Arty Bees Books Blog

19th April 2006

Until next time (here's hoping it'll be February)
Robynne

Yup, famous last words.
Well, maybe not famous, but certainly last words, in that they were the last words of the last Arty Bees Blog (newsletter).
That saying doesn't really have to mean that the words were famous, more that they were, shall we say, ill-fated, tinged with ironic foreboding, a statement that will, with the passage of time, be proven to be erroneous, but with epic flair.
So not just slightly wrong, but wrong in the 'I've got this great idea for a movie called Gigli and I think J-Lo and Ben Affleck would be great in it' sort of way.

So here we are with the latest thrilling installment and it's only about a month and a half late, and I've been receiving mail about it.

"Blog" - an online journal updated on a regular basis...

Thank you Tony. (Thats ok though, because I know where he lives. - I also feel that this could open up a whole new discussion re the dictionary definition of 'regular' - you can after all, have a 'regular' annual meeting, and new decades turn up on a 'regular' basis whether humanity is done with the last one or not.)

He does have a point of course, but I can say in my defence that I have been busy, as Arty Bees has been in the middle of some massive upheaval in the last two months, and now I'm finally here to tell you all about it.

Firstly, in early February we got a new staff member.
Her name is Imogen, and despite her youth (or my constantly encroaching old age, I can't figure out which) she has totally knocked our socks off. Funny, poised, efficient, quick-to-quip and smart as a tack, devilishly attractive, and with a shoe obsession to boot (ha, ha, ha... I'm so sorry I just can't rest a pun no matter how bad!) she has already fitted in with ease and has started to order me around. Which I think is always a good sign - it's not like I have to listen to her of course!

	One of the early Arty Bees getting distracted from his book by his pollen addiction. It was very sad and we had to put him in a 12 step programme.
	This guy finally got to hang up his flying helmet and goggles, and now he can be found most days at the local R.S.A. playing snooker with his old NZRAF buddies.
	The New Bee on the block.

Also in February we got our new storefront signs up, complete with our fantastic new Bee logo. This was the second-to-last big step in the Arty Bees make over.
Officially, we are completing a 'marketing rebranding' which is a nice way of saying that we were a bit tired of the old Bee and look of the place, and decided that it was time to freshen things up a bit - after all, eighteen years is a very long time, and eventually even a bee has to think about retiring and moving to a warmer climate.

And part of that was to simplify the business image as well. Now instead of Arty Bees on Courtenay Place and Bizy Bees on Manners Street, they are both officially Arty Bees.
None of the other information has changed (see our contact details here). We have found that the two names have generated some confusion for our customers over the years, although for the moment at least, the name change has certainly been confusing the staff.

We have already been using the new stationery since late last year, and had hoped to have some sort of big, co-ordinated launch. But, things never quite go according to plan, especially when you are dealing with several different tradesmen at the same time, so we just had to be patient.

The last big step was of course the complete change-over to the new graphic design on the website, and if you're reading this, then you can see the result.
We hope you like it as it took a very long time!

I didn't do it all by myself of course, and would like to take the opportunity to thank the Tims (our Tim, Arty Bees computer genius in residence and Tim at Creature Design) for their hard work, and for the unpaid but appreciated troubleshooting of my own Dr Batman - usually at 11pm when something went horribly wrong. And lastly, Hamish, who is now the website editor (entirely unpaid) so if there are any spelling mistakes now I can officially say they are really not my fault anymore!

For those of you in the technical know, we've gotten rid of the pesky frame and we have flash new drop-down-roll-over-menus. For the rest of you, we have some exciting new content, and some old favourites like the Bizarre Books back with a new look, and hopefully an easier to use format.
There are still a few pages which are under construction, including the ever daunting online shop,but I have faith that we will get there in the end.

And lastly in my list of pathetic excuses for not getting online and writing y'all, we had stocktake.
Stocktake is always a busy time of year for us as we try to find all our new and rare stock listed in the computer (there's no point in keeping a database if it's not correct, and you can't find the stock) and counting all the rest of the stock.
It's also a great time for a general catch up and spring clean - a chance to find books that have fallen or been hidden behind the shelves, to check our duplicate stock and catch up on pricing that was building up and threatening to fall on us and kill us, and to try and fit overflow books onto the shelves and get the floor clear.

So, there you have it - why I haven't kept in touch. I promise to do better in the future.

Until next time (dare I say it will be May?)
Robynne

Previous blogs

January 2006
December 2005
October 2005
August 2005
June 2005
May 2005
February 2005
November 2004
August 2004
April 2004
February 2004
January 2004
September 2003
August 2003
June 2003
April 2003
February 2003
November 2002