They both change their Custom Title to the same thing!
Also, I’ll get the official website updated and fixed. Just need to get in contact with the web master.
Need more folks doing this. C’mon people, show some support.
Well, you’re in luck because I have exactly 1 DC-DC converter in my possession, and can get these out in todays mail. I take it it needs to go to you?
Yes please. Do you still have my address for Jesup? I need to pay a visit there.
Even better than I expected. I was just hoping you’d refer me to a place to get one. Very cool!
Keits replied to my email. He’s talking to the SRK owners to see if it’s okay to post this on the front page. Apparently, there’s worry over how the money is going to be handled and how we’ll make sure Lucas doesn’t run away with it.
I had that same problem with MrWizard. He wanted to make sure that everything was going to charity. I couldn’t give him a straight “yes,” because I DO want to hold a little money for the next round of Sticks for Joy, since I’ve already got volunteers willing to make the next round, not to mention, somebody has to pay to ship these things, and I know it’s not gonna be whoever wins the joysticks. I did, however say, that we could donate everything that is raised at Evo, we don’t need all THAT much. Just need some to cover our expenses and whatnot.
Maybe if we can get an official treasurer/bookkeeper? I mean, I do understand. I’m just a random fella on the Internet, and not all random fellas can be trusted.
I still do want to be able to get the official rules and jive out before we really start cranking it out, which should come after I get these last pieces together and really get it going.
I have a local guy who liked it so much, he wants to sell tickets with me door-to-door, which I’m hoping will be success enough to open a bank account, and get paypal up etc. I have an EIN for us, it just takes a little money to get this going.
Also, just to let everyone know, I’ve got a back plexi for the back artwork, which is printed. I’ll probably get it cut on my short visit back to my hometown (My mom being an X-acto knife wizard, I don’t trust myself enough with that angled window to not mess it up many times)
South Palm street? Let me know soon and I can get it out in todays mail, prolly be there Thursday, maybe Wednes.
Yup, that’s the one. Thanks, Toodles! Now I’m super-excited to get to test this.
Hmm, is there anyone we can get who can either act as a treasurer, or at the very least, back us up as legit? Mark maybe?
Also, personally, I’m willing to donate everything, minus the cost of shipping. We’ve were able to get this started on nothing, no reason we can’t do it again. Besides, the point is to get this whole exercise recognized as a legit charity. If we have to sacrifice a bit to get us to that point, then it’s fine with me.
Do you know how much you were going to hold back?
This is worth considering. I suppose we can always start again. I just didn’t want to strain everybody a second time.
I was going to say about $100–$200. Sounds like a lot, but in order to get free checking with most banks on a business account, it’s either a balance like that, or a monthly $50–$75 deposit in order to keep it free. That, and I’d really like to ship these with tracking, insured, packaged well, and to have enough for others. I don’t want to constantly pry on the community, when several people have already donated $50–$100+.
I believe you are legally allowed to keep 10% while 90% go toward the charity fund. Please look it up
So is this a sort of prize draw for 1 stick or are you guys planning to actually produce and sell them?
As I was saying on the MK Cabinet article on the front page, I had never heard of this and probably would have never thought to look in the tech talk forum so may never have found it. Sorry if my question lacks knowledge around this or its been said before but I dont have time to read through 350 posts.
I was also wondering if you guys have set up “… For Joy” as a brand name for the charity.
Also I just had another idea I havnt really thought much into properly yet, Im just spilling out some input so it may sound a bit of a ropey idea at the moment and it may be too early to really do right now but could be something to plan for one day, or it may have crossed your minds already. I dont want to come in and sound like Im trying to change anything, some people do get protective. But looking through the thread from what Ive seen so far its all step by step decisions going in the right direction but where that direction goes specifically doesnt seem to be 100% clear. This is just a quick thought so please patient with it and think about it for a moment just in case its not very well explained or sounds a bit scrubby.
I thought maybe it would be a good idea to approach manufacturers like Hitbox and see about working with them to release a limited edition Hitbox For Joy with the Sticks For Joy colour scheme and artwork. Its just an idea, whether theyd be willing to get on board for a limited run I dont know but would it hurt to ask them? I mean joining forces with a relatively new company who are building momentum could help give both parties a marketing and publicity boost. Say if they sold them and 30% of the profits came back to you, its a very different controller so would compliment yours rather than compete and it could help get money together to produce more of your own sticks to sell. Im assuming the demand is going to be much greater than the supply for these sticks and the hitbox is a very different beast some people like them others want sticks. I expect they have a patent on the Hitbox but Im guessing theres always the possibility they would be interested in producing a Hitbox version.
The reason I thought setting the charity brand up as “For Joy” is because depending on how much this grows you could broaden the range out from Sticks For Joy to other things like “Pads For Joy”, “Hitbox For Joy” or anything else you can think of. Also its got that sort of “For The Win” vibe to it so it could be a really popular brand just from people also adopting the phrase “For Joy”. Sticks For Joy maybe too specific a name to reach that far but anybody can use the term “something For Joy” and it would serve as a constant reminder tracing back to this brand.
Another idea would be to launch a range of For Joy T shirts with Broken Tier. Whats really drawn me in to this effort isnt just that it helps relief for Japan but it can also help the FGC by bringing them together and promote a healthy scene so what better way to do that than to seek to bring those in strong positions in the FGC with strong brands, like Broken Tier and Hitbox, together for a community wide effort?
Like I said I havn’t researched any of it at all but it could be an idea for marketing and merchandising a charity effort like this. Maybe soon or maybe not right now but could be a direction to look to in order to help improve the brand and support the charitable effort behind it. Thats really just my initial thoughts on this so far.
Also received reply from Keits to contact srktips@gmail.com to get the front page okay. Keits replied that he needs to go over the charity. Lucas, you guys are deciding on red cross Japan?
Oh, boy, more law to go through. But will do.
[COLOR=#141414][FONT=Helvetica]
Yes Red Cross Japan is confirmed, but let me finish up wiring the stick first. I’m just waiting on Toodles’ Spark, so we can say for sure we’ve got a working stick to be raffled off for sure. Would like to be able to get everything on DSLR, as well, so it can show in all its glory on the front page.[/COLOR]
[/FONT][/COLOR]
We are planning to produce them, but to raffle them off, as a raffle has a limitless amount of sales, as opposed to an auction where only one person will pay several hundred dollars. Instead, I feel that most people are willing to donate $5, $10, or $20 to a good cause, and also have a shot at winning a fantastic stick. We have a second stick in the works by butteroj, which will also be raffled off. Creating a high demand with a smaller supply is the purpose, it’s what sells more tickets, and also allows us to ensure that we are only creating the highest quality of arcade sticks.
However, I’m definitely not against the name expanding, for now, though, we’re just trying to get our name recognized. Shirts would be a cool touch after the publicity is gained. I think it’d be great to have it something recognized across the community, and partnering with other big names is a great touch for getting across the community.
The “X for Joy” could work. The original name by d3v, however, was a play on words of “Joystick,” so I didn’t really plan to expand the name beyond “Sticks for Joy,” but if we expand into making more things “for Joy,” I’m not totally opposed to it.
If we were to partner with any retail sticks, it’d have to have that something “extra,” that would really make it worth it. I understand that some people like the Hit Box layout, and that the opportunity for partnership is there, however, I am aware that the Hit Box only comes completed, either PS3 or PS3/360 wired. And while PS3/360 wired with some custom art is pretty cool, we still would like to throw in LEDs, wireless/multi-console support, something a little edgier on the case, etc. I’m not sure that Hit Box would be willing to provide something like this. As a retail and manufacturing brand, it’s like calling madcatz and demanding custom artwork and dual mods on a few TEs. While I am aware that they don’t mind if you make your own Hit Box using their layout for personal use, I think producing these, even as a charity, wouldn’t sit well with the producers of Hit Box, as their layout is something they strived hard to find the perfect placement, and once you get down to it, that layout is all they’ve really brought to the table. Stickless sticks had been around before the Hit Box, it just wasn’t as popular. By using their layout, we’re taking the one thing away from Hit Box that has really brought them into the game. However, this isn’t to say I’m totally opposed to the idea, it’s simply that we’d need to partner with them in a way they may or may not like (Produce our own Hit Boxes with permission, as we have some of the best builders on the scene, or to have them produce a limited run, which may not be beneficial to them, as Hit Boxes are designed to be the same, just like TEs). As I said, though, if the producers are willing to chip in and make limited editions of their sticks, so long as we keep something spectacular and custom in it, it works with me. With a higher supply as such, we can also look to other outlets such as auctioning, so one can “guarantee” themselves a Stick for Joy if their pockets are deep enough. In the mission statement, I didn’t limit us to simply raffles, as we may expand. “Sticks for Joy is committed to supporting various charities through fundraising events with the arcade sticks it creates.”
Again, though, I appreciate such a great outlook. I don’t know if this will simply be the two stick we have planned, or if we’ll branch out into a community-wide effort. It really depends on the community. If we only sell a hundred tickets, $500 goes to Red Cross Japan, somebody wins a fabulous stick, we call it a success, and go about our lives. If hundreds of tickets go out the door, we make a lot of front pages, we donate what we get, and get onto the next round, with a refreshed outlook, and continue on from there. If it becomes that big of a name, builders and sponsors will gladly step up for the next round. We’ve really just pulled this all together from what we’ve had laying around. VOLTECH said he’d donate a case he had, RoninWarrior was willing to paint one, I emailed Per from akihabarashop to see if he’d be interested, Toodles was glad to throw lots of PCBs in, all of our donors had some spare cash to give to our cause, etc. It was the willingness of the community that has driven us to be successful so far, and it’s the willingess of the community outside of our tightly-woven Tech Talk that will determine how successful it is, and determine how far we go. That’s why I’m not sure how far our organization will go.
The Members of Sticks For Joy do not use anything other than Arcade Sticks.
We choose not to work with Hit Box.
What Sticks For Joy is, is to make high-end Arcade Sticks which will be raffled for Charity.
We gather known Top Modders and Builders to work for the projects.
What Sticks For Joy is, is about Custom Arcade Sticks.
Hit Box is a retail company, so we don’t think of them as Custom.
What made Sticks For Joy, is after seeing Darksydephil slap art onto an SE and selling for $400.
The art was not even layout correctly.
And he continued doing more.
http://thekingofhate.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=2406
So Sticks For Joy come to life as to show the Community what a real Custom Arcade Stick is.
One that is actually worth the price of $400.
If DarkScrubPhail is the “King of Hate,” then we are the “Kings of Love.”
Exactly it is worth the price of $400 but you can get it by simply paying for a $5, $10, $15, or $25 raffle ticket.
I totally understand about the change of the “Sticks For Joy” though “Pads for Joy” works because they are called joypads after all ;). I did notice how the idea came about in a step by step sort of way. I did get from the OP that you were leaving it open to the possibility of growing beyond the initial concept. So I thought I would throw some long term ideas down for you just to help towards a little more distant future direction.
I sort of suggested the hitbox idea with the thought it would at the very least be kept to have room for some customisation. In the view that it could be a project you could partner with hitbox. Its just a path you could possibly take really for the future, whether you do or not is up to you guys but like I said, it couldnt hurt to ask them. Theyre a fledgling company when you compare them to someone like madcatz and their controller is more widely regarded as just an interesting concept right now than a fully supported controller like a stick so they may benefit. I figure a partnership for a 1 off run might help publicity for both parties there. Might be at least worth exploring the possibilities with them even if you dont go through with it.
Partnerships with more established brands are definitely a good way to go and I think theres a good chance there are ones who would be willing to work alongside you to develop a product in a way that can work for both parties. Its quite common for charitable efforts to take this path and you will find people are probably more willing than you 1st think. I think in terms of HitBox it would be down to creating limited edition raffle/aution run for now because they would want to mainly focus on their own controller but I think people would definitely want to buy the sticks and a well designed T Shirt will always sell without having a clash of interest. Im not saying you have to do it but its something worth looking into down the line.
Like I said, its just a few branding ideas really. I think its already proved that the community has some talented people with some initiative who are willing to contribute their skills as well as money for raffles/auctions so figured it could be worth growing from there. As a charity brand I think I can see a lot of potential there. I think it can go as far as you guys choose to take it, I dont think the idea behind it has any limits and as a brand and idea it has enough power to gain momentum without needing too much work from just one person because its just one of those things that can just work well with a community behind it.
So we have hitbox tutorial on the front page but you have to go through a bunch of shit to get an event for a charity front paged.
Wow stay stupid as fuck SRK