If you remember the 2000 movie about fishermen trying to keep their boats afloat in the middle of some seriously crazy-stormy seas caused by a confluence of extreme weather conditions--the so-called "perfect storm"--then you can at least get an idea of what the next few weeks will be like for the Fulfillment Division here at Ares Studios. As mentioned in previous blog posts, I'll soon be shipping out patches to donors from the AXANAR Kickstarter , which ended last August. (Nothing can be sent out for the AXANAR KS until Ares Digital is up and running, by the way... but that's in the final stages of testing, now, so should be ready quite soon.)   Everyone who contributed at the $35 and above during that campaign (or retroactively) will be receiving a First Fleet patch. Second and Third Fleet patches (which were rewards for meeting stretch goals, and apply ONLY to donors who contributed during the AXANAR KS campaign, not to retroactive packages) will go out at the same time. In addition, those  AXANAR KS donors who donated in the first two days of the campaign, and who had contributed to our earlier, PRELUDE to AXANAR KS, will also be receiving a Veteran patch. Print First Fleet patch (AXANAR KS campaign, $35 and up levels); Second & Third Fleet patches (stretch goals). All totaled, that means approximately 5,000 envelopes (containing somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,000 patches). Really. But wait, there's more... Those long-and-eagerly-awaited (by me as much as by all of you!) PRELUDE to AXANAR Blu-rays and DVDs should be arriving within the next couple of weeks. When they do, those shipments will, of course, take priority... with all of the international PRELUDE kits going out first, followed by shipments of PRELUDE media to U.S. donors, and finally, all of the PRELUDE retroactive packages (which donations were received in the months after that KS campaign had ended). Blu Ray Eagerly awaiting THESE bad boys...!! :) Those shipments should number around 3,000 or so.  Uh-huh. (You think it sounded like a lot of work stuffing envelopes? Well, this requires assembling, taping, and stuffing boxes... way more work.) But wait, there's still more... It's now officially "Con Season", during which AXANAR needs to make its presence felt at as many conventions as possible. (You already know it takes a lot of funding to make a project like AXANAR happen; constantly spreading the word and making new fans is how to ensure the funding continues.) So, everything from Fulfillment HQ will be taking place between and around convention appearances, for the next couple of months. Whew. I've just made myself tired, describing all of that. Guess I better double up on the vitamins over the next couple of months... And with that, I'm signing off, so I can go hop on the treadmill. (Believe it or not, that actually sounds relaxing, right now... :) ) ~Diana Kingsbury Your Director of All Things Fulfillment, etc.