Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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The Pampered Techie

Like tupperware parties, but for guys
  (+6, -12)(+6, -12)
(+6, -12)
  [vote for,
against]

Instead of some girl with tupperware or cooking tools coming to your house, full of all your friends, trying to sell plastic containers and the chopper/slicer/dicer.... ....some girl comes to your house, full of all your friends, with the latest & greatest technology and gizmos.

She called ahead and found out what you and your buddies are into; like communication tech, games, really quite fans, cell phone watches with plasma screens or funky JRV clocks.

Here she comes 2 weeks later with a load of these gadgets, passes out some cigars for you boys to enjoy while she goes over the advances in wireless blablabla. You can buy what you want, right then for a 10% discount on the already inflated price of everything.

3 reasons why I think this could work: 1) the person doing the selling is going to love all the gadgets they get to use and probably have a passion for the Techie stuff. Passion is good when selling. 2) this is tailored towards guys, who, on average have a higher disposable income and are prone to making spontaneouse purchases, especially if all the other guys think the thingy is cool. 3) this is a great test market for companies exploring new technology. They give the sales person the cell phone watch with plasma screen proto-type and see how many people in whatever market are interested in buying it if it were $2000 vs $200.

Sign up today. You can call me.

macncheesy, Dec 01 2004

[link]






       hmmmm. I like this idea very much, tupperware is rather boring to me, and guys would give the party much more flavor   

       But the psychological draw of the home parties is the nesting, sharing, gathering instincts of women which wouldn't appeal to the solitary hunting, going for that big kill instincts of the male. yes that's stereotyping...nevertheless, I think the business model would work better for women. still +
dentworth, Dec 01 2004
  

       Okay- within a 100 mile radius is a home-store, like a "Best Buy" or "CompUSA" that has all the gear for it's in-home sales force.
macncheesy, Dec 02 2004
  

       Bad idea for two reasons. 1) At Tupperware party, even a confirmed plastic storage solution freak in some kind of Tupperware frenzy will have to try hard to spend £100. Imagine how much techie men would spend if an essentially unlimited supply of shiny new gadgets was placed in front of them with all their mates egging them on. 2) If you want a truck load of trick gizmos, organize a party then follow the guy home afterwards and steal the 25 grand’s worth of gear from his car/garage.
Belfry, Dec 02 2004
  

       //even a confirmed plastic storage solution freak in some kind of Tupperware frenzy will have to try hard to spend £100//   

       You don't know much about Tupperware, do you?
Detly, Dec 02 2004
  

       Please tell me.....
Belfry, Dec 02 2004
  

       <trips tabs and leaves>
po, Dec 02 2004
  

       [jutta] Why is it gender stereotyping. This business it tailored towards men no differently then the exercise club "Curves" is tailored toward women. Men exercise too. (Well, not me, but I've heard it is done)
macncheesy, Dec 03 2004
  

       I agree with you [mac]; the only part of your idea that is shakey is your reason #2. Plenty of exceptions to that.   

       I'd say fewer women are interested in tech gadgets than men. Why not take advantage of it.
dentworth, Dec 03 2004
  

       That there's a correlation between two factors doesn't mean it's okay to treat the two as equivalent.   

       Seriously. I'm a techie. I read your headline and think "oh, cool, I'd like this", and then you slap me in the face with your subtitle and text body that makes clear that there are gender lines I'm not supposed to have crossed.   

       If you just wrote the whole thing as targeted towards techies and geeks, there wouldn't be a problem. Yes, many of them are male, but there's no need - neither social, nor financial, nor rhetorical - to make that a condition.
jutta, Dec 03 2004
  

       I am a man who enjoys cooking and gadgets. Am I not allowed to be interested in the pampered chef stuff because I am a man? I too found your subtitle somewhat un-PC.   

       The idea seems pretty good but what true geek (and I wear the name proudly) wouldn't rather just browse on the internet for such things? Sorry but I'm going negative on this 'un.
harderthanjesus, Dec 06 2004
  

       I read that geeks and gifted people tend to be more intro. than extro verted and (being a mother) I would encourage you and my little geeklings to get out from in front of the monitor and mingle!
dentworth, Dec 06 2004
  

       //I find no cause for MFD.   

       Interestingly enough though, I think this is a largely "female" idea . . . //   

       BWAHAHAH! Oh, that's classic. That non-sequiter is the best! 'This isn't gender stereotyping. I must say though, women would love an idea like this. They love this shit.'
contracts, Dec 06 2004
  

       [contracts] you aren't invited to the party, go wash your mouth out and go sit in your silent restaurant alone. :P
dentworth, Dec 06 2004
  

       If you remove the gender from the idea, which you can.... it's still not a great idea, since less and less people want to see any saleperson in their home.   

       Most techies realize that virtually every in-home salesperson scheme is usually a thinly veiled pyramid scheme, complete with buyers being the losers.
sophocles, Dec 06 2004
  

       Okay, I am a techie. Pretty much what ever I want/need I can make, design, or program myself. Most of the other smarties I know can do the same. The only lousy product these home parties would push would be the cigars and the interest in the "woman" sales"man". And being a woman myself I don't find that logical. A ladies night's purpose is to cater to their man or lack of. I do think it is true that in a household, the woman makes the major purchases. Make it equal, male and female, and it could be the next Avon.
smarable, Jun 26 2006
  

       I agree that this works for women much better than men because men don't typically gather around the coffee table and chat. The only reason why we will gather around is to watch something on TV or to compete in some game. Men typically do not shop for stuff. We see, we like, we buy.
Jscotty, Jun 26 2006
  

       hey [dentworth], your comment about introverted versus extroverted people and their level of technical proficiency or talent isn't accurate. i know quite a few extremely extroverted people who are probably geniuses. i mean really, we're talking about stereotyping, don't limit it to gender.   

       i agree with [jutta] talking about techie genders. geeze but the gadgets don't care your gender. the disposable income comment is baseless, and there are always exceptions to stereotypes, and the bakery itself is full of people who would qualify for that.
tcarson, Jun 27 2006
  

       From the selling company's point of view, then it's probably a great idea - if you can get the mood right, then there's no limit to the amount you'll spend with your mates egging you on. For men, this might work better in some sort of neutral territory - I'm thinking 'urban outfitters' for geeks. Women might be happier hosting such a party at home, I don't know.   

       There seems to be a lot of people who take exception to the gender bias in the text, and with some reason - the text _does_ lean on stereotype. I don't think it's an mfd issue, though. I think the idea could be applied to women, and is in no way mysoginistic (sp?). In fact, as has been pointed out, it may well work better with the girlz. [mac] just hasn't opened his business model (or possibly his brain) out that far yet.   

       (apart from the comment about disposable income - while that may be true on a national scale, when you get down to ten people and a living room then it's entirely irrelevant. And probably the most insulting comment in the whole thing)   

       Am amused by [Brau]'s assertion that 'ladies nights' are for women.
moomintroll, Jun 27 2006
  
      
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