Update 1/25/2013
We will not be doing trading cards this year... but that means
buttoneering at PAX East!
Original Post
Sorry it's taken me so long to get a post up here. I've been waiting on a couple factors to be sorted out. While I've enjoyed putting the
trading cards together and meeting all the awesome PAX goers, I simply won't have the time and resources to organize it this year. The truth is that I spend a considerable amount of spare time (and some money) to make sure it happens every year. The cards are made mostly manually and the number list is also handled manually. These things could certainly be automated, it would just shift the work to a programmer, which would probably be me anyway.
I'd like to thank all the awesome people who have helped me put this together the last three years. I couldn't have done it without you.
I will have a box of cards with me at PAX, so if you've missed some we can meet up.
Update (As there has been some interest in reorganizing)
Here is how it has been organized:
1. Template is created. The template is a PSD file and made to trading card size. It has a variety of layers to make choosing badges as easy as possible. For the Magic: The Gathering theme we also had layers for the mana symbols. I can provide last year's template plus any assets that would be helpful. Mostly you would have to change the year on the back of the card and potentially add new badges.
2. We tell Jakprints (or any printing company) that we are going to make 100 separate orders. How should we make said orders, and can we have a discount? I believe there was a different company that looked much cheaper than Jakprints.
3. Everyone designs and orders their cards. It needs to be done with photoshop due to the complexity of the files (and in the past GIMP didn't handle CMYK). I've used a team of incredible volunteers to help with this part, but I estimate about half of the participants need assistance creating their trading cards. During this phase the organizer also distributes card numbers and confirms requested numbers to avoid collisions.
4. Everyone brings their cards to PAX. There are one to three meetups to exchange cards, but it is also a great opportunity during other major community events: Pre-PAX Dinner, Pokecrawl, Post-PAX-Dinner, Magical Mystery Tour, etc.
Shoot me a PM and we'll see what the best way to share assets is.
Posts
Thanks for all your work over the past few years Dave, you certainly kept it going very well
I think this would be a great opportunity to talk about whether or not someone wants to take up the mantle of trading cards going forwards, or if the community wants to shift to another "trading" item for East. Could even do buttons, as those at east haven't had the opportunity to do those yet.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/151144/east-pax-east-trading-cards-2012-you-can-mail-your-cards-again/p1
What needs to be done to organize this. Do you use the same templates every year? do you change them? I dont have a tun of time, but i could help.
1. Template is created. The template is a PSD file and made to trading card size. It has a variety of layers to make choosing badges as easy as possible. For the Magic: The Gathering theme we also had layers for the mana symbols. I can provide last year's template plus any assets that would be helpful. Mostly you would have to change the year on the back of the card and potentially add new badges.
2. We tell Jakprints (or any printing company) that we are going to make 100 separate orders. How should we make said orders, and can we have a discount? I believe there was a different company that looked much cheaper than Jakprints.
3. Everyone designs and orders their cards. It needs to be done with photoshop due to the complexity of the files (and in the past GIMP didn't handle CMYK). I've used a team of incredible volunteers to help with this part, but I estimate about half of the participants need assistance creating their trading cards. During this phase the organizer also distributes card numbers and confirms requested numbers to avoid collisions.
4. Everyone brings their cards to PAX. There are one to three meetups to exchange cards, but it is also a great opportunity during other major community events: Pre-PAX Dinner, Pokecrawl, Post-PAX-Dinner, Magical Mystery Tour, etc.
Shoot me a PM and we'll see what the best way to share assets is.
PAX East Trading Card Organizer | Twitter | Google+
I had an idea for a theme and put together an example to see what everyone thought. It's based off of the old Pokemon TCG. url="http://i.imgur.com/LqIJt.jpg"]Card Idea[/url
I think for simplicity sake, we could just use the template from last year, maybe add an "R" or something to the card number for those that made cards last year, but since we're getting a late start easier is going to be better.
Thoughts?
Of course, if Dave still wants to head up card creation for one more year...you know me...I'm in!
I am sure we can get someone else to pick up the torch, it can be a team effort. I may not have that much time to dedicate, but I can do some sweet Excel kung fu if it can be of any use - I'm thinking about the number assignments, automated messages or e-mails to send to people if needed be, etc. Once I set things up it should be easy for anyone to use.
I have a fat stack of my own cards from last year. The two trades that I went to last year felt quick and sorta impersonal last year (I was in an insane hurry for one of them, true) and I'd like to see something where we can talk to each other more.
If there's not a lot of newbie interest, I don't know if I really want to go through the effort of updating my cards.
So...to not complain and not offer solutions... Lurkers who are interested in this speak up! And would people be interested in a fun trade activity (or even just a meal together) so we can do more than just stand in a circle and wait for more people to show?
Or maybe it's time we do a easier to manage tricket like buttons? But I abkdjfklad love these cards!
3DS Friend Code: 2449-5711-0640
Dolls on Etsy
3DS Friend Code: 2449-5711-0640
At PAX East 2010 I made a hat out of giant card that seemed to help. I found most people just weren't looking for other cards. There are also less people taking part in the card trading than buttons, so you are truly seeing less people.
PAX East Trading Card Organizer | Twitter | Google+
You sir, have some very strong Kung Fu! This sounds great, and super helpful.
I do agree with the comments that have been made previously, it does seem that sometimes it is difficult to trade cards, mostly because they are not as visible as the buttons are at Prime. I have also tried the bade holder and it has helped some, but really we just need something that screams "HEY YOU GUYS...I HAVE CARDS TO TRADE...FIND ME!!!!!" Not sure what the solution is at this time, but something to think about.
Yes I know this isn't feasible, but goddamnit it sounds good on paper!
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
Hrmmm...that's a really good idea. I do something similar with the Buttoneering app (you can tap phones to see each others buttons), but it may be worth looking into making a purely virtual "collecting" app like that. Especially since you can actually turn it into a game with scores (something that is difficult to do with buttons and cards).
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
I ♥ making awesome crafts! I ♥ my Cookie Brigaders!
Dolls on Etsy
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!