I had previously done other activities involving
commercial entities, like a shopping mall in March 2012 (the mall
organisers allowed me to latch on my activities to their mall
promotion event), a restaurant in June 2012 (the competition was
held at the restaurant itself, and participants were served food/drinks
during and after the competition), and a pet products chain in October 2013 (the company sponsored
prizes for my jigsaw puzzle event which had a ‘Pets’ theme). But the 15 Feb
2014 jigsaw competition was different. It was the first
time I managed to do a direct collaboration with a commercial company
having something to do with jigsaw puzzles.
Perfect
Fit opened a store at Novena Square in October 2013. I actually didn’t
know about it, until some of my WengsWorld supporters and friends,
Nicola, Sherry and Min Yu, started telling me about it and sending me
pictures of the shop and also what they sold. I decided I would try to
meet up with the folks of Perfect Fit to explore how we could work
together to promote our own respective objectives. I contacted Perfect
Fit via Facebook, and made an appointment to go down to the shop at one
of my lunchtimes.
When
I went to the shop, I met Yuin Yan, one of the
partners of Perfect Fit. We discussed a couple of ideas, without firm
conclusion, and agreed to explore the options further. Subsequently, I
met Yuin Yan and her other partner Aaron on a separate Saturday.
We firmed up a few important details, such as the date of the
competition, the number of puzzle pieces, the registration fee per team,
and then I began advertising the event. The rest, as they say, is
history. Things sped along and with Perfect Fit’s assistance, they and I
managed to sign up 8 teams for the competition.
For
me, collaborating with Perfect Fit was good because I could potentially
tap into their customer base to let customers know about the social
jigsaw puzzle activities that I was organising under the WengsWorld umbrella. Also,
because the shop’s jigsaw puzzles were being used as the competition
puzzle, I did not have to purchase puzzles to use at the competition.
Indirectly too, the slight financial risk to me of participants not
turning up for the competition at the last minute was ‘passed on’ to
Perfect Fit, so to speak. This “financial risk to me” thing needs
further explaining. Because I don’t require participants to pay upfront
prior to the event and only collect the registration fee at the event
itself when participants turn up, I actually bear the risk (however
slight) if participants sign up but then can’t make it for whatever reason. Plus, I end
up having to ‘store’ extra boxes of puzzles in the house. :) 15 Feb was the first event in a long time where I didn’t have to think about my wallet! :) :)
For
Perfect Fit, I’m guessing that the event was a good opportunity for
them to introduce their product to the WengsWorld jigsaw puzzle
community, and I thought they did a good job of it. They offered some
‘event only’ discounts on some of their products, and handed out their collaterals.
As
the competition puzzle was from the range of plastic puzzles
which (to the best of my knowledge) only they carry, it was also a good
introduction of the plastic puzzle to the jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts.
All
in all, for me certainly, it was a very good tie up with Perfect Fit, and an
event keeping in line with my goal of bringing people together.
Thanks Aaron and Yuin Yan!
