It's About Time!
Welcome to your July 2008 edition of the
PlanetChristmas newsletter! It is published regularly and covers
relative topics for the Christmas decorating enthusiast.
Here's what you can read about in this July 2008
newsletter:
Back in 2003 several PlanetChristmas
enthusiasts decided they wanted to sponsor a gathering where everyone in
our community could come together and learn from each other. From
that sprang what we now call PLUS (PlanetChristmas
Lights Up
Symposium.) The first PLUS was a huge
success and it has grown steadily since.
Because there are so many
attendees at a formal PLUS event, the planning can be overwhelming.
It was quickly determined PLUS could only be held every odd numbered
year (find out the latest by visiting
www.gotoPLUS.com)
and is THE gathering for hundreds of Christmas decorating fanatics.
In 2004 people still wanted to get together even though the next
official PLUS was not scheduled for another year. A few generous
enthusiasts decided they would have local gatherings and invite just a
few people in their immediate area to their homes... and the MiniPLUS
was born. They can be any time, any place and any size.
So
what's preventing you from having your own MiniPLUS? Few things
can be as rewarding as bringing together like minded people, talking,
learning and getting ready for Christmas. The challenge becomes
how in the world do you do such a thing?
Learn from the Experts
PlanetChristmas brought together several enthusiasts that have hosted
and attended more MiniPLUS events than you can count. Through
their collected wisdom we teased out the magic principles that make for
a successful event. These aren't hard rules but suggested
guidelines that are proven. Ready?
Some Simple Guidelines
Think of a MiniPLUS like throwing a small party. This isn't a
once-in-a-lifetime wedding but instead a gathering of people with the
same interests. A simple MiniPLUS shouldn't involve much more
effort than what's required to host a birthday party for a five year old
or a small family reunion. Think of it as you're providing the
venue and maybe a little food. Don't worry because the attendees
will have a good time no matter what!
MiniPLUS gatherings seem to range in size from 5-70 people, though
having more than 30 really does increase the planning and over-all
workload of the host. The general consensus is to keep it small so
you can enjoy the fun, also.
The
biggest key to a successful MiniPLUS is having a loose agenda. You
are the host and the facilitator. Having back-to-back
presentations in a very structured environment is a recipe for
frustration. People are there to socialize, associate names to
faces and if they're lucky, pick up a few pointers from others.
Don't worry about inactivity because people will fill in the gaps for
you. Your job is to simply provide the place for people to come
together.
Once you're committed to sponsoring a MiniPLUS, check
the
community calendar in our forums. Pick a date several months
in advance that works for you. Be mindful of other events in your
area and don't over schedule. People don't like it when there are
multiple MiniPLUS gatherings in their area on the same dates.
Decide early if you want to charge a fee to cover your hosting expenses.
If serving food, people don't expect to eat for free. Be careful
of pot luck meals because it's not practical for the people coming from
out of town. Attendees realize putting on MiniPLUS events costs
money and they're more than willing to chip in and defray your expenses.
Simply post the fee ahead of time and allow people to pay you via PayPal
or slip you some cash at the door.
It's not unusual to have a pre-gathering the night
before your MiniPLUS. Although certainly not a requirement, many
people will just naturally congregate at a local restaurant to get a
head start on talking. Some enthusiasts are calling these "Red Cup
Socials" but you can view them as just another way to bring people
together.
If a PlanetChristmas vendor is close to you, feel free
to call them and ask if they would like to supply literature about their
products to hand out to the attendees. Don't get greedy (we save
that for the bi-annual PLUS event).
Our Fundamental Rules
Sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? These are
simply guidelines but PlanetChristmas does ask that your MiniPLUS follow
our three fundamental rules of:
Positive, family
friendly and Christmas centric.
One Last Request!
Be sure to
invite Chuck Smith!
Attended the Texas event this last weekend down in
Houston. It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones.
Looked to be a pretty good turnout.
Galaxia
revealed their product to the world. Think about having a bunch of
Christmas light strings and you can control each individual light.
I won't begin to steal their technical thunder but my mind was racing
pretty fast imagining the possibilities.
I
was most impressed with the pricing of LED based ropelight and
wireframes from
Christmas-LEDs.com. Val drove down from Wisconsin with a
trailer full of inventory and I'm pretty sure she drove back with an
empty one.
Light-O-Rama introduced a new pump controller board. This
thing looked like it could work fine on the Space Shuttle. All I
could think of were the dancing waters of the Bellagio in Vegas, but in
my front yard... Dan and John just smiled.
My favorite class had to be the one taught by master
elf Clyde Dearing. So much useful information to make a dazzling
display! Clyde and his helper elf Chuck also do a skit every night
called "Technical Difficulties" in between all the other light shows.
The lights go dark and suddenly you see a flashing yellow warning beacon
and hear the honking of a fire alarm. The lights flash a few times
like there's a major electrical glitch. Then you hear an elf come
on the speakers (thanks to the
TheDementedElf.com) and warn the crowd the problem is being
addressed All of a sudden there's a boom, an elf flies out of the
front of the house and you see a lot of fog. Clyde and Chuck come
running, give the elf CPR, revive it and suddenly all is well with the
world. People start clapping and the display comes back to life.
So original. Look for a video at the
DearingDazzle.com website.
It's back! The PlanetChristmas World Wide Christmas Decorating
Contest for 2008 is returning bigger and better than ever before.
It had taken a year off because the judges had become overwhelmed with
all the entries. I got that fixed for 2008. Keep an eye on
the PlanetChristmas website for the entry rules. If your company
wants to donate to the growing prize list, just
drop me an email.
Lots of rumors swirling around out there. I usually ignore
them, but some just need to be shared.
Got wind of a new edition of Christmas In A Box from
Animated
Lighting. Rumor has it that it's super easy to connect your
lights, plays real music and includes a built-in FM transmitter.
My curiosity is piqued!
I've heard now from three different sources dimmable C7/C9
replacement LED bulbs don't look promising for 2008. One
manufacture had the problem licked but the plastic bulb housing proved
too fragile. Everyone is running out of time to get stuff built
and shipped from China for the holiday season. I'm not encouraged.
For the record, the current C7/C9 LED replacements work fine as long as
you just switch them on/off... it's the dimming that reduces a 50,000
hour life span to just a few hours. Stay tuned. Hope they
get this problem fixed soon!
Looks like PLUS will become an annual event. Odd numbered years
it will to the east of the Mississippi River and even numbered years
(except for this one) it's destined for the west.
Got any juicy bits of gossip you want to share with the
PlanetChristmas community? Send a tip to
csmith@PlanetChristmas.com
Behind
the scenes planning continues for our bi-annual gathering, an event we
call PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium or PLUS. We're
emphasizing community building, education and vendor relations. I
call it the stool. All three legs are important. Drop one
and you don't have a place to sit.
Mark your PLUS2009 calendars for July 30 through
August 1, 2009. PLUS2009 registration begins January 1, 2009.
Where is PLUS going to be in 2009? The challenge has been to
find a host city that's easy to get to and has things to do for the
family members not as crazy for Christmas decorating as you might be.
The search criteria includes locating a city serviced by a low fare
airline (Southwest), at least two interstates most intersect in the area
and the city has to be next to a major river for those that want to
travel by water. The only other criteria is the event cannot be in
Tennessee. It's now boiled down to Louisville, New Orleans and St.
Louis. The final location will be announced VERY soon.
Want an easy way to keep up with PLUS information?
Go to the new website at
www.gotoPLUS.com. It's the first place official PLUS
information is shared with others.
The
PlanetChristmas forums are constantly changing. Bookmark
http://forums.planetchristmas.com. Just recently "Indoor
Christmas" has been added as well as an area for "Motorized
Contraptions" and a place to get help pulling together a MiniPLUS event.
Don't forget we also have a
community calendar where your local event can be published by date.
Comes in pretty darn handy if you're looking for something to do this
weekend.
Never forget PlanetChristmas believes strongly in protecting your
privacy so personal information about your account is never sold or
shared with anyone.
With our PlanetChristmas forums, did you know there's a section where
you can go down to the state level and post information about what's
going on. Use this to let your community know about events and
also remember to place
important dates on our public calendar. Want a shortcut to the
PlanetChristmas forums?
http://forums.planetchristmas.com
Traffic patterns to watch your display are going to be different for
2008 because of the price of fuel. Anticipate more people walking
to your display or watching everything with the vehicle engine turned
off. Imagine yourself in their shoes now, start thinking of the
best lines of sight for the viewers and build your display with this in
mind.
Say Hello to the Planet of Lights!
I've talked to a lot of people over the last few months and it's
amazing how many struggle with knowing where to buy stuff for their
Christmas displays. I always route them to PlanetChristmas vendors
but they still get frustrated. As I looked at the problem, I'll
have to admit building a fancy display can be overwhelming to the
novice. I've been working with many of the PlanetChristmas vendors
about how to address the issue. Looks like the solution is to
create what I call the PlanetChristmas best-of-breed storefront
which becomes a one-stop-shop for the newbie. The vendors are
offering small discounts to the PlanetChristmas storefront. The
savings will be passed along to the buyer and any profits will be plowed
into the PlanetChristmas. Sounds like a win-win-win deal for
everyone.
Walmart certainly has nothing to worry about when it comes to the
PlanetChristmas storefront. Come visit it at the
PlanetOfLights
http://www.PlanetOfLights.com. If you have suggestions of
products that need to be offered,
please email me.
The official 2008 PlanetChristmas caps and shirts have arrived.
See all the details at
PlanetOfLights.com. Money collected from these sales
goes toward PlanetChristmas and PLUS.
The PlanetChristmas community has experienced tremendous growth.
Our three fundamental rules of family friendly, positive and Christmas
centric guide what we say and do. The real key to our community is
a willingness to exchange information so others can have better
displays. Come join us!
http://forums.planetchristmas.com
The PlanetChristmas radio station is still on-line and available to
anyone with a fast Internet connection to tap into. Find the
details at
http://www.planetchristmas.com/PCRadio.htm
I'm working with a company called Constant Contact to handle the
PlanetChristmas email distribution. There's a new way to register
for the newsletter that complies with all government rules and
regulations. If you want to remove your name from the list, go to
http://www.planetchristmas.com/Newsletters.htm and enter your email
address. You'll be given an option to "opt-out" of future
mailings. Likewise you'll also be able to remove your address from
any future emailings by simply clicking a link at the bottom of the
PlanetChristmas emails you receive in the future.
For the record, PlanetChristmas values your privacy and does not
share your email address with anyone.
Have a suggestion for a main topic or want to write an article for a
future PlanetChristmas newsletter? Send me an email: csmith@planetchristmas.com
If you know someone that really should subscribe to your newsletter,
send them to
http://www.planetchristmas.com/Newsletters.htm
If you expect a good deal from any of the PlanetChristmas vendors,
make your move now while business is slow. Come September, their
Christmas season begins and they no longer need to wheel and deal.
Next time: look forward to more Christmas
decorating tips.
Chuck Smith of
PlanetChristmas
