Miscellaneous Ramblings
by Larry Moss
|
| At the Balloon HQ home, it's getting cold outside.
Sculpture by Sandy Galambus. |
BHQ Classified Ads
We've wrestled for years with the best way of delivering specific messages
to the largest number of balloon artists. Years ago, e-mail was the obvious
solution. Delivery of messages was immediate and sure to be read. These
days, with the amount of spam most of us receive, few things are as
unreliable as e-mail.
Our answer to this problem is the BHQ classified ad
section. It started as a system to list items for sale but has evolved
into a system that's read by more people on a daily basis than even the BHQ
e-mail forums. The classifieds are no longer used by people just to list
items for sale, but to make announcements about new products, requests for
convention roommates, and even births and deaths. If it's related to the
balloon industry, it has a place in this section of the site.
Despite our success with this section of the site, we still see some
resistance from some long time BHQ users to use the classifieds. We
thought it was time to highlight some of the reasons to post and read
classified ads. Here are some advantages over the forums:
- Not everyone in the industry uses the entertainer and decorator forums.
They're a great way to share ideas and brainstorm over new directions, but
many people visit BHQ only when looking for something. If you're
announcement is important, you want it where anyone can find it.
- Categorized listings. There are currently six categories of listings
(announcements, conventions, sale items, job offers, wanted, and other
offers) allowing you to put your ad where it's easiest for others to find.
We watch postings closely to see how the system is being used and have
added and removed categories based on needs at that time.
- Listings last for weeks. All postings to the forums are archived, but
after a couple days, things get buried among the many thousands of messages
that go out. Generally email is best for something that will be read once.
Classified listings will always and only appear during their useful "shelf
life". At the current time, a classified ad stays around for 4 weeks, or
until the owner of the ad removes it.
- Classified ads end up on the mailing list anyway. Ok, we realize that
some people will just always want e-mail reminders. That's why the list of
all current ads goes out to the mailing lists on a weekly basis. In other
words, posting a a classified ad is guaranteed to reach the largest BHQ
audience since it will be seen by people that view the web site as well as
people that read the mailing lists.
Jams and other artist gatherings
Balloon HQ was founded for the purpose of teaching and sharing. It's great
to see the number of balloon gatherings and jams that have been happening
all over recently. Just looking at the BHQ
calendar for the month of November, we can see local gatherings in
Chicago, North Eastern Ohio and New York City.
The scheduled conventions are fantastic, but the small local gatherings can
be just as much fun and offer you a chance to network with other balloon
artists in your area. If you've never attended a local jam, consider going
to, or even hosting, one. Make sure to list it on BHQ so others know
about it.
|
|
Smiley Man by Colin Myles, Partytime |
Featured artist portfolio: Colin Myles, Partytime
Colin Myles of Partytime in Scotland creates detailed sculpture, from the
smallest twisted creations to IBAC-sized competition pieces. As his photos
show, he doesn't limit himself to any particular size or type of balloon.
Twisted and stacked balloons are all combined to produce outstanding
artwork.
See Colin Myles' BHQ Portfolio.
