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In the latest blog post, Jeff has revealed that he's making some stickers for the SO family sites:

As mentioned on the podcast, we’re working on Stack Overflow Trilogy stickers. I just placed the order with websticker, in fact, and here are the proofs:

sosticker
sfsticker
susticker

And because we fully support members of our League of (web) Justice, I ordered some for our fellow league member, How-To Geek, as well.

htgsticker
(source: stackoverflow.com)

(all stickers are 4 1/2″ wide, custom die cut white vinyl, and printed in full color)

These will of course be given out at Stack Overflow Dev Days, and in other ways that we haven’t quite figured out completely yet.

There is one family site that's been callously (and intentionally) omitted:

Just to upstage the inevitable request:

No, we won’t be making meta.stackoverflow.com stickers. If you need one of those, just take a stackoverflow.com sticker, hit your head on the desk until you see things in greyscale (and optionally, until your head is bleeding a crimson color) and there you have it!

:)

So the word is no. Why does Meta get the short end of the stick(er)?

Granted, Meta has always been the red-headed stepchild of the sites, but being excluded from the stickers feels like we've been disowned. How can we get Jeff to love us again?

###What can we do to change his mind?###

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  • 7
    Make him bang his head on his desk! Go on strike! NO MORE ANSWERS
    – deleted
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:39
  • 3
    *grey-haired stepchild...
    – Shog9
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:02
  • 1
    Carpet don't match the drapes.
    – random
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:14
  • I do not want to be loved by him. Just kick him!
    – Ladybug Killer
    Aug 11, 2009 at 18:53
  • Please note that HTG has linked back to SO/SF/SU since the launch of SU. It is at the bottom of the HTG under our friends.
    – BinaryMisfit
    Aug 29, 2009 at 17:48

8 Answers 8

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Seriously? The meta sticker IS the Stack Overflow sticker -- it's all of them!

Since meta applies to all family sites, it's the same as getting every sticker.

On top of that:

  • I don't have vectors for the meta logo (or the font), just a bitmap I hacked up
  • these stickers are not cheap to make, and the 'setup' costs are quite high, meaning we either make 10,000 of them or we plan to make a lot more in the future
  • I'm not convinced there would be any real demand for the meta sticker over time

update: okay then -- we'll have 50. I'll let you guys fight to the death, Thunderdome style, over who gets the honors..

update: wow, CafePress is fast. This order already shipped. I should have them this week.

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    I can't believe that you are convinced there is going to be a "real demand" for any of the stickers over time, but somehow there wouldn't be for meta. Hell, meta gets more activity than ServerFault.
    – TheTXI
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:32
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    er.. no it doesn't. Not according to Google Analytics. Not by a long shot..
    – Jeff Atwood
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:44
  • +1 - I cannot believe @woodie is the voice of reason on this topic.
    – GEOCHET
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:59
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    The font is Amateur Printer: new.myfonts.com/fonts/jnlevine/amateur-printer, I'm sure it's possible to use the existing SO SVG, make it greyscale, and add "Meta" in that font. I realize that there are setup costs and that Meta might not be worth it, but I just don't know why you chose HTG over us.
    – Kyle Cronin
    Aug 11, 2009 at 2:04
  • you may not even need to buy the font - this might be high-res enough: modos.org/bigmeta.gif
    – Kyle Cronin
    Aug 11, 2009 at 2:06
  • 2
    "why you chose HTG over us" er, do you not participate on SO, SU, or SF? The purpose of meta is to support the existing sites, not be elevated as a standalone entity. Take SO, SU, and SF away, and meta has no meaning.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Aug 11, 2009 at 2:51
  • Shotgun!
    – Tom Ritter
    Aug 29, 2009 at 17:48
  • +1 for me. What do I need to do??
    – Ólafur Waage
    Aug 29, 2009 at 18:07
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    How can I reserve a copy?
    – deleted
    Aug 29, 2009 at 18:31
  • Me please! :).
    – Margaret
    Aug 30, 2009 at 11:27
  • How do we get these stickers Jeff?
    – Nathan Koop
    Aug 30, 2009 at 14:03
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I agree. I consider it somewhat insulting to deliberately alienate and belittle users who make a good-faith effort to improve Stackoverflow through bug-reporting and tracking, retagging, and feature-requests. I know the signal-to-noise ratio is low; but the entire attitude to meta has been one of "No, no no, never", "Okay, I see we need it.", "Oh my god I hate meta I wish it never existed.". It doesn't make sense to me.

I suppose the big logical argument against is that it costs money - $1K a pop for a run of stickers (and $500 for How-to) by my guesstimates. And there's no "return on investment" for Meta.

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  • I, for one, would be willing to pay for a Meta sticker, but I suppose it's mainly because I'm involved in running it. I do concede the cost/ROI issue though.
    – Kyle Cronin
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:25
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http://www.rvenables.com/linkjackandsufferaccidentaldroptable/MetaSticker.png

For the uninitiated:

http://cuiltheory.wikidot.com/what-is-cuil-theory

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  • Is that a search result for "hamburgers"?
    – random
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:09
  • 2
    +1 for an internet meme originating on reddit.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Aug 11, 2009 at 0:30
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Meta is the 4chan of the StackOverflow network, so it should have it's own identity and merchandise. If SuperUser.com is "Return of the Jedi", then Meta could be "The Christmas Special" or even Episode I.

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  • 10
    Yeah, we're definitely the holiday special - the one the creator doesn't like to talk about.
    – Kyle Cronin
    Aug 11, 2009 at 14:42
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I always thought SuperUser was the red-headed step child.

Anyway, I want a sticker for Meta, and there better be a pony in there somewhere.

As far as changing his mind, pitchforks and IcyHot in his tightie-whities should do the trick.

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  • Maybe we should hold a logo contest first?
    – Kyle Cronin
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:38
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    I can't draw, and all of my friends have hooves.
    – TheTXI
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:40
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Why would we need a sticker for the meta site? The meta site is a child of the other sites and would not exist otherwise.

We don't need a MSO sticker.

But if your goal is to bribe Jeff, I bet doughnuts and pizza would work well.

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  • 1
    We don't -need- any sticker.
    – TheTXI
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:40
  • @TheTXI: I would hope not. Stickers are for little kids. I also don't want one.
    – GEOCHET
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:42
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    So are ponies. Therefore I want stickers.
    – TheTXI
    Aug 10, 2009 at 23:43
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    @RichB Just because you don't want kids isn't a reason to hate on stickers.
    – devinb
    Aug 11, 2009 at 12:26
  • @devinb: TDEMSYR
    – GEOCHET
    Aug 11, 2009 at 13:24
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The Meta sticker is back at the shop talking with the stickers for Palin 2012 and Gore for Re-election and Gordon Brown - You've Chosen about the best adhesive solution, most ideal placement, backing, the smell you get when you lay down a fresh sticker and other pertinent gossip in the world of wearing it on a sleeve.

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Actually, I'm not sure why a "Meta-sticker" is needed. I mean, to me, a sticker for a site which is a "meta" of the subsites... it's a "meta" of the substickers :-]

meta-sticker

Chase the other stickers, make your own "meta" sticker!

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  • 1
    SO looks like an axe.
    – random
    Aug 30, 2009 at 12:15

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