The Card Board, a new online forum for greeting card publishers, the brainchild of Whale & Bird’s Jamie Macdonald and Mary Harris (pictured top), has seen over 80 card publisher sign up as members within a few weeks of going live.
“The general idea for a central forum/group/whatever, centered around card publishers to discuss what’s going on within our lovely little industry has been in the back of my mind for a little while, but I wasn’t really sure if anyone else would be interested in the idea,” Whale & Bird’s founder Jamie told PG Buzz. He need not have worried as only a few weeks since it has gone live, over 80 publishers have pledged their support to the initiative, wasting no time in signing up as members, free of charge.
Thanking fellow publisher Jack Thorpe of Paper Plane for coming up with the name, The Card Board, Jamie said that this is very much a general forum for card publishers of all shapes and sizes to share information, exchange views and foster a feeling of togetherness.
“We love the ‘socialness’ of trade shows and always meet lots of lovely publishers, but after that trade show everyone goes home and we don’t see or hear from any of these people until the next show. We see The Card Board as bridging that social gap and along the way hopefully we also become a good central resource of community and information for other publishers,” says Jamie.
He acknowledges the existence of The Ladder Club and PG Live’s Springboard Facebook groups, but points out that if you haven’t been to a Ladder Club seminar or exhibited in the Springboard section of PG Live then these groups aren’t open to you.
“I remember what it was like when I first started Whale & Bird. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing (and arguably still don’t several years later) and would have loved something like The Card Board to have been available to ask questions. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience in the card world and it seems a bit of a shame that it’s not really easily accessible. With The Card Board we wanted to create something that was open and that any card publisher can join and get involved with,” says Jamie.
As well as a General Chat area, The Card Board online forum includes an Ask The Community section, which is already filling up with input and Jamie hopes that over time “it will turn into a great resource of questions and answers.”
Among the subjects that have come up for discussion already include dealing with late payers, advice on product photography, warehousing issues, hand-finishing complexities and exhibitions. As a forum these posts will remain easily accessible.
“We know it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but the more people who sign up and get involved, the better the community will be!” says Jamie.
Any publisher wishing to join can do so from the website www.thecardboard.co.uk.
