We have lots of smart people from a variety of backgrounds on TKP. Let's put our heads together and come up with some ways to not only grow the Key Players Club but maybe other ways for Joe to get some influx of money. As I've said in the past without TKP I wouldn't have season tickets, be a Hokie Club member or be as passionate about Hokie sports as I am. We can't have this site go away, I'd miss all you bastards too much. So let's do this TKP and keep the site running for 25 more years.
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My only bad idea is a second TKP tailgate. I know we do one for a charity, but I can't think of a more worthy cause to have a second one than TKP.
Why stop at 2, is it not possible to have a TKP tailgate for every home game and then Homecoming is the worthy cause charity Tailgate.
I'm game to support that. I won't make every game this year because of new baby coming but if someone wants to take point on this I'll help. We setup a tailgate and have a donation box setup for people to drop a few bucks in to enjoy our setup.
Well, since WF is doing stadium wide alcohol sales, and we have experts on here with that particular topic, why don't we create some sort of (ABC legal) Whiskey-Beer hybrid and market it?
EDIT: I plan on joining after extracting more fundage from one of the casinos in the Philly area this weekend.
Literally just joined, this site can't go away, and I am well aware of the hell in going to catch from my wife. So my couch is now thankful to Joe for the company it'll have tonight!
Well just WTF is her problem [sorry]!? That's ok. She'll get it one day. They ALL will.
I'm working on creating a small team of minions that I regularly clad in maroon and orange to up her devotion a bit more. The alpha test case seems to be working quite well.
Oh that's grand.
I also just joined. I definitely get way more than $7/month worth of content and enjoyment from this site!
Kickstarter campaign with crowd-sourced rewards so it doesn't put too much work on Joe's plate. I know some of these are already key-player perks.
Rewards:
custom gif/meme made by photoshop savvy members
VIP status at TKP tailgate in lot 18
Tag along to press conference (is that even possible?)
TKP T-shirt
Hi-res digital copies of TKP photos for sale
framed prints of TKP photos for sale
TKP bottle opener
Ticket to TKP "conference" And by conference I mean everyone invited getting together with a speaker like a lecture by French, or a roast, or something fun and relatively low key, but exclusive before a home game or something.
Voicemail message recorded by fan favorite former player. Probably someone who's not quite NFL quality who would charge big bucks for something like this, but will carry a certain gravitas amongst the hokie faithful.
I am currently racking my brain for some fundraising ideas, as that is certainly a way to generate some extra money. But I think The Key Player's club is going to be the best way to ensure the longterm viability of this site. Unless it is forbidden or Joe would not like it, I intend on posting a thread (once the season starts back) about how important TKP is to me as a fan of Hokie football and how thankful I am for the community it provides. Other people can tell their stories of how important TKP is to them and the effect it has had on their fanhood personally, either in that thread or by making their own thread, thanking TKP, and asking for people to ante up for The Key Player's Club. Obviously, there are people who financially cannot justify supporting TKP. But there are certainly people who can afford to pay less than what they pay for Netflix/Hulu/HBOGO for some top notch VT coverage to continue.
I'll gladly write up what TKP and its members mean to me.
Creating a top crack TKP Blackjack team, to assault gambling establishments on the eastern seaboard (they will NEVER know what hits them)!
Sell t-shirts with the following:
I would totally buy this shirt.
Although, is 'Hokie Nation' copyright protected?
To could just say MAKE TECH GREAT AGAIN
I'll buy this right shirt right meow!
MAKE TECH STICK IT IN AGAIN
Boom
In all seriousness though, how do I turn this into a sign to put in my front yard?
HEY! I don't want my imaginary future child exposed to that type of effrontery! Language!
I also tried out
MAKE HORSES TREADMILL AGAIN
Where do I put my credit card info
Vistaprint.com. They can make that into anything you want. You can get it as a 6 foot banner and hang it on your front door. If you want something more local you can look up fast signs or a local sign shop.
Can I make this my Facebook Cover Photo? Cause, Awesome.
I don't have a problem with that - go for it... Totally willing to have Joe use this for a shirt if he wants for the site, as I think they would sell fast.
He can use it for his Facebook for a 5 dollar donation to TKP right?
I would pay 5 bucks and more for this. And to make them actual signs and litter campus with them.
That would be an awesome idea - and then get Joe's permission to put the TKP logo on it to get a little free advertisement for the website. Should be generic enough that it shouldn't violate any VT trademarks or copyrights...
So in order to get this done we need Joe's permission for TKP logo, make sure VT doesn't have copyright issue with it and produce it.
Having gone through the process of vetting stuff through VT before, I don't think you'd need to for this. They can't really object to the names involved, and there's no proprietary logo or trademark used (like Hokie Nation would have been).
I wasn't sure about "Tech" or "Stick it in". If they don't then let's roll the thing out, even if it's just in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, snapchat, tinder to start it's still getting the visibility out there.
WTF!?!?
VT doesn't have any of the above trademarked.... http://www.branding.unirel.vt.edu/trademarks/index.html
However....
Stick It In was trademarked by Bookholders in 2012, and by doing so, forced places like Campus Emporium to cease sales of their SII apparel... might have a problem there.... http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/new_river_valley/stick-it-in-trademarked-by-bookholders/article_c65a35df-46ab-5477-bd63-aa921bcf2e6c.html
EDIT: But wait.... The Stick it In Trademark was abandoned in 2014 after they failed to make payment. Looks like we'd be good to go
Well even without Stick it in, it still looks great. What would one with a TKP logo on it look like?
That's NOT litter! That's enhancing and beautifying the overall appearance and marketability of campus. Straight up.
That should be the back. The front should show a photo of Foster with the caption "Support OR DIE"
I would buy this as a Tshirt and a bumper sticker, somebody get to work and produce some product, this will sell. I could sell 100's of this Tshirt at the LU and UT tailgate. My credit card info is waiting......
https://twitter.com/nnichols_24/status/769914771458129920
This anyone on TKP?
Would someone be able to put the official key play logo on this sometime soon? I want to make it my cover photo on Facebook and I'm sure it will get a ton of exposure among my fellow students but I also want to make sure at the same time that I'm helping the cause and giving tkp the proper credit and recognition to help boost students interest in tkp. Given the current political climate and fact that Facebook is pretty much mainly used for political memes and commentary these days, I think this is something that will spread like wildfire among students once it gets out there. I'm a student and I only ever lurk on here but this is something I'm willing to put out there and try to help tkp get more exposure among my peers.
Looks like someone is already trying to monetize it.
https://www.tilt.com/tilts/fuentefoster-16-shirts-05e2f31d?u=pott59&s=wb
Did some Facebook research, the guy selling them created the shirt design in March or before (pic I saw was from March 1st). It isn't exactly a revolutionary idea and I can't blame the guy for selling it.
He isn't going to make his tilt goal.
I'm not super familiar with Tilt but it looks like their effort failed because they didn't reach their required goal of 100 people contributing by their deadline. So they aren't currently selling them. Maybe we could try again with the updated text and tag line of "make tech great again" (or whichever phrase works best to avoid the trade/wordmark issue). I think that derivation is the game changer that will bring more interest.
I'm mainly just interested in the finalized TKP approved image so that I can use it and spread it on social media. It doesn't even have to be for shirt sales or anything but just a generalized marketing method to spread exposure of the key play.
Technically yes, I could do this...if Joe says it's ok. It is his logo and his company so he gets to choose with what it gets associated.
I heard that co-eds washing cars raises lots of money...
Now if only we could get Emma on board with this idea!!! Imagine the money we'd make from just me...um, I mean the TKPers we already have.
Have we asked her?
I would take care of that, but I can't because of restraining ord...er...um...reasons.
Official TKP Pie vs. Cake bake sale
HEY! If you're going to have a bake sale, then don't forget Cookies!
Well that escalated quickly
TKP: The Movie
Wait. Have the site go away? Did I miss something?
Here:http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2016/august/15/ot-loud-ads-tkp. This will get you ALL caught up.
I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
Referencing the "OT: Loud Ads on TKP" thread, which I have abandoned for now while I rest my head in the sand.
Traffic to the site drives ad revenue, and creates more potential club members. Set up some type of a referral system where site/club members can get some type of reward/recognition for referring people who join the site or the club. Maybe discounts or free Merch for different levels or referrals if you are a club member, or if they join the club. Different color stars modeled after the hokie club. VIP tailgate or fishing trips (obviously not free) invites. Name in a drawing for press box pass for each referral. Just tossing ideas.
One route could be to leverage the youtube channel. Have French do full video film reviews/previews. The guy from fishduck.com (Oregon footbal stuff, not a hunting/fishing blog) has a bunch of videos with 5k+ views, 10ish with >10k views, and three with >100k views. You typically can earn between $1 and $5 per 1k views. The downside is that this likely requires a lot more effort on the front end in terms of production and editing, and time.
I feel like Joe has been pretty clear and diverse in his offerings/ opportunities for readers to provide financial support for the site. He has invented the wheel, perhaps we should use it.
1. The Key Players Club (ongoing support)
2. Direct donation (one-time support)
3. Amazon.com Smile Page (ongoing support that impacts you not one bit)
4. Merch
5. Sponsorships
I know everyone is trying to help, but realize that almost any help will create work for Joe who does not have the bandwidth for it.
I was hoping most ideas would be done independent of Joe and TKP and the money gained could be turned over to TKP.inc
Is there anyway someone could go around to Blacksburg businesses and try to grab some sponsors? I feel like that could be utilized more for bringing in some funds.
We should sell turkey legs
What's the official Amazon smile name?
The link to it is under the Key Players Club progress bar.
I'd like a performance fabric version of the horse on a treadmill shirt.
That and other shirt options or pint glasses would be cool.
What about creating a TKP app and charging for it? I would rather use an app than go through safari on my phone. I know the idea is to keep the site free but...is a $1.99 or $2.99 app gonna set people back that far?
What would the app provide that the site doesn't already? If you want to launch the site directly instead of navigating through Safari, just go to the site, hit the Share button in the top right and select "Add to Home Screen." Boom, all the functionality of a TKP app without any additional development cost.
Learn something new everyday, thanks!
Thanks. Now how do I delete safari since I only ever used it to access TKP
Getting approval to sell through app stores is a time-consuming effort, then there is upkeep and such. Running the website takes a lot of time. Running an app would probably break Joe's psyche. It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing, though - if enough money could be raised to pay someone to do software development, then products like apps could be produced, to net more money, etc.
Any "complaints" could then be fixed through the app instead of dealing with making the site work for every browser.
Instead you'd have to fix the app for every phone version. And I can say from experience that fixing bugs in a closed environment in Objective C is NOT FUN. Web development is considerably cheaper and easier in most cases.
What about having official TKP viewing parties in NOVA, RVA and BBurg where x% or $1 of every drink sale would be donated to TKP? I know TKP is not a charitable organization so not entirely sure if this is possible, but I think between football and basketball season I imagine this could help with a couple thousand dollars... it could also be a way to have people signup for the Key Players Club in person.
I know an owner of a RVA brewery that has tried to get hooked up with the Richmond Hokie Club with no luck that would probably be interested in this.
The RVA Hokie Club needs to get their head out of their ass and stop hosting at Buffalo Wild Wings. Last time I went for a game they didn't even put sound on so they could have a chicken wing eating competition. The other time they had the game on two tvs in the corner. I've talked to several bar owners who would be THRILLED to host these events. I'd bet good money that someone who actually gave a damn about doing it well would bring in a sizeable crowd, even if it wasn't official.
I'd have to agree, that's straight up embarrassing!
Just moved to mechanicsville and was wondering about viewing parties. Could we set up one for TKP members? I love that idea with the proceeds going to TKP.
There are official TKP viewing parties in NOVA at First Down in Ballston, including the season kick-off happy hour next Friday, August 26. First Down is a site sponsor, and I believe those viewing parties were part of the sponsorship agreement. This is a good idea, but I think it's already being implemented in a slightly different way.
Unfortunately I'm pretty far away in here South Carolina but it's pretty typical for businesses down here to raise money through a golf tourney. I'm sure there are a bunch of tkpgolfers up in Nova (and maybe someone even works at a golf course!) and setting one up isn't too difficult. Courses are usually pretty good about hosting these types of things and if you could find a golf course that's owned/managed by a Hokie or has some VT ties, it might be even easier/more lucrative.
Was going to suggest this too. Could we form a committee without Joe to organize it?
JUST START A PATREON
ALSO IT'S NOT ENJOYMENT. IT'S VALUE FOR VALUE
I only have one good idea: By checking the turkey legs big board, I have deduced that there are under 2000 people using this site. If each of us make a concerted effort to recommend this site to several other hokies we tailgate or communicate with often, then the number of key players club members might go up along with the membership. It's one of those cases where bigger might be better.
There, just sent 10 emails to hokie friends about TKP.
this is a complete bollocks idea but I'm grasping at straws here
how about instead of investing money and trying to hire somebody full time we take a different approach? Why don't we form a club at VT and turn this into a student-run entity? The club can target CS and English majors to manage the upkeep of the site from the computer side of things as well as have a true editor (or staff of editors). The TKP Editor's Club could be an exclusive club and Joe could interview students who are interested and then select a team to carry on the day-to-day stuff Joe does now throughout a semester or school year. There are probably a ton of challenges with this approach...take aim and shoot as many holes in it as possible.
cheers.
Go Hokies!
Interns actually sound like a really good idea. But I think Joe was worried about managing more people which would take up more of his time. So it sounds like he really needs to have a guy that he can trust to take over aspects for him and then that person can manage interns/ideas/etc
Student run entities are very difficult to get off the ground. You need a critical mass of student involvement to make sure the talent is there to fill voids left by graduating seniors/students who no longer have time to do what they did the year before. You know how much we talk about recruiting with regard to football? It works the same way with student organizations. For advisors (Joe and others in this case) there is a huge burden to make sure that each year you rope in potential future leaders. When you reach critical mass, you can have students do this, but one weak year and the system collapses unless the permanent staff has the availability to ramp up their involvement. Fraternities are a good example of this. When they are run well by chapter students, it's fine. When you have a couple crappy years, the national organization has to step in or choose to let the chapter die. I was not in a fraternity, but this is my take from the outside looking in.
Source: I was part of an organization that started in the mid 60s at Tech. As a student I was part of leadership and we were able to shepherd it through some permanent staff upheaval. Later I moved back to Blacksburg as permanent staff and had to basically live on campus to try to get it back on its feet after a couple years of lax student involvement. A few years after I left staff, a dip in student involvement overlapped with some key staff quitting and the result is that this organization doesn't exist at Tech for the first time in 50 years.
TL;DR – student run is not a good thing at this point for TKP, but I think getting more students involved would be a fantastic idea to help take some responsibility off the Key personnel (see what I did there?)
I think the idea of crowd-sourcing a team to help run the site would be good. I'm sure that members that frequently use the site could help out if anyone has expertise in certain areas. That way people that are familiar with the site, and know what Joe's overall goals are, can pitch in to keep it running. I think it could be similar to how VTGuitarMan is a moderator here but also is a member of the community and actively contributes.
I'm not sure who writes the transcripts for the press conferences but that's something that someone (myself included) could do in their spare time if that took a little bit of work off of Ryan/Alex/Joe. I think if we all just did little things like this that we could help Joe not feel like he's running the whole site on his own.
An "Official" club would be subject to university or SGA guidelines, would it not? That may limit our creativity (or currently self-moderated freedom of expression).
I'm a student at Tech right now and I've been trying to think of ways to fundraise for people who might not be inclined to the Key Players Club quite yet, or those who are but want to go above and beyond with their involvement and I came up with this- I would be more than happy to host a potluck dinner at my apartment every Friday night before a home game for those who are in town early, or for students who are already here. In addition, there would just be a $5 cover and each person would bring one piece of the meal. All of the funds would be directly contributed to TKP, everyone would have a good time getting to know one another, and we'd be ready for our victory the following day. Is there any interest in this idea?
Sounds awesome. I'd certainly try to make it to a few of these. TKP pre game potluck has a nice ring to it.
One of the most fun fundraising events I have been to was a pool volleyball tournament. It was $25 per team of two which included hotdogs and hamburgers and everyone brought their own drinks. It was double elimination and the winners got olympic style medals. It was a huge turnout and the organiser said the charity raised more money than their anual charity golf event.