4TH GRADE BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. Riley’s class in Chelsea, Alabama wanted a map poster of the land around the Sea of Galilee. We hadn’t experimented with that option before because it seemed old-school. But we did a little beta test and measured the success in smiles.
I don’t know that God nudged me. But a little something happened when I got a $10 order for a Bible map poster that I knew wouldn’t work.
A fourth-grade Bible school teacher named Riley, in Chelsea, Alabama, sent us $10 to license one of our Bible maps for publication onto a poster. She wanted a picture of the area around the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus spent much of his time in ministry. I’ve added the picture to this blog post.
Riley wanted to show the map to the half-dozen 4th graders she teaches in what I presume is a Sunday school class. She was planning to reproduce it directly from our Casual English Bible website.
Two problems, no there are three
Two problems, no there are three- I’ve given Bible study classes that have 20 or fewer souls permission to freely use the online pictures in class. So, she didn’t need to pay for that.
- But, the online version is too low of a resolution to reproduce well in print.
- And the online version is usually saddled with a large and ugly watermark, like a brand on a horse’s rear end. You can see it in the middle of the Galilee photo here.
To print a professional quality image of the map, you need access to the full resolution. But rights to use this full-size map is expensive, $150. Add that licensing fee to the cost of printing, and you’ve got an overpriced poster.
Experimental 3D Bible map poster
We had never printed any Bible map posters yet. We’ve sold some on canvas, and I have two hanging in my office. But I thought posters were too old-school.
Well, they’re not if fourth graders want them.
I didn’t want to charge Riley for an experiment. So I decided to use her class as a test case, to explore the process and cost of getting posters to people who want them.
I sent the full-resolution image to a company in my town that prints photos in a lot of different ways: canvas, metal, glass, coffee cups, and shirts. They might one day offer them as tattoos, but I wouldn’t suggest it. Mount Sinai on the chest of a 20-year-old might warp to look like a cow patty on the belly of a 70-year-old.
When I placed the order, I asked the company to ship it to Riley. I said it was coming, and Riley thanked me with many exclamation points. I never use them unless someone is yelling. But I think Riley was cheering me on.
Test results: 5.5 out of 6
Riley got the map late last week and sent me the picture of thanks on Sunday, with this email message:
Steve,
Thank you SO much for the GORGEOUS poster! The kids all loved it!!! They really love seeing the places where Jesus walked. It brings it alive. I’m going to frame it and hang it up at our church in the 4th grade room. These are our 4th graders: S., J., A., J., (me), and H. all say THANK YOU Mr. Steve!!!!!!
Thank you with ALL our hearts!!!
Riley
I think that poster cost me $30-$40. And look what I got for it.
- A successful test run (posters are doable)
- A happy Bible study teacher
- And 5 1/2 smiles. (#6, I can see the smile in there hiding at the corners of your mouth.)
For future reference
For future referenceIf anyone wants a Bible map poster, let me know and I’ll get you a price. Or, if you have your own printer (like Shutterfly, Mixbook, or your local FedEx), get your own price. I’ll charge a few bucks for office time, and it’s done.
If there’s enough interest, I’ll add the poster option to the Bible maps store on the website.
If not, I’ll always have the smiles.
Play it again Sam
Once again, here’s the song I wrote after reading the last-known words of the prophet Habakkuk. You can listen to the full song here and add it to your playlist if you like it or have pity.
You can watch the music video here or here or here: yep, 3 versions. The last one is vertical, for smart phones. But if you’re smarter than your phone, you can watch the other two by turning your phone sideways.
Peace to you
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