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Idea: OC ReMix Business Card


XPRTNovice
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There have been lots of times where someone has looked at my OCR shirt and been like "Hey, what's that?" Or someone has come to my house, seen my studio and been like "What do you use this for?" or any number of questions about my life that lead back to OCR being a core pillar of my leisure activities and hobby life. I typically tell them the address of the website and explain it, but I thought it would be an interesting idea to have business cards drawn up. Nobody remembers to go home and check OCremix.org after meeting me randomly in the play area of a mall (this happened last week) but if they found a card in their wallet later on, maybe they would.

My thought is to have one central design template that can be modified by remixers or customized for people that are fans and don't remix (and probably ordered at the remixer's expense, since I understand there's a cost associated with this). A dual-sided business card where one side has the website information and a brief description and the other side with the remixer's name and maybe a track or two or what he/she is known for (and maybe a link to their personal page) might be a great thing to just hand to someone and say "Check it out - it's all free and you're going to love it."

The ultimate cost would be almost nothing, as sites often have $10 deals for more business cards than you'd ever use. We'd just need someone to design it and then the OCR staff to approve it. I think this would be a great (and professional-looking) way to spread the love.

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That generic one is cool, but a two sided one that had the remixer's name on the back gives a bit more of a professional air of importance. If on the back it had the OCR color scheme and logo and it said "Liontamer" and underneath "Larry Oji: Judge, Wine Enthusiast, and Seriously a Lion Tamer" or something like that with links to both OCR pages and his personal music pages would be reaaally slick.

They could become collectibles! "OMG I HAVE DJP'S CARD" and people could play triple triad with them and shit

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That generic one is cool, but a two sided one that had the remixer's name on the back gives a bit more of a professional air of importance. If on the back it had the OCR color scheme and logo and it said "Liontamer" and underneath "Larry Oji: Judge, Wine Enthusiast, and Seriously a Lion Tamer" or something like that with links to both OCR pages and his personal music pages would be reaaally slick.

They could become collectibles! "OMG I HAVE DJP'S CARD" and people could play triple triad with them and shit

OMG so yes....

(also reminds me I have to hit up Deia again for some girlie OCR shirts... dammit I really want one or ten)

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I prefer just using the T-shirt. Not only do people lose business cards just as easily as they forget what it was you were trying to introduce to them, but it's mid-level common sense that anytime someone gives you a business card, it means they're trying to sell you something, and the only time you would get a business card is to get their business, meaning you're also trying to get money from them. If not, than it also kinda comes off like you're bragging about it and trying to get an ego high from an impressed stranger.

The T-shirt, on the other hand, is definitely a conversation starter. I've had no less than 10 people ask me what ocremix was, and more than a few people point at me in pleasant connection to what they were seeing. From there is an easier and more humble approach to introducing yourself as a remixer and musician. The trick is gently letting the stranger build his or her own interest in Ocremix while talking, and not in yourself. If they really want to check Ocremix out, they'll pay attention and find it on their own.

If you were my Grandma Ellis, you would have a third hand to which you could put on that business cards would still be useful to put up on local bulletin boards and stock at local game stores, gas stations, etc. So I'm up for OCR business cards, I just don't want to be that guy that hands it out as cheap personal advertising anytime the subject comes up. :P

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it's mid-level common sense that anytime someone gives you a business card, it means they're trying to sell you something

This isn't true at all. Business cards are mostly for making contacts, and that doesn't have to result in any kind of sale. I've exchanged business cards with people just because it's an easy way to get their contact info so we can hang out or chat. While the shirt is a great conversation-starter, the card serves a different purpose - giving them the card means at some point it might stare them in the face at home, when they can actually check the website out. And god knows ocremix.org is not the most memorable URL for people who haven't been to the site, so it's also a way to remember it later.

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it's mid-level common sense that anytime someone gives you a business card, it means they're trying to sell you something, and the only time you would get a business card is to get their business, meaning you're also trying to get money from them.

Definitely not. I have business cards galore from writing and other conventions from people that can't POSSIBLY be selling me something, since they don't sell anything. It's an easy way to share contact info; way easier than saying "hey, write this down. oh, where's a pen. oh where's a piece of paper. Oh whatever, just search for this not-often-used term that you won't remember." And if someone is already asking you about the T-shirt you're wearing or the subject you've already talking about, it's perfectly acceptable to pass them a card.

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It just seems like a Seinfeld style social faux pas to me. It doesn't feel like a casual exchange of information, it feels like an attempt to win some business (which is why they're called business cards in the first place).

At the same time, I realize (now) my sensitivity to that kind of thing is pretty skewed. It's the same reason I don't go to music stores with keyboards anymore - half the time I go there, I meet some keyboard guy customer, we get to chatting, but his conversation goes off from casual to bragging about who he plays with and what he's scored, he gives me his business card where I can buy his music and it's like, ok, I'm not a person anymore, I'm a dollar sign...

I swore I'd never do business even remotely close to that way. I suppose my narrow-mindedness is mistaking that for this here.

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I think both you and Palpable are right in your own ways. Not everyone is going to give out their business card just for exchanging contact info. The same goes for making a sale. Hell, sometimes people will hand them out trying to both at the same time!

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The T-shirt, on the other hand, is definitely a conversation starter.

I've been to PlayExpo in Manchester twice in my OCR shirt, and no one got into an OCR conversation with me... :cry:

Going towards the debate though, I am down with the idea of a card. People may see what we are from the shirt, but won't remember much about it when they get home. At the end of the day, OCR may not be making money as a business but it is still an organisation spreading the remixing love around, so I'm in the pros in regards to cards.

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I'm not a person anymore, I'm a dollar sign... I swore I'd never do business even remotely close to that way.

If the other person is making you feel like a dollar sign, then they are doing business wrong. They should be helping you and providing you with something, and that should be the reason you get their card. I've certainly met my share of people happy to hand me a card, tell me to check out their stuff, and end the conversation there, and those end up in the trash. But if you talk to someone, establish something in common, and you find yourself interested in what they say/do, a business card is a good way to get in contact again later, for advice, partnerships, sales, whatever. Especially since at a convention, you tend to lose track of who you talked to. In any case, I think your instincts are right, just that the business card has nothing to do with it. :)

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