Hey gang.
I am no longer selling contact poi nor double staves in my online store.
Actually, let me back up a second here and first offer an apology.
If you've ordered poi from me in the past six months there's a pretty good chance
that experience wasn't a great one for you.
I was perpetually backlogged and behind schedule.
I had issues keeping a full stock of parts and my customer service was pretty abysmal.
I'm really sorry.
A lot of you were a lot more patient with me than I think I would have been in your
shoes--which I really appreciate.
But I also know that you guys deserve a lot better.
Making poi has never been something I was super stoked about.
I always considered it to be something that I did to subsidize the thing I really wanted
to do: make videos to share with the wider world.
Unfortunately as I got deeper into it I discovered that the time commitments necessary for posting
one or more videos to YouTube every week as well as maintaining a prop selling business
are pretty much in direct competition.
It also should be said: I made a couple mistakes in the past year that contributed to the mess
that business became for me.
But things have changed a lot since I started selling poi: there are now many other businesses
selling sets that really are more or less identical to what I make.
I know that if I wanted to, I could buckle down and do the necessary work--find ways
to distinguish what I make from the rest of the crowd and make sure my customers have
the best experience I can give them.
I can't do all that and run my YouTube channel at the same time.
I don't love making props.
I love making videos and helping people to discover the art of poi for themselves.
Now that I have Patreon and the videos are paying for themselves, there's no reason
for me to work twice as hard at something I like half as much.
Plus which, there's an opportunity there.
A lot of the people who own other companies making contact poi are friends of mine.
I think it makes for a stronger community when you let people play to their strengths
and support them in doing so.
I'm happy to let other people make poi.
I want to get better at making content for you guys.
Now, I know a lot of you guys out there have bought poi from me in order to support me
as an artist and I really appreciate that.
If you're still interested in doing so, here's how you can continue to support me.
First, you can contribute to helping me make this channel on Patreon.
That site has been an absolute blessing to me in the past year.
You can sign up to help for as little as a dollar a month--think of it as you're buying
me a cup of coffee every month.
My Patrons also get a lot of access to what I do on here.
They get to see scripts for videos before I shoot them, behind the scenes and video
production information, as well as voting on which tricks I tackle next in my 1-minute
tutorial series from the list of requests I get.
If you don't want to sign up for a monthly donation, you can also support me with a one-off
donation through YouTube.
When you view my channel you can click on the support button on the right side of the
window.
You can also help me out by using my different promo codes at other companies whose hardware
I use and support.
Use the promo code "drexfact0r" with a zero instead of an "o" at both LanternSmith
as well as Flowtoys.
I get a commission on any sale that I refer to them, so buying from them helps me out,
too.
Finally, my online store is still going to be open.
It'll just no longer feature any poi or double staff hardware.
You can still buy Tech Poi T-shirts, extra video content, and more.
There will also probably be stickers, mugs and some other things coming there in the
next few months, too.
So...that's it.
I really want to thank everyone who's bought poi from me these past five years.
You've helped to keep me and my work afloat and I really hope that you've enjoyed spinning
with your props.
Enjoy the flow and peace.
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