Monday 1 December 2014

Welcome To The NAIJAGRAPHITTI Big December Giveaway!


As part of najiaGRAPHITTI First Year Anniversary celebrations, we had promised to have a month-long treat for readers and commentators of the only edublog on CREATIVITY & INNOVATION in Nigeria. That month-long treat starts today DECEMBER 1st!

There are cash prizes, publishing opportunities and gifts up for grabs. Everyone who reads naijaGRAPHITTI must be a winner!!!

Friday 5 September 2014

Welcome To The World Of Professional Line Sitters – Meet People Including Husband & Wife Who Queue To Make A Living


Joseph and Moon Ray, from Austin, Texas arrived in New York to wait for iPhone6 for their sponsor


There are indeed different kinds of entrepreneurs. Meet Joseph and Moon Ray - professional line waiters in the US. Among the lot, this couple takes the cake: they get paid by companies to wait in line to buy new products for their sponsors while advertising for them as the same time! Very clever indeed! Welcome to the world of Jason and Moon Ray, from Austin, Texas.

Surprised? YES!

A new service is helping New Yorkers who are too busy or lazy to get their hands on trendy new products by hiring out people to wait in line for them.

Joseph and Moon Ray, a married couple from Austin, Texas arrived in New York to stand in front of Apple's store for the iPhone 6, and are being sponsored by an app company called Video Medicine. Wearing sponsored T-shirts, the professional queuers have waited for as long as six weeks to get their hands on Apple's newest phone - which won't actually be released to the public until September 19.


Tech fans believe the new iPhone 6 will have a bigger screen, better battery life and super-fast wifi

Tech fans the world over are poised for the big reveal of the new iPhone 6 on September 9.

But some people are turning the event into a business opportunity - by being paid to wait in line outside New York's flagship Apple Store weeks ahead of the launch.

Wearing sponsored T-shirts, these professional queuers have waited for as long as three weeks to get their hands on Apple's newest phone - which won't actually be released to the public until September 19.

Other Apple enthusiasts are also getting sponsored by tech companies to line up weeks before the release. 

Joseph Cruz from Staten Island, NY had arrived the day before, securing the first and second position along with his cousin. 

Working with companies for sponsorship, the Apple fans can have their iPhones paid for as long as they agree to wear the branding of the company they are dealing with.

The Rays have come prepared, travelling with a tent, solar panel to charge their phones and sleeping bags.

Grinning, he tells the camera: 'Now I got US$1,250 in my pocket, free iPhone and free food. What more could you ask for?'

As the date of the big reveal edges closer, rumours are swirling about just what the iPhone 6 will include.

A frenzy has been created by leaked photos and specifications that appear to show different things. 

Some believe larger screens will be a feature of the new phone, while others are on tenterhooks about iWatch wearable devices. 
Battery life is also expected to be much better, while a new super-fast WiFi chip, improving internet speeds dramatically.

Sleeping rough: Jason Ray and Moon Ray put away their sleeping bags outside the Apple Store in Manhattan
Other Apple enthusiasts are also getting sponsored by tech companies to line up weeks before the release. Joseph Cruz from Staten Island, NY had arrived the day before, securing the first and second position along with his cousin. 
Working with companies for sponsorship, the Apple fans can have their iPhones paid for as long as they agree to wear the branding of the company they are dealing with.
The Rays have come prepared, travelling with a tent, solar panel to charge their phones and sleeping bags.
Grinning, he tells the camera: 'Now I got US$1,250 in my pocket, free iPhone and free food. What more could you ask for?'
As the date of the big reveal edges closer, rumours are swirling about just what the iPhone 6 will include. A frenzy has been created by leaked photos and specifications that appear to show different things. Some believe larger screens will be a feature of the new phone, while others are on tenterhooks about iWatch wearable devices. Battery life is also expected to be much better, while a new super-fast WiFi chip, improving internet speeds dramatically.

King of the queues: This iPhone fan has queued for the device's new release every year for five years

Lining Up for the iPhone 6? It's Been Outsourced Already


In Australia, there is a rather different dimension to the Line Sitter.

Ingenious Australians — who because of their time zone can get their hands on the iPhone 6 before the rest of the world on the day it's released — are already outsourcing the task.
The TaskRabbit-like marketplace Airtasker has been flooded with requests for people to stand in line at Apple's flagship store in Sydney, offering a cash incentive ranging from US$100 to US$800 — likely almost as much as the device itself.

Image: Airtasker
Pre-release rumours suggest iPhone 6 will be available in two sizes — a 4.7-inch and a 5.6-inch model. The actual release date is expected to be 10 days after the announcement.

Stipulations on the Airtasker requests range from "be first or don't bother" to "rock up at 5am." For US$200 more, you'll need to get in line at 12am on the morning before the release. While to score an US$800 reward, you'll be in for a long wait. This Airtasker user, Jess G, requires you be in line from September 9 onwards.
"You will need to take your place ASAP to ensure you're the first in Sydney otherwise this task is pointless for me," Jess G wrote. (Four Airtaskers have already offers to provide the service.)
Image: Airtasker
It is not the first time punters have used Airtasker to save themselves precious time by getting someone else to do the queuing. When the Game of Thrones exhibition came to Sydney, queue times reached four hours long — so one individual outsourced the task for US$150.

In 2012, Airtasker recorded 35 iPhone 5s were purchased using a helper via the site, saving users a grand total of 8,400 minutes.

Meet the professional 'line sitters' who get paid US$25 an hour to queue up for trendy releases


Back in the United States, Robert Samuel and his team at Same Ole Line Dudes will wait for sample sales, Broadway tickets, Nike sneaker releases, Apple product launches, talk shows, early morning audience lines and celebrity meet and greets

Robert Samuel came up with the idea for his business, Same Ol Line Dudes, after selling two spots in line for the iPhone 5 launch and making an impressive US$325.
These days, he and his team rake in US$25 for the first hour they spend in line and US$10 for each half-hour after that. 'It's a phenomenon,' he told Racked.com.





Good things come to those who wait: Robert Samuel (pictured) founded Same Ol Line Dudes, a company that lets you hire people to stand in line for you and wait for Cronuts, iPhones and other trendy releases

'I did an interview with German Public Radio a while ago and I explained FOMO: fear of missing

out,' said the former AT&T employee.

'Especially [in] New York, you have friends and you're hanging out and it's like, "Did you see that new exhibit at MoMA?" "Do you know what a Cronut is?"'

Indeed, the Cronut is particularly hard to come by because only 200 are made per day, and there is always a line of at least 40 people outside before the Dominique Ansel bakery even opens its doors.
Mr Ansel recently had to crack down on scalpers who were buying Cronuts in bulk - which is against the two Cronut per customer limit - and selling them on Craigslist for up to US$40 each.


Lucrative business: Mr Samuel (pictured in line for a Cronut at Dominique Ansel) and his team rake in US$25 for the first hour they spend in line and $10 for each half-hour after that

Sought-after: The Cronut is particularly hard to come by because only 200 are made per day, and there is always a line of at least 40 people outside before the bakery even opens its doors


But Mr Samuel sticks to the rules. 'I have two or three uber rich clients,' he reveals. 'One wants Cronuts a lot [for] whenever friends come to visit from out of town.'

So he gets to the bakery hours ahead of its 8am open time, armed with his usual tools for staying occupied: a portable charger, two iPhones, an iPad mini and hand warmers.

For the longer waits, like the launch of Isabel Marant for H&M, he brings a sleeping bag and even a tent.
'It just pops up, and people will look like, "Oh my God, it's that serious,"' he jokes, adding that a lawn chair, the Metro and HBOGo also come in handy.


Tricks of the trade: To stay occupied, he brings a portable charger, two iPhones and an iPad mini (pictured: the line for autographs by NFL stars Jim Brown and Cam Newton)

The longest he's ever had to wait in line was a whopping 19 hours for the new iPhone 5. 'That was how the whole idea of line sitting came about,' he reveals.

At the time, he had just lost his job at AT&T and was thinking of inventive ways to supplement his income.

'I live a few blocks from the Apple store on 14th Street, so I said, "Let me wait in line for somebody else and make them happy," he recalls.

A man gave him US$100 to wait in line before cancelling his request, saying he would buy the phone online instead - but he let him keep the money.
So Mr Samuel sold his spot in line for another US$100. Then he collected milk crates from his house and sold them for US$5 each to people who had been in line for hours and wanted a place to sit down.

All in all, he made US$325 that day and realized he may have stumbled upon a lucrative business.

Now, he has seven people working for him as professional waiters and 15 more who have expressed their interest.

'People want these things like it’s the end of the world,' he told the New York Post in November.

Professional waiters (from left) Ron Smith, Adonis Porch, Robert Samuel, Tristan Venavle and Tajon Johnson stand outside the Dominique Ansel Bakery with their Cronuts. Photo: JC Rice

'When I show up to their offices with a sleeping bag in one hand and the Cronuts in another, they know they're getting their money's worth.'

Man turns waiting in line into a business


Chelsea resident Robert Samuel has made a business off lazy New Yorkers, hanging tight for those desperate for Cronuts or the latest Apple iPhone but unwilling to wait.

“People want these things like it’s the end of the world,” Samuel, 38, told The Post. “When I show up to their offices with a sleeping bag in one hand and the Cronuts in another, they know they’re getting their money’s worth.”

Samuel rakes in up to US$300 a week by lingering in the outrageous line outside Soho’s Dominique Ansel Bakery. For US$60 on weekdays, he picks up two of the croissant-donut hybrids and delivers them to clients. That’s US$240 for eight Cronuts — which cost US$5 apiece.

He’s usually first in line when he arrives at 5 a.m., and soon has buddies who fall in line. Because there’s a two-pastry-per-person limit, he hires friends to idle in lawn chairs for larger orders.

Samuel launched his company — called SOLD Inc., or Same Ole Line Dudes — last fall after losing his job. A former AT&T salesman, Samuel posted a Craigslist ad offering to wait for the iPhone 5 for US$100.
That’s when he realized line-sitting could be a part-time job. Out-of-towners have hired him to wait for “Saturday Night Live” tickets from midnight to 7 a.m. and to hold their places for concerts.

Carl Pierre of IntheCapital writes, “Linestanding.com is one of the premiere professional line-standing companies, and even though it sounds a tad bit weird, their business is booming. In D.C., there are an increasing number of high-demand hearings and events on Capitol Hill that necessitate waiting in line for tickets, something many congressman, lobbyists, and interest groups don't care to invest any personal time doing. So what's the solution? Hire somebody to stand in line for you.

“As odd of a service as it seems, Linestanding.com has a growing clientele list. The average rate for a professional line-stander can go between US$10 and US$15 an hour, but the rates differ depending on what they're waiting in line for. A good example is the much anticipated Supreme Court health care hearings, which are beginning to rack up attention and lien-standers. Mark's company uses about 30 line-standers that work in shifts to hold 15 spots for three days, charging US$36 per hour with a 2-hour minimum.

“Even though it sounds absurdly lazy, this business is really appealing to many lobbying groups and politicians. Especially with the presidential election continuing to ramp up, services as esoteric as line-standing are becoming more and more prolific and used in the District. Okay, I'll admit, standing in line for somebody as a living seems like the most ridiculous job you can possibly have, but we here at IntheCapital believe entrepreneurs and innovation should be celebrated at all levels, including guys who make an honest living holding somebody's place in line.”