I think it was almost two years ago when i started my twitter account. At first, I’ll be honest I thought it was a load of shit. “Who needs twitter,” I thought? Well, I’ll be damned. It’s a load of fun!
You really do get to read a lot of crap, and to tell you the truth I think about 90% of it is a load of garbage. There are a few pieces of gold out there, though.
Now, I’ll go ahead and group all of my tweets into the 90% “load of crap” category. Honestly. I’m surprised when someone responds to something I say on twitter, but damn it if tonight I didn’t find out that people really do read my tweets!
That’s right, apparently I ruffled a few feathers with a couple of tweets I made tonight.
If you found this because you went to my website after reading about how disgruntled and upset I am, then welcome! I hope you enjoy my website. It is a bit old, and pretty out of date… I’m sorry. I hope to update it soon.
So, anyway, about my tweets.
Let me first say that my views are in no way the views of SHULTZILLA, LLC. These are my personal views, and you’d be surprised, but Aimee doesn’t agree with everything I say. Also, please note that our involvement in any way with other organizations in no way reflects the views of those organizations. They have in no way endorsed what I’m saying and should not be taken as a negative on them.
So, Aimee and I have been volunteering with YLC (Young Leadership Council) designing some stuff for the relaunch of the “Proud to Call it Home” campaign. I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details, but suffice it to say that we both put in long hours designing their e blast, Gambit ads, banner ads, stuff for their facebook app, etc.
We stayed up very late several nights trying to knock some stuff out for them, not expecting anything in return.
Poor us, right? No, we did it because we wanted to, not because we had to. Not looking for pity here, people.
/* FULL DISCLOSURE
Aimee did ask if it were possible for us to get a sponsorship for helping out, or maybe our logo somewhere… maybe a mention of our company. They told us no, and honestly, we were fine with it.
*/
They did mention that they needed shirts for the event. We though, “Hooray! Shultzilla can do that! We make t shirts! We’re designing all the other collateral, why not that too?” Aimee offered to design the shirts for the event.
A member of YLC was friends with Fluerty Girl and said she’d ask if Fluerty Girl would be willing to design the shirts.
Aimee heard crickets on our offer.
About a month ago Aimee was copied on an email to Fluerty Girl sending her the assets to “design” a t shirt.
Well, sure enough, she made the shirts. And basically printed the logo for “Proud to Call it Home” on the front. I know, I know. I can’t be too annoyed with this. I mean, it’s not like she really could have put any effort into the design. I’m sure all I would have done was slap the bumper sticker on a t shirt and put my logo on the back, then sell it.
Why. So. Serious?
Fluerty Girl claims this shirt is “inspired” by the campaign, when in fact It’s the logo she was given, screen printed on a t shirt. It’s not inspired by anything. It’s the file she was given. And voila! She’s a “partner.”
We were involved with the project for months, stayed up late, put off other projects so we could help, etc. We were fine with not getting our logo/name on anything… That is until Fleurty Girl became a “partner” and given the green light to plaster her logo/face all over (I’m exaggerating) the event.
It’s a slap in the face to YLC volunteers who spent hours working on this project, expecting nothing in return, only to see another t shirt company put absolutely no effort into a shirt and given a “partnership” role.
A complete slap in the face.
Aimee and I wanted to work with YLC with the expectation that it consisted of leaders, innovators, thinkers, creators and we’re now realizing that the organization is just like everything else in New Orleans – it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.
Let’s get one thing straight here people. There is jealousy, and there’s just plain old disrespect. I’m afraid the latter applies here. Let’s put this into perspective, shall we?
Shultzilla loves to play nice with other t shirt companies.
I played music for just about all of my life, and I look at running a t shirt company very much like running a band. Bands never do anything alone. Bands tour together, play together, drink together, make money together, etc. etc. I see what we do on a very similar level. I think it’s very important to collaborate (maybe not on designs, but live events, fun stuff, whatever) to achieve success for everyone involved.
The same can be said for what we do. Last year we were given the opportunity to participate in the Dirty Coast fashion show. Something we were very grateful for. We were also fortunate enough to have them ask us back again this year. We would love to be involved every year. If we’re lucky they’ll have us back again.
At some point we plan on collaborating in some way with Po Boy Apparel. If you haven’t checked out Nick’s stuff, please do. He’s very talented and he’s got some awesome T Shirts.
We also have great respect for Defend New Orleans. We love their shirts. We love what they do. We love how they do it. Mad props to them.
Then there’s someone like Fleurty Girl, who doesn’t seem to put any thought into her designs. Poor illustrations. Poor font choices. And seems to basically slap “whodat” on anything she can to make a profit. Is there anything wrong with that? Nope. You go girl! Do I have to respect it? Nope. Not for a second.
So, with that said. Do I think my shirt company is the best in the land? Nope. Not for a second. There are companies in New Orleans of which I can only hope to achieve half the success. Do I think competition is good? Yep. I’m a capitalist to the core. America is the greatest country in the world, and I’m not thinking of leaving for a second. Same goes with NOLA. Love it. I’ll never leave. No matter how much bullshit I see going down.
One thing I will do, however, is keep talking shit on twitter 
