CafePressVoice (CPV) Representatives Announced
The vote were in a few days ago. Meet your new CafePressVoice (CPV) Representatives. I am looking forward to working with these great shopkeepers over the next few months.
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CafePressVoice (CPV) Candidates Announced
Wow. I can’t believe the year has already gone by. The newest candidates for CafePressVoice, the shopkeeper panel that was introduced last year to provide CP with feedback on various features and services. Meet the 2008 CPV Candidates.
I’m quite pleased with the variety of candidates - varying levels of experience, seniority and community participation mean a well rounded panel that can represent all the different ways CP is used. Some of us will be staying on through the end of the year, so there are just 7 seats to fill this time around.
My first year on the panel was enlightening. I think that although we may not be able to share all we have done, that there have been a lot of great changes at CP based on feedback provided by the CPV reps, as well as services to be improved upon based on our voices. It’s been great to share not only our own experiences and feelings, but those of fellow shopkeepers.
The question came up about the nominees forum participation. Many people seem to think that it should be a pre-requisite for nomination. I disagree. I would love to see more shopkeepers in the forums, but for some, that’s just not their thing. And the fact is, forum participants are a small percentage of the CP community. Many people just lurk, some have yet to find them, some don’t touch the doorknob with a ten foot pole. I think that it would be good to have the perspective of a shopkeeper who’s not too active on the forums, as it would represent a large portion of the community that has never been there. I would love to see them become more active in the community after they are elected, but it’s most important to me that they participate in CPV by offering their experiences from the other side.
Elections are April 21st, which just so happens to be my 8 year wedding anniversary. Hopefully I remember the anniversary before the election 
My only question is this… Is Kippy chewing leather? Or is that chocolate? And if it is chocolate, where’s mine?
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Re-reading my last post, I am worried that it comes of as flippant, which is not what I intended. It’s weird, the feeling that my words and actions are being evaluated by others. Anyhoo, I wanted to say, in not so many words that I will do all I can to represent the community and offer my feedback to CP.
As a shopkeeper, I am pretty excited by the possibilities of CPVoice. I think of it as a year long feedback session like the ones at CPConnect (the CafePress Users conference), which seemed to be helpful for everyone. I think that the council will broaden the perspective of CP and that of the shopkeeper which in the end, benefits us all. It can’t hurt, right? As someone mentioned on the CP forums, it’s not changing anything, just adding to it.
CP Voice: What I expect to accomplish if elected
Nothing. I have no expectations, especially expectations of results. I can’t promise results, only that I would do all I could to improve the relationship between CP and the shopkeepers and offer every bit of feedback I can on a given subject. I don’t want you to think that my lack of expectations equals a lack of responsibility or caring either. I just have no way to say what I could accomplish when I have only a vague idea of the concept and inner workings of the council. Nominations haven’t been announced by CP (they are to be announced to all Shopkeepers tomorrow, May 2nd) and the details nominees have been given are not complete. I am under the impression that tomorrow’s announcement will clear up a lot of my questions.
I do have a lot of hopes for the council. I hope that I would be able to broaden the perspective of CP - I think many times they do not expect the reaction they get from the community (case in point: the move to Commission Junction). I think CP could benefit from the knowledge and experience of the candidates to get an better idea of what the community wants and expects. I hope I could affect the quality of the site, production and products by sharing my thoughts, experiences, pet peeves and concerns. I hope that by getting a different point of view, CP will maybe look at things in a different light and be able to make decisions that not only benefit the company but the community and shoppers as well.
Why do I want to be elected? I think that I would be a valuable asset and I would love to do anything I could to make CP a better place for shopkeepers and shoppers. CP is my job, and I notorious for wanting to improve my work environment - make things easier and better. I think I have a lot of good ideas and the right outlook. I like to keep things positive, but honest. I like to ask “why?”, which I think is a great was to see both sides of a story and to understand another point of view.
I am not in this to be the most popular or one of the cool kids. I feel I have a lot to offer - if my input can improve the CP experience, it’s good for everyone. The higher the quality is at CP, the better off we all are.
CP Voice Nomination
We have happily accepted a nomination for the CP Voice/Community Council/Ralph in the Quality category. Voting will begin soon, I assume. We’ll keep you posted.
Audrie/peonproductions from the awesome CP Layouts asked all the known candidates to fill out a survey to allow the community to get to know the nominees better. You can see all the responses on her site. I have reposted my rather verbose answers below. Like I told Audrie, I tend to write like I talk, drive and walk - all over the place. I hope it makes sense. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
1. What is your name?
My screen name is Lekker Jen. My real name is Jennifer Funderburk, but I still answer to Jen Lekker, since people think that’s my last name. You can call me Jen.
2. What category have you been nominated for?
I was nominated for the Quality category.
3. How long have you been a CafePress Shopkeeper?
We opened our first shop in January of 2004.
4. What do you think makes you a qualified candidate for the council?
I am an opinionated woman. I am an analytical person with insane organizational skills. I also value my ability to see both sides of an issue. I am not afraid to say I love CafePress and the life our partnership affords, but I am also vocal when they are not meeting my expectations or those of the community.
I have over been a shopkeeper with CafePress for over 3 years. I believe that my extended experience as a shopkeeper would be invaluable to the council, as I have already had to deal with many of the growing pains that newer shop keepers have yet to face - many times with tools that were not as adequate as those we have available to us now. I would be able to devote a large portion of my time to the council and the community as well, since being a CafePress shopkeeper is my full time job. The shops I manage range in size and revenue, which broadens my perspective.
Outside of CafePress, I have had many jobs where the knowledge and experiences gained would be beneficial to the community and the council. I worked at all the major Orlando theme parks (Disney – Attractions Hostess, Universal – Tour Guide & SeaWorld – Tour Guide/Educator) where I learned a lot about customer service, customer expectations, quality, efficiency and management. I was an Office Manager for the St. Petersburg Times, where I was able to learn a great deal about marketing, management & accounting.
Much like Hillary, when you vote for me, you also get the experiences and insight of a great partner. My husband Jason is an Art Director at the University of South Florida. He has over 10 years of experience in 3D modeling, graphic design, wed design & development, instructional design and web education. He plays a vital part in the success of the Lekker Shops, and will hopefully become a full time shopkeeper next year. If and when it’s allowed, I would likely discuss things with Jason, to get yet another point of view.
5. What would you consider to be some of CafePress’s strengths? What are you hoping will NOT be changed in the future?
By far, the best thing about CafePress is the ability for me to work in my jammies and eat bonbons all day long I love the community we have here. I have made some great friends with people who are my direct competitors. Where else can you find that kind of dynamic?
On the business side of things, I like the low cost associated with the service. I would hate to see a change in the volume bonus. I would not like to see additional fees unless it’s for an optional tool or service. I am sure there are more, but I just can’t think right now. If anyone wants to know my opinion on something specific, please feel free to ask.
If we still had it, I’d say I would hate to see the affiliate program change, because it has huge potential. Oh well.
6. What would you consider to be some of CafePress’s weaknesses? What are you hoping WILL change in the future?
The quality of the communication between CafePress and the shopkeeper community is better than it has been in the past, but there is room for a lot of improvement. When I worked at Walt Disney World and other theme parks, there were about 25,000 employees to communicate with. While working at the St. Petersburg Times, I had to come up with new and creative ways to keep in touch with often absent advertising executives. I would hope that experiences such as these would allow us to work on a way to improve the communication between CafePress and the community.
Quality on the production line needs to be addressed as well. I have received several orders in the last few months that have had multiple issues. I believe there is a lot of waste on the production line, which eventually cuts into our bottom line. I like to solve problems and make things as efficient as possible, and I think that those traits would come in very handy when evaluating the issues many in the community have experienced with production.
Shop management has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time, and I know that CafePress is committed to making things more manageable for larger shops, while still being manageable for newer shopkeepers. I would love to be able to offer even more input on the subject.
There needs to be more support for new shopkeepers. There was a discussion at a chat recently of a mentoring program – I love that idea. I have a lot of ideas on ways to make the learning curve for new shopkeepers not quite so steep.
Many in the community believe that tag abuse has become a big problem in the Marketplace. I believe that we need to find a way to curb the use or irrelevant image tags. The more relevant the search is, the better the shopper experience is, encouraging repeat sales.
More on my wish list: trendier, more fashion forward merchandise, branding options (tags, invoices, etc), a wider product range, detailed reporting, custom pricing tiers, ability to add new products across shop… and so much more.
7. Is there anything else you would like to say to the CafePress community?
Work Hard. Be Nice. Vote Lekker!
