MicrostockGroup

I've been kicking this idea around since Summer and now that it's cold and snowed in and below freezing and... OK that's what it is here, your weather may be much more pleasant.

Limited to the first 20 who respond, for the first edition and a test to see if there is interest. So that's really 19 because I'm number 20.

Very basic and easy. You email me (or PM here) your home address and I make a list of the first 20 people. Then I email everyone the list of 20 Snailmail Addresses of all 20 people. If you want to send yourself a test card, that's fine, but it means you will need to mail out 19 postcards.

Things to consider.

1) It's going to be fun to get 19 photo postcards from people!

2) There are costs involved in joining and mailing these cards.
Last time I participated in one of these I bought a Canon Selphi printer which does a nice job on postcard stock. There are printing and mailing costs. If you can't afford to make 20 postcards and mail them, think about that in advance. I think my cost was around 85c a card US, but that was two years ago? (the cancelation machine did a number on the front of the card and left some barcode marks as well. Nothing is perfect)

3) It doesn't have to be fancy, professional, opulent or expensive. It's supposed to be fun. B&W is acceptable, color printer inkjet on cardstock, is fine. Keep saying to yourself, FUN, FUN, Fun. 

4) The photo must be an original that you took. Doesn't have to be stock, in fact, many of us are shackled with nice pretty and artistic images that we can't sell anyway. So the whole idea is just pick a picture you want to share and what? Have Fun!

5) Cards should at the least be signed or identified, so we know who they came from. You can add a personal note if you want, camera, date, exposure data, location, comments or just from "name" are all fine.

Did I miss anything? Comments, ideas, anything?

When the list hits 20 people, it's closed, I'll send it out to everyone and we will have a deadline a couple weeks later, to mail out your cards. Remember that postage thing, it costs money to send cards overseas, and we are an international group here. There are expenses to consider, please keep that in mind. That's also why I started with 20, to keep the total costs down for anyone interested.

PM me or email me and I'll post a message here when it reaches 20 people. If there aren't 20 people by December 31st, we'll go with whatever number have joined. That's two weeks.

Thanks!

Yes, is there an update?

Now at four. Moving slowly. I can see what some people may not want to spend the money, that's why I tried to make it clear that there's postage and printing. From my side, I'd figure about $20 for the 20 cards, paper, paper, postage, everything. Someone else may be more efficient and do it for less. 4 x 6 is a standard postcard size, so nothing fancy or unusual. A 4x6 photo with a line down the middle of the back, address and stamp on the right. message on the left. Now it's a postcard.

On the other hand, the one I participated in (analog photographers group, had to be a film photo, but they allowed digital prints) I got some really entertaining, off the wall, artistic, and creative shots. I mean a variety of all of those things. I put them into a little album so they are together forever.

Then there's the fun and mystery of it all, not knowing what you will be getting. Kind of like 19 surprises, selected by the artist them self. Some people have a really good sense of humor... some, serious artistic talent. I haven't decided yet, but I may go into the analog archives again for something old.

Give it over the weekend and maybe some more people will see the note and decide to join the party.

16 spots open...

We Like To Party... 

Thanks

That makes seven.

Hopefully we can get 20 people who want postcards and wish to send out 19 of them.

So far:

Norway
Netherlands
Canada
NY
Texas
Wisconsin

Come on people, where's your sense of adventure? On another note, my "z" and "y" buttons on myipad just exchanged places! What the...

Is this a once a year thing, or once a month? Scanned back through the posts, but didn't see an answer. Apologies if it's there.

OK then, I'm in.

Bringing this around for the new year. About time to wrap it up and get to sending out the list and getting cards. Good thing I put a limit of 20 on this. Whew, the response has been underwhelming. Not really, it's been pretty good and I look forward to seeing what kind of fun stuff people decide to send out.

So lets call this last call and begging for a few more, all at the same time. I'd really like a slightly larger group and then lets close up and do it!

If you are wavering or wondering, please join the fun and make some postcards for the exchange. More than what you send, will be what you receive, because of the diversity and entertainment from getting a card from someone, which is a total mystery, but they picked it! You can guess who's in from the forum, but maybe not... until you get the list you'll never know who PM'ed and joined.

Last Call! 

It worked, I'm in

race hasn't sent out the addresses yet so anyone who hasn't seen this yet can probably still get in.... act NOW!

How many are we now?  When do we start....

You might have to put a sticker on the back of a 4x6 on photo paper so that you can write on it and the address won't smudge off.