VIPER CALENDAR UPDATE

[Y2K5SRT]

Just a quick heads up that the Viper Calendar is really starting to get some serious steam behind it. First off, given the huge volume of initial orders, the printer has agreed to drop the price for us: $17.50 for a full-color 14"x10" (14"x20" when opened) soft-gloss calendar including shipping! (International shipping rates may be higher) They are doing only the soft-gloss (like satin) finish, no more matte finish.

I also have the cover shot done, and am very pleased with the results:

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Don't see your license plate but want to order a calendar with it on there? No problem! Send me a picture of the plate with as little background as possible and make sure it is at least 600 pixels wide. I can add and remove plates very easily.

I am also "grading" each and every picture as I add the graphics. What does this mean? This means you will get an approximate idea of how the picture will print out in this large format. Just because it looks good on the thumbnail doesn't mean it will print well at 14" x 10". The thumbnails are being revised as I type this so that each and every one will have a grade (A-D) assigned to it.

As I do the graphics, I noticed that several of you sent me pictures without any information! I need the owner's name (and you are welcome to list husband and wife if you wish), year of the car, and city/state. I need this information ASAP! The calendar has this for all of the graphics and I want to make sure it is consistent.

Finally, there is that process of ordering. Be sure to check out the Viper Calendar Project Page and follow the instructions there. I will be updating and simplifying those directions later today. <u>DO NOT</u> e-mail me your credit card information for payment. E-mail is not secure (very easily hacked) and I am not processing the payments anyway. After you have sent me your order, I will confirm receipt and send you directions for payment. You will be paying the printer directly and the finished calendars will be sent from the same. They accept personal checks, money orders, and most major credit cards. All of the money goes to them directly - there is no profit or money coming back to me. Call it my holiday gift to the VCA.

Chris

PS. I am working non-stop on this project right now and may not respond to your e-mails right away today (12/12). I want to get the latest batch of pictures to FedEx and off to the printers today. Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines!

 

[Stiffler]

Thank You very much for your efforts!

 

[MOUNTAINWOLF]

Chris your sincere zealous diligence, earnestness, preseverance, vigor, eagerness, fervor, enthusiasm, intent determination, and promptitude, exceed any viper-less fellow I have ever encountered... Seriously, I am sure everyone here as well as myself appreciate, from what I have seen, the great work you have put into this project. Still lovin the beast. Peace out .

 

[Neil - UK]

Chris, did you get ***'s lastest pics through OK?? I haven't clicked through the shots yet, love the cover shot

 

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Neil - UK:
Chris, did you get ***'s lastest pics through OK?? I haven't clicked through the shots yet, love the cover shot
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Neil -

I did indeed! Now it is a matter of editing and doing the graphics. They will definitely make the calendar one way or another!

Chris

 

[Nadine UK GTS]

Chris, thanks for all the time you're giving to this, to make it possible for us to have the best calendars! Being all Viper pics, they're all such nice pics, I find it very difficult to choose! I guess I'm just going to have to order another, another one!

 

[Got Venom]

This topic needs to be pushed to the top from time to time. Chris, you are doing a great job. I can not believe for such a low price , that you can customize your own calendar. I do not see many "A" grade 2001 Blue Sapphire cars. I will try and send some. Keep up the good work. I hope people catch on and order tons of these calendars. Thanks again, Dennis Kimball

 

[Y2K5SRT]

And here is another good "action" shot recently submitted...

There are some GREAT pictures that folks are sending in. You will need a calendar for every room in the house!

Chris

 

[Nadine UK GTS]

...Every room in the house, and several in the garage, these calendars are so cheap now I'm having to order so many!!

Thanks lots Chris.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Thanks for the comments! I am still plugging away on this, spending about 12 hours a day right now (I am no graphics wiz, so I plod along). I have added several more shots and updated most of the thumbnails with ratings and graphics. I am still waiting on a few folks to get me their information (year of car, name, and location), and then those will be done as well. You can still send me photos, but PLEASE make sure they are high resolution shots. I am really struggling trying to make some of these printable, with some taking 1-2 hours each to bring up to *****. Here is one of the recent high-res submissions, #174 in case you are interested...

Thanks again for your support!

Chris

 

[Y2K10 SRT#39]

Chris-
Great Job- (again this year!)
Can you create a separate page for the pictures of the SRT-10 that the folks at VOI took?
It would be great to have a calendar for the new car!!
Many thanks for your hard work!!!

 

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Paul Ronald:
Chris-
Great Job- (again this year!)
Can you create a separate page for the pictures of the SRT-10 that the folks at VOI took?
It would be great to have a calendar for the new car!!
Many thanks for your hard work!!!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Interesting that you should ask. I am going to add several of my own shots that I took at VOI, including Competition Coupe and SRT photos (and I owe a lovely young lady up in New York some Comp Coupe pictures, so this will help me on time). If you wish to send me any interesting high-res photos, feel free. Once again, as this is strictly nonprofit, I don't think there will be any problem.

As to a separate page, I don't think I will go that route right now. Perhaps for the next calendar (if there is one), I will make separate pages for each one: A gallery for GTS, RT/10, GT-2, SRT, etc. Might make choosing the pictures a little easier I suppose. I didn't anticipate almost 200 photos to be submitted (and it WILL go over 200 before we are done)!

Oh, and one final note: If you would like to order a calendar, NOW is the time to do it. I just sent off my last FedEx to the printer and we are ready to roll. If you have already ordered a calendar and wish to make changes, you still can - but e-mail me quickly! The orders are going in. Also, if you have already placed an order, you will be getting payment information from me very shortly. You will be paying the printer directly, as they also accept most major credit cards.

Be sure to order plenty for the whole family, as you are unlikely to find this kind of value ANYWHERE else. $17.50 including delivery for a 14" x 10" (14" x 20" open) full color calendar with 12 photos of your choice, plus a pretty darn nice Viper cover that will keep people busy reading clever Viper license plates. Heck, it would cost you $24.99 at Kinkos for a much smaller calendar and no delivery. Not to mention trying to gather up almost 200 quality photos from fellow Viper owners! Remember, this is completely nonprofit - you are paying COST for these wonderful Viper commemoratives. Enjoy!

Chris

PS. I am still accepting high-res pictures for inclusion on the calendars. From here on out I am going to be uploading them to the printer after they are edited and the graphics added...

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

Next year this should be For Profit on your part.

Waiting for the payment info.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[Jack B]

Does anyone have a phone number for Y2K. I am not getting any reply thru email and I don't believe it is his fault, he was too responsive at the same time last year - [email protected]

Thanks

 

[Wayne Finch]

...what happened to the graphics on a bunch of these. Mine (#125) had graphics on this morning and now the graphics are gone

 

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jack B:
Does anyone have a phone number for Y2K. I am not getting any reply thru email and I don't believe it is his fault, he was too responsive at the same time last year - [email protected]
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jack -

I have sent you e-mail every time you post this regarding the Viper Calendar. I have not gotten a SINGLE e-mail from you since 2/25/02 at 11:41:57 PM Central Standard Time. You can e-mail me at [email protected]. I will go ahead and send a few more e-mails to try and get through. I sent you an e-mail on 11/30/02 after a similar post and got no reply. Love to hear from you!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wayne Finch:
...what happened to the graphics on a bunch of these. Mine (#125) had graphics on this morning and now the graphics are gone
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wayne -

I would bet a $1.00 (Canadian

) that it is simply the way your web pages are cached on your PC. All but two images now have graphics - #128 & #144. I have the information for 128 and will fix it up shortly and get it uploaded. I have not heard anything back from "[email protected]" on #144. I think it may have been a drive-by e-mail! If I don't get the information on that one soon, I am going to put another picture in its place (one of mine from VOI 7).

One other note to all: I will be sending out payment information and confirming your orders tomorrow (Thursday). I had to redo the cover AGAIN, as I had several license plate requests. I also created a "grid" (which I was too lazy to do before) so that all the plates lined up better. I have 12 additional plates on there and will post it again if anybody wants to see it. Looks GREAT!

Thanks for your patience - it will be well worth the wait!

Chris

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

Hey Chris,

I hate to even ask with all the work you've done...but can the calendar company make just the cover page into a larger poster size?

Thanks--Steve


...I think you should be compensated a little for the extraordinary effort you've put forth for this project. You could always round the price off to $20.

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Just posted nine new GREAT photos on the Viper Calendar Project web page . I had forgotten about one of my absolute faves until somebody requested it: A beautiful GTS completely boxed in by shopping carts! I also managed to find a picture with several ******* personnel camped out by that very same Viper. Fun!

I know that people are still planning to send more pictures, so count on it eclipsing <FONT COLOR="red"><u>200</u></FONT c> very soon!

Chris

 

[Birvini]

Chris,

As we say in Chicago, "You Da man!!!!!"

All the work you've done on this is simply amazing.

I've seen the shopping cart picture before, and that is a great addition to the calendar!!

I can't wait to see it in person!

 

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Steve 00RT/10:

I hate to even ask with all the work you've done...but can the calendar company make just the cover page into a larger poster size?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The calendar company probably cannot, as they have it in a smaller size. I did ask them, but they haven't replied on that question. Interestingly enough, I DID do a poster of it myself and donated it to the charity auction at the Kansas City VCA holiday party a couple weeks ago. I had it done at Kinkos (expensive) and it sold for $150 at the auction. It was 24" x 36", mounted and laminated. I try to be as modest as possible, but it really was gorgeous. As each plate is an actual photo, it looked almost three dimensional.

The problem I have is that this is entirely nonprofit and needs to stay that way. When we first put this together way back when, we got permission to use the "national" VCA logo with the strict understanding it was to be nonprofit. As the incoming president of the Kansas City VCA, I had toyed with idea of "regionalizing" the calendar, but with so many cars and plates from around the world, I felt it would be almost misrepresentative to stamp "Kansas City Region" on the cover and every photo. That was the only way we could conceivably channel any profits to the local club. This also makes it difficult to do a poster unless I found a company that could do it inexpensively. Again, it would be totally nonprofit.

My only benefit is the thanks I get and the satisfaction of seeing a job well done. I would be remiss if I did not note that Jon McGuire was instrumental in the design of the original calendar and his previous work inspired much of the graphics on this latest run. At VOI 7 I bought him beers, he and his beautiful bride bought me beers, and that made it all worthwhile. Oh, and Jim Harley and his gorgeous wife also bought a round of beers and Denny even picked up a dinner. Fun!

Here is the latest cover shot (sorry it is a crappy looking photo, but with a 100K file limit on this server this is as good as I can do - 96K):

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184 plates pictured, and I probably have another 150 from VOI 6. Rest assured it looks a TON better in high resolution and good print!

Chris

 

[Y2K5SRT]

Again, very low resolution due to the server restrictions, but a better idea of what the cover looks like up close:

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Yes, it was raining (heavily) when I shot many of the plates at VOI 7. It is the only thing that seems to keep these beasts in one place for any amount of time!

Chris

 

[mclean]

I finally got ahold of Custom Calendars yesterday and paid for my one calendar that I ordered, but now that I see some of the newly added pictures, I am thinking about ordering a second calendar. I asked Custom Calendars if I could place a 2nd calendar order through them and she said she was not sure if I could do that.

So the point of this post is to ask...
What do I do if I now want a 2nd calendar?

 

[Y2K5SRT]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mclean:
I finally got ahold of Custom Calendars yesterday and paid for my one calendar that I ordered, but now that I see some of the newly added pictures, I am thinking about ordering a second calendar. I asked Custom Calendars if I could place a 2nd calendar order through them and she said she was not sure if I could do that.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You can just e-mail me another order if you like. Oh, and wait a day or so and I will have even more choices posted (should get us to 225 or so). There are some great pictures coming in and I also hope to have some "A+" black SRT-10 photos very, very soon!

Chris