Now that the 2006 NAM Calendar of Motoring is shipping (all pre-orders have been shipped) I wanted to start a thread to collect feedback on what you liked, didn't like, and what you would like to see in the next calendar. If you know of some MINI/Mini factoids that should be included be sure to include them as well.

If you haven't seen the calendar yet here are a couple of pages from the calendar.



You can also see all the images selected for the calendar by clicking HERE.

To order your calendar just visit the NAM Store. We currently have plenty in stock and are shipping as soon as we get orders.

As the calendar is one of the ways we support the ongoing development of the site I thank you for your purchase of the calendar. If you haven't already purchased on be sure to do so as we've got some great plans for the community in 2006!

Mark

 

mines not landed just yet...cant wait !!

(plus the girlfriend cant wait to get the Bikini Babe one off the wall)

 

Mine came last week and I love it! The photos are awesome!!!!

Thanks!

 

I didn't get a chance to see last years in black & white, but i thought this years in color turned out really well! I heard before i recieved mine that they were small, but after getting it, i like the size! came together really well Mark!

Great job!

 

As I posted on an earlier thread, I found the color to be exceptional. What you see on your monitor doesn't even begin to depict what the photos look like in person!

 

The calendar turned out exceptionally well...I love the small size...its going up in the cube at work come January 3rd. The photo quality is excellent and I think its a great value for such a custom item! Good job guys!

 

Great Callender this year Mark.
Color makes all the difference. I also real like how there is a little MINI history in avery month. It's also nice to see my graphics on some of the cars.

All-in-all I love it and looking forward to adding some picks for next year.

 

Mine just arrived. I've now got all three, the first two b&w versions and now this gorgeous colour version.

Well done, Mark. Keep the colour. The first two are now rightfully collector items, and the future looks bright (and colourful!).

=R=

 

looks great in color! alittle small.. but i still love it!

 

Great big props on a really nicely designed calendar, Mark. It really turned out incredibly; much better than any store-bought calendar could possibly hope to be, (especially for us MINI owners).

I love the color format, and recommend staying with it, if finances allow. The photography was really great, and I love that we all have the opportunity to participate in creating the calendar with our own MINI photography.

Keep up the excellent work!

Jon

 

Mine came Monday, and let's just say that the ONLY bad part about it is that I don't have more of these beautiful calenders...

 

The size of the calendar has been the same since our first calendar in 2004. Initially the reason was that because of the limitations of image size from consumer digital cameras (all the artwork is submitted by members) we didn't want to go to a larger image size because the image would start to look bad.

After we did the first one I came to really like the size of the calendar because it was mini just like the MINI...and different from other calendars out there.

Going forward, consumer digital cameras are now capturing more data and enabling much larger prints. With that in mind we may look at doing a traditional size (11x17, etc.) or vertically oriented calendar in the next couple of years. Given that the costs of a calendar of this size will increase we'll need to see good sales this year to give it consideration. (Good sales in the last couple of years allowed us to move to color this year).

If you haven't already purchased a calendar please visit the NAM Store to get your order in (we're shipping new orders as they come in). If you have purchased be sure to recommend the calendar to other MINI friends.

Thanks to everyone that has already purchased a 2006 calendar!

Mark

 

I just opening mine from the mail today and I have to say these are great! The printing quality is really good and the pictures all look fantastic.

For those of you on the fence about buying these, consider the size - true they are not as large as other calendars you might see but that is also a plus. I know from experience that a lot of people find smaller calendars more convenient as the can fit more places (like on a fridge) where full or plus sized calendars dare not tread. So even if people get other calendars as gifts having a smaller sized one can be a good addition to the calendar stockpile.

Also, I think the move to color was a great idea as the whole thing is more vibrant and interesting.

 

I have received my calendar and NAM window decal,,just now.
I have great appeal for them.
MINI and NAM give me another pleasure.

 

Great job on the color version of the calendar Mark! I just got my copy of it and if anyone has seen or participated in the user run color calendar from the MINIUSA Forum, it cost more for something that was printed up at Kinko's, and wasn't even close to the quality of the NAM calendar.

The new color, format size, and trivia information are all nice touches to a very well executed calendar piece that will be featured in a prominent location in my office for everyone to see and drool over!

 

Mark,
Wonderful calendar again - thank you!
(weblog entry)

Please don't change it to a bigger calendar - it's perfect just as it is and it fits behind my computer where bigger ones would not

 

Ian,
Thanks for the kudos! The more I look at this one the more I like the color . It was definitely more expensive to do but I'm very happy with the result. Hopefully we'll sell enough of them that will allow us to do color again next year. Thanks again for the support of the site!

Happy holidays!

Mark

 

I thought it was BOGUS that you (who ever) picked the majority of pictures from Dave and the other guy. Sure they take lots of nice pictures, but I don’t think a calendar based around those two needs promotion on this board unless it is singled out as a calendar for their own profit.

Give the calendar back to the people of the board and sell more. Make it a calendar of the people, not two people. Suck it up if you loose on it this year, but learn we the people don’t need one or two people to speak for us. We want pictures from the board, not your staff. AND you know what I mean.

 

 

WHA??? (seconding DiD)

 

Mark Ferguson made the picture selections. He's the site owner and the one who did the photo selection, layout work, and coordinated the publication and distribution.

I had two pictures and Juan (I'm assuming that's "the other guy") had two pictures. There were 13 pictures total, the cover and one for each month. Even if you combine the photos, that's only 4 of 13. It's hardly a majority.

It wasn't based around the two of us. 9 other members are represented on the calendar.

Thanks for looking out for us, but I was happy to be a member of the community and have my photos included with all of the other photographers for the benefit of NAM.

There were 11 photographers on the calendar that had 13 pictures. Again, that's not two people dominating. Was 11 different member photographers not enough for you for 13 pictures?

I'm the only one of the 11 "on staff". Are you saying as an active member of this community since July 2002 that I shouldn't be eligible to have pictures on the calendar, even though you say yourself that I take a lot of nice pictures.

 

Annoying newbie input alert!
How many members are there in general?
Okay, how many members submitted in total this year?
And what chance does this "member of this community since" September 2005 (4 months, unless the "annoyed" police catch me) have against really REALLY good shutterbugs such as soundoffwhilewaving and DiDitMoreThanU? Unless Sunrise/sunset was a theme..........

 

sndwave - are you being for real here, or just trying to be funny? If you're trying to be funny, it certainly doesn't come across that way. Otherwise, have you actually looked at the list of photos and who submitted them? DiD won 2 months and blacknblue won 2 months.

Your criticism seems strange at best. ...The only thing I might throw out for consideration: since two individuals came away with 1/3 of the calendar photos, if you win one month then you would not be eligible to win again until the following year. Just a thought.

 

I guess I was a little confused on this also. I honestly didn't pay that much attention.

I thought I had seen monthly photo contests where the members voted on the photos - and I assumed (we all know what that does) that those were the photos going into the calendar. ...I still think this would be a cool and legitimate way to approach things.

 

I have been an admirer of photography for over 40 years now, even tried my eye at it. The one thing I’ve learned is no matter how great anyone thinks their photos my be, it’s the critics opinion and “we the people” choose what we like, not one or two of the staff of the board picking their own pictures.

I have no idea how Dave puts forward these photographs to you Mark, but I would be an absolute IDIOT to think he does not influence you in either your decision or preference.

OH Dave all your photos rock… Bending on knees… The god of photo…

You do good work guy, but you and the other guy need to back off of a yearly calendar made for MINI people, by MINI people and directed to MINI people. Not just two MINI people want to be published in photo print!!!



And I’m not one.