Exec reports - Swag Master
Introduction
Swag Master can be more formally known as the Products and Sales Coordinator (incase you need a more official sounding title when talking to companies). The fun of this position is that you get to spend a lot of time browsing and buying gear without having to pay for it yourself. This is a great position to after being a QM, if you are looking for a bit more dedication. The main responsibilities of Swag Master are as follows:
- Purchasing new Swag (stuff we sell)
- Negotiating deals with companies
- Managing our pro deals and wholesale accounts
- Coordinating special orders for the general membership
Accounts
You are the holder for all our wholesale and pro purchasing accounts. There is a google drive folder containing all our account usernames and passwords, which you will be given access to upon starting the position. One of the first steps is to update all of the accounts to your own email address, simultaneously updating the google drive document. Good management of the accounts and passwords is very important in order to avoid very confusing exec turnovers in the future. As the keeper of the accounts, you may often become the go to person for (rental) gear purchases as well. For this it helps to be involved with the QMs.
What Swag do we sell?
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| VOC custom Voile straps | These are a hot commodity, and continuous seller. The 16" ones tend to sell the best, so you may consider buying more of these when we run out. |
| T-shirts | These have been kicking around for many years, and don't often sell. New design and higher quality shirts could bring this back to life if you feel like taking on the project |
| Maps | Only buy maps that would be in high demand, ie. nearby areas (you would struggle to sell 15 maps of Wabakimi Provincial Park). Most maps are ordered from our accounts. You can just email John Baldwin for his maps. |
| Zebralight Headlamps | This order can be slow, as we have to go through Phil Tomlinson (ex-VOC exec) who then places the order. Expect delays. We ordered lots as of Aug 2016, so shouldn't have to do one again for a while. |
| Books | Exploring the Coast Mountains on Skis is always a good seller. As of March 2017 we will be selling Freedom of the Hills, we will see how high demand they are, may be worth repeat order. Currently we do not have any deals with book retailers, it would be sweet to get a wholesale account with Mountaineers Books or something. |
| Special Items | Sometimes cool things pop up like the '50 Classic Squamish Climbs' poster. |
| Stickers | People love stickers. |
If there's something cool that you think would sell, go for it! You are encouraged to think broad and get talking to companies that we haven't previously had relations with. It doesn't hurt to ask for some freebie posters or stickers too, companies usually like getting their name out there. Also, we are not a retailer so you're not under any obligation to hook people up with all the deals you possibly can.
This link has a list of the current stuff we sell as of September 2023: Stuff we sell.
Special Orders
Much like the stuff we sell, if there's a demand for something, try and help the members out and get a group deal or something. We can usually get pretty good rates on batch orders, especially when you mention that we have >800 members who are new to x. Here are some of the special orders we have done in the past that are worth repeating:
- AST-1 with Canada West Mountain Schools - Super high demand. Usually we run a session in the first week of Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar. We need a minimum of 8 people for a session to run. CWMS used a great sign up/payment tool through their website that works great. You will have to book a room for the classroom sessions on campus (Usually Tuesday prior to the field weekend). This can cause some significant heart ache, as room booking people can be incompetent; ensure you have done it a month in advance, and double check with them that week. The sessions require a whiteboard and a TV/projector.
- AST-2 with Canada West Mountain Schools - May be worth doing or not, ask people if there is demand. Minimum group of 6.
- Grandwall Equipment 40% off - Very high demand, also quite a bit of effort. After Son of Rock and Rock Party are the best times for this, as there are many climbing guppies looking to get started with some new gear. Orders placed online from our account. We usually get people to fill out a google form for what gear they would like, this can be challenging and could be refined if you have a better idea. If you are good at excel/google sheets, you can and should set it up to calculate how much their final cost is. You can then view the sheet, and send them an email telling them how much they owe. I would do this every couple days when orders are being placed. People pay in cash in the clubroom, put money in an envelope with their name and the total amount. It can get very confusing with $4000 orders from 25 different people, so ensure that all payments made etc are logged somewhere, the google sheet is a good place to do this. When the gear arrives you will have to sort through it all and 'package' everyones order. This will take a few hours, and you will most likely have to do it a few times; be meticulous when sorting orders, if you screw up it is very hard to go back and figure out what went wrong. QMs can help. Ask Nick Hindley if you need help with any of this.
- Slipstream Wilderness First Aid - We usually need >10 people to sign up for a batch order. Confirm with Slipstream before going ahead with it, prices may change, try and bargain.
- Tough Tags - Google forms work well for this too. Answers must be copied into a template provided by ToughTag™. Confirm with them (by email) before going ahead. They are friendly and fast to respond. Ask to pay via TransferWise to avoid exorbitant forex fees.
- Sometimes when we are doing club gear orders, such as the Zebralight Headlamps, we let people in on the batch order if they would like a fancier model. It is totally up to you weather this is done or not. Not all of our suppliers are cool with us selling their gear for cheap though. Check google drive folder.
Current Exec Report
2016-2017 Swag Master: Nick Hindley
