Geeks Doing Good II: The Return

Hey there everybody. Today’s a busy day.

We’ve got the winners (plural) in the t-shirt contest. We have a design for the Dresden Files t-shirt.

Best of all, both of these are tied into the our second-annual summer fundraiser: Geeks Doing Good.

Worldbuilders-Logo_Web--less-space

We started doing the summer fundraiser because while I firmly believe that people want to make the world a better place, I know sometimes it’s a little easier to make a donation if you get some thing cool in return. This way, you can come in, buy something fun, then sleep well at night content in the knowledge that all the money is going to a good cause.

Same as last year, the fundraiser is only going to last a week. 

We’re doing this with IndieGoGo because they allow non-profits to do fundraising. And, unlike Kickstarter, they allow you to buy multiple items during a campaign. And I think (hope) a fair number of you are going to be tempted into multiple purchases.

What do we have? A lot of things. Over 40 different items at my last count.

But here are a few highlights.

  • So many t-shirts

Tees03

(You’ll probably want to embiggen these.)

In the end, we decided to go with three t-shirts from the contest. The two leading contenders (Waystone Inn and What Does It Unlock?) were nearly tied through the entire voting process. And enough people committed to buying shirts, that we decided to take a bit of a risk and bring the third place winner, too. (You Have Died of Chandrian.)

Now if your favorite didn’t get picked, don’t be upset. We’re going to make use of the other designs in the future. I promise. But right now, we’re going to stick to three t-shirt designs because… well… because we have a *lot* of other stuff in the fundraiser. Including other shirts…

Such as this one based off Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. I talked about it last week on the blog, and I’m excited to show you the final design…

PolkaWND_BK_Straight_NoSerif

 (Also worthy of embiggening.)

All these shirts are available individually, or you can get them cheaper if you buy three of them together over in the campaign.

Before we move on to the other stuff in the fundraiser. I’d like to extend my personal thanks to all the fabulous folks who sent in designs. You have wowed me with your talent, and warmed my heart with how generous you are with your time and energy. You’ve made our fundraiser so much cooler.

Rest assured that we’ll be posting a blog where we show *all* the designs that were submitted, as well as giving you information about the designers themselves, so you can bask in the glow of their collected glory.

  • Calendars

2016HallionCalendar_Pages

Karen Hallion sent us even more wonderful art for this year’s calendar, and Brett has stepped up his game this year designing the calendar grids. Here’s a sample of just a few of the pages, and it’s well worth clicking on to see it in its full embiggened majesty.

We also have a new Beyond Words calendar from photographer Lauren Zurchin.

ZurchinCalendarFBStyle_HighRes

If you’re more into fantasy authors than cartoons, never fear, we have a calendar for you, too. I haven’t done my photo shoot yet, but rest assured: I’m in this calendar too. And if the last one is any indication, I’m hoping I’ll look a little badass.

  • Copper Dice

CopperDice_ShirePostMint

(For those of you who plan on gambling with namers.)

Last year we offered up 10 sets of handmade copper dice to see if anyone would be interested in them.

And people were. To our delight and amazement,  they sold out fast even though they were priced at $100 a pair.

So this year, we worked with Shire Post Mint to produce more dice and make them more affordable than before. This new design is lovely, with a pleasing weight in the hand, and they’re only half the price of last year’s.

What’s more, we’re offering an early bird option. If you’re one of the first 50 people to buy a set, you get an even better deal.

  • Kvothe’s Vintish Court Rings

Three_Rings_1024x1024

Because you need to be ready at any moment to call upon Vintish nobles. Badali did a truly wonderful job on these, including the fact that the iron ring is actually made of iron. That’s not an easy thing to do.

There’s an early bird special on these, too. If you get in early, you’ll get them cheaper.

  • Auri’s Perfect Soap.

Fight club(Like this. Except kinda exactly the opposite of this.)

I can’t show you a picture of this because we don’t have it, yet. But we’ve teamed up with Black Phoenix Alchemy to bring you the soap Auri makes in Slow Regard. I’ve had long talks with them about the soap, going into kinda ridiculous detail. Because they’re crazy geeks over there, too. My kind of people.

It won’t actually be made out of bear tallow, but it we’ll be getting everything else as close as humanly possible. It will be all prickle-rich with mystery, full of musk and whispers and tetradecanoic acid.

I’m pretty excited about this. I’ve been looking for an excuse to work with Black Phoenix for a while now….

  • Slow Regard Jewelry made from damaged books

srost jewelry

The Worldbuilders team was kind of heartbroken when copies of Slow Regard arrived damaged at the office last year. A few of the boxes had been punctured, dropped, and otherwise mutilated. Leaving 20 copies of the book in rough shape, beyond what we could possibly use.

So, they got their craft on and made a bunch of earrings (from the text) and necklaces (from the art).

As these are all handmade, so supplies are limited.

  • Auri Poster.

Auri Johanna Rupprecht

When I was in Germany, I met a fan who brought a print of her art to one of my signings. It’s one of my favorite depictions of Auri,  absolutely beautiful, and when I got back to the states, I showed it off to the Worldbuilders team.

They loved it too. So we got in touch with the artist, Johanna Rupprecht, and she was kind enough to let us make some prints for Worldbuilders. Thanks to her kindness, we’re selling signed, numbered copies of this print for the duration of the fundraiser.

  • Slow Regard Litographs Tattoo

Gear-Tattoo-Variation

We’re doing temporary tattoos with the help of Litographs. (We’re doing a shirt with them too.)

You should buy this. Adorn your body with my words. This adds to my power and allows me to crush all those who appose me.

Plus, y’know… charity.

  • A bundle of Slow Regard related gear (heh)

AuriBundleFBStyle

I’ve unofficially named this The Year of the Gear because I’m really pleased with how much folks ended up enjoying The Slow Regard of Silent Things.

As a result, we’ve got a lot of Auri-related goodies in this year’s fundraiser. And this bundle is your way of getting everything all at once and saving some money at the same time.

The bundle contains:

  • A Year of the Gear challenge coin.
  • A complete set of 7 postcards from the Underthing.
  • A package of two static clings. (One black, one white)
  • A package of two Beautiful and Broken tattoos.
  • Johanna Rupprecht’s Auri poster, signed and numbered.
  • A chance to go on the JoCoCruise

jococruise

This is a big one, folks. Pay attention.

Jonathan Coulton and Paul & Storm were awesome enough to give us a cabin on JoCoCruise 2016 to help out the fundraiser.

Earlier this year I went on the cruise for the first time. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it. I didn’t know how much I’d actually dig the cruise thing.

Short story? I had a great time. It’s everything I like about going to a convention, plus I got to go snorkling. Plus all night gaming. Plus getting to hang out with cool geeks. And there’s karaoke, dance parties, cabaret performances, panel discussions, cocktail hours…

In brief, it was a blast.

I liked it so much, that I’ve agreed to help develop their writing track programming next year, working alongside the inestimable John Scalzi.

The price tag for a 2 person cabin seems a little steep. (Though it’s not that bad if you consider that it includes meals and drinks and entertainment for the duration of the trip.)

But even that doesn’t matter in this particular instance. I know a lot of you don’t have a ton of money, so here in the Geeks Doing Good fundraiser, you can throw your hat into the ring for 5 dollars. That’s right. For five bucks, you have a chance to come along on the cruise with us.

You can enter as many times as you buy the perk. We’ll get in contact once a winner is selected, and in February you’ll be sailing high seas with the cool kids.

Seriously guys. It’s a ton of fun.

  • But wait, there’s more!

SoMuchStuff

I haven’t even mentioned half of the things we’ve got in the fundraiser. We’ve got cards, original art. Cool Books. Game bundles. Collectables and things you’ll probably never see anywhere else.

Odds are, no matter what sort of geek you are, you’ll find something over there to tickle your fancy.

If nothing else, I think our intro video is really pretty awesome…

*     *     *

A final note:

One of the reasons we decided to go with IndieGoGo is that they accept PayPal, which is nice for folks that don’t have credit cards. What’s more, IndieGoGo gives us a *big* discount on the fees they normally charge because we’re a non-profit.

But here’s the downside. Because we’re taking advantage of that discount, it turns out we can’t use PayPal after all. The two just don’t work together.

I know for some people outside of the US, credit cards aren’t an option, or they’re just unduly complicated. For those people, who absolutely can’t participate unless we have PayPal, please feel free to email us at fundraiser [@] worldbuilders.org and we’ll do our best to work something out so you can buy what you want using paypal instead.

Okay, enough from me. Go check out the cool things.

And remember, the fundraiser only lasts for a week.

One final link.

pat

This entry was posted in Geeks Doing Good, Worldbuilders. By Pat90 Responses

90 Comments

  1. Holmelund
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:03 AM | Permalink

    Sadly none of the T-Shirts I wanted was made :(

    No Princess T-Shirts this time around?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:26 AM | Permalink

      Not this fundraiser, but we did do one last year, and it’s up in The Tinker’s Packs now if you don’t already have it…

      There is the Litographs Auri t-shirt in the fundraiser this year, too, which is going to be cool.

      • Tangelo
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:59 AM | Permalink

        I don’t know if something like redbubble would work for you, but that would let you sell all the t-shirt designs :)

        • Posted June 1, 2015 at 11:19 AM | Permalink

          The problem is, if we use one of those print-on-demand shirt services, we have little or no control over the quality of the shirt. Quality of the printing. Etc etc.

          And even if the shirts are good, we make hardly any money from the sale of the shirts if we use their website. A dollar or two a shirt, typically.

      • Holmelund
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:30 AM | Permalink

        I own the one from last year and my daughter was hoping I was getting a different one this year.

  2. BornConfuzed
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:05 AM | Permalink

    Not even 9am where I am and I’ve managed to spend my weekly budget… Worth It!

  3. justajenjen
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:12 AM | Permalink

    Ok, I know, international shipping is stupid expensive. I really want something, but I don’t know if not feeding my kid for a week is worth it to buy a shirt and pay the shipping. Can I cheat and order one and have it sent to my Mom’s house and then she can eathier send it to me here in France next time she sends Christmas gifts? Or leave it until next time I come home to visit?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:18 AM | Permalink

      Absolutely! If you have a US address you can ship to, go for it. It saves both of us money :)

      • justajenjen
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 12:07 PM | Permalink

        Awesome-sauce. Right, now I will spend money.

  4. LadyIsta
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:20 AM | Permalink

    WOO! LOVE the Worldbuilders fundraisers!

    Can you tell us about the new women’s shirts? (yay, all my favorite ones got made!) What’s the sizing available?

    • Posted June 1, 2015 at 11:34 AM | Permalink

      I know we’re going to change them for the better with this batch of shirts, but I’m not sure about the details.

      Can I pass this one to you, Amanda? Do we have it somewhere in an FAQ?

      • Amanda
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 11:35 AM | Permalink

        We don’t have the official info yet on which shirts, but we’ll probably know by Wednesday!

  5. LadyIsta
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:28 AM | Permalink

    Also, with those of us with allergies: the necklaces and earrings are made with what kind of metal?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:47 AM | Permalink

      The necklaces are Zinc metal alloy (cadmium safe) with an alloy and copper chain (lead and nickel safe). The earrings are copper (lead and nickel safe). That was a really great question, thanks for asking :)

      • LadyIsta
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:01 AM | Permalink

        Now I’m thinking of a Mistborn/Temerant crossover and wondering if earrings of copper will protect you from naming AND store memories on it. I’ll just have to try it out…

        Thanks, Amanda!

  6. outerspaceguy
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:33 AM | Permalink

    I’d much rather buy this than some of the overpriced merch at (the just completed) Phoenix Comicon! [WAIT] Two of the items purchased!

  7. Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:03 AM | Permalink

    For the cruise, do we need to do a separate donation for each entry (say, 6 at $5) or can we just select the perk once and use the ‘Additional Gift’ option to add additional entries?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:06 AM | Permalink

      The separate donation for each entry is a tiny bit easier for us, but you can just use the Additional Gift and we’ll separate them out :)

      • Posted June 1, 2015 at 10:07 AM | Permalink

        I’d love to make it easier for you guys, but between the way my bank sometimes flags multiple small transactions as fraud, and the way my employer handles matching charitable donations, I’m going to have to do it as a lump sum.

        Thanks for confirming!

      • MeepleMinion
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 12:20 PM | Permalink

        Not sure if you can add up perks to pay only once, but as I didn’t want to be late to the party:
        I just bought 5 individual perks – including 5 + 25 for JoCoCruiseCrazy.
        Hope you can sort it all out – it’s always the same name and payment info.

        • Amanda
          Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:41 PM | Permalink

          Nope, that’s exactly the correct way to do it :)

  8. Jessica
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:11 AM | Permalink

    When you email for shirt sizes will ladies sizes be an option or are you only offering unisex?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:15 AM | Permalink

      They’ll be an option!

      • LadyIsta
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 10:16 AM | Permalink

        If it’s possible, can I put in a vote for v-necks on the lady shirts? If not, maybe another time!

        • Amanda
          Posted June 1, 2015 at 10:25 AM | Permalink

          We’re looking into them, and will definitely have it all figured out by the end of the fundraiser, so when we send out requests for sizes we can have the right sizing charts .

  9. Gemma
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:26 AM | Permalink

    Is it possible to know what’s in the Game Bundles? There is so much cool stuff this year.

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:43 AM | Permalink

      We’re keeping that a secret to make it fun, but they’re all Mayfair games, so you’ll know they’re awesome. The smaller bundle has some better games for starters, while the bigger bundles has some better games for more experienced gamers :)

  10. Razgriz9327
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:36 AM | Permalink

    Are any of the other options for shirts going to available in the future, even if its just in poster form or postcards? There were some incredible designs that I would love to get ahold of!

  11. tristis
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:54 AM | Permalink

    The original design for the Waystone Inn t-shirt had a lovely dusty brown background that fit with the design and made the shirt stand out, but it looks like in this mockup you’ve decided to print it on black instead. Disappointed. I’m probably in the minority, though, in not wanting yet another black t-shirt.

    • Posted June 1, 2015 at 11:21 AM | Permalink

      We’re looking in to printing these on different colors. And hopefully we’ll have information on that by Wednesday or so when we post our next update.

  12. xxtayce
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 12:55 PM | Permalink

    Okay, sorry, I fail. How do I sign up for more than one perk?

    • xxtayce
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 1:03 PM | Permalink

      I ended up signing up twice. Doesn’t really affect me as much as it might the international folks, since they can’t really add the “international shipping” perk to another perk in the same transaction. May want to look into this.

      • Posted June 1, 2015 at 1:57 PM | Permalink

        You can just go in and buy as many perks as you want. You buy one. Then you buy another.

        You can do that as many times as you want.

        It’s actually best that way. As multiple orders from the same account ship together.

        • xxtayce
          Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:15 PM | Permalink

          Ah! I was wondering about the shipping part. Thank you!

        • Ester
          Posted June 2, 2015 at 11:33 AM | Permalink

          Does this mean we only have to add the international shipping once? I just need to be sure before I start buying all the amazing stuff.

          Thanks!!

          • Posted June 2, 2015 at 5:13 PM | Permalink

            Check the FAQ. I think this is answered there.

          • Ester
            Posted June 3, 2015 at 2:53 PM | Permalink

            It really isn’t clear. Maybe this is because I’m not a native English speaker, but I really do not know if I need to add 15$ to every perk I purchase, so I may probably just stick to one.

            Thanks for your answer anyway (I always check the FAQ before I ask).

          • Amanda
            Posted June 4, 2015 at 9:08 AM | Permalink

            Ester, I clarified the language. Once is fine, we’ll be shipping everything we can in one package.

          • Ester
            Posted June 4, 2015 at 2:53 PM | Permalink

            Thanks Amanda! Ireally appreciate it. I will get a few more things then!

        • hendric
          Posted June 4, 2015 at 11:18 PM | Permalink

          Seven times you made me click,
          Enter my address, my credit card too,
          The website doesn’t remember,
          Over and over I must do.

  13. Jzone
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 1:01 PM | Permalink

    I’m kinda sad that the Dresden shirt design was so rushed. I was really looking forward to the concept when I heard about it, but the reality is the light-katana kinda looks like a big party sized dildo with a huge distracting starburst int he middle, and I just can’t see me wearing that around.

    My deepest apologies to the artist who I know must have put a shit ton of effort into this, it’s just not for me. Sorry.

    Is there any chance of getting different design options of the Dresden shirt for the Winter round of WorldBuilders?

    Thanks and sorry again for being a downer.

  14. Brady Dill
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 1:44 PM | Permalink

    Did you get reimbursed for the damaged books?

    • Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM | Permalink

      We did. But we still didn’t want them to go to waste….

  15. tap836
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM | Permalink

    I bought book Bundles A and B, which were full of Prime books if I remember right.

    I can’t remember if I bought Bundle C, what books were in that Bundle? More Prime books?

    I’m thinking about buying Bundle D now, but I would really like to know what that bundle will contain. I know you don’t want to list specifics, it is a mystery bundle after all, but could you at least tell me what it is like in regards to Bundles A and B? The same kinds of books as found there, quality and genre wise?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:40 PM | Permalink

      They’re all primarily from Prime books. Similar quality and style, definitely. We got more variety when we were donated this round of Prime books, so there’s all new stuff in book bundle D.

  16. LadyIsta
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 2:40 PM | Permalink

    8 hours of fundraiser and you’ve already exceeded your goal! What’s gonna be this year’s milkshakes, Worldbuilders?

  17. UrsulaK
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:19 PM | Permalink

    Oh, bummer. I was really hoping for the Edema Ruh t-shirt. It’s a scientific fact (I’ve got an MA in Gut Truthiness from Colbert University) that there aren’t enough gypsy-related merch in the world. However, as a Polak, the Dresden t-shirt delights me greatly. You should go Full Butters and make buttons too!

  18. MrsArkban
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:22 PM | Permalink

    I must be doing something wrong here. I want multiple perks but it’s only letting me add 1 perk per order. I tried selecting the perks and I tried putting my total in to then select multiple perks. . .

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:24 PM | Permalink

      Yup – you purchase one perk, then go back and purchase another, one at a time.

  19. MrsArkban
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:29 PM | Permalink

    I should point out I want about 6 different things and having to redo this 6 times will not be fun

    • MrsArkban
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:30 PM | Permalink

      I see, Amanda. Ok, 6 times it is

      • tap836
        Posted June 1, 2015 at 4:22 PM | Permalink

        Yeah, it isn’t ideal, but it saves them having to run some special pledge manager after the campaign ends.

        • Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:20 PM | Permalink

          Yeah. Those are a nightmare.

          I hope that eventually IndiGoGo will let people pick multiple perks at once. But for now, it’s the best we have….

          • MrsArkban
            Posted June 2, 2015 at 7:14 PM | Permalink

            That would be nice. Luckily, I’m stubborn, so I did make 7 separate pledges.

  20. Stephen
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 3:43 PM | Permalink

    Just put in my contribution, good luck with the rest of the fundraiser! Thanks for putting in all the hard work to make this happen again folks.

  21. Constance
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 4:01 PM | Permalink

    Wow, there’s 80 bucks I won’t have for another week ready to fly out of my pockets! I hope the items I want are still there on Friday…

  22. Posted June 1, 2015 at 5:05 PM | Permalink

    Would military APO addresses be included in the free shipping or would I need to purchase the international shipping too?

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 6:09 PM | Permalink

      They’re included in the free shipping, thanks for asking :)

  23. MrsBeckster
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 5:52 PM | Permalink

    So what are the chances of shirts still being available at the end of the week? Will you make just what is ordered or will there be a cut off? I can’t purchase to Thursday Australian time. Also any news on if any would be made as hoodies in the future? It’s rather cold here at the moment. And by cold I mean 8’C.

    • Amanda
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 6:10 PM | Permalink

      There’s no cut off for t-shirts! We’ll be running them all the way through.

      • Posted June 1, 2015 at 8:22 PM | Permalink

        Yup. Shirts will be here for a while.

        (And just between you and me, keep an eye out. You might see a hoodie soon.)

        • MrsBeckster
          Posted June 4, 2015 at 12:40 AM | Permalink

          Oh my!! They are perfect. Now to see if my card will work or if I have to get in contact about paypal.
          Also just letting you know that your awesomeness has most likely saved my marriage. My husband and I made a deal what we would read each others favourite books, so I read Magician (Not only did I read it, I also read the other 20 something books in the series) but for 2 years my husband refused to hold up his end of the bargain and read your books.
          Anyway cut a long story short, after much arguments he had to go away for work so I put the Audio book on his phone to listen to while he was driving away from Radio reception and he feel in love. He then had to admit I was right about the awesomeness of the books and hence I can remain married to him.
          Now to get him to buy me a hoodie!

  24. jordynlynn
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 6:47 PM | Permalink

    My mother just told me I can’t spend all my newly acquired college money on the snazzy fundraiser…I really want to though…but now I have to be an adult.

    • jordynlynn
      Posted June 1, 2015 at 6:57 PM | Permalink

      Sorry…new computer, no mouse

  25. Reddragon5002
    Posted June 1, 2015 at 9:04 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I was serious in my comment on the campaign! I will totally donate an additional thousand dollars to the campaign if you will agree to be one of my groomsman at my wedding in the fall of 2016!

    It would be amazing for me, and it’s for a wonderful cause!!

  26. Jen W.
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 12:02 AM | Permalink

    What size options are there for the shirts? My bf really wants one but he wears an xlt (big and tall size), which isn’t often an option for shirts like this.

  27. justajenjen
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 8:41 AM | Permalink

    Ok, sorry about the multiple purchaces you guys will have to sort out, but I wanted to do a test run first. Last year, I couldn’t get the site to accept my French bank card, so I couldn’t contribute anything and I wanted to make sure it would work this time. It seems to, so, YAY!

  28. enjbennett
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 10:15 AM | Permalink

    Dear Pat,

    I contributed to your last charity drive, and got a copy of Rogues out of it, much to my pleasure. However someone recently sent me this link http://freefromharm.org/agriculture-environment/10-reasons-to-say-no-to-animal-gifting-hunger-orgs/ and told me that live animal charity donation does unneccesary harm, heifer international being particularly bad for this. Has anyone raised these concerns with you? How have you reconciled them? Is this article just a sham? I am concerned that my money may have been more responsibly donated and hoped you could alleviate my concerns.

    • Posted June 2, 2015 at 5:43 PM | Permalink

      I haven’t seen that article before, but I’ve seen others like it. And they all have one thing in common: They were written by people trying to promote their own charities (By trying to tear down someone else’s.)

      That article, for example, was written by the executive director of a different charity. And that charity’s focus is big into veganism and animal rights.

      You’ll not that right at the end of the article she says, check out *this* charity instead of a place like Heifer. Not mentioning that that charity is… y’know… the one she just happens to run.

      I’m all for the ethical treatment of animals. And factory farms are awful things. But that’s not what Heifer is about.

      Think of it like this: My current neighbors have chickens. The chickens run around their yard. They play with their dog. My son watches them peck and scratch around. My baby thinks they’re fascinating.

      These animals aren’t abused. They’re not slaves. They’re pets. They’re loved. And they also produce eggs my neighbors eat. And for my neighbors it’s just a little hobby.

      Imagine how loved a flock of chickens is in a part of the world where meat (and therefore protein) is hard to come by? The protein provided by an egg a day… its value to a child is incalculable.

      Trust me. Those animals are beloved. That is how real small farms work. You love and care for your animals. And sometimes you eat them.

      Heifer is about education and sustainable farming that fits in with the local culture and ecosystem.

      I’m not going to go on and on. And I’m not going to ask you to trust me. I’m not going to point out that I’m smart and I’ve done my research. (Though I am, and I have.)

      I’ll just point out that Heifer is one of the organizations that the Gates foundation donates money to. A lot of money.

      Is Bill Gates an idiot?

      No. Probably not.

      • enjbennett
        Posted June 2, 2015 at 6:34 PM | Permalink

        First of all, thank you for your reply. It was not cursory, despite the many demands on your time, and your devotion to your charity and your blog’s readers is laudable.

        Your reply leaves me feeling vindicated in my support. I suppose the notion of partisanship within charity feels alien to me, but on second reading I can certainly understand your interpretation. You asked me not to trust you, but broadly I do. I suspect this isn’t a comparison you would care for, but you remind me of a politician. We recently held an election here in the UK, and whilst it was ongoing I had a conversation with a friend about the expectations we should have of politicians seeking election. He told me that we should judge them on their manifestos, but also on how much you trust them. Because there will come a time when circumstances demand that they deviate from the plan, and we must trust them to deviate in such a way that we find acceptable.

        I had second thoughts about Worldbuuilders because of a criticism leveled by someone with their own agenda. You addressed those thoughts in a way that made me feel my support was vindicated. You’ve got my vote.

        • Posted June 2, 2015 at 7:47 PM | Permalink

          You’re very kind. You gave me my warm fuzzy for the day.

          Thanks so much.

  29. Marina
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 10:20 AM | Permalink

    I recently lost my father, and I’m spending a ton of money settling his estate, right after quitting my job to take care of my health and spend more time with my kids (3 and 1). I’ve participated in WorldBuilders and Geeks Doing Good, and all the above explaining/drama aside I’m just very very sad that I don’t have the funds to participate in any way this year. I’d volunteer, but I’m far away (though if you have a stuffing envelopes chore that you can ship out I’m there (well, here, but…yeah). Anyway, I have a few things that I recently inherited that might be really interesting to geeks? Most specifically I’m thinking of a coin that’s actually a family crest that my great grandfather “found” in a castle while serving in WW2 in Germany (he served under Patton and helped liberate Dachau). I’d be happy to donate it if you thought it would bring any funds in for the charity – full disclosure I just read a Pat interview that mentioned that he has a key and coin collection addiction, and if his fans wanted to emulate him…..

    In other news I know a few people who write books that are less famous than Pats who I bet would donate signed copies of their books (some of which are gaming books).

    That’s all I’ve got. My main talent is reading VERY FAST – which is not really useful to anyone who is not me.

    • Posted June 2, 2015 at 5:47 PM | Permalink

      Marina,

      Sorry that it seems like you’ve been having a rough time of it. I hope things are getting better and you’re having a good time spending more time with your kids.

      We’re always delighted to take donations of that sort, Marina. (Both special items, and signed books.)

      Contact information is here:

      http://worldbuilders.org/contact

      (Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back immediately. We’re kinda busy right now.)

  30. papparian
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 11:38 AM | Permalink

    There is no other way to pay, but the credit card?
    I fell in love the the eolian hoodie! But i only got a paypall account and justa dutch bank account :(

    • Posted June 2, 2015 at 7:46 PM | Permalink

      Answer is in the FAQ. And the blog itself.

  31. silvermirage
    Posted June 2, 2015 at 11:25 PM | Permalink

    This is so cool! I love the silver talent pipes and the hoodies. The world that has been created in this series is so unique, can’t wait for more.

  32. Kimberlyand
    Posted June 4, 2015 at 10:34 AM | Permalink

    Should I be adding international shipping for a Canadian address? I wasn’t sure since we’re neighbours, sometimes the shipping is easy to here.

    • Kimberlyand
      Posted June 4, 2015 at 10:45 AM | Permalink

      I’m guessing yes – but just want to make sure since it’ll affect how much I can afford.. :)

      • Posted June 4, 2015 at 7:15 PM | Permalink

        Shipping is easier to Canada. If you’re ordering multiple perks, you couple probably just add an extra 5 or 10 dollars onto one of your orders and that would take care of it.

        • Kimberlyand
          Posted June 5, 2015 at 11:02 AM | Permalink

          Excellent, thanks Pat.

  33. midobal
    Posted June 4, 2015 at 1:54 PM | Permalink

    You probably have already thought about it, but the new perks have given me an idea:

    Have you considered releasing a digital version of the “Collegue Survival Guide”? I don’t know if there are any restriction with the editorial, but if they weren’t I’m pretty sure that a drm-free digital version of it could sell very well at The Tinker’s Packs. You could set a “pay-all-you-want” strategy and send the ebook by e-mail (avoiding this way a new download implementation).

    The good thing with this is that, since you already have the digital infrastructure, the only costs would be to digitalize the book (which shouldn’t be too expensive). Apart from this, everything would be more money for a great cause!

    I apologize if this is a crazy idea. I’m just trying to help as much as I can.

    • Posted June 4, 2015 at 7:35 PM | Permalink

      We were thinking about it. Unfortunately, it would still take us a while to edit and lay the book out. We’d either have to do it ourselves (something we have no real experience with) or hire it out (which costs money.)

      Also, the humor is kinda… dated. I was kind of dick back in my early 20’s. Not mean-spirited, but kind of ignorant. And I made a lot of jokes that I wouldn’t make today. If I make it available for re-publishing, I want to write some commentary in there about why I thought those things were funny at the time, and why I now realize that that kind of humor can have unpleasant influence on the culture.

      So yeah. It will happen, but it will take some time…

  34. Posted June 9, 2015 at 6:24 PM | Permalink

    I just found out about this campaign today and am surely sorry to have missed it. Is there any way to purchase these shirts at this point? In particular, I think if I could get my wife one of the Polka shirts, it would just make her whole year.

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