An expected picnic, with CDs

[mdlbear]

Today being the day of the annual Linux Anniversary Picnic, my plan was to go equipped to distribute a couple of pre-orders, and hopefully sell a few as well. The difficulty was in determining whose CDs I needed to bring with me.

I've been using three different methods of keeping track: PayPal "detail" pages for PayPal transactions (you can download CSV files to import into a spreadsheet, but those have a lot of extra fields and don't include the "Notes" field, which I need), paper forms downloaded from the website and handed or mailed to me, and self-addressed padded envelopes. The envelopes each originally contained a numbered bonus disk; the idea (which I stole from quadrivium was that the customer would address the envelope to him- or herself, replace the bonus disk with the payment, and I would later use the number on the envelope on the corresponding CD, and either mail or (if possible) hand-deliver it.

The envelopes were stuffed shortly before Baycon, and used at Baycon, Westercon, and other places both to sell new pre-orders and to deliver the bonus disks for already-paid pre-orders. Meanwhile, I wrote a simple CGI script to allow my data-entry person, chaoswolf, to enter data from the paper forms. But she's up in Canada at the moment visiting her fiance, and a few of the more recent forms never got entered. You can see where this is going, I think.

Coming up with a consolidated customer list was the kind of tedious project I tend to put off. So was doing the data-entry for the envelopes, especially the ones that didn't correspond to existing pre-orders.

So I wrote a Perl script this morning to make consolidated lists. It's a crock, but the PayPal files are just saved HTML and they're ghastly. You really don't want to know how I pull out the data from selected fields. (I'll upload the code to Tools after ConChord.) It's crude, and "data entry" is currently being done with ink on the dead-tree listings.

So far the effort required to catch up has been manageable: I've been using a simple paper-and-pen list to keep track of the names and numbers of the copies I've handed out. It will get harder presently, but I think I'll be ok as long as I can get the rest of the necessary data-entry done by Wednesday. We leave for ConChord on Thursday.

So far I've delivered two pre-orders today at the Picnic, plus a review copy and three direct sales. The flower_cat delivered two at the Baycon picnic; and there have been a little over a dozen pre-orders and direct sales at work. I expect there to be a lot more at the Casa de Chaos Bash tomorrow; I'm going to have to get busy stuffing envelopes and checking off names. That's my task for tonight and tomorrow morning.

Anyone local who's not going to the Bash tomorrow is welcome to come by Grand Central Starport on Wednesday, and I will of course have them at ConChord. I'll be mailing a few on Monday, but the bulk of the mailing will wait until after ConChord.

Comments

[hms42]

I did mention that you have the new CD to Kathy Sands when I saw her at the Philly housefilk yesterday.

Harold

[mdlbear]

Thanks!