On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 12:39 PM, Salve J Nilsen <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi! > > Leo and I had a few mails off-list, and some assumptions came about that I > didn't make clear enough... > > > Leo Lapworth said: >> >> On 31 January 2010 20:48, Salve J Nilsen <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Here's the card front I just made: >>> >>> http://www.pvv.org/~sjn/FOSDEM-Perl-promo-card-front-1.0.png >>> >>> (Note the purposeful use of low-res graphics, the Comic Sans font, and >>> pointless italics. :) >> >> Nice idea, is there anyway to make it more positive? > > [snip] > >> Leading with a negative, is... well negative, even if it's funny when >> (/if?) you look at the other side? > > The cards are made for *giving* to people (not just keep lying around for > people to pick up by themselves.) When giving the card, you're in fact > introducing yourself as a member of the Perl community (hence the > size/format of the card and the big logo) at the same time as you give them > a self-deprecating (put-down type) joke. > > When giving any card to someone in person it's almost automatic for people > to read the text on the card, especially if they can see at first glance > that there's something vaguely relevant for them there (that's why I made > the front side with "Perl" and the onion logo as big as sensibly possible.) > At second glance - should they find the logo/text relevant to them - they > see the bottom text, and are rewarded with something amusing. > > The point is to _give_ people something amusing/memorable that they want to > _keep_. Something they can bring home and tell their friends about: "Look > what the crazy Perl people were giving out at the conference! I brought a > few extra." > > Yes, you could put any joke on the card, positive or otherwise, but in the > end it doesn't matter much. I chose the self-deprecating one becaue 1) it's > true - but we do something about it, and 2) it's false - since we're > standing in front of him giving obvious (but funny) marketing material. > > It's this paradox I'm aiming for here, and which makes the whole thing more > surreal/funny. What kind of marketing people introduce themselves as sucking > at marketing? > > (At this point, imagine what we have in common with the FOSDEM crowd... Are > we the only ones that suck at marketing there? No. But we make something > amusing out of it.) > > "We're not doing marketing, we're just raising awareness!" > > Yes. We are. And we're cheating at it by making something funny. :) >
So will you be bringing a few to FOSDEM already? Gabor
