorney who specializes in non-profits in a couple of weeks.  But, the sense that I have at this point is that a non-profit structure isn't likely to be an option.  The basic reason is this -- creating a non-profit with a primary goal of running a bookstore that sells products at a profit is not likely to fly with the IRS.  It's possible that we could create a non-profit that did enough other things that the bookstore could be considered secondary to the overall operations of the non-profit.  But, in that case, I'd be running a pretty big non-profit and not doing very much bookselling.  Which is not something I want to do.

There's also the secondary problem that, to create a non-profit out of Borderlands, I'd either have to donate the whole business to the non-profit (which is unattractive because Borderlands is probably the most valuable thing I own) or the non-profit would need to buy the business from me (which is a transaction that would be looked at very, very carefully by both the IRS and the California Attorney General and, possibly / probably not approved).

So, as of now I'm working on one long-shot idea which, for legal reasons, I cannot discuss right now.  There probably won't be much progress on that 'til much later this year (perhaps around November) but I'll let you know as much as I can, as I know it.  Beyond that, I've come to a point where I need to back off from the idea of buying a building and let it percolate in the back of my mind for a couple of months.

But, really, that's fine.  It means I'll be able to put my attention back on smaller scale projects, both for the store and the sponsorship program.  You can expect to hear some noise around the shop as I work to finish off some construction projects.  And, I hope to get some of the other things I've talked about for you going (like videos of events on YouTube and so forth).

If you're wondering about the obstacles I ran into on the building project, I'd be happy to go into more detail.  Just drop me a line.  But, I'm going to be out of town for a week starting this Friday and my internet access will be limited, so please be patient if I'm not as fast as usual with my replies.

Before going on to our upcoming sponsor events, I've got one last thought about the question of our lease and a long-term home for Borderlands.  As of now, we have five years and three months remaining on our lease.  After that expires, we can move the bookstore into the cafe for another four years.  That's nine years altogether.  All sorts of things can happen in nine years and, like everything else in life, we'll just have to play it as it goes (I might work something out so we can buy a building . . . the landlord might give me a decent lease . . . there's no way of knowing what will happen).  But I know that we've got those nine years because of you all -- so, I think we're doing just great.  I also know that what we're doing is easier than teaching a horse to sing < http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com/p/teaching-horses-to-sing.html >.

The Robert E. Howard Version

1)  Locked Room Puzzle.   Our sponsor event for the month of June is a locked-room mystery puzzle with the folks at PanIQ Room < https://paniqroom.com/sanfrancisco >, and it will take place on Thursday, June 30th, at 8:30 pm.  Space is very limited (only 18 people can participate) and the fee will be $25 per person.  You're welcome to bring a guest.  If you're interested, please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com.

2)  The next sponsor social is coming up on Thursday, July 14th.  You can RSVP now if you wish or wait 'til next month.  As usual, you're welcome to bring a guest.

3)  In August our special event will be a Scotch Whisky tasting with noted author, Mary Robinette Kowal.  The exact date is TBA.

4)  The 2016 list of sponsors has (finally) been posted at the store.

Sponsor Letter, May 6th 2016

Hi Everyone,

Check it out -- Sponsor Note pretty much on time.  Things are looking up.  This note is going to be on the short side since I'm still working out the ramifications of my recent realization that we might be able to start fund-raising for a building sooner than I expected.  I still have a few conversations to have with specialists (my accountant and the realtor I've been working with, specifically) and I need to do a bit more planning before I've got a detailed proposal to run past you.

In service of putting all that together, I've a sort of odd request; I'd like to meet with a group of sponsors who do not know me very well. I'm very lucky that many of you are people I call friends or, at the very least, you're folks I've known for years and love chatting with when our paths cross.  However, if we're going to raise the kind of cash we're going to need, I'll be presenting our plan to the world at large.  I'd like to get a preview of what the reaction might be, and talking with some folks who haven't known me for years is a good place to start.

So, if you don't know me very well or haven't been a customer at the store for long, I'd appreciate an hour or two of your time somewhere around the end of this month.  If you're willing, drop me an email.  Once I hear back from people, I'll come up with some days and times to meet.  I'd like to do this in a group, so scheduling might be a little tricky, but I think we can manage it.

In closing, thanks to all the people who took the time to give me their thoughts about the questions I raised last month.  The result is that it looks like we're going to let the idea of live streaming events go, but we will be recording them and getting them up on You Tube.  If it's easy (which I think it should be) we'll also see about setting them up in audio-only, podcast style.

Oh, and one last thing -- I'm about to leave town for a bit of a vacation.  Scott will be taking care of usual sponsor business and I'll be keeping an eye on email as well.  Critical items will get the usual fast reply from me as needed but less critical stuff might be on a back-burner for the next week or so.

The "Bullet" version:

1)  Huge thanks to Joe Thomas and John Plevyar for hosting and supplying the wine tasting last week!  More than a dozen sponsors came, enjoyed much wine (8 different vintages), and talked each other's ears off.

2)  On Saturday, May 14th, at 8 pm we will host a perfumery demonstration at the bookstore with Megan E. O'Keefe, author of Steal The Sky.  As usual, there will be limited space so RSVP now (you are welcome to bring one guest, if you wish).

3)  The next Sponsors' Open Mic is coming up on Friday, May 20th at 7 pm.  Please email Greg Roensch at gregroensch@gmail.com if you would like to participate.

4)  Our Sponsors' event for June will be a "Locked Room Mystery" event.  Space will be very limited so be ready to RSVP when we announce the date and time in the June sponsor note.

4)  The next Sponsors' Social will be on Thursday, July 14th and will run from 7 pm to 11 pm. We're lining up some neat "guests" for this one so check next month's note for more details.

The "Arrow" version:

1)  Thank you to Joe Thomas and John Plevyar for hosting and supplying the wine tasting last week.  More than a dozen sponsors came, enjoyed much wine, and talked each other's ears off.  For those of you who couldn't make it, the vintages were:
Casey Flat Ranch Red Wine 2012
Mike and Molly Hendry, RW Moore Vineyard, Napa Valley Zinfandel 2012
Mark Herold Flux California Red Wine 2011
Centopassi Rosso Sicilia 2011
Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel 2013
Worlds End, Little Sister Napa Valley Merlot 2010
Copolla, Directors Cut Merlot, Napa 2012
Les Darons Languedoc 2014
Overall, the favorites were the Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel and the Copolla, Directors Cut Merlot.  We're certainly going to do this again, perhaps this year, so don't miss it next time.

2)  May's sponsor event will be a demonstration about perfume-making with Megan E. O'Keefe. It will take place at the bookstore on Saturday, May 14th, starting at 8 pm.  Megan, the author of Steal The Sky, isn't just a great writer and wonderful speaker.  She's also a expert on blending perfume.  Last year she offered to host a participatory demonstration about perfume-making for our sponsors.  I'm very pleased that I'm finally able to take her up on that offer.  As usual, there are a limited number of spaces, so please do RSVP (you are welcome to bring one guest, if you wish).

3)  The Sponsors' Open Mic is becoming a tradition, and so we're doing it again on Friday, May 20th at 7:00 pm in the Cafe.  If you just want to attend, you don't need to do anything except show up (although you might want to take advantage of your seat reservation privilege because it might be crowded).

However, if you want to read, you should get in touch with fellow sponsor Greg Roensch at gregroensch@gmail.com.  He suggested the idea and he has been kind enough to take care of organizing the event.  Participation will be open to writers of all levels (as long as they are sponsors), and also open to any type of writing, in any genre.  All we ask is that you keep the reading short -- five minutes max.  So, if you want to read, get in touch with Greg and he'll take care of the scheduling and so forth.

4)  Locked Room Mystery event - A few months ago, Scott participated in a live puzzle game and had a great time.  He suggested that our sponsors might like it and, after reading about it, I think he's right.  http://www.paniqentertainment.com/sanfrancisco .  As you can see from the write-up, space will be quite limited (though we'll try to fit as many people as possible) so be ready to RSVP next month we when announce the date and time.

5)  The Sponsors' Social is the best party we ever hold and it happens four times a year.  Don't miss the next one on Thursday, July 14th from 7 pm to 11 pm.  You are welcome to bring a guest.

Sponsor Letter, April 18th 2016

Hi Dear Sponsors,

First off, I'm really sorry that this note is so late this month.  April gave me, among other things, the glorious opportunity to do four tax returns for various people and entities (only one of which was for myownself).  And, to add to the fun, two of them were really damn complicated.  But, just today I sent off the last piece of all that and things are looking much better going into the rest of the year.  Here's hoping that my May letter will be, if not on time, at least less tardy.

The Sponsors' General Meeting was quite a success.  Many good questions and excellent observations were asked and made.  There's more information about that further along in this note.  But, even if you don't read any of the rest of this letter, I'd really appreciate it if you could answer one question that came out of the meeting for me.

We're heading towards raising the money to purchase Borderlands a building, as I've discussed here before.  A question asked at the meeting was, "If you do raise a bunch of money (i.e. over $150,000 to $200,000) but it's not enough to buy a building and so Borderlands closes in five years -- what will happen to all that cash?"

The answer to that question comes in several parts, and I'll get into it in more detail over the next few months but, part of the answer is that I would donate at least a significant portion of the money to either a bookselling / literary cause (for example, the Freedom to Read Foundation - http://www.ftrf.org/?page=About) or a cause / association related to our genres (e.g. the Science Fiction Writers of America's Emergency Medical Fund - http://www.sfwa.org/about/benevolent-funds/emergency-medical-fund/).

My question to you is; if that came to pass -- we raised a bunch of money but it wasn't enough to buy a building so I closed Borderlands -- where do you think the money should go?

The inch version:

1) We'll be hosting a private reception for a small group of sponsors with Paolo Bacigalupi THIS FRIDAY, April 22nd, at 5:30 pm before his public event at the store.  If you're a 2016 sponsor and you would like to be in the drawing to attend the private event, please reply to this email and say so (and, do look at the details below).

2) Thank you to everyone who attended the Sponsors' General Meeting to offer your input and your opinions.  You've given me a lot to think about and I'm grateful.  A full report can be found on the blog at http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com/2016/04/report-on-2016-sponsors-general-meeting.html

3) April's sponsor event is a blind wine tasting with sponsor Joe Thomas on Friday, April 29th at 8pm.  Attendance is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible.

4) We had a great time at the sponsor social, and we hope you did, too!  The next one is Thursday, July 14th.

5)  The May sponsor event will be a perfumery demonstration with Megan E. O'Keefe, author of Steal The Sky.  Date and time in the next sponsor letter.

6)  A couple of questions for you -
a)  Does it matter to you if we put our author events on the web live or would you be just as happy with a video on YouTube within a day or two after the event?
b)  For sponsors who do not live near the shop -- Do you have any ideas what sort of things we at Borderlands can do for you, since it's hard for you to take advantage of many of the perks we can offer local sponsors?

Report on 2016 Sponsors' General Meeting

The 2016 Borderlands Sponsors' General Meeting was held at 6pm on Thursday, March 31st at Borderlands Cafe (870 Valencia St.  SF  CA 94110).  Roughly 50 people attended.

After some entertainment from Alan Beatts in the form of a cautionary tale about bookshelf building, the main topics of discussion were the future of the bookstore, a (relatively) rapid-fire Q&A, the handling of sponsor funds, political involvement on the part of Borderlands, and the creation of a book subscription program.

Alan began the meeting by giving an overview of the current financial situation of both the bookstore and cafe elements of Borderlands.  In brief, both are as to be expected.  The bookstore is showing a slight loss before accounting for sponsorship income.  That is as expected since the minimum wage increase last July was expected to produce that result. However, factoring in sponsorship income, the bookstore is doing very well.  The cafe is also showing a slight loss but that is being addressed by improvements to the menu selection this year.  Like the bookstore, not a matter for concern.

Next he explained the remaining terms on both the lease for the bookstore (5 and a bit years) and the cafe (9 and a half years).   His concern is not for the next few years because the sponsorship program (with 611 sponsors at this time) seems to be a sustainable model for the business.  Instead the concern is what to do when the current lease on the bookstore expires. It is the expectation that, barring major ("or almost Biblical") changes in the economic situation in San Francisco, the cost of rent under a new lease would be unsustainable.  At this point, Alan's plan forward is to spend the next three to four years raising money (and conserving excess sponsorship income) to have a down-payment on a building one to two years before the lease expires.

After this explanation, the discussion began about how to achieve this goal.

Sponsor Letter, March 16th 2016

March Sponsor News

Happy March, Dear Sponsors!  It's hard for me to believe, but it has been a year since I officially announced that you had saved the store, and wow, are things different now!  The current 2016 Sponsor count stands at nearly 600, and all of us at Borderlands are very, very grateful.

The Radio Version:

1)  Live-streaming has taken longer & been more complicated than we anticipated (who would have guessed?).  However, we should have it functional for the March 31st General Meeting.

2)  March's sponsor event will be a tour of the American Bookbinders' Museum (355 Clementina) on Wednesday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm.  The cost will be $7 per person.  Please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com if you'd like to join in.  Capacity will be limited to 30 people and you may bring one guest, so reserve your space soon if you would like to attend.

3)  Sponsors' General Meeting is on Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 pm and will take place at the Cafe (870 Valencia St. SF CA 94110).  We're not sure how long it will run; it all depends on how many questions you have for me.  Afterwards, there will probably be drinks at the lovely Phoenix Pub just across the street.

4)  Next Sponsor Social is scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd from 7:00 - 11:00 pm.  Guests will be Fly By Night Gifts and the wonderful folks at Speakeasy Ales and Lagers will be bringing a broad range of their beers for your enjoyment.  As usual, one guest per sponsor.  Also, this will be the last social which non-renewed 2015 sponsors may attend.

5)  Speaking of sponsorship renewals, if you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2016 this will be the last sponsor email you'll receive.  Of course, if you would like to renew now, we'd love to have you.  You can stop by the store, call, email, or even send us an old-fashioned check.  And, you can renew on-line right here - https://borderlands-books.com/buysponsorship16.html .

The Extended Dance Remix:

1)  Live-streaming has taken longer & been more complicated to set up reliably than I anticipated.  We had it working for a short time, and then it went sideways.  However, I have invested in some new equipment and Jeremy has done a lot of frantic studying, and we should have it fully functional so that long-distance sponsors can watch the March 31st General Meeting.  I'll be sending out a quick update will the details to this list prior to the meeting.

2)  Due to logistical whatnots, I have rescheduled the tour of the 3D printing/prototyping place for the summer.  But, with the kind assistance of author and sponsor Madeleine Robins, we've arranged a private Borderlands' Sponsors tour of the amazing American Bookbinders' Museum for this month!  The Museum houses an extensive collection of mostly-operational bookbinding equipment from the 18th and 19th centuries.  It really must be seen to be believed.  This quote from their website explains briefly why it is important (and fascinating) to study these tools, particularly right now: "Our relationship to the book is rapidly evolving, making it the ideal time to tell the history of [the printed book] and memorialize its significance in regards to where we are today.  The American Bookbinders Museum is an important library of equipment and archive materials on bookbinding in America.  We offer an authentic experience of what a factory of the day felt like and enable visitors to experience the machinery and tools."

The tour will take place on Wednesday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm.  We'll meet at the Museum, which is located at 355 Clementina.  The cost for the tour will be $7 per person (cash, please, payable at the venue), a 30% discount off the regular price.  You can also bring drinks or snacks if you'll like; we'll have a short informal reception after the tour.  Please RSVP to sponsors@borderlands-books.com to let us know you'll be attending; one guest per sponsor is welcome (but each attendee will still need to pay $7).  The maximum number of attendees is 30, so reserve your space soon.  More information about the museum, as well as a virtual tour if you cannot attend in person, can be found here: http://www.bookbindersmuseum.org/

PS  Very sorry for the short notice for this event.  As I said, "logistical whatnots".

3) The Sponsors' General Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 pm.  I'd really like to have a chance to talk with you about how things have gone through our first year as a sponsored store.  I want to know what we've done right, what we've done wrong, and what we can do better -- as well as answering any questions you have. Also, I need to talk with you about some ideas I have for the future.  What I have in mind is something much like the meeting we had last year, which was the genesis for what saved the store.  I'll outline where we stand as a business, discuss future plans and then ask for comments and ideas.  If there's anything you'd like to discuss that you think I might not cover, please email me ahead of time so I can be prepared to respond.  I hope to see as many of you there as possible because some of the topics on my mind are pretty important.  If you can't attend in person, also feel free to email me with your comments, sponsors@borderlands-books.com.

4)  The next Sponsor Social is scheduled for April 2nd from 7:00 - 11:00 pm.  As usual, it will be a potluck, so bring your specialty dish to show off, or a bottle of something to share.  You can bring one non-sponsor guest with you.  RSVPs are appreciated but not required.  Unfortunately, with all the rain we've had, I doubt the basement will be dry enough for "backstage" tours.  However, I'm setting up some other exciting things:
Our guest vendor will be Fly By Night Gifts.  Fly By Night will have a large and impressive selection of hand-stamped and embossed cards, hair adornments, and jewelry with a science fiction theme for sale, and the items will be 30% off for all sponsors, with a free gift with purchase over $10.  Fly By Night is operated by Rina Weisman who is, among other things, one of the driving forces behind the long-running SF in SF reading series.  She's really quite a renaissance woman, and her products have been great sellers at the store for years.  However, we've never had her full line of items for sale before so expect to see some really neat treats.
Our beverage guest will be the fine folks from Speakeasy Ales and Lagers < http://www.goodbeer.com >. Speakeasy is not just a truly great craft brewery, but they're also 100% San Francisco local.  They'll be bringing down all sorts of interesting beers, including their newest release:  Phliz' Payback Coffee Porter (just coming out this Saturday - http://www.goodbeer.com/events/2016/3/19/release-party-payback-coffee-porter).  Their staff will be on hand to tell you anything you could possibly want to know about their beers and brewery.  Note: Since they'll be providing all the beer that we could possibly want, free of charge -- if you're going to bring something in the beverage department to share, you might want to give beer a miss this time.
And as usual, there will be much merriment, weird & fabulous raffle prizes, and probably an embarrassing story or two about the pre-history of Borderlands.  Finally, as I mentioned at the beginning of this year, this will be the last social which non-renewed 2015 sponsors may attend.  I hope to see all of you there.

5)  Speaking of sponsorship renewals, if you have not yet renewed your sponsorship for 2016 this will be the last sponsor email you'll receive.  This is not because we want to exclude you but, rather than spamming former sponsors, we will be purging our 2015 mailing list and replacing it with the current list of sponsors.  If you'd still like to see what is going on with the sponsorship program, all that information will continue to appear at the sponsors' blog - http://borderlands-sponsors.blogspot.com - which is (and will remain) open for public viewing.  Of course, if you would like to renew now, we'd love to have you.  You can stop by the store, call, email, or even send us an old-fashioned check.  And, you can renew on-line right here - https://borderlands-books.com/buysponsorship16.html .

Sponsor Letter February 1st, 2016

Dear Sponsors,

It's been a good couple of weeks since I last wrote.  The total count of 2016 sponsors is over 500 (!), which is just damn wonderful.  The meet-and-greet with Pat Rothfuss went very well and we had a great time at the party on Thursday. The year is looking very, very good.

The Robert Parker Version

1)  Live-streaming of events will start on February 2nd.  Ustream channel link for live streaming is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/NLHFhn7KUjd .  YouTube channel for archived video is "Borderlands Books" but we can't set up a link to it yet (we need more subscribers).

2)  A sponsor is looking for some real world experiences in distributed project management for the book he's writing for O'Riley.  Please read full details below.

3)  A month of presentations on Tuesdays in February at 7:00 PM for experienced and aspiring writers, along with anyone else who's curious how the book business works.  Though not required, RSVPs would be appreciated.
Feb. 2nd, Alan Beatts, "The Life-Cycle of a Book"
Feb. 9th, Jeremy Lassen, "Publishing Contracts: Good, Bad, and Ugly"
Feb. 16th, Scott Cox, "Public Reading, Tips and Tricks"
Feb. 23rd, Panel Discussion with authors Gail Carriger, Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy: "Been There, Done That, Wish I Hadn't"

4)  March special event will be a tour of a 3D printing/prototyping company.

5)  Sponsors' General Meeting, Thursday, March 31st, 2016 at 7:00 pm.  A chance to talk about how we're doing, where we're going, and to give us your advice.

6)  Next sponsor social scheduled for April 2nd.

7)  Preliminary list of special events for 2016 is ready.  See all the details below.

8)  Despite almost universal support from our sponsors, the Precita Eyes loan is a dead issue. It changed from a straightforward loan to something almost completely _unlike_ a straightforward loan.  The risks associated with it were far too high, so I killed the deal.