types of merch (was Re: starting the discussion: merchandising at Conservancy)

[Tony Sebro]

On 02/06/2013 04:09 PM, Amy Terlaga wrote:
> Hi Tony--
>
> I'm interested in starting up some merchandise sales for the Evergreen
> project.  We'd love to have some things to sell in time for our April
> conference (April 10-13).  I was thinking T-shirts, pens, post-it notes to
> start, but I'm open to other ideas.
***Types of merch:

If, as you said in a follow-up note, the goal is to recover costs, 
you're right to scratch pens and post-it notes.  Common merch items for 
sale include:
- caps
- mugs
- wall calendars:  this requires more extensive/expensive design work 
for each month's photo/image.  But, would corporate supporters be 
willing to pay to sponsor each month, and get their logo featured in 
that month's image in return?  Or, perhaps you could feature/acknowledge 
valued contributors and developers instead.

- other ideas?

On the other hand, projects that organize conferences could choose to 
bake in the cost of a little branded tchotchke into the registration 
fee.  Pens, thumb drives, post-its, tote bags, etc., end up in 
attendees' offices/homes for months after the conference is over, so it 
might be worth it to "give" something away.

-Tony

-- 
Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy
+1-212-461-3245 x11
tony at sfconservancy.org
www.sfconservancy.org