Home of the BrewNosers

I have been advised that the retail store operations have been experiencing what they believe to be abuse of the discount Steve and Mark have been graciously offers to BrewNosers. They believe that "just anyone" who hears about it asks for it, and they are pretty sure that not all people are really participating in the club.

They have asked us to create membership cards, as proof that people really are members, and they will begin asking to see them before providing the discount. That will eliminate concerns over shopping in different stores, etc.

How is the logo thing coming? Once we have that, project 1 should be to make some cards, ones that are not easily reproducible by others, and to hand them out at meetings.

Jeff

I'm assuming that they're going to be just printed-and-laminated.... I can make you some little holographic stickers that you can put under the lamination if you'd like (so they're not easily reproduceable).

Personally I think we're waisting our time and money. Everyone on this board will end up with a card and NG will still end up pulling the plug on the discount because of our volume. This efficient, well run, knowledgeable fourm and it's members will act as a detriment to their profit. They are still thinking of the brewnosers like it used to be, a handful of people, instead of the now close to 250 members on this fourm.

There is certainly some 'living in the past' mentality (ie, many retailers offer a standard 10-15% coupon regardless), but, I am willing to make an attempt at a better tracking system to get people out to a meeting or two per year, and keep NG happy. LD makes a good point though - if we get 100+ people attending a meeting or two....

The hologram idea sounds interesting as well. How does it work? Can it have a new image/shape yearly?

LiverDance wrote:Personally I think we're waisting our time and money. Everyone on this board will end up with a card and NG will still end up pulling the plug on the discount because of our volume. This efficient, well run, knowledgeable fourm and it's members will act as a detriment to their profit. They are still thinking of the brewnosers like it used to be, a handful of people, instead of the now close to 250 members on this fourm.

I would have to agree with this assessment. I don't mind getting a card but I'm sure this discount will more than likely go the way of the dodo. When I was extract brewing last year I was buying my kits there and they gave me a buy 10 get 1 free card...similar to coffee shops and how subway use to do it and when I got to 7 they said the program was canceled because prices had gone up and would not honor it... I know that's well within their rights to do that but as for customer service... forget it.

erslar00 wrote:I would have to agree with this assessment. I don't mind getting a card but I'm sure this discount will more than likely go the way of the dodo. When I was extract brewing last year I was buying my kits there and they gave me a buy 10 get 1 free card...similar to coffee shops and how subway use to do it and when I got to 7 they said the program was canceled because prices had gone up and would not honor it... I know that's well within their rights to do that but as for customer service... forget it.

Ouch. Any card that was already started should have been honored IMO..

Brewnoser wrote:How is the logo thing coming? Once we have that, project 1 should be to make some cards, ones that are not easily reproducible by others, and to hand them out at meetings.

Logo is almost there, just requires me finding a couple more hours to put some finishing touches on it (which was supposed to happen last week, of course).

LiverDance wrote:Personally I think we're waisting our time and money. Everyone on this board will end up with a card and NG will still end up pulling the plug on the discount because of our volume. This efficient, well run, knowledgeable fourm and it's members will act as a detriment to their profit. They are still thinking of the brewnosers like it used to be, a handful of people, instead of the now close to 250 members on this fourm.

I also agree. I think we'd want to be 100% sure that this discount was going to be honoured (at least for a reasonable stretch of time) before we invested time and money into creating membership cards.

jeffsmith wrote:

LiverDance wrote:Personally I think we're waisting our time and money. Everyone on this board will end up with a card and NG will still end up pulling the plug on the discount because of our volume. This efficient, well run, knowledgeable fourm and it's members will act as a detriment to their profit. They are still thinking of the brewnosers like it used to be, a handful of people, instead of the now close to 250 members on this fourm.

I also agree. I think we'd want to be 100% sure that this discount was going to be honoured (at least for a reasonable stretch of time) before we invested time and money into creating membership cards.

Bingo!

Good point.

jeffsmith wrote:I also agree. I think we'd want to be 100% sure that this discount was going to be honoured (at least for a reasonable stretch of time) before we invested time and money into creating membership cards.

even if the discount expired... we'd still have secret club membership cards. so not a total loss?

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:

jeffsmith wrote:I also agree. I think we'd want to be 100% sure that this discount was going to be honoured (at least for a reasonable stretch of time) before we invested time and money into creating membership cards.

even if the discount expired... we'd still have secret club membership cards. so not a total loss?

Or maybe we can get local watering holes to offer Brewnoser specials?

This is quite relevant to the discussion we're having in the Site Discussion section about just who can be verified to be able to participate in the group buys. I suggested that we limit it to people we've met, although X didn't think it was necessary to go that far. This seems to be what Jeff is proposing for the cards, which I think is a reasonable idea. Limiting it to people who do make the effort to come out and drink with us a few times will seriously cut down on the lurkers claiming the discount, while drawing a few out of the cyberwork and into the real world. It's worth a try if it will keep the discount going for a while longer. If it eventually breaks down, so be it. I doubt that will happen right away, though.

Those are still pretty broad rules though. Ultimately, NG has to clearly state, and preferably here, not through a third party, exactly what is acceptable to them.

Does seem like a lot of work to make cards over just a few people. Not sure but is this a way of them saying that they are getting tired of a brewnosers discount. Like someone mentioned checking in with noble grape to make sure they are going to honour the discount for awhile before making cards.

I think we had planned on business cards anyway for a number of reasons.

mr x wrote:I think we had planned on business cards anyway for a number of reasons.

Exactly. We could just use the business cards we were already planning on making, add a hologram and *bam*, insta-cool, Official BrewNosers membership card

I think that's a great idea. FWIW, I have been trying to encourage people getting together and have brew. Had I thought ahead, we probably could have worked out a promotion for the superbowl at the rockbottom where you win your tab. Just through the 5% on the grain order. At any rate, I do want to promote face to face interaction. But that is going to have to include non Tuesday night events at a more regular frequency.

mr x wrote:I think that's a great idea. FWIW, I have been trying to encourage people getting together and have brew. Had I thought ahead, we probably could have worked out a promotion for the superbowl at the rockbottom where you win your tab. Just through the 5% on the grain order. At any rate, I do want to promote face to face interaction. But that is going to have to include non Tuesday night events at a more regular frequency.

Agreed.

I think weekend get-togethers are a good idea as well. I'm guessing a lot of the people who don't attend the monthly meetings would attend a weekend get-together. Myself personally, I'd much rather drink beer on the weekend than a Tuesday night.

It's also more feasible for us outsiders to make it into the city on the weekend. I don't mind having another card to toss in the wallet, but does someone have, or have access to, a laminator?

mgc wrote:It's also more feasible for us outsiders to make it into the city on the weekend. I don't mind having another card to toss in the wallet, but does someone have, or have access to, a laminator?

Yes (to the laminator). Yes to weekend functions!

Once a logo is finalized, my plan was to have a stack of business cards (or similar form factor) printed to leave at the local good beer stores, homebrew shops and friendly watering holes. They could easily be converted to a membership card by adding a few personal details on the back. Laminating and fancy holograms sound even cooler. I am happy to contact Noble Grape folk to see what they will be pleased with for ID/proof. Another idea floated previously was a list provided to them of "real" Brewnosers (I hate to use that term, given how loose we are, on purpose), so someone could just give their name when they went in. And after the first time at a store, it could/should be on their file.

how much will the membership cards cost to produce? Is there anything that I can help with, I work as a graphic artist currently in the film industry and have worked in pre-press in the past. But the cost has to come from somewhere I'll contribute some of the printing costs associated.

God damn, another graphic artist in the fold...