Rhett Turns 40 This October...so what are we gonna do about it?

I am totally sticking my neck out here to get this discussion going! I HOPE to get some great ideas that are affordable and feasible and BIG enough to celebrate the big FOUR O! There have been some small discussions happening here and there with some pretty amazing ideas for a Kommunity gift, but we need to get them down and get them catalogued. The way I see it, we have a month to plan and then production had better start to get it there on time.

I don't think that too many tangible items are realistic. I am not an editor of any kind..(NOT ASSUMING I AM TAKING ON THIS PROJECT AGAIN BUT FOR WHOEVER DOES....) editing together clips of fans would be a tedious and time consuming job. Not that he's not worth it, but unless someone has 100% of their time to devote to this (which one of you may..*wink wink*) it may turn out to be a mess not worthy of such a milestone birthday. I think the books are always nice, but for this birthday we should think of something more special. ALSO, VERY IMPORTANT... I know jokes are made about Rhett buying useless things but the use of the mousepad from his last gift shows that things that are useful in every day life/business will be probably best.

Remember, the Beast taking on this job will use their time and money to get the gift completed and shipped so making it as easy as possible is best.

Turn your thinkers on and lets make this milestone...that I will share with him only 11 days later... a great one. When one of you decides to head up the project, a separate discussion can be started by you to avoid confusion.

THANKS! BYMB

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Permalink Reply by Heather S. (YogaGhost) on August 19, 2017 at 2:19pm

So many great ideas! I think we need to make a vote on whether to do a book or website or both, and if both, we need leaders for each item. Just trying to help further organize. :)

Can I make a few suggestions? Based on this thread, would Kevin and Zainab like to work together on the website design/layout and sections? Victoria, maybe you can oversee these projects if you like or have time?

Perhaps we could incorporate the various types of wood into the website instead of worrying about shipping them to Rhett. They could be the background images of different pages with maybe a small section somewhere describing the wood type?

Anyone who has done a book before for the guys can maybe work on that together.

I definitely like the top 40 moments idea, kind of like the video montages the crew put together last year. Someone with video or photo editing skills can maybe create a video or slideshow from our choices that we suggest here of our favorite moments of Rhett's and embed it into the website.

I wouldn't mind helping in any way that I can or am needed. :)

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Permalink Reply by Grace (Pheasphant) on August 19, 2017 at 10:12pm

I like your suggestions & I agree that we probably will have to make a vote (soon)

I'd love to do the video/slideshow thing of the top 40 moments if no one else wants to do it (but that is of course if we're actually going to do it)

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K-ModPermalink Reply by Kevin (UniSeal) on August 24, 2017 at 9:59pm

Here's what I suggest. First we should find out if someone is willing to manage to book. We're running out of time, so that person would need to step forward quickly.

Then we should make a discussion for people to confirm their participation, describe what they will be doing, and even submit their contributions. The three ways ways to participate would be:

1) Submitting a timestamped video link that shows a Rhett moment desired to be in the running for "The Kommunity's Top 40 Rhett Moments". These would be voted upon and edited (by Grace?) into a video featured at the top of the website.

2) Submitting a picture or video of some birthday artwork or project that would be included under the top-40 video on the website.

3) Sending content for the book, if someone is managing it.

@Heather: I also like your idea of having the background of sections on the website be different, labeled woods. I can certainly make that happen.

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Permalink Reply by Heather S. (YogaGhost) on August 26, 2017 at 7:46pm

Thanks! :)

I hope someone can do the book and if not, I hope the website will be a good gift and feasible to make.

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K-ModPermalink Reply by Victoria (Centauromadoose) on August 28, 2017 at 4:26pm

1) For clarity -- am I correct in saying Kevin is managing the website birthday project? Kevin, are you also okay with the project management side of collecting and organizing the material, or are you just volunteering technical expertise to upload and design it?

2) A question -- What's the difference between the content of the website and the content of a book? If we're doing Top 40 moments and birthday artwork/video on the website, what is the book for? Is it duplicate material?

4) A comment -- Moving forward with just the website idea gives us more leeway for a final deadline. Rhett's birthday is October 11. Final deadlines for a book would have to be pretty rushed now to give time for layout, printing, and shipping.

3) Grace, if you're going to pull together a Top 40 moments compilation, please confirm ASAP! It sounds like we will have at least a couple of mini projects running concurrently that will all end up on the website for presentation. Kevin and Grace will have to keep in contact with each other to check in and stay on top of things.

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Permalink Reply by Grace (Pheasphant) on August 28, 2017 at 10:47pm

I'll do it!!

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K-ModPermalink Reply by Kevin (UniSeal) on August 28, 2017 at 11:42pm

1) I was planning on just having people email me whatever they made and I would put it on the site.

2) I figured the content for the website and book would be mostly the same. The website have an online version of the book, basically. It just seemed like some people were really pushing for also having a physical book, and if someone wants to manage that, I don't think there would be a problem having some overlap.

3) I agree.

4) I figured we would have people submit Rhett moments in the comments of a new discussion. About 10 days before October 11th, we can build a ballot using Google Forms and narrow the moments down to the top 40 over a three-day vote. Then Grace would have a week to put together the video.

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K-ModPermalink Reply by Victoria (Centauromadoose) on August 29, 2017 at 10:41am

@Kevin -- Okay, cool. Jaymie suggested creating an email account specifically for this project (or even future birthday projects, if you'll continue to manage the website), if that would be helpful for you.

I honestly think we're out of time for a book, but Ari previously volunteered to take on the production of a book if needed -- I think they had a different vision for what it would include, but if we really want to push forward on a book, Ari would be the one to get involved.

One last suggestion from me: I know we're not going with the "40 reasons" section break-out idea, but I was wondering if we could give our contributors a "reason(s) we love Rhett McLaughlin" theme for their letters, artwork, etc. to inspire them on what to submit. Not a required theme, but something for inspiration if people need it. Or is that unnecessary?

Otherwise, to Grace and Kevin -- I think it's time for you two to get started!! :) Please keep me in the loop so I can support via the Kommunity social media accounts, as often as you need or like.

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K-ModPermalink Reply by Kevin (UniSeal) on August 29, 2017 at 9:29pm

I will try to contact Ari to see if she is still up for managing the book. In preparation for the idea she mentioned in her comment, and because I agree it could be good to give people a direction for their content, I will encourage people to submit a few sentences (or entire letters) on a reason they love Rhett. Because we wouldn't want to exclude anyone's reason or rank them in any way, we can then brand them on the website as "40+ Reasons We Love Rhett".

I'll get the basics of the website set up first, mostly to get an email account through the site to which people can send their submissions.

Then I'll create and feature a new discussion detailing our plans and providing explicit, to-the-point instructions on how people can contribute.