|
What is the 311 Hive?
|
The 311 Hive began as the 311 Fan Club in
August 1993, with the current name adopted officially in 1996. The Hive
has always consisted of two people (and a cocker spaniel) – Pat and
Joan O’Reilly (and Kelly). We are also known
as Pat8904@aol.com
and
Joan8904@aol.com.
Joan is Aaron’s mom and Pat is Aaron’s step-dad. (Of course, you know
Aaron better as P-Nut.) The Hive is also the home that Aaron grew up
in, and is located south of Omaha NE. Over the years, the Hive has
figuratively expanded to include the entire community of 311 fans.
|
|
Why Was It Formed?
|
Between 1992 and 1993, 311 moved to California, signed with Capricorn
Records, released the Music album, and began extensive touring. We
realized that there was no central point (or Hive) where 311 fans could
obtain up-to-date tour info and news of 311 happenings.
|
|
CONTACTS
|
Joan8904@aol.com -- for general 311
questions (pretty much everything outside the website).
Pat8904@aol.com
-- for 311
website-related items ONLY (e.g. concert corner, fanpixs, fanspeak, radio list,
etc.)
|
| The History of the 311 Hive
|
|
1993
|
In The Beginning..
Our roots began in August 1993 when
we signed an agreement with 311 to start the 311 Fan Club and to sell
311 merchandise to fund our activities. (Our philosophy from the start
was not to operate like many traditional fan clubs, e.g. requiring
annual dues in exchange for something you may or may not want). In
September 1993, we equipped an upgraded computer with a sound board and
the 311 Hotline was born. Late in the year, we experimented with using
an 800 number so more fans could hear the 311 message, but found within
6 months it was not feasible to maintain. We developed a newsletter to
go with our merchandise brochure and in the Fall of 1993, the first
issue of "In Your Face" went to press.
|
|
1994
|
First Full Year.
Much of the daily
Hive activity focused on promoting 311’s tour schedule and the July
12th release of Grassroots. Issues of "In Your Face" were now being
issued quarterly. Much time was spent in our merchandise activity to
pay the Hotline bills and the overhead. By summer, over 5,000 calls had
been logged on the Hotline and we had over 1,200 fans on the mailing
list. With the Hive address and Hotline number printed on the
Grassroots insert, the Hive was soon buzzing. We conducted a poll of
fans’ favorite song off Grassroots and the winner was
"Lucky."(An earlier poll for the Music album resulted in "Hydroponic"
being the favorite.)
|
|
1995
|
The Fan Club Grows.
In the Spring, we
began publishing a combined "News/Tour Dates/FAQ/Merchandise" Update
Letter. Each new fan would receive the latest issue and a copy would be
sent out with each merchandise order. By summer, fans could subscribe
to the Update Letters which would be issued for news/tour changes.
Capricorn Records released the Blue album July 25th and it entered the
Billboard Top 200 at #56. A rapid increase of mail at the Hive soon
followed. The Hive also sent out to fans over 5,000 Capricorn Records
promotional postcards announcing the new album. By this time, the Hive
had also added to the merchandise inventory a large variety of posters
and pictures. In the Fall, the Hive designed a 311 "wallet-size" card
featuring a miniature of the "311" poster on one side and 311 Hive info
on the back. (Our supply ran out after printing and distributing
300,000). In the publication department, pictures were added to "In
Your Face" plus several articles (A European Tour Journal and Adam
Raspler’s ’94 diary) got strong kudos. The Hive Mailbag continued to be
a strong favorite. By late in the year, the hotline had tallied over
24,000 calls.
|
|
1996
|
The Tsunami Hits.
During the first
half of the year, most time was spent on filling merchandise orders,
answering e-mail, and offering fans special promotional items. The Hive
held its first contest, awarding an autographed photo to each person
who submitted proof of a 3/11 birthday. By summer, the Blue album took
off – "Down" was a major hit on MTV; 311 appeared on the David
Letterman, Conan O’Brien, and MTV shows; plus their singles were
topping modern rock charts. With the album heading for double platinum,
the volume of mail skyrocketed; we were processing close to 2,000
pieces per month. By fall, we had to make a serious decision on how two
people could handle the workload. If we answered all the mail, then we
would be swamped with merchandise orders, and subsequently get behind
in answering the mail. We decided to ask the 311 Organization to phase
in a mail-order operation and they agreed. We would be effectively out
of the merchandise operation by year’s end. Regretfully, the end of the
year also saw the final issue of "In Your Face."
|
|
1997
|
A New Beginning.
Without the
merchandise operation, we were free to concentrate on operating the 311
Hotline and processing the letter and e-mail received at the Hive. In
January, we converted the Tour/News Update Letter into the monthly 311
Hive Letter. By spring, we began to mail out the official 311
merchandise brochure. When costs to produce the Hive Letter far
outpaced subscription revenue, we were forced to drop the monthly
letter as of the August 1997 issue and substitute an abbreviated
tour/news strip. When Transistor was released August 5th and entered
the Billboard Top 200 at #4, the Hive again was inundated with mail.
Before the end of the year, the 311 Organization made the decision to
contract with a Mail-Servicing Center to handle all the mail-outs,
including the merchandise brochures. Since we would no longer be
sending out any mail, especially tour/news updates (except for a
limited number of subscribers), we decided to develop a website where
we could post this information. In late November, we went online. We
were shortly linked to 311’s official website through the "News icon."
|
|
1998 & BEYOND
|
A More Normal Pace.
The activity in the Hive began to stabilize. When the mailing center
sent out over 40,000 copies of new color brochures/newsletter in the
Spring of 1998, the transition of the merchandise and mailing list
operations was complete...and the Hive is back to what it loves to do
best -- keeping 311 fans up-to-date on the 311 scene and
having
fun. |
|