Greetings from my corner of the (temporary, communal) office here at Ares Studio, where I'm currently awash in folders, papers, patches, and envelopes... WorkDesk So, you may recall me mentioning the infamous BackerKit once or twice (at least), and if so, you're probably wondering, "what's up with that?". First--on the off-chance anyone out there has actually managed to miss the dozens of references to it--here's the skinny:  BackerKit is a service which--for a percentage of the total--provides funding campaigns with a checkout system to use in the collection of data after their campaigns have ended. (It's the system we used after our PRELUDE to AXANAR Kickstarter, so my experience with it runs deep.) There were always numerous problems with the BackerKit system, though--from internal glitches, to a very non-intuitive way of doing far too many things, to an annoying proclivity for providing a passel of useless information which then required sifting through (for instance, outputting a list that included not only our actual donors, but all the people who failed to complete their transactions, with no logical way to weed out the wheat from the chaff)--which has made using it an exercise in frustration. (Think about it: data from approximately 2,400 PRELUDE donors... PLUS data from some 1,200 or so folks who backed out... all jumbled together willy-nilly in BackerKit's records. Not a good scenario.) AresDigital That's all a thing of the past now, though (yay!), because we're nearly ready to roll out our very own checkout system... as part of Ares Digital, our proprietary platform for providing digital donor perks! Our resident tech guru Terry has basically been reinventing the wheel, by developing a system that should work smoothly and logically, providing only useful data, all in one nice, tidy place. I can't tell you how excited we are about that (or how impressed the Kickstarter and Indiegogo people were when Alec and I showed them everything we're doing!).  AXANAR... we're on the cutting edge in more ways than one! What does all of this mean for you, the donors, then? Well, you'll still be receiving an email, as promised; it'll just be letting you know that the checkout system for the AXANAR Kickstarter is open on Ares Digital (rather than anything having to do with BackerKit). Once you receive that email, you'll be able to log into your account at Ares Digital and enter all of your information. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, so please DO NOT disregard the email, nor fail to complete any of the info requested. We'll need the following: name, complete shipping address, email address, and any applicable selections that may apply to your donor level (some of which involve t-shirt size, photo selection, etc.). It's all easy stuff, but you'll want to be thorough, because if I don't have the info, you won't be getting your stuff. So, I think that's pretty fantastic news from the Fulfillment Desk, and hope you're as jazzed about all of this as I am; it may not be the exciting part of making a movie, but it's a necessary part of the process! :) ~Diana Kingsbury Your Friendly Director of Fulfillment