Maximum Fun Drive 2: The Post-Mortem
Maximum Fun Drive 2 was a rip-roaring success. Thank you.
When I started accepting donations, I thought maybe I could get by without pledge drives. Nobody really *likes* pledge drives, certainly not those of us who work in public radio. But the little trickle of donations was barely enough to cover expenses, so I tried one. Lo and behold: people tend to help you when you ask for their help. So I decided I'd try to keep it to once a year, so you guys wouldn't hate me.
This time around, I didn't know what kind of expectations to have. I thought maybe a hundred people would give. More than four hundred did. I had to make a last-minute addition to the prize pool, now I'm realizing I'm going to spend like eight or ten grand on distributing prizes... but that's the good kind of bad news. Everything is great.
If you pledged, thank you. Prizes will be going out over the next month or so. I may end up having a volunteer event for prize envelope packing in a few weeks. Expect your prizes in six or eight weeks. The only exception may be books for those who pledged early on -- those'll likely come a bit faster (though they're going out media mail, which sometimes takes a long time).
There's already some benefits here at MaxFun world HQ. We've got a badly needed new microphone, and I bought a storage system for all the data this operation generates. It was kinda expensive, but it's the only way to protect the work. Adding to the five external hard drives on top of my computer case wasn't workable :). And of course there's the comfort of knowing that I'm closer to my longer-term objectives: hiring a producer and including original non-interview content in every show.
So: if you haven't donated, you always can. If you did, thank you. And it looks like the future is bright for maximumfun.org.
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When I started accepting donations, I thought maybe I could get by without pledge drives. Nobody really *likes* pledge drives, certainly not those of us who work in public radio. But the little trickle of donations was barely enough to cover expenses, so I tried one. Lo and behold: people tend to help you when you ask for their help. So I decided I'd try to keep it to once a year, so you guys wouldn't hate me.
This time around, I didn't know what kind of expectations to have. I thought maybe a hundred people would give. More than four hundred did. I had to make a last-minute addition to the prize pool, now I'm realizing I'm going to spend like eight or ten grand on distributing prizes... but that's the good kind of bad news. Everything is great.
If you pledged, thank you. Prizes will be going out over the next month or so. I may end up having a volunteer event for prize envelope packing in a few weeks. Expect your prizes in six or eight weeks. The only exception may be books for those who pledged early on -- those'll likely come a bit faster (though they're going out media mail, which sometimes takes a long time).
There's already some benefits here at MaxFun world HQ. We've got a badly needed new microphone, and I bought a storage system for all the data this operation generates. It was kinda expensive, but it's the only way to protect the work. Adding to the five external hard drives on top of my computer case wasn't workable :). And of course there's the comfort of knowing that I'm closer to my longer-term objectives: hiring a producer and including original non-interview content in every show.
So: if you haven't donated, you always can. If you did, thank you. And it looks like the future is bright for maximumfun.org.
Like this post? Click here to subscribe to the blog.
posted by Jesse Thorn at Tuesday, June 03, 2008
7 Comments:
Glad it worked, I prefer donating once or twice a year rather than every month, and the pledge drive reminded me to do so.
Your shows are amongst the best I listen to, even the old college stuff is excellent.
thanks!
Congrats, Jesse! I think you handled the pledge drive with honesty and class. If people don't know the need, they won't know to give. Giving is in itself a positive experience for the giver.
The problem with the PBS television pledge drives (and others) is not the asking for money part; but that I always felt a little deceived. They would announce some great show starting in "just a few minutes" then you had to endure guilt trips and begging, afraid to turn the channel in case you missed the show. Sometimes the "few minutes" turned into an hour. There's a better way to do it that does not insult the very people they rely on for donations. I think you did it the better way.
Keep in mind, too: No one is giving grudgingly. People who give, do it because they want to.
Years ago, when I started my freelance design business, I read something from Paul Edwards that changed my entire way of thinking, and dispelled the uptight myths we all seem to have about money and work:
People will gladly pay you well for work you love to do.
May this pledge drive be just the tip of the iceberg for your continued success.
-Darryl
Glad to hear the pledge drive was a success, and I'm not too sorry to hear that the pledge drive will become a regular thing. Sure, nobody likes pledge drives. I'm sure it makes plenty of hassle for you. As a listener though, I didn't mind this one in the slightest. A pledge drive on my local public radio station is a serious annoyance because *I'm trying to listen to the news!* They have kidnapped my news and replaced it with classical music, David Sedaris (both fine things to listen to but not what I'm looking for at 7am), and a couple of local cats agonizingly trying to fill time saying the same things over and over (talking about bullshit like "driveway moments"--can we track down whoever wrote the "driveway moments" memo?). Your pledge drive, on the other hand...as a listener I experienced it as another of the many fun ways you create for listeners to get involved in Max Fun. Anyway, congrats.
Elias Hiebert
Jesse-
If you have a prize packaging party, I am sooo in. Let packing tape spill from every cup.
Congratulations, Jesse!
Technical question - what sort of storage system did you go with for backing up all that audio?
Also, what sort of "original non-interview content" do you have up your sleeve? Will you be bringing back some of the old TSOYA segments? Personally, I miss BBC sportscaster Jesse Thorne (with an E).
Not only did I donate, but I chose to forgo any prize! I'm proud of me! I'm not sure I was eligible for one! Still, ya gotta have some hubris in this life! Go me!
C. Limbach
Congrats, Jesse! I'm incredibly happy for and proud of you. It's only up from here, buddy!
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