Calling all bakers!
It is that time of year, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, well, it may be
several short months to PAX 09, but it's never too early to start dreaming, right?
What is the Cookie Brigade?
We are a group of PAX attendees that are going to bake cookies and bring them to PAX. For a donation to Child's Play, you can get a delicious home-made cookie from one of us to help make your waiting-in-line/panel-watching/swag-getting experience more tasty!
How much of donations will go to Child's Play?
All of them! We are doing this out of our love for baking and our adoration for what Child's Play is.
How do you get a cookie?
Look for people with Cookie Brigade buttons. We will generally try to hit up lines, but remember that we are also coming to PAX to have fun and will be attending events such as panels that we are interested in.
How do you get involved?
We are still looking for more people to help out! You can help in one of three ways:
1) Bake cookies and distribute them (for which you will get a sweet Cookie Brigade button)
2) Bake cookies and give them to us to hand out
3) Distribute cookies made by us and collect donations (also results in a button)
If you are interested in helping, please send SergeantAuberie a PM, and also visit our Google group:
http://groups.google.com/group/cookiebrigadeROSTER
Baking
Asiina
Cerrato0426
Circeramone
Hypatia
Iamconfidence
LaFemmeNaKitty
Arco
Kytarowolf
Danicia
JonXP
Poisyn
Chinnie
SlickShughes (bacon cookies?)
Teklanika
Distributing
VThornheart
Jules
Millislim
Both
Anngaricus (maybe?)
Chibidani (maybe? - definitely baking)
Crackgoblin (maybe?)
Nemaihne (distribute on train, handoff at PAX)
Samyel
SergeantAuberie
Shadow_Dancer (maybe?)
Kalaylajayla
Katharine_84f (caramels?)
Hypatia (maybe?)
Leeesher
Slifter
Last year, the Cookie Brigade raised
$5400 for Child's Play! I am sure that we can raise that much and more this year! So, in the few short months before PAX 09, let's work on making the Cookie Brigade amazing!
Posts
I'm probably not going to go *as* gung-ho as last year (where I spent every waking hour of the conference distributing), but I'll definitely reserve at least most of the day on Friday and Saturday to it.
And this year I have to make a box that I can actually turn into "covert" mode as needed... I welcome suggestions as to how I can turn my box into "cookie stealth" mode.
Yay VT!
Cover it in stickers and swag.
Seriously. Incognito.
Drape a t-shirt here, a poster there...
Indeed, the box may have to go completely covert this year... but it's too bad if it does, as the cookie brigade posters on it last year helped people to see it easily in the more open areas of the convention center...
I am now envisioning a flap of cloth. On one side - gaming stuff, on the other side, Cookie Brigade stuff. Flip it one way to advertise, flip it another to go covert. Or, you could make a cover for your box that is strictly swag-ish, and then throw that over the box when you need to go covert.
Whatever you do, VT, I am sure your box will be awesome.
Anyone interested in ressurecting monthly cookie challenges? Or other ideas for activity ramping up to August?
I had this vision of having some kind of electronic system where I'd push a button and it would morph - much like a transformer - into something less conspicuous.
I don't want to know what PAX would be like without it.
How's things going?
Hey! How about you?
> The Cookie Brigade is contacting you.
> Your Response? (Y/N)
Steam: Rogue_hunter
Games for Windows Live: Roguality
Google+
Twitter
parabola! That's what you can do then! I distribute cookies but I can't bake a cookie to save my life. We need people who're willing to make but not distribute cookies to keep people like me (who distribute but don't make) supplied! You should consider it! Other than hunting one of us down (which should be easy enough ), your obligation can be in a purely preparatory nature.
Also, Rogue_Hunter, out of curiosity... where did you spend the most time at PAX? I'm curious, because I think there may have been areas we didn't hit but should've.
I can't speak for everyone, but my main trolling ground was the expo hall and the skybridge/entrance to BYOPC area. Let us know where you usually hang out at, we can try to send people your way
Steam: Rogue_hunter
Games for Windows Live: Roguality
Google+
Twitter
1) Finding cookies at PAX is a rare and noble thing which should be taken with the same level of reverence as stumbling across a unicorn grazing in a sunny glade.
2) We need more brigadiers.
People who bake cookies do not necessarily have to be the ones to walk around with them. If you've got the time to bake cookies pre-PAX, you can pass them on to someone who gets a kick out of sharing them without having to eat into your tournament/game/shopping/LAN time. Conversely, if you're a lousy cook but want to participate, you can carry cookies someone else baked. Or you can do both.
Have people brought cookies on planes before? Do they hold up well if properly stored?
Then again maybe my cookies will be so delicious the border guards will steal them for their own.
I brought cookies on the plane last year and suffered only minor casualties, this time I'll probably pack them in a harder container.
Is the Border Patrol going to "Toss your Cookies?"
To answer your original question - For PAX07, I traveled by plane. I put my cookies into two tins and buried the tins deep in my clothing. They held up well. Each tin was fully packed, though, so there wasn't much room for them to slide around and crumble.
I have since traveled via plane with 2 bottles of wine in my checked baggage. Just wrapped them in plastic and then in clothing and everything was intact when I got to my destination.
Cookie shooters were surprisingly popular once people got used to the concept of them... and it made for hilarious moments when people actually tried to "shoot" them.
I get a bit nervous in crowds sometimes, so while I sold some in the initial opening line with two much more extroverted brigadiers who convinced me to go with them, I then handed those donations and the rest of the cookies off to VT, who did a marvelous job taking it from there. Since I was just waiting in line anyway, that initial distribution didn't eat into my PAX time at all, though.
So it might be worth distributing for anyone not shy in person. It's a great ego boost to see your cookies directly helping Child's Play.
I brought cookies on the train last year. I used Tupperware to make sure they didn't get munched- although this year I'll use cheaper, tossable ones just in case.
Also, I put a piece of waxed paper with a slice of white bread in it inside each box to make sure the cookies didn't go stale in the two days between baking and distributing. Thought that might be a tip worth mentioning since most of us are travelling.
Steam: Rogue_hunter
Games for Windows Live: Roguality
Google+
Twitter
We should look into collection containers and ways of being identified that aren't super obvious (t-shirt, maybe?) really soon.
Moe, I came down from New Westminster, BC last year, and had absolutely no trouble bringing cookies across the border in my car. They were in the trunk with the rest of our luggage. Every time I cross the border, I get asked where I'm going and how long I'll be gone, and then I get to go through. It really isn't as painful as some people make it out to be.
glutenfreegamer.blogspot.com
I can't count how many times I've gone across (flying, by boat, bus or car) and the ONLY time I got flagged out was on my way back from last year's PAX. They didn't quite believe that I only had $30 of stuff to declare when I had a huge bag with me. The bag had $30 worth of cherry coke and payday bars. They were really friendly about it, told me about the guy before me who'd come across with a life-size Master Chief bust, and let me go only 20 minutes delayed.
I think if you explained the concept of the cookie brigade, they'd be delighted. However, you're very unlikely to be bothered about it. If you're really worried, maybe you can find a nice American brigadier who would be willing to accept your mailed cookies in advance.
It would be less conspicuous than, say, hauling a big box... and we could cover it up with a jacket.
That would be a brilliant idea! Then we could have much more covert cookie bags without suffering for want of advertising.
Wow.
You have no idea how hard I was laughing at this.
I like the t-shirt idea. I also think it would be a good way of [covertly] advertising. Think about. Dreary convention employees + 50,000+ nerds with miscellaneous T-shirts? How many are they really going to read carefully [and take seriously]?
It won't be *as* obvious as having a gigantic sign-toting box, but the chances of detection by unsavories will be minimized. At that point, just a regular (discrete) backpack with cookies will suffice, as the actual instrument holding the cookies will not need to be an advertisement for the cookies themselves.
I have *no* idea. I handed out cookies in 07 to anyone and everyone I met. I only ever saw a few convention-y looking people, but I was by no means discreet. I am unsure how aggressive it was in 2008.
The normal convention security people seemed to be okay (pretty much all of them saw the box, never commented), it's the "higher ups" that, from what I'm told, must be looked out for. I guess I was like 3 footsteps away from getting within eyesight of the guy who runs the WSCTC when I was saved... I don't know if he actually would've minded or not, but from what I was told it was probably better to not test if he would or not.
Which is too bad... I think the WSCTC could drum up some really good community outreach (and possibly even advertising-quality promotion) if they embraced the cookie brigade/Child's Play goodness.
glutenfreegamer.blogspot.com
Oh, I like that. Anyone have the digital cookie logo that went on those awesome pins from last year?
Also, the jelly bean cookie idea is interesting! They could potentially be popular!
EDIT:
Oh, snap! What about APRONS?
http://www.zazzle.com/custom/aprons
Cookie Brigade Aprons would be made of win, because they're many things at once:
* Easily hideable with use of a jacket
* Easy to remove if you're "off shift"
* Not something that a person would normally wear, and therefore more identifiable in a crowd
* Also because it's not something a person would normally wear, it would make us look more "official" and "organized", which could minimize the amount of "are you for REAL?" dirty looks we got last year. (Or at least, I know I got dirty looks thrown my way by people who didn't believe I was legitimate/there for a real cause that actually exists )
* It actually fits with the cookie theme!
The tote bags are a good idea as well... but I think Cookie Brigade aprons would have to be for the WIN