The Value of Interns and KickStarter Projects

[Alex Willis]

This is the second summer my Intern has been on staff with me and she does great work for such a young person.  She also helps me with insight of a younger buying market.  Last year we focused on publishing, editing and distribution as related to my primary business.  This year I wanted to introduce her to KickStarter and more specifically the gaming and playing card development that our company has been exploring.

Her job - Attempt to gather information about KS projects, seek out public opinion through forums and blogs and attempt to identify elements to what makes some KS projects Successful/UnSuccessful/and Extremely Successful.  Because we are in the business of Distribution and Marketing we have some insight as to how the community learns of projects either through social networking, direct marketing or fanbase.  This year when Dean Koontz published Forever Odd, 200,000 adoring Odd Thomas fans purchased their copies on day 1. (myself included).

I will attempt to post findings/spreadsheets/evaluations in this thread.  Just one time in the current search for KS projects.  Hopefully it will help some designers and start up card makers.  If nothing else, it's keeping the Intern busy for a few weeks.   I should watch what I say as she is monitoring this site as well as others for information on playing cards.

[Soliloquy]

What sorts of data are you collecting?  I've been keeping a spreadsheet of KS projects as well, collecting data on which projects are successful and which rewards are popular.

[Alex Willis]

What sorts of data are you collecting?  I've been keeping a spreadsheet of KS projects as well, collecting data on which projects are successful and which rewards are popular.

Everything.  In case I never mentioned it before I have advanced degrees in demographics and population as well as an undergraduate in Logistical management and IT.  I am like a statistician on steroids, in fact one of my first jobs out of college was to proof and challenge statistical data findings.  My intern will be collecting everything from average pledges, to goals, to add-ons and timing, to calculated risk, to investment by owners to marketing campaigns and promotions, to public outreach and themed market saturation... to name a few elements.  But when it comes down to numbers and sense, there are only a handful of elements that can be measured with any regularity for success:

1.  Demand
2.  Ability to predict demand
3.  Producing product that meets demand at an acceptable cost
4.  Locating markets to sell
5.  Incentives to build brand excitement and familiarity (things people don't know they want)
6.  Reputation (Design, Communication, Expectation and Delivery)

I admit, I normally do things to test how things work.  It's my unfortunate nature.  As I become more confident in what I know, I seek to test new theories to see what impact it does or doesn't have.  Now on my 3rd KS playing card deck project, I've tested a number of ideas I've had about content, delivery, product familiarity, communication and expectations.  I try not to put too much testing in something I'm actually trying to sell.  With each one I've learned a little more.  I've tested 6 peer funding sights and have written a paper on the subject and it's impact with social networking.  I've tested product manufacturers to get a sense of quality, flexibility and consistency.  (and a hundred other little things you should have on your vendor score cards).  I collect names like some people do stamps.  I like to know who is making the decisions, who influences them and who makes them happen.  But all that is far more than people want to read and digest.  So for this post, I will offer my interns findings and let people draw their own conclusions.

[xela]

I'd love an intern. I'm currently gunning for a job where I get to hire my own.

However, being an intern is absolutely fucking horrible in most cases. Unless you're getting experience in a company that will literally lift you into the sky, or working with famous people, it's a nightmare. Simply put, doing work of any kind for no money is disheartening. When I interned for the Dems for a year here I got lucky that they paid me since they had us do shady shit, but for the majority of the time I got no reward for my efforts. The end result?

Not much, really. It's something I will put on a resume if I ever look for work in politics again, but otherwise I wouldn't do it again.

[Don Boyer]

I'd love an intern. I'm currently gunning for a job where I get to hire my own.

However, being an intern is absolutely fucking horrible in most cases. Unless you're getting experience in a company that will literally lift you into the sky, or working with famous people, it's a nightmare. Simply put, doing work of any kind for no money is disheartening. When I interned for the Dems for a year here I got lucky that they paid me since they had us do shady shit, but for the majority of the time I got no reward for my efforts. The end result?

Not much, really. It's something I will put on a resume if I ever look for work in politics again, but otherwise I wouldn't do it again.

The ideal situation is when the intern is doing it for both experience in a desired field of employment and for college credits - then it's like a class, so lack of pay isn't as big a deal and it helps you graduate.  I will grant you that most intern positions aren't for the working-my-way-through-school types who need an income just to be there.  In other words, most of the collegiate population...  It's always that damn 1% thing, isn't it... 

[Alex Willis]

[The ideal situation is when the intern is doing it for both experience in a desired field of employment and for college credits - then it's like a class, so lack of pay isn't as big a deal and it helps you graduate.  I will grant you that most intern positions aren't for the working-my-way-through-school types who need an income just to be there.  In other words, most of the collegiate population...  It's always that damn 1% thing, isn't it... 

A few years ago I created an internship formally and registered with local colleges so the students who do want to work for "free" get 3 credit hours toward marketing or statistics.  It's a lot of work to set one up as it requires you have a clear educational plan for your interns and you must demonstrate that the plan is being followed.  I actually helped my intern create a means for a perpetual income, although small through one of my less productive distribution areas.  So she benefits from the education and a teeny tiny income that will continue to pay her for a number of years.  When she finishes school I will introduce her to some friends at a large publishing company in Philadelphia where she can take what she's learned and apply it to what she wants to do careerwise.