Good afternoon, jailbirds!
Big thanks to everyone who got the smoke test yesterday, and reported issues. We have a few major issues that needed to be addressed - this ...
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Ken Fiskorne
3 days ago
DAMN, IT'S ABOUT TIME! Smoke tests out + preorder store
Good afternoon, bird gang!
Backerkit staff and I have been hard at work behind the scenes getting surveys set. Due to some technical complexities, and, ...
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Ken Fiskorne
9 days ago
Update on surveys (they're still cooking)
Hey there, bird gang! I figure I owe you an update.
So, after a pretty long behind-the-scenes fiasco trying to find housing and tie up some loose ends, I signed a lease f...
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Ken Fiskorne
13 days ago
Survey delay
Good evening, bird gang.
Social media people might have seen there was a family emergency today. There was that, on top of a couple of other things that took out of my work ...
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Ken Fiskorne
15 days ago
1 week since GAP ending - quick update
Hey there, bird gang!
Just checking in, since things have been radio silent for a bit. It's only been a week, but, anyone who knows me, knows that's a long time for me to be qu...
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Ken Fiskorne
23 days ago
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! Project summary + next steps
Good afternoon, bird gang!
I've moved to mornings on my job, so unfortunately I didn't have it in me to stay up like a teenager yesterday. People gotta eat, and, for better or ...
Big thanks to everyone who got the smoke test yesterday, and reported issues. We have a few major issues that needed to be addressed - this is why we do smoke tests!
We're aware of some problems where the survey will ask you to double-select 3" vinyl stickers. Thanks to Backerkit staff, this should now be fixed for our remaining 10 smoke test backers. In layman's terms, due to the way the survey is set up, there are two 3" sticker "items:" one is for the back-end only, and... it wasn't back-end only. Whoops.
If you double picked stickers without realizing this was a problem, please go back in and make sure you have the correct ones on your survey. This was fixed by "deleting" one of the items from backers' carts, so if you got two stickers and picked four, you are down to the two that were on the correct "item." You can change this until surveys close.
Final surveys will have a numbered selection image, so you can see exactly what number and letter pin you're getting. Sorry about this!
Unfortunately, due to the way items are set up, we can't move the order of pins around in the selection. This is another technical issue that will be fixed for future campaigns.
There's some other smaller issues with QOL on the surveys. I'm moving a lot more stuff over tonight (including, possibly, my PC) so, while I won't have time to get to it immediately, I hope to clear some hours this weekend and get everything ready for the rest of you guys.
I mentioned it above, but I'm going to be moving all the electronic bits of my setup tonight or tomorrow. I may be radio silent for a bit. If you need to reach me, urgently, use my email - [email protected], and I can respond on mobile.
Backerkit staff and I have been hard at work behind the scenes getting surveys set. Due to some technical complexities, and, "circumstances," it took longer than I would have liked. However...
It's finally time: smoke tests have gone out to (some) backers.
We talked about this before in an update, so, let's just go over it briefly:
5% of you just got your surveys
You're gonna work for that privilege, though!
Fill your survey out as normal, but keep an eye out for errors
Pick your items purchased during your pledge, and add on more addon items if desired
Look for missing pin, sticker variants, typos that could result in backer misinformation/misunderstandings, pricing errors, et cetera
Make sure you are offered all freebies that you qualify for (sticker sheet, GUNBIRD for returning backers)
If you find any problems, comment on this update, or email me at [email protected]
I'll toss a 3" sticker of your choice if you are the first person to catch a problem
I'm going to give the rest of the surveys a several-day buffer period. Currently, there is nothing holding us back from sending them, except a final review from third party eyes (you!).
We're gonna try and get final surveys out on on Monday, the 18th.
In the meantime, I've opened up the preorder store. Even if you didn't get your smoke test, you'll probably get an email about this.
If you missed out on the campaign, this is your chance to get pins at campaign prices. All pins, stickers, and sticker sheets can be purchased through the store, and they will ship with the campaign pledges.
If you didn't get your survey yet, and you want more items - don't order from the preorder store! Just wait for your survey, and add stuff on to your pledge.
The preorder store will remain open until at least November 30th (Saturday), but might stay open a little longer.
Surveys will, also, probably end on this date, unless we have a serious problem that needs 1-2 days to fix.
I know GOLDEN AGE PARROTS has been a bit of a roller coaster, so, if you have any questions or need an extension on your survey, reach out to me at any time.
It's probably pretty clear that I'm not all here for this campaign, and, unfortunately, until the end of this month, that might still be the case. Things, pretty simply, have not really improved, and they won't until I can tie up a lot of loose ends and make everything safe for me and my pets.
Store orders, BIRD CRIMES UK fulfillment, and commission artwork are going to need to wait until I hit the new place. Without going into detail, I am not safe to do anything but sleep, change clothes, and feed my dog at the current location. I have the appropriate government entities involved and they are... not really doing what they need to. I'm not in immediate danger, but I'm definitely, absolutely not in a good enough mood to draw cute birds for you guys.
By this time, next month, I hope that changes, and I hope to be back to writing smarmy goofy shit and bombing your emails with it.
You can hit me up at [email protected] if you need anything. Thanks for being here.
Hey there, bird gang! I figure I owe you an update.
So, after a pretty long behind-the-scenes fiasco trying to find housing and tie up some loose ends, I signed a lease for a new place a few nights ago. After a, frankly, fucking horrible year, this is a reprieve and victory I needed badly. It is a place, literally just for me, with a home office and fulfillment space, ample natural light for the birds, and all of my neighbors are quiet old people.
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of work to do, and it is on a strict time limit.
I am finalizing everything and starting to move this weekend. It's just going to be me, and some extremely kind volunteers getting everything over. It's "all hands on deck," which means, basically, "all of Ken's time and energy not spent at the day jobs."
And, as much as I'd like it to be the other way around, having a real house with a roof and internet, and keeping my jobs I pay rent with, does take precedence over art.
I am chipping away at surveys. We are in a state we're almost ready for review and smoke tests, but we need some thumbnail/example art for items. I get some mercy on scheduling tomorrow, and Saturday, so I'll try to have this set to go.
I can't say anything for sure, but I am aiming to have smokes out by early next week.
Smoke tests are early surveys sent to a percentage of backers to test for problems. If you get a survey early next week, you have a smoke test. What should you do? Fill it out as normal.
Please be ready to reach out to [email protected] with any missing items, variants, typos, or confusing wording with the survey. I offer free sticker sheets for people who find critical problems. And, spoiler alert, I am running on empty, so, there will probably be some.
Whenever smoke tests go out, we will send surveys to the masses a few days later so I have time to fix issues.
Social media people might have seen there was a family emergency today. There was that, on top of a couple of other things that took out of my work time today - and yesterday.
I am spending the rest of the night getting surveys up and running, but I don't expect them to be backer-ready today. Unfortunately, I have to make the call to push back survey dates. I will hopefully be sending smoke tests out at some point tomorrow, with final surveys later this week.
Just checking in, since things have been radio silent for a bit. It's only been a week, but, anyone who knows me, knows that's a long time for me to be quiet. I'm like a toddler - if you don't hear anything, for too long, that silence is a little bit suspicious.
I am dealing with a few cascading real life issues right now. Probably the most pressing one of them, I'm trying to find housing before my lease runs out. Out of caution, I'm moving most of my belongings to a secondary location, which is taking a lot of my time. We have a fairly promising lead right now, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too high.
This is taking up a lot of my time. I'm not getting as much done as I'd like to, but, rest assured, things are happening with GAP.
I'm currently taking a break from packing things up. After that, I'm going to be working on vectors, and setting up the pledge manager + preorder store until I pass out. It's a matter of pantone matching dozens of pins and getting them ready to go to the factory.
Unless something seriously changes (for better or for worse), we are still planning on surveys + preorder store going live on November 5th.
BIRD CRIMES UK orders are almost ready to go out, I am waiting on some packaging supplies to arrive. I will try to get my dining table clear enough to sit down and send those ASAP.
If you want to help with the move, and associated costs: wait for surveys!
You will be doing me a huge favor long-term by supporting GOLDEN AGE PARROTS, more than anything. I would like to rebuild KEN'S PIN HUSTLE's retail stock to a point I can make a hundred or two a week on sales, and get the business to pay rent.
If you already have everything you want on your pledge, you can go to KEN'S PIN HUSTLE - the whole store is 20% off until the end of the month, to clear shit out and lighten my load. Just keep in mind shipping might be a little unpredictable.
