The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Buttoneering! - IT IS TIME
Do you hear the sound of scarves covered in metal? That's right, let's get ready for...
PAX PRIME BUTTONEERING 2013!
This is our sixth year doing it, and we definitely have a groove going. However let's do something new this year, shall we? See here for details. The new instructions are just below under the heading "How do I Participate?"
What is Buttoneering?
Buttoneering is a meta-game that takes place every year at PAX Prime (and to a lesser extent PAX East and other events). You play by printing up a large number of buttons with a picture that represents you, and then find other people at your event to trade with you. It is remarkably easy to do, and it's a great way to meet people. Additionally, you come away with a huge number of buttons that are a unique souvenir of your time.
What are the rules?
Well, there are only a couple. First, if you get a button you should give a button, and vice versa. This applies to the "avatar" button, which is the one that represents you personally. If you have made other buttons representing a group, game, or are just something special, you can set your own rules for what people need to do to get them. As usual, follow Wheaton's Law for maximum fun.
How did Buttoneering start?
It started out as a problem at PAX 2008 for members of the Pax Forum Community. They wanted a way to be able to pick each other out of the crowd of more than 55,000 gamers. The initial idea was for t-shirts with everyone's avatars printed on them. Once someone pointed out the added benefit of being able to smell fellow forum members coming, other ideas were proposed.
Finally, everyone settled on making buttons with their avatars on them. After some initial research, it was discovered that one could get bulk amounts of these created for relatively cheaply, and the idea of PAX Button Exchange was born!
Where can I get buttons?
We recommended PureButtons because of their excellent customer service, good prices, and being all-around cool folks. No, we don't get paid to say that. If you're not in the U.S., feel free to ask in the thread to find info on providers closer to home, or if you're the trusting type, ask if you can ship the buttons to someone who is, to save yourself some shipping costs.
How do I participate?
Here are the steps for participating in Buttoneering:
Other frequently asked questions:
Event Schedule
We have THREE meetups planned to hopefully meet as many people's needs as possible, now with social media links to share pictures! The two morning ones are at the Juicy Cafe, which is on the second floor of the convention center, behind the escalators. The last day one is, as always, in front of the convention center.
Saturday Morning, 9AM @ Juicy Cafe (Facebook) (Google+)
Sunday Morning, 9AM @ Juicy Cafe (Facebook) (Google+)
Monday Afternoon, After the Omegathon in front of the convention center main entrance (Facebook) (Google+)
About BUTTONEERING!.org
As of 2011, our official Buttoneering website is http://buttoneering.org. Usage is completely optional, but it does provide a number of benefits that make it worth the 60 seconds or so that it takes to sign up...
This way, we have a very convenient way for everyone to see the buttons and hopefully build upon it with buttoneering apps and the like!
So sign up, (make sure to use your forum name from here!), check your email for the confirmation, and then upload your artwork.
Before clicking on any of the links below, be aware that there are some NSFW buttons.
Click here for the list of this year's buttons!
Click here for last Prime's buttons.
Click here for last East's buttons.
Are you not on the list? Then you didn't sign up at http://buttoneering.org, so do it right away!
PAX PRIME BUTTONEERING 2013!
This is our sixth year doing it, and we definitely have a groove going. However let's do something new this year, shall we? See here for details. The new instructions are just below under the heading "How do I Participate?"
What is Buttoneering?
Buttoneering is a meta-game that takes place every year at PAX Prime (and to a lesser extent PAX East and other events). You play by printing up a large number of buttons with a picture that represents you, and then find other people at your event to trade with you. It is remarkably easy to do, and it's a great way to meet people. Additionally, you come away with a huge number of buttons that are a unique souvenir of your time.
What are the rules?
Well, there are only a couple. First, if you get a button you should give a button, and vice versa. This applies to the "avatar" button, which is the one that represents you personally. If you have made other buttons representing a group, game, or are just something special, you can set your own rules for what people need to do to get them. As usual, follow Wheaton's Law for maximum fun.
How did Buttoneering start?
It started out as a problem at PAX 2008 for members of the Pax Forum Community. They wanted a way to be able to pick each other out of the crowd of more than 55,000 gamers. The initial idea was for t-shirts with everyone's avatars printed on them. Once someone pointed out the added benefit of being able to smell fellow forum members coming, other ideas were proposed.
Finally, everyone settled on making buttons with their avatars on them. After some initial research, it was discovered that one could get bulk amounts of these created for relatively cheaply, and the idea of PAX Button Exchange was born!
Where can I get buttons?
We recommended PureButtons because of their excellent customer service, good prices, and being all-around cool folks. No, we don't get paid to say that. If you're not in the U.S., feel free to ask in the thread to find info on providers closer to home, or if you're the trusting type, ask if you can ship the buttons to someone who is, to save yourself some shipping costs.
How do I participate?
Here are the steps for participating in Buttoneering:
- Choose your button size and shape, and make your artwork. 1.5 inch round buttons are by far the most popular, and are a good compromise between price and size.
- Upload your artwork to BUTTONEERING!, our official Buttoneering site.
- Put your button's rim text on your button somewhere: While logged in to Buttoneering, click on the magnifying glass for your button and scroll to the bottom of the page that comes up.
- If you are buying from PureButtons: Copy the text from the text box, and paste it into the additional notes when you make your order
- If you need to put the text on manually: Place the part in bold somewhere on your button, preferably along the rim where it is out of the way, but still findable.
- Order your buttons. 100-150 buttons is a good base amount, but feel free to go with more...there are usually more than 200 buttons available for trade! If you order from PureButtons, be sure to use the discount code PAXPRIME and put your rim text in the notes!
- Go to PAX, trade with other Buttoneers, take pictures, have fun, and go home with a giant collection.
Other frequently asked questions:
Q. Why do you only list Purebuttons.com as a source of buttons? Are you banging the owner?
You are free to have your buttons made by anyone, make them your self if you'd like. Our prior experience shopping around last year has shown that you really can't beat the price Purebuttons offers for buttons in bulk. If you can, let us know your insider info.
Q. How do I get a button? What are these "bonus buttons"?
The buttons fall in to two categories, the "avatar" or "main" buttons, and the "bonus" variety. While there are no set rules for trading them, these general guidelines are encouraged:
- Avatar buttons should be traded for other Avatar buttons, with no challenges or criteria expected to be fulfilled other than you are both Buttoneers.
- Bonus buttons may (or may not!) have special criteria for receiving them, and may go to people outside the button game who fulfill the criteria. This could be a challenge ("What is the flightspeed of an unladen swallow?"), a requirement ("You must be a member of the CEOs of America Club"), or one may just ask for one (remember to say "Please").
Q. I want to make people stand on their head, nude, while singing "Yankee Doodle" to receive my buttons! Can't I do that?
It is perfectly within your rights, but don't expect many people to trade their buttons back with you.
Q. Do I have to purchase hundreds of buttons to participate?
Purchase as many or as little as you want. As they say the more the merrier, more than likely you will only be able to recieve as many buttons as you have to give. Last year a somewhat active person could easily go through 100+ buttons.
Q. With 55,000+ people, how will I find you all to get my trade on?
Many if not most of us will be attending various community ran events. Feel free to stop by the Pre-PAX Dinner, the Pre-PAX Movie, Pre-PAX Pubcrawl, or the Pre-PAX Breakfast. We'll be there in droves. No one had any problems finding buttons last year. We stand out pretty hard.
Q. I want to make sure I get EVERY SINGLE BUTTON I can, will there be a Buttoneer meetup?
YES. We always meet in front of the convention center after the last round of the Omegathon.
Q. You said this is a game! How do we know who won?
Everyone is a winner! Especially you! You're so special, you know that?
Q. Will I be able to fly with my buttons. Are they considered an instrument of death?
As confirmed by the US TSA and experience from past years, 1" -1.5" buttons are not classified as an instrument of death even if you have a 100, and can be carried on or checked (they did say that depending on the TSA Agent you may be asked [forced at gun point] to check the buttons).
But remember this only applies to people whose flight originates in the US. If you are flying into the US with buttons make sure you check with your TSA equivalent before bringing them on a plane. The TSA people here also highly suggested that you check with US Customs (contact via your local embassy) before you try and bring them into the country (they indicated that the problem isn't with the button it's with what you could be hiding in the button). Recap: If you're in the US you can fly w/ buttons, if you're not you're probably better off mailing.
You are free to have your buttons made by anyone, make them your self if you'd like. Our prior experience shopping around last year has shown that you really can't beat the price Purebuttons offers for buttons in bulk. If you can, let us know your insider info.
Q. How do I get a button? What are these "bonus buttons"?
The buttons fall in to two categories, the "avatar" or "main" buttons, and the "bonus" variety. While there are no set rules for trading them, these general guidelines are encouraged:
- Avatar buttons should be traded for other Avatar buttons, with no challenges or criteria expected to be fulfilled other than you are both Buttoneers.
- Bonus buttons may (or may not!) have special criteria for receiving them, and may go to people outside the button game who fulfill the criteria. This could be a challenge ("What is the flightspeed of an unladen swallow?"), a requirement ("You must be a member of the CEOs of America Club"), or one may just ask for one (remember to say "Please").
Q. I want to make people stand on their head, nude, while singing "Yankee Doodle" to receive my buttons! Can't I do that?
It is perfectly within your rights, but don't expect many people to trade their buttons back with you.
Q. Do I have to purchase hundreds of buttons to participate?
Purchase as many or as little as you want. As they say the more the merrier, more than likely you will only be able to recieve as many buttons as you have to give. Last year a somewhat active person could easily go through 100+ buttons.
Q. With 55,000+ people, how will I find you all to get my trade on?
Many if not most of us will be attending various community ran events. Feel free to stop by the Pre-PAX Dinner, the Pre-PAX Movie, Pre-PAX Pubcrawl, or the Pre-PAX Breakfast. We'll be there in droves. No one had any problems finding buttons last year. We stand out pretty hard.
Q. I want to make sure I get EVERY SINGLE BUTTON I can, will there be a Buttoneer meetup?
YES. We always meet in front of the convention center after the last round of the Omegathon.
Q. You said this is a game! How do we know who won?
Everyone is a winner! Especially you! You're so special, you know that?
Q. Will I be able to fly with my buttons. Are they considered an instrument of death?
As confirmed by the US TSA and experience from past years, 1" -1.5" buttons are not classified as an instrument of death even if you have a 100, and can be carried on or checked (they did say that depending on the TSA Agent you may be asked [forced at gun point] to check the buttons).
But remember this only applies to people whose flight originates in the US. If you are flying into the US with buttons make sure you check with your TSA equivalent before bringing them on a plane. The TSA people here also highly suggested that you check with US Customs (contact via your local embassy) before you try and bring them into the country (they indicated that the problem isn't with the button it's with what you could be hiding in the button). Recap: If you're in the US you can fly w/ buttons, if you're not you're probably better off mailing.
Event Schedule
We have THREE meetups planned to hopefully meet as many people's needs as possible, now with social media links to share pictures! The two morning ones are at the Juicy Cafe, which is on the second floor of the convention center, behind the escalators. The last day one is, as always, in front of the convention center.
Saturday Morning, 9AM @ Juicy Cafe (Facebook) (Google+)
Sunday Morning, 9AM @ Juicy Cafe (Facebook) (Google+)
Monday Afternoon, After the Omegathon in front of the convention center main entrance (Facebook) (Google+)
About BUTTONEERING!.org
As of 2011, our official Buttoneering website is http://buttoneering.org. Usage is completely optional, but it does provide a number of benefits that make it worth the 60 seconds or so that it takes to sign up...
- Upload your buttons and see everyone else's
- Easily track the ones you've collected
- Lots of cool filters and sorting to help you find the button you're looking for
- Hosting for your finished button designs with the code to embed it in the forums
- Keep up with your collection from year to year, event to event, so you can see just how much awesome you've seen
This way, we have a very convenient way for everyone to see the buttons and hopefully build upon it with buttoneering apps and the like!
So sign up, (make sure to use your forum name from here!), check your email for the confirmation, and then upload your artwork.
Before clicking on any of the links below, be aware that there are some NSFW buttons.
Click here for the list of this year's buttons!
Click here for last Prime's buttons.
Click here for last East's buttons.
Are you not on the list? Then you didn't sign up at http://buttoneering.org, so do it right away!
Every time you write parallel fifths, Bach kills a kitten.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
jonxp on
+1
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
(Actually, so long as the core concept stays the same, which it sounds like it will, I'm okay with something a little different. ^_^)
Most likely. I'm assuming JohnXP would have done it.
Suggestion regarding the Post-PAX meetup: Make it somewhere else besides in front of the convention centre.
I don't know about other people but in previous years I've found it very crowded and hard to maneuver around to do your last trading.
It seems to be regular public mixed with other PAXers mixed with buttoneers.
I'm going to suggest the back garden courtyard area instead.
I don't think that's closed off after PAX closes, is it?
The issue with making it in the freeway park area is that it's harder to find for people that don't really *know* the area. Also remember people will be coming from all over downtown at the end of PAX, and not just from the convention center. Out in front is super easy for everyone to find.
Generally speaking I've seen the usual recommended amount be 100 at a minimum. I personally go for 150 though.
[x]In awe that my 30 minute badge window prediction was pretty close to accurate.
[x]Badge (HOLYCRAPIGOTA4DAY!)
[x]Hotel
[ ]Airfare
[ ]Buttoneering Buttons
[ ]Challenge Coin
I'm working with them on something. Don't worry. That's why I said in the title to not order your buttons yet.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
TWDT '13: Hufflepuff OotP
Yeah I'm curious about that as well.
Oh darn.
Also, new sounds scary.
Passes: ☑ ▬ Hotel: ☑ ▬ Flight: [color=red]☑[/color]
So here's the thing. Back when we started Buttoneering, the idea was to put our forum avatars on a button so we knew who was who. That worked pretty well for all of one year. No one wants to do the *same* buttons again every year, right? So we started making awesome unique (or not so unique) designs that we traded, but then no one could tell who was who purely from the buttons without knowing all the designs. Two years ago I introduced the Buttoneering! website so we could keep track of the buttons, but it turns out it's really hard to go through 250 buttons to mark off the one you have in your hand.
So here's our problem, we have lots of buttons that, while cool, aren't easily associated with a forum member, a certain PAX, or even easy to find on the website.
I propose a solution! The only design allowed is a QR code in a specific format this year!
No, I'm kidding, of course. I figure we use the rim of the button to put all this information. I suggest the following format: "[EVENT] - [FORUM NAME] - [BUTTON ID]"...for example "PAX Prime 2013 - JonXP - 12345". The button ID will make it easy to find on the website, as I'll explain in a moment. I am working on a few things to support this:
- When you upload your artwork to Buttoneering!, I'll list the EXACT format for you in the "detail view" of the button.
- If you use PureButtons, they will add the text for you! In the additional notes about your order, add 'Rim Text: "[RIM TEXT]"' and they'll take care of it.
- When it comes time to record your buttons, you'll be able to sort by user on the Buttoneering! website and I'll even have a fast entry field where you can simply type in the number on the button to mark it as collected.
As always, this is completely voluntary (just like using the website is!), but I hope that you guys like the idea. I tried to take as much pain as possible out of it, by providing the information for you, and PureButtons will add the text for you. If you prefer, you can still do it yourself, and if you order from somewhere else, you'll definitely want to do it yourself.
No this isn't my own unique idea, and thanks to the people who suggested it. Also thanks to PureButtons for offering to do extra work on our buttons while still providing us with a coupon code! I'm going to work on the site this weekend, and on Monday I'll post the coupon code along with the site changes to support this idea.
Let me know what you think!
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
Thanks for organizing this again jonxp, buttoneering is the best!
I already have a great idea for my button, just gotta get to work on making it.
For those who may remember mine from last year. I have about 50-75 of my N7 buttons left over. They are going to be my bonus buttons this year. So brush up on your Mass Effect trivia if you want one!
Pax Attendee/Enforcer:
Prime - '11 Attendee, '12 Enforcer, '13 Enforcer
East - '12 Attendee, '15 Enforcer
Although that being said, what I usually do is change my avatar each year and make that my button.
Edit: don't get me wrong though, all for this new idea!
Seriously, it really is great of the guys-n-gals of purebuttons.com to go the extra mile on putting the rim text in there for us. I heartily approve of this idea.
Also, I'm actually seriously considering making my button a QR code now.
TWDT '13: Hufflepuff OotP
2009
2010 (and bonus)
2011
2012
Damned if I know what I'll do this year, but I'll think of something.
Passes: ☑ ▬ Hotel: ☑ ▬ Flight: [color=red]☑[/color]
Yay Buttoneering!
Hungry? The Cookie Brigade!
PAX Prime 2013 Buttoneer! Main Design! And the Creeper is still waiting for you...
Slytherin House Elf for the Order of the Phoenix!
Just because we're arrogant, doesn't mean we're (completely) evil.
Finally found it in last year's thread:
Was wondering when this thread was gonna show up , I usually have my forum name on the button, but I should be able to move it to the rim ... I'll make Draklan work on that part for me
I do have a suggestion tho for the meetup(s) :
I loved the Saturday morning meetup last year, and suggest doing it again , as well as on Sunday morning, that way those that are not attending for all 4 days still have a great chance of hooking up for buttons. Just my $0.02
Can't wait to see everyone's buttons
The first change is live on the site now, on the bottom of your button's page, there's the info for the new rim text. As we get closer to Prime I'll be updating the Android app and the search function of the site as well.
I've put our coupon code in the OP with the new set of instructions. Because this is new there are BOUND to be hiccups. PLEASE let me know if anyone runs in to any kind of issue, even a minor one.
3DS Friend Code: 2707-1614-5576
PAX Prime 2014 Buttoneering!
I present this question to you guys. Which icon fits best with which Triforce peace? Wisdom/Power/Courage.
I was thinking;
Wisdom: Doctor WHo
Power: Mass Effect
Courage: Firefly
Pax Attendee/Enforcer:
Prime - '11 Attendee, '12 Enforcer, '13 Enforcer
East - '12 Attendee, '15 Enforcer
*fangirl scream*
anyways, im super excited for this! Already got a crap ton of ideas swirling around in my head....