[Marketing] FW: [Board] Micro payments

Tue Jun 18 07:36:56 PDT 2013

All,

As suggested by Cameron, re-posting this  discussion here (sorry if you are on the BAORD list as well :c)

I distilled this down somewhat to the pertinent info, but if you want, you can go look at the original thread on the BOARD list to see everything here:

http://osgeo-org.1560.x6.nabble.com/Micro-payments-td5052181.html.

This thread started out as a reply to a posting by Cameron that commented on the overhead related to expenses for making the Live DVD into real live DVD for handout at conferences and such.  I thought there might be some room to make the money go farther by consolidating the process somewhat and make it into a OSGeo driven one.  Read on for more info.

Bobb

Bob, you have done some good research here.
Would you mind sharing on the marketing email list so the others with an opinion on this can contribute.

On 15/06/13 06:36, Basques, Bob (CI-StPaul) wrote:
Cameron,

This is the local outfit I’ve used in the past for the DVD printing:

http://www.quickturnduplication.com/html/pricing.php

We’ve only done short runs of one hundred at a time, so no breaks available money wise, but larger orders have some room to move the numbers down.

Our last run for 100 ended up at $140.  This included the color DVD and the printed insert.  We supplied the Jewel cases and did the packing.  It would be slightly more if they did everything, around $160

I thought their USB prices were a little high, with the loading part added on, but after making them ourselves for our GeoMoose classes, I can see that it does take some time.  There are also some problems with differences between hardware types that I did not know existed, which introduces some interesting extra work.

I just got a quote back from them for $1.50 per to load 8gb USB sticks.  They sell them for $8-$11 each(high??)in different styles., but sounded like they were ok with using ours if we bought our own in the door.  They also liked the idea of rewriting older versions for use as the new version when the ISO changes.

I had an additional thought here related to distribution channels.  We could add these as a product to our (SG) online store as an alternate method for distribution, we would need to add some sort of overhead multiplier, but it wouldn’t be much.

These guys were fine with doing a test run and checking the operation before the regular printing progressed, and they are local to our area.

Bobb

On 9/05/2013 11:05 AM, Bob Basques wrote:
All,

I often wondered about why these weren't just all run off at once and shipped out to the different events as needed.  first come, first serve sort of idea.  Easier to mange too, reserve some amount for pressing, some amount for shipping, and that's it for the funding cycle (unless more funding comes along).

When you are to factor in all this charge back handling stuff it starts to get real expensive overhead wise.  Even if you went the route of having regional printings, I would bet it would still be cheaper than sending the money out to each group and having them press their own items.

I could find a local entity here that might be in a poistion to handle this type of thing. . .

Anyway, just food for thought.

bobb

Hi Cameron,

I have to admit that you caught me off-guard, the list is more impressive than I thought before reviewing it.  :-)

I still find that having to deal with funding DVDs for so many events can be an issue. It is not just about processing micro-payments, you also need to collect and archive proofs that the expense you are reimbursing is legitimate (i.e. receipts) for OSGeo's accounting. I have seen how complicated this can be with just the Local chapter starter kits, imagine doing this for ~100 DVD print runs all around the world.

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