[Penguicon-Concom] Set up appropriate to Technical conferences

[Rob Landley]

On Thursday 06 July 2006 4:00 pm, Anne KG Murphy wrote:
> Tracy,
>
> > If that means it is now my job, what is the minimum number we want, and
> > what's the rough budget we want to give to this?  They'd also make good
> > giveaways for events like Ohio Linuxfest and the like.  FWIW, I would
> > *not* be buying the absolute cheapest option - that gets you pens where
> > one in ten don't write properly to start with.  But I would do my best to
> > be cost effective.
>
> yeah.
>
> perhaps if you could get a baseline estimate, with per item cost
> reduction thresholds if relevant, that would help us evaluate whether
> this is the type of costpoint we would want to have for marketing
> giveaways or for bonuses for our attendees.
>
> I'm willing to spend more on our attendees than on walk-away items for
> parties.  Given that I've heard feedback on GoH suggestions that imply
> we're strapped for cash, I think we'd want to really evaluate how many
> additional members we think this kind of giveaway would get us at cons
> and therefore how that works out, budget-wise.
>
> Given that there usually *are* thresholds for mass production where
> the per-item cost goes significantly down, I'd definitely suggest the
> design for pens be generic as to year so we can use them in future
> years as well in case we have bunches left over.
>
> I would think to start off we would want at least 200, possibly as
> many as a thousand if there's a price break there, but probably not
> more than that.

http://www.westsky.com/pens.htm

The cheap printed stick pens printed in one color are 30 cents each for 500 
($150), 27 cents each for 1000 ($270), and 25 cents each for 2500 ($625).  
There's a $25 setup fee for each design, but I think that includes shipping 
(to one location).

If we spring for 1000 we can give some away at room parties, give one to each 
attendee, and probably still have a few left to put on tables.  The economies 
of scale aren't really enough to go for 2500, and I don't know how long they 
last.  (Pens that lay around for 2 or 3 years start to have their ink dry 
out, we can always order more later.)

Rob
-- 
Never bet against the cheap plastic solution.