SHOTBOX Pop-Up Photo Light Studio

What's that on the horizon!?!?!?
over 10 years ago – Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 11:28:56 PM

Hello all,

I have confirmation that our ship will arrive in the Long Beach port on Wednesday. It's two days later than I was hoping, but I'm still very excited that it's nearly here. I have been maintaining the focus on getting the containers to our Salt Lake distribution center and out the door to your individual porches as soon as we possibly can.

Barring any customs delays, the offloading and trucking will take three days. We expect to get this either Saturday or Monday. I've never ran a marathon (only sped-walked one), but I imagine the sense of being close but needing to push hard till the end is the same. I SOOOO want to get these into your hands by Christmas. With a bit of tailwind most of you should, depending on the shipping distance.

I have an update on the Kickstarter Green Trim. We were not able to install this at the factory in China. We literally would have missed the boat. I made the call that I would come up with a solution here in the States that we could easily apply. Out of all the hundreds and even thousands of items that have come together to make this project happen, I fear that it is the green vinyl stencil that will hold us up. I've put a solution in the works now for a number of weeks but I am unsure that I will receive them by the time we are processing orders. So one of two things will happen: 1) If we receive the vinyl stencils in time for the shipping date we will include them in the box. You will need to apply them yourself, but it will be very simple. 2) If we don't get them in time, we will send them to you when they finally are in hand.

We still have a good handful of Backers that haven't completed the survey. Please go to https://shotbox.backerkit.com/ to do so. We really want to get these into your hands as soon as we possibly can. But we don't know where to ship them until we hear from you.

Below are some images shot by our sister blog: ShotWithShotbox.com. All the images were taken entirely within the Shotbox with a Galaxy S4 phone.

We hope that you all are enjoying a wonderful holiday season.

Thank you always for your patience and support.

Aaron

We're on the water! and the BackerKit Survey
over 10 years ago – Tue, Dec 01, 2015 at 08:31:31 AM

Hello awesome everyone,

I am VERY pleased to announce that our containers are on the water and on their way to Long Beach! I made another trip to China last week to oversee the assembly and quality assurance.

They are on track to hit the shore between the 12-15th of December, as mentioned in the last update. From there we are setting up individual fulfillment as quickly as we can with the target of getting it to you before Christmas, hopefully with room to spare.

K, this next part is REALLY important: We've had about 80% of you respond to the BackerKit email that has gone out. For those that haven't done that yet, you can get to the survey via https://shotbox.backerkit.com/. This is how we get your address to ship to so please get that taken care of as soon as you can.

We're excited to get it to you!

See below for some updated pics of assembly and factory work.

Thanks so much for your trust, patience and awesome support of this endeavor. 

Aaron

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...or at least Planes, Boats and Trucks.
over 10 years ago – Wed, Nov 18, 2015 at 09:05:10 PM

Hello all,

I'm writing this while enjoying a morning sunrise from my hotel room in Dongguan, China, looking forward to another day of great progression. My body is still in a U.S. timeframe and I usually can't sleep past 3:00 am.. So I see a lot of beautiful sunrises. :)

I'm amazed at the amount of moving parts, decisions, problem solving and digging in this whole product line has taken to get it to the finish line. They say that the last 10% always takes as much as the first 90%. I believe that. I've built many products over my entrepreneurial years and there's always a unique feeling that comes when it's this close to delivery. I can't really explain it. You have probably felt it yourself when at the end of an extended and intense journey. About the closest description is "you can taste it". Well, I can taste it. Today, I will start inspecting the first production units to come off the assembly line.

As monumental as this is, the next challenge is a big one involving planes, boats and trucks. As much work as finalizing production has been for me here over the last 6 weeks, the work setting up the packing configuration and supply chain to the U.S. has been just as intense. Shipping is a crash-course area for me. Even though I've been involved with products coming out of China before, I wasn't on the front lines of freight. But my work isn't only for this shipment, but establishing the solid relationships and vendors that I'll need for subsequent shipments. A very heartfelt thanks to the many great friends and mentors that have stepped up to help this come together.

So we'll finish all assembly of over 2000 Shotboxes, SideShots and Backdrops by early next week and have 804 cartons weighing 9,810 kgs loaded into two containers that will head for a boat in Hong Kong. With the powers that be, and the paperwork to process, they will land them in Los Angeles somewhere around Dec 12. From there we get them into a fulfillment center to finally get them to your doorstep. I estimate that process taking another 7-10 days.

The exception to this process are the international Pledges. We will be fulfilling those directly from the factory. I'll have more specifics on that next time, but final delivery to doorsteps will be similar, if not earlier, depending on where in the world you are.

That will be a World Series day for myself and my incredible team. We'll shake up and spray the champagne and sparkling cider (Utah) and whoop and holler and kiss under some mistletoe like George and Mary Bailey. 

By now you should have received a Backerkit survey that solidifies all the information we need from you. We've had about 70% already completed in under 2 days. That's an incredibly fast harvest in comparison to other Kickstarter projects, I've been told. So thank you for jumping on that. 

Thanks for reading a longer update this time. I'll keep you posted as we keep the pedal down.

Thank you always for your support, patience and backing of this project.

Enjoy some action pics below :)

Aaron

 Lunch :)

BackerKit surveys are coming!
over 10 years ago – Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 07:37:13 PM

Hello awesome backers!

We're on track, as per the last update, to complete assembly within the next two weeks and get your Shotbox headed your way! The time has come to confirm your shipping address, add-ons, and color choice (white or Kickstarter Green trim). 

We will do this through a BackerKit survey which you will receive within the next few days. It is important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can. Our ability to generate your package depends on receiving this information.

We also have a surprise offer within the survey. In the midst of the frenzy to get the core product ready, we've been able to produce a deluxe bag that holds the whole Shotbox bundle. There is a fabric mesh bag that comes with your product, but the deluxe bag, made from neoprene, offers additional protection and ease. This will be a $20 option for you (plus shipping), discounted from a projected $29 price point. You will also be able to select additional Shotboxes and SideShot Kits offered at the Kickstarter early pricing if you wish. Great for Christmas gifts.

Filling out your BackerKit survey is not required, but it is the easiest way for us to gather essential information about your rewards. You do not need to make a login and password to fill out your survey, just fill it out and you’re all good to go! If you decide later that you want to edit your survey survey response, you can go back and change it anytime before I lock down the reward packages for processing.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, you will be able to request your survey at shotbox.backerkit.com. If you use your Facebook login for your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey will be sent to the email you used for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you would prefer to use, please contact support at shotbox.backerkit.com/faq and we'll get you sorted out!

Once again and always, thank you for your support and help to get this product launched. I head back to China on Saturday to oversee the assembly and conduct quality assurance. It's very exciting to have it come to life.

Please don't hesitate to contact me or comment

Aaron

Factory and Shipping Update
over 10 years ago – Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 04:25:34 PM

Hello all,

Here's where we're at. I'll cut straight, as I committed to you. It'll be December before your Shotbox is in your hands. We slipped 2 weeks in the assembly projection due to getting all the many pieces together including the plastics, PCB control board adjustments, LED supply, power cables, packaging and shipping prep. All this for both the full Shotbox as well as the SideShot and Backdrops.Always a mountain of decisions and judgement calls.

This means that we will still finish assembly in November, but it will take up to two weeks from there to get the product out of China, through customs, and to your door. I am carefully working on air freight to do this and make sure that you get it as quickly as possible, and definitely by Christmas.

It's been an intense and amazing two weeks here. I've grown to love the great people at our factory and have really appreciated the earnest and full attention they are giving to our project. Finding the right factory is always a challenge and I'm very grateful that we nailed it with this one.

Thanks so much for your ongoing support and backing. While I'm disappointed that our timeframe has slipped, I'm very excited to deliver a solid, premium product.

I'll post more pics soon, but below are a few of interest.

Aaron