Archive for the ‘Chicago’ Category
Cupcakes on the Move
It’s no secret that I love food, but what people might be surprised to know is that not so long ago I didn’t like cupcakes, or any cake really. A couple of years ago I was fortunate enough to write a review of More cupcakes before their opened their doors and after I left, I was officially on the cupcake train.
I recently had a chance to catch up with the owner of More, Patty Rothman, and she told me about the More Mobile that will be launching mid-August. You may be familiar with Flirty Cupcakes – the idea is similar, but I think it will outshine Chicago’s first cupcake truck. Part of the reason is because More sells a better cupcake and secondly, they have some really great ideas for the truck itself that will make it stand out.
For more information about this highly anticipated truck, check out the post I recently wrote for Gapers Block.
Half A Year Of Thoughts
It’s been just over six months since Katie & I shipped out the first Scared Panda t-shirt. Since that first tamale t-shirt went out the door we’ve created two more rounds of tees, shipped shirts to Austria and Australia (and all over the US), met some really awesome people and learned more about t-shirts than I ever thought possible. The first six months gave us the time and experience we needed to see what was working and what wasn’t.
What Works
- Get off line. The internet is a great place to communicate and find people, but we found that nothing beats solid face time with customers and potential customers. Getting out to festivals and art fairs has been an effective way for us to meet customers, artists and to generally pimp the Scared Panda brand.
- Limited prints. I never want a t-shirt that I know a million other people have and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels this way. Therefore we decided to make each Scared Panda t-shirt part of a limited collection. We are only printing 100 t-shirts of each design. Once that design sells out, its done and you now own a collectors item.
- Pandas. The Scared Panda logo tee is one of our most popular t-shirts. In fact, it’s so popular, we only have one left. The next generation of our Scared Panda will be more artistic and will reflect our brand more accurately. Since this is a new design, we will print another batch of logo tees.
- Social networking. Facebook, Twitter and Flickr have been great tools for us to spread the panda love and communicate with customers. Through these sites and applications, I’ve been able to meet and talk with different people from all over the world about our company, what we are about and what they think about our product.
- Women’s shirts: Our yoga t-shirt did really well and we’ve learned that a lot of ladies like our Scared Panda shirt as well. In the future we’ll print each design in both men and women’s t-shirts.
What Doesn’t Work
- Online advertising. Google Ad Words, Facebook and miscellaneous ad time online have led to very little page views from our target market.
- Assuming people know what I’m talking about. I do this all the time, I start talking about something and assume the person I’m talking to sees exactly what I do and they will automatically understand and just ‘get’ what I’m saying. When working with designers and printers its important to lay out every aspect of the design, t-shirt and process that I am thinking about and to double check to make sure the person on the other end is making out what I’m saying clearly.
- Expecting people to just show up and buy stuff. I have a kick ass product and just need to put it out on the web and people will start buying it up. Yeah, that never happens. Running a business takes time, dedication and lots of hours promoting and pimping the product, in this case, getting t-shirts in front of people want them. Part of this includes becoming friends with other t-shirt vendors and t-shirt review sites. Over the past six months we have become very close to some great t-shirt reviewers, bloggers and general fans through out the world and each have helped significantly in helping us promote Scared Panda.
A New Direction
With the popularity of the Scared Panda logo tee, we decided to create a more centralized theme for our t-shirts. The new theme will still involve Chicago, but we are expanding to incorporate other cities as well. In addition, each of our designs will incorporate the Scared Panda somehow – sometimes it’ll be obvious, sometimes it won’t. A few ideas we’ve been floating around: a Scared Panda climbing the Empire State Building, a Scared Panda conducting an out-of–control el train and a Scared Panda matador (Scared Espanda). The new t-shirts will be inspired by my travel experiences and from stories that I hear from friends, family and other random people I meet along the way.
We’re excited about these changes and hope you are too. Have any travel stories to tell that would make a great t-shirt? Drop a comment below and tell us about it!
Time Flies With AMEBA
It’s going to be a hot one this weekend and what better way to stay cool then to spend a couple hours in a nice, cool theater taking in some amazing acrobatic dance that will surly motivate you to head to the gym (these people are fit!).
Last night our friend Heather invited us to see a dance show called Time Flies by the AMEBA Acrobatic & Aerial Dance studio. AMEBA is a Chicago-based nonprofit that dedicates itself creating, performing and teaching in the realms of Acrobatic Dance and Aerial Dance. The group is co-directed by her brother Kip Conwell and sister-in-law Chloe Jensen – who rocks multi-tasking by dancing and choreographing in shows.
This weekend will conclude their three-week concert series Time Flies. It’s a matrix of dance, bungees and trapezes to take the dance floor up. All set to the music of artists like The Chemical Brothers, Moby and other well known musicians. If you’re looking for something fun to do and change up your regular weekend, then go check this out.
When
Friday, July 23 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 24 at 2:00 PM (matinee performance)
Saturday, July 24 at 7:00 PM
Where
The Ruth Page Center for the Arts
1016 N. Dearborn, Chicago, IL map
Costliness
$25/ticket, or $20/ticket for groups of 5 or more
Special rates can also be arranged for very large groups.
Tall Bike Love Photos!
Last Saturday Kate and I met up with our new friend and tall bike aficionado Dan Korn. In exchange for a free Tall Bike Love T-Shirt, Dan was more than happy to show off his tall bike as well as let me take some pictures of the two of them together. It was a real pleasure meeting up with Dan and I’m happy we were able to hook up and talk about bikes and riding ’round Chicago. Here are just a couple pictures from Saturday, you check out the rest in the Flickr set.
Re-Discover Chicago Sunday Morning (midnight – 5 a.m.)
This weekend is one of my favorites of the summer – on Saturday night my friends and I will go on a late night, 25-mile bike ride through Chicago. The L.A.T.E. Ride is a really great way to explore the city after-hours – from midnight until 5 a.m., the streets are closed off to vehicles and we’re free to bike, hang out and discover some of Chicago’s hidden gems.
We’ll finish the ride around 3 a.m. on the lake front and will stop somewhere to get some breakfast (Pick-Me-Up – hello pancakes!, Tony’s Burritos, perhaps a night cap at Carol’s?) then catch a few zzz’s before heading to one of our favorite soccer bars to watch the World Cup (go Netherlands!). All-in-all, sounds like a pretty awesome day to me.
If you’re at the L.A.T.E. Ride, look for the group of people decked out in Scared Panda gear and come say hello!
- Kate
You bought…We gave
Wow, this year is flying by. The last time I checked it was Memorial Day and now we’re already past the 4th of July. Next time you look up there are going to be leaves falling on your face. July also marks the end of the second quarter, which means it’s donation time!
At the end of each quarter we take 10% of every sale from each of our t-shirts and donate that money to the organization that has been chosen for that t-shirt. This quarter we added quite a few new t-shirts into the mix and these new t-shirts brought in new organizations. Take a few minutes and check out these great Chicago organizations:
- Esperanza Community Services
- Imerman Angels
- PAWS Chicago
- The Anti-Cruelty Society
- Mercy Home for Boys and Girls
If you were one of the many people who bought a t-shirts this past quarter, let me say on behalf of Scared Panda and all these organizations, Thank You!
Get Your Pizza On
When you’re in a city famous for a particular food or cuisine, it can be overwhelming when trying to decide where to get the BEST of that specialty food. Luckily for you, there are a few companies in Chicago who will take you around to some of the best pizza places in the city.
Chicago Pizza Tours stuck out to me because they take you to different neighborhoods and allow you to sample a variety of pizzas (they even stop at Italian Fiesta – a favorite of the Obamas). On this tour, you’ll get your deep-dish craving satisfied and you’ll get to experience some of the best non-deep dish joints in the city, including one of my favorites, Coal Fire.
For those of you partial to Chicago-style deep dish pizza, check out Slice of Chicago Pizza Tours. This company takes you to some of the most famous deep dish joints in town and, it’s a walking tour so you won’t fall into a pizza coma when you’re done with your journey.
Don’t forget to wear your Pizza Fight t-shirt as you explore Chicago’s pizza scene.
- Kate
Happy Summer!
Yesterday was the first day of summer and we celebrated by going to Yogen Fruz. I suppose it’s more accurate to say we half-celebrated, half-sought relief at Yogen Fruz. On a 15 minute walk home we managed to get incredibly hot and uncomfortable and needed SOMETHING to cool down. Yogen Fruz is one of my favorite places in the city and, for me, it was a pretty easy decision to stop in and grab a cool treat. We were greeted by a long line of hot, happy Chicagoans enjoying the first night of summer. Something about it made my heart smile. Maybe it’s because I know that in a few weeks people will be grumbling about the heat and the lines. But, for now, everyone seems to be taking their time and enjoying all that summer has to offer (including the sweat). Where is your favorite place to cool down in the summer months?