Author Archive: Andrew M on The Fresh Daily

The Lima Beads holiday parties are always fun, but this year’s gathering ended with a challenge. I won’t say who, but somebody suggested a “Dance-Off” between the office staff and the distribution team.

We would have laid down some cardboard and settled it the old fashioned way but nobody wanted to get hurt. Instead, we decided that each team would create a dancing elf video on ElfYourself.com and let you vote on which team wins.

Watch the videos and cast your vote below. Which team of dancing elves do you think wins the First Annual Lima Beads Holiday Dance-Off?

The Jingle Bell Jammers

Ho Ho Do-Si-Do

Lima Beads is a big believer in giving back to the communities that we inhabit. It’s never been a better time to contribute to worthy organizations that help others in need.

We are supporting the following 5 charities in 2009 by donating a portion of our profits based on your votes. This does not increase the cost of your order because the donations are taken from our profits. To select a charity, all you have to do is remember to choose one in the menu on the bottom of your shopping bag. We’ll take care of the rest!

Next to each name is the percentage of “votes” each has received so far. It’s not too late to help these wonderful organizations by choosing your favorite the next time you place an order.

C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital (Ann Arbor, MI) – 29%
Every day, University of Michigan scientists are developing the next generation of therapies for children…and Mott patients are among the first to benefit from these discoveries.

Food Gatherers (Ann Arbor, MI) – 13%
Works to reduce food waste through the rescue and distribution of perishable and non perishable food; coordinating with other hunger relief providers; educating the public about hunger; and developing new food resources.

Hope Clinic (Ypsilanti, MI) – 8%
Offers medical care and dental care to the uninsured, plus a variety of social services to minister to the whole person.

Sasha Farm (Manchester, MI) – 23%
Provides a safe and secure environment, lifetime care and medical treatment for unwanted, neglected, misused, and abused farmed and domestic animals, as well as fostering through education a better understanding of these animals.

Women Thrive (Worldwide) – 27%
Develops, shapes, and advocates for policies that foster economic opportunity for women living in poverty.

To see more details about each charity and links to their websites, visit our Lima Gives Back page.

Charities for 2010

We will select 5 new charities for 2010 in January. Look for a blog post from Ali next month about choosing the new recipients.

Thanks for helping us improve the lives of others!

Are you familiar with the theory of “Six Degrees of Separation“? It states that all 7+ billion humans are linked to each other by no more than 6 connections. So, if I know Steve and Steve knows Matt, I am connected to Matt through 1 degree (Steve). If Matt knows Ali, I am connected to Ali by 2 degrees.

I’ve always thought the idea is fun to think about in theory, but it’s even cooler when you discover some of the completely random connections between people in your life.

My Favorite Customer

My siblings and I ran a small lemonade stand every weekend during our summer vacations as kids. We set up shop on the corner of a busy street in suburban Atlanta that attracted hundreds of runners, walkers, and cyclists each weekend.

Thanks to the Atlanta heat and “Rock Bottom Pricing“, we sold gallons of watered down lemonade at $0.25 per cup. On a good day, we would each profit $5 or more (after paying mom and dad back for expenses, of course). That was BIG money in those days. Now I wish I had listened to my parents and saved it.

We began to attract regular customers, but one British lady always stuck out in my mind because I loved hearing her accent, peculiar jokes, and strange phrases from “across the pond”. She also packed extra quarters in her fanny pack to buy our lemonade before and after her morning run. She quickly became our favorite customer.

Of course, eventually we grew up, got out of the lemonade business and never heard from her again. But the story doesn’t end there…

About 10 years later my grandparents took a sightseeing trip to London and stopped in a pub for a pint and some fish and chips. They started talking to the British lady on the next stool about travel and living overseas. Wouldn’t you know it…this woman had lived in the States just outside of Atlanta and was a frequent runner. (You know where this is going…)

It didn’t take long for them to figure out that the nice British lady was our favorite customer! They laughed at the near impossibility that they would end up at the same pub after 10 years on an entirely different continent!

We’re All Connected

I love the random moments in life that remind us how connected we are to each other. I’ve got plenty more, but I’m sure you do too. So, it’s your turn. What random connections have you discovered that seem to prove the theory that it really is a small world after all?

Photo Credit

Thanks to everybody that helped make Scream Week such a success! We had a blast putting it together for you. Even if you weren’t scared by our haunted warehouse video or didn’t laugh at our pet costumes, many of you took advantage of the Scream Week sale and entered the drawing for a $250 Lima Beads Gift Certificate.

The Gift Certificate Winner Is…

We randomly chose an email address from all the brave souls that survived the video. I’m happy to announce that Seema M. from Overland Park, Kansas is the big winner! Seema is going to receive a $250 Lima Beads Gift Certificate along with the envy of lots of beaders.

Thanks for playing, and if you didn’t win this time stay tuned for the next round of sales, games, and contests. Who knows what the mad Lima scientists will come up with next?

Just our luck. It’s only been a few months since we moved into our new warehouse and we are already getting calls from our neighbors and the alarm company about strange things happening after dark. As if Scream Week weren’t spooky enough, now we have a potentially haunted warehouse to deal with.

Last night, Steve, Matt and I decided to investigate the disturbances. For the record, I was opposed from the beginning. Ghosts, goblins and ghouls don’t like to be annoyed! Matt brought his video camera to record the evidence and we have posted it below. Just a warning, it’s a little scary!

Trick or Treat? Win a $250 Gift Certificate!

Now it’s YOUR turn to help us investigate. Click the button below to watch the video. At the end, we’ll ask a question about what you saw (or thought you saw). If you get the right answer, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $250 Lima Beads Gift Certificate. Don’t worry if you get it wrong, we’ll give you one more chance to watch the video and look for the answer.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all! I found some really cool beading world records that might be enough to make any hobbyist question their dedication to the craft.

1. World’s Largest Bead Flag

World's Largest Bead Flag

Measuring nearly 9′ x 4′6″, the world’s largest beaded flag contains 288,400 beads and weighs over 22 pounds! The flag represents the United Arab Emirates and is was completed during many sleepless nights by Jeyaraman Ravi. Photo: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News

2. World’s Longest Chain of Beads

World Record Bead Chain

Alayna Salter of the UK strung together 80 meters of beads to create the world’s longest bead chain. That’s over 260 feet, more than enough to wrap around the outer lines of a tennis court! Her efforts began at her kitchen table but soon took over an entire room. Sound familiar?

Ms. Salter creates her own jewelry and got the idea to string this piece when audience members at her musical gigs asked her where she got her unique necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

3. World’s Largest Bead Mosaic

World Record Bead Mosaic

What do you get when you combine 372,000 beads and 1,000 fourth graders? Besides a migraine, of course…

If you answered “The World’s Largest Bead Mosaic”, you’re right! The kids chipped in to pay tribute to President Obama by creating the giant piece of art which is now housed in New York City. Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

4. World’s Largest Pearl

World's Largest Pearl

Okay, it’s not really a beading world record, but it’s still a huge pearl that would make one heckuva pendant. It’s known as the Pearl of Lao Tzu and weighs in at 14.1 pounds!

The pearl’s history is shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Some legends even trace it back to the rise of one of China’s ancient dynasties.

We may never know the full story behind the Pearl of Lao Tzu, but it’s an amazing piece of natural beauty no matter who you believe!

5. World’s Longest Strand of Prayer Beads

World Record Prayer Beads

Mustafa Kara of India carved 999 wooden beads to create his record-breaking 25 meter strand of prayer beads. When fully assembled, it weighs over 130 pounds and requires 3 men to move.

Kara’s prayer beads are primarily used for decoration and he has since created many (smaller) copies that have been sold all over the world.

Are You Next?

You never know what might happen the next time you start getting carried away with a beading project. You might just end up in the kooky list of beading world records!

Do you ever wonder what other beaders around the world are thinking about at any given moment?

It’s a tall order to capture and process the moment-by-moment intentions, feelings, desires, and thoughts of the worldwide beading community. Luckily, there are already people working on it. Perhaps you’ve heard of Google?

One of the great things about search engines is that they can provide instant answers and helpful links for any search query. For example, if you want to know the temperature in Boise or even some funny Groundhog Day movie quotes, just type it in and click “Search”!

Not to creep anybody out, but Google also stores and saves those searches (don’t worry, your personal information is not tied to your search history). Now consider that Google processes about 300 million searches per day. That’s a lot of thoughts, and researchers can use that data to track trends and look for patterns.

Using Google’s Insights for Search tool, I can see that over the past 20 months or so, worldwide search volume for the word “necklace” (in red) has surpassed search volume for “beads” (in blue):

Notice the prominent spikes in “necklace” searches just before the holidays each year!

In addition to the number of searches for each keyword, Google tells us which countries are searching for particular keywords more often. Take a look at this 2004 world map of relative search volume for the word “beads”:

Compare that to “beads” searches in 2009 and note the higher concentrations in places like South Africa (hallo!), China (nǐ hǎo!), and different European countries (hola and ciao!):

Using information like this, we can tailor our advertising and create new, useful features on our website that appeal to all types of beaders. For example, we obviously sell gemstone beads, but now we have an entire Design Gallery category just for necklaces!

I’ll admit I’m a big numbers and statistics geek, but with insights like these it’s easy to appreciate the diversity of the beading community. How do you use search engines to find what you need? Do you find the results useful or is it information overload?

Hi everybody! My name is Andrew and I am the newest “new guy” on the Lima Beads team. My official title is “Director of Marketing” but my real job (and passion) is making sure the Lima Beads community has the best customer experience possible each and every time you visit our site, interact with other beaders, or purchase and use our products.

We have so many good ideas to improve your experience and expand the Lima Beads community that Kevin decided it was time to make it an official function. Over the next few weeks we will be reviewing and prioritizing each of these ideas to continue to bring you the freshest products at the best prices and with the highest level of customer service that you have come to expect.

A Little More About Me

Some of you may recognize me from infrequent appearances in The Garden or mentions on Kevin’s Twitter account. After working with Kevin, Steve, Matt and Ali on a few projects over the past year, it seemed like a natural fit to officially join the team.

When I am not hanging out in the new Lima Beads office, I enjoy hiking, camping, fishing, woodworking, reading, and biking. My newest hobby is cooking and my wife thinks I’m pretty good, or at least improving quickly. I still make the occasional mystery meal that didn’t quite turn out the way I would like. At my house, we call that “pizza night”!

My wife Elizabeth, our Yorkie Sammy, and I moved to Ann Arbor from Richmond, Virginia a couple of years ago when she enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). We love it here but we are planning to move back home to Richmond in mid-December to finally settle down near family. At that point I will become the first “remote” Lima Beads team member but thanks to modern technology and frequent trips back to Ann Arbor, we won’t miss a beat.

I Need Your Help!

I will be the first to admit that I don’t have Ali’s detailed knowledge of each product (yet), Steve’s technical abilities, Matt’s design expertise, or Cathy’s ability to keep the orders flying out the door like greased lightning. But I do love to read and learn new things, which is where you come in.

Which books, websites, blogs, magazines, or online communities do you like? Where do you go for inspiration or motivation?

Feel free to leave a comment here or write on my Wire in The Garden. My door is always open and I am looking forward to getting to know you!