Scenes from Buyback Fall 2009
And now, a few of our favorite scenes from this year’s many Buybacks.
The Freed Hardeman Fool Crew @ Besso's
Buying for Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State at Dino's Main Street Cafe
Buying at the excellent Underground Coffeehouse in Searcy, AR. FUN FACT: Two of the full-time Fools attended Harding Univ. in Searcy.
Buying at Something Brewing in Conway, Arkansas
Getting Foolish with the water bottles at Hendrix.
Books at Dino's Main Street Cafe
Foolin' it up at NACC, Rainsville, AL
Making it rain in Searcy!!
Buying at Freed Hardeman. FUN FACT: One of our Fool's parents went to FHU.
And finally, a short video from our visit to Calhoun Community College in Tanner, AL:
Tour of the BookFool.com Warehouse
Would you like a quick tour of our warehouse? The Taj Mahal it ain’t, but at least no one can accuse us of living the high life at the expense of our customers!
This video was shot a few nights ago when we were all working late.
A warehouse this cheap is one way we pass great savings on to you.
Manager Training Fall 2009
We want to say a big Foolish thanks to our managers who made it out for manager training this Saturday. You are now prepared to free students from the monopolies that pay them so little for their books!
Here are a few shots from the day:
The night before, everything ready for your arrival.
The big screen.
Some of us had to attend live via Satellite.
Trying to get the hang of these signs.
The view from the stairs.
And finally, a short clip from the day:
Documentary: The Copper Basin Story
[Ed. note: We asked Davis, a talented filmmaker and long-time Friend of the Fool, to share one of his recent documentary projects with us. Here's what he had to say about it:]
The Copper Basin comprises Ducktown, Copperhill and McCaysville (GA), three small towns located in extreme Southeastern Tennessee about 60 miles due east of Chattanooga. Gold prospectors discovered copper in this area in the mid-1800’s. With the advent of better transportation and improvements in mining technology, the area boomed for more than 125 years before beginning a gradual decline in the late 1970’s. With industry shrinking and many core families fleeing the area, the residual people of the “Basin” are now often alone and forgotten.
These mountain people are further isolated in a county composed of more than 70% national forest, and by a dangerous two-lane road through the famous Ocoee River gorge. Polk County consistently ranks as the one the two poorest counties in Tennessee.
Today, like many other coal-mining and gold-mining sister towns scattered throughout Appalachia, the Basin reels with abject poverty, functional illiteracy, lack of jobs, and minimal human services.
My cousin, Andrew Brown, grew up in the Copper Basin roaming the hills as a young man, graduating from Copper Basin High School in 1991. While he didn’t know it at the time, he would never really “leave” the Basin. In the last 15 years, cuz has led multiple volunteer teams back to his hometown (with his organization, Catalyst Missions), seeking to make a long-term difference in the lives of the people both spiritually and physically.
He invited me along to help tell the story. Below is the trailer. The link to the full project is here.
Untitled from saul burke on Vimeo.
Friday Foolishness: Penny Pranks
We love a good prank. In fact, we’re about to appoint our first-ever Foolishness Czar from within our own ranks and put them over our esteemed Pranks Division.
That’s why we like this series of videos from Office Max, especially this one where a 10-year-old oil tycoon tries to buy a rare Mark Twain worth over $2000 using pennies! (Video link here.)
Well played, Office Max. This is a great campaign. (And thank you, Ryan, for the link.)
Addine Dow: Fool for Music
If having cool relatives was a game, I think I just won. My great aunt Addine is 97 years old and lives by herself at home. That’s neat, but here’s the really cool part: Years ago she formed a band to play at nursing homes and cheer up the residents.
That’s right, my 97-year-old great aunt wakes up in a house by herself, gets ready by herself, assembles the rest of the band (affectionately called “The Boys”), and puts on 2-hour concerts to cheer up people 10-15 years younger than she is! She can also put away a few heaping plates of pizza at CiCi’s Pizza Buffet.
A few years ago, my uncle had the great idea to document her adventures. We converged on her home of Cookeville, TN, and shot 4+ hours of interviews, singalongs, and one of her concerts. I’m just now finishing the long version of the documentary. Here’s a short clip from one of their songs. It’s hard to tell from this clip, but the house is really packed.
Addine and the Boys. They played 22 songs that day, many of them upbeat. They favor the old-timey tune, often of the country variety. It was a great show!
To Do: Sell Books!!! (A BookFool Video)
Thanks to Davis and Julie for this look inside the busy schedule of a college student!
Thanks, too, to the College Corner Restaurant and ALL the students of Northeast Alabama Community College in Rainsville, AL.
We’ll be there Monday the 11th for buyback, one more day.
You make it look easy
Some people make it look easy. Some programmers can execute code that just plain works. Some accountants can make the numbers dance and the spreadsheets sing. They amaze you with their effortless success.
And some bike tricksters, well… [video link]
At BookFool.com, we have a certain affinity for bicycles. Our first website promotion was on the back of a bicycle at Ole Miss, and about 25% of our current full-time staff ride their bicycles to work.
Thanks to Danny and Inspired Bicycles for inspiring us with their mastery!
