CKSedg Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Can we be nice to each other? Please??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 bretk and nmonkman,If you have issues with each other, please take them to PM, and not air them out on the public forums.Please reference this post by Dan:http://forums.lightorama.com/forum55/27863.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bretk Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 you are right, this is not the proper place, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Trommelslager Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I guess I will just have to realize that it may not be possible to expand EVERY year and just make the best of what I have. Okay, I realize I am a newbie and haven't fielded a display, yet. But, here are my thoughts...Less is often more. In music, many times a simple riff or rhythmic pattern really creates a mood and enhances a song when compared to more complex arrangements. Not all of the time, but more often than one would think.In the lean years, maybe rather than expand the setup and channel counts, change up the layout of the display if it is practical. Spreading things out some will give an appearance of "larger" up to a point.Do some different things with sequencing. Try for some different effects. Some songs can lend themselves to a strong up beat; why not fire some lights on those upbeats and change the feel of things.Try to make less appear to be more. Going back to moving things around some, spread out some of the sequences and have things happening at opposite sides. The spread will make it seem like more is happening.Use new material for the show. Change up the song selection. Go for some "off the beaten path" songs and add those into the mix.Perfect timings on the lights. A tight sequence will impress and look more polished. Fades that are spot on with the music, flashes that accent, and patterns on tempo can really change the feel of things.By working within some boundaries, creativity is forced to work in different ways and skills are sharpened. It will only make one a better designer and sequencer.Okay, I will now crawl back under the keyboard since I really don't have a basis to comment. After all, look at my work this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Beaver Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I have a banner that I paid for and boxes for a local food bank.I am looking for just canned goods, but have found money in the boxes.So I take it and go to the store and buy food to put in the boxes.I do it for the enjoymnet of the kids (and the young at heart) NOT for any money.It makes me feel good to help support the food bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadmkr Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Ditton on the 'donation' box for the local food bank. There are several scout/school groups doing food drives and I set up a box as an alternate drop-off point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Young Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 2 quick comments from an old-timer with more than few years experience. Take them for what they are worth:1) from an IRS viewpoint, unless you keep very accurate records, it is far easier dealing with material goods as donations (ie toys/food goods), than accepting cash. Remember that many folks who make even seemingly small donations report them to the IRS.2) If you decide you would like to accept $$ to offset your display related expenses, you can certainly do that, however if you are using commercial, non royalty free music (even though only incidental to your display) you will then be obligated to pay for the use of that music, as you are in that case viewed as profiting from the use of said music.Payment is not required if you use music in your display, and even broadcast said music over flea powered FM devices, as has been confirmed and posted elsewhere on the forum.Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon_15 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Would it be bad to do a donation box for your church instead of a charity? Like my church is working on expanding could I accept donations for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Beaver Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I put out food donation boxes with a banner that I paid for-for the local food bank.Every now and then I get money left int he boxes or the mailbox.I use that money to buy food and then add to the donations.Our local food bank does not take cash.Like the others-I do it for others-and I get a kick out of seeing the kids (and adults) getting into it.I enjoy talking about how it is done etc.Yes it gets expensive-but it is my way of giving a little bit to others to enjoy. PLUS collect food for the food bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LORi P Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Would it be bad to do a donation box for your church instead of a charity? Like my church is working on expanding could I accept donations for that?Last time I checked, donating to a Church was a charitable donation. ..... but while we are on the subject of collecting donations....This year was my second year doing LOR, and I was going to start collecting donations for a charity next year. But I have a friend who thinks I should not have a donation box for a charity. She thinks that if it is there, people will feel obligated to donate (even if I say that it is optional - not expected or required). She thinks people should just be able to come and watch and have a good time. Period. I kind of see her point... when I go to 5 stores in a day in December, I walk past a Salvation Army bucket 10 times. And I feel guilty as heck if I don't donate each time.Any thoughts about this point of view?I did have a couple of people wanting to make a donation this year and I told them that I appreciated the offer, but if they wanted to do something like that, they could donate to a local animal shelter or food bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 In my experience I've encountered no ill will of any type in having a donation box and actively soliciting donations. In fact, it has become the centerpiece of the story of our display and many, many people comment favorably on it all throughout the season. Does everyone donate? Certainly not. Do we care? Not even a little bit. I've been told by more people than I can count that leaving five or ten bucks for a half hour or longer of top notch family entertainment is a steal of a deal by any standard. We mention it in one form or another approximately every 15-20 minutes all night every night and it has never affected how long people stay and watch, or how often they come back during the season. And the amount that people donate has continued to grow each and every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Maue Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 +1 for George's comment. Lori - we were skittish as well, as 2012 was our second year doing the show, first doing the donation box. We promoted it shamelessly. Some people donated. Some didn't. Some people even told me that they came to see the show specifically because we were collecting for the charity. And we received donations far above our expectations. Literally 10 times what we thought we might get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 (edited) Here's one of the announcements where I mention the food shelf donation. I intended no pressure of any kind.https://vimeo.com/56739869 Edited January 4, 2013 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirrob28 Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 We do a food drive which is pretty easy. We made a large box and put it out by the road and leave it there for the holiday season for people to drop off any non perishable foods. Then one day a week we would drop the food off at our local food bank,takes 15 minutes. This year we collected over 410 bags of groceries and close to $500.00 in cash. We have been doing this for a few years just with a basic light set up but this was our first year doing it with lightorama. Needless to say we had a little more traffic this year. We do on the weekends have Santa out there for kids to have their pictures taken with and added Elmo and the Grinch this year so our weekends do get tied up between 6 and 8:30, but its so well worth it. Here's the real kicker my electric bill is down from last year and I have used more lights this year even added 10 sets of regular mini lights. Must be all the flashing of the lights,lol. Anyways simple and easy, just make a box with a lid and keep it out there while your lights are on for the local food bank. You will be helping alot of people in need and it really doesn't take up to much of your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Our local food bank does not take cash. You've got a very unique food shelf. First time I ever heard of one not accepting cash. Yours must have a wealthy benefactor somewhere. In my experience (including one I used to volunteer at many years ago, a few I worked with while I was in radio, and the one we support) they actually prefer cash to donated food. By far... A fairly high percentage of the canned goods they receive are expired and go directly into the trash. (It seems that a lot of people only think of food shelfs while they're cleaning their pantries of stuff they haven't looked at for years.) When someone donates a can of tomato soup, that's what the food shelf has - another can of tomato soup to add to their ever-expanding collection of tomato soup. When they receive a dollar, they can leverage that to provide far more than a dollar's worth of groceries bought at supermarket prices, and they can re-stock the staples that rarely get donated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 The food bank here, not a pantry that distributes to the clients, can take your dollar and distribute $7 worth of food. They love money. In my eyes, that's more efficient than donating a can of food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Beaver Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 You've got a very unique food shelf. First time I ever heard of one not accepting cash. Yours must have a wealthy benefactor somewhere.In my experience (including one I used to volunteer at many years ago, a few I worked with while I was in radio, and the one we support) they actually prefer cash to donated food. By far...A fairly high percentage of the canned goods they receive are expired and go directly into the trash. (It seems that a lot of people only think of food shelfs while they're cleaning their pantries of stuff they haven't looked at for years.) When someone donates a can of tomato soup, that's what the food shelf has - another can of tomato soup to add to their ever-expanding collection of tomato soup. When they receive a dollar, they can leverage that to provide far more than a dollar's worth of groceries bought at supermarket prices, and they can re-stock the staples that rarely get donated.It i snot just a food bank-but also has a "goodwill" type of store. They take donations of household goods and sell them. The food bank section is in a different part of the building.So the cash comes from the selling part of the household donations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 If you can't afford this hobby, then don't ask others to pay for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 If you can't afford this hobby, then don't ask others to pay for it...Jim - what exactly does this have to do with the discussion at hand? I haven't read anything to indicate that anyone in this thread is talking about keeping the money to pay for their display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimswinder Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Jim - what exactly does this have to do with the discussion at hand? I haven't read anything to indicate that anyone in this thread is talking about keeping the money to pay for their display.First post George:I am thinking that MAYBE next year we will put out a gratuity box rather than a donation box. We will make it very clear on our website and during the show that these are, in fact, tips NOT donations.We would use the money for controllers, cords, lights, etc. Whatever we dont use we will THEN donate a lump sum to a reputable charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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