DDR pads for a school, who to contact...

[Ikari Warrior]

Hey guys,
I teach Kindergarten kids during the morning hours and 1st-6th graders in the afternoons. I also do a full day Summer Camp in the summertime. Last summer I decided to bring my passion for gaming to my class in a way that would be approved by my supervisors. I had already been exposing them to the classics of the SNES, Genesis, and Neo Geo on our classroom PC's, but they can't spend too much time on the computer.

So last summer I brought in my own TV andPSOne along with the original DDR, Konamix, and Disney Mix. I brought my own Mad Catz Beat pad, and my friend donated his pad so we could do two player. Obviously it was a huge hit all summer. The parents and supervisors all loved it because it got the kids moving and encouraged coordination.

So after the summer, we took it down, and the pads were beat. This last summer I brought it back in force by bringing in my home PS2, and every DDR title released so far. We spent $40 on new Beat Pads to replace the old ones. After the summer I decided to keep it year round since the kids love it so much.

We had to use a big chunk of our budget money to get new pads this time. I have 14 kids in the class, but we get a terrible budget, sometimes $25 for three months. The pads we bought this summer are dying out after a summer of nearly constant use. My supervisors don't want to give us any extra money to buy new pads, or a used PS2 (since carrying my home system back and forth every night I want to play is taking a tioll on the system).

At the beginning I emailed Mad Catz directly, telling them how much the kids enjoyed the pads and our money situation at the school and asked if they could help. I told them what a great marketing tool it was, about how many parents inquired where to buy the setup for their homes. I was hoping they would donate some pads for our center to use, since they die out so quickly. Of course they never responded at all.

I was wondering if you guys had any ideas on who to contact about donating some new pads. I thought about contacting Konami directly, since the official pads that come with the game seem like good quality. Who should I contact there? We contacted and sent pictures to Redoctane in conjuction with a contest they were holding, and thought they would help out, but we never really heard much back.
I have a class of nearly all girls, and they're all really into it and they're getting pretty good. They get really discouraged when the mess up because the pads aren't working properly, and I hate having to tell them it's because our school is too cheap to get us new pads. It's bad enough they pay me like crap, and I brought in all my own setup (TV, system, games paid for myself), then they wouldn't give us a bit extra to replace our old pads.

Do you guys have any other suggestions on which manufacturers or stores to contact?

(sorry about the long post, I just wanted to explain our situation)

The kids and I thank you for any suggestions!

[Sothy]

make them take off their shoes.

[sleepycal]

How long do these pads hold up for?

If you can't get pads donated by companies, then it would limit your choices.

Either get dirt cheap 3rd party pads - I think some are as low as $10-15 Cdn (you know, China imports).

Or make a longer term investment and get those solid metal pads that will hold up for nearly forever.

In terms of paying for this stuff, would it be possible to do some kind of fund raiser? Since they are just kindergarteners, you'd probably have to do most of the set up work yourself, and just have the kids around to "help".

Another possibility might be to take up a collection/donation from parents.

Its a great idea. Kids don't get enough physical activity these days.

[sisko]

Invest long term:

www.cobaltflux.com

[InsaneDavid]

Before responding let me say I've had DDR competitions at schools and former employers and they always went over well. However I can understand that your pads get the snot beat out of them after awhile.

You COULD invest in high quality pads, maybe shell out the few hundred for metal platforms, but when one of those dies or gets smashed in (never can tell what little kids are capable of) then you're out some serious funding.

There are a few ways you can go about this, as long as you make totally clear the stuff isn't for home use, get a superintendent to sign a request or something.

1) Ask around to anyone you know that plays DDR or right here even. I used to have piles of cheaper DDR pads lying around that were used a few times for a public event or had a bit of use (but lots of life left). I would either donate them to youth after school clubs or sell them for next to nothing. If I had some spares I would give them to you but in this past year I've only been using my main pads, sorry.

2) Do you have a Target store or any other "community friendly" store that stocks DDR pads nearby? (comments to yourselves everyone) If you can get into contact with the store lead and again, have that officialish request then they might help you out or at the very least sell you the pads at cost. They won't give you a PS2 price break or anything, but you know what I mean.

3) Building off something sleepycal mentioned, why don't you have a DDR fundraiser that consists of playing DDR for prizes? You can have the kids play, the parents play, parents vs supervisors, etc. If so many of the parents enjoyed the activity their kids were having then a DDR fundraiser should go over well. Charge like $5 per person, buy a cheap PSOne and Konamix and a pad, have that as a prize along with some other stuff and so forth. Minty PSOne consoles go pretty cheap in most used game stores or on eBay, but you could always use something else as donation bait.

4) This is kind of an extension but if you buy some clear DDR pad covers your pads will last longer especially if they are being used atop a hard surface.

Hope this helps.

[dan2357]

Fund raiser seems to me to be your best choice.( with no replay from the companys).

I remember when we were building a new playground at our elementry school, we had a can drive. I don't know about RI, but here in NY theres a 5cent deposit on all cans and bottles, and most people just put them out with there garabage on recycling days. they raised quite a bit couple thouand although it was the entire school doing it.

Another idea is those F ing catalogs that you send home with the students to sucker there familys into buying things.

Heres a few links with some good programs. Some even have websties for parents and such to buy from with prceeds going back to your class.

http://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/
http://www.efundraising.com/php/pages/free_sample_kit/freekit.php?cookie_content=&promotion_id=3509
http://www.abcfundraising.com/index2.htm
http://target.com/target_group/community_giving/education_initiatives.jhtml;jsessionid=0DCU2JPNXVO FJLARAAVWW4FMCEACU1IX This it the target program, Im not sure but I think the money would go to the school and not the classroom

[tritium]

In my area, the schools usually did candy or chocolate sales for fund raisers. Donuts were popular, a quarter a donut, and they donuts would be donated or purchased in bulk to acquire profits.

Because of these fund raisers, it was against the rules to do it for individual profit, but i used to make a killing selling Airheads. Box was about $6, sell each at a quarter, pull about about $18.

[sisko]

In my area, the schools usually did candy or chocolate sales for fund raisers. Donuts were popular, a quarter a donut, and they donuts would be donated or purchased in bulk to acquire profits.

Because of these fund raisers, it was against the rules to do it for individual profit, but i used to make a killing selling Airheads. Box was about $6, sell each at a quarter, pull about about $18.

Isn't it a bit ironic to sell candy and other junk food to fund an exercise program?

[Daltone]

I'd suggest actually calling, or at the very least actually writing to, Mad Catz or whoever. You must be able to get a number or an address for them somewhere. I'd go for as many different places as possible, hell, you may as well even call Sony. You just never know. They may just shrug you off, but you haven't lost anything.

If that fails then the fundraising ideas that have been brought up so far definitely seem like a good idea. Even if you don't get enough you can put the money towards something good for the kids.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

If there are any companies to get in contact with, its Cobalt Flux or Red Octane. I think if you were to dig around and find a higher up's email addy, actual addy, or phone number, that could really give you a kick in the right direction. Tell them everything you told us, and ask if they'd be willing to donate or give you a deal on them or something. Even if you got a responce from Mad Catz, the pads they sent would last you like, 2 weeks. CF and RO pads last a LOOONG time.

[CYRiX]

Yeah are these kids like heavy players or what? I assumed a ton of kids playing on easy and beginner wouldn't ruin a pad for ages.

[Ikari Warrior]

Thanks for all the input!
The kids are pretty good players, they can get an A on"Butterfly" and "Max 300" on Light difficulty.

And no they don't wear shoes.

From what I've read on DDR message boards the $20 style softpads seem to last everyone about 3 months.

Thanks for the ideas, and if you have any more suggestions please post 'em.

Thanks!

[Vectorman0]

Have you tried "mounting" them on plywood and then wrapping them up in some protective plastic, like this:

http://www.ddrfreak.com/library/contributor-article.php?postID=7890244

[GameSlaveGaz]

Don't you have tax-exempt for purchasing things for the school? They do it in Massachusetts for teachers, day care centers and youth centers. You don't have to pay a cent in tax. I dunno if your state does it or not, but if they do that saves you some money.

But definitely raise the funds somehow to get some better quality mats. Sure they cost more but they're worth it. They'll last longer than just the summer, so you'll be replacing them less and in the long run be spending less money.

Maybe also try to get people in the community who wanna get rid of old game stuff to donate their old systems, games and mats. If I lived in the area, I'd give you my Intec plastic mat for PS2. EB and GameStop don't trade mats in and I have an $80 Red Octane PS2/XB mat so I don't need it anymore and I can't get anyone to take it. Hmm...maybe I can ship it to you. Before I suggest that I should check if it's still in my basement. LOL. Let me know if you want another cheap crappy plastic DDR mat that had my stank-ass feet on it for free and I'll look for it and if I have it ship it out. It's for a good cause and all. :)

[InsaneDavid]

dan2357, PLEASE TRUNCATE YOUR LONG HTML LINKS!!! Use the imbedded URL tag if your URL's are that long, it throws the whole thread out of whack and makes it nearly impossible to read without scrolling back and forth. :angry:

In response to some points raised in a couple of the posts before this one: You gotta aim smaller here, MadCatz and the like won't return any calls unless you want to order inventory for merchandising. You need to go to local places and get THEM to do the corporate work for you since they ARE already a merchant doing business with said companies. If you contact the manufacturers directly the only deal they'll most likely cut you is if you were to order extremely large amounts of stock.

I'd recommend you put a request in the Buying and Selling forum for cheap DDR pads, make sure you list that they're for a school and so forth as you did here. I'm sure you'd get better penetration for requests here at DP if you had a thread going over in B&S as well. Maybe not free but you might be able to pull some cheap pads at shipping cost, who knows, heck you already got some leads here!

I'd still recommend going with cheaper pads since they're used in a "public" setting. Yeah you get what you pay for but as I said before, don't want to blow $100 or so on a pad that could have some freak accident kill it and then be screwed for the rest of the year. Also you gotta remember people, these are little kids, they won't wear down the pads as fast as fully grown adults do.

[sleepycal]

I'd still recommend going with cheaper pads since they're used in a "public" setting. Yeah you get what you pay for but as I said before, don't want to blow $100 or so on a pad that could have some freak accident kill it and then be screwed for the rest of the year. Also you gotta remember people, these are little kids, they won't wear down the pads as fast as fully grown adults do.

Another thought that came to mind with your use of the word public setting. Theft. Really nice, costly stuff runs a higher risk of being stolen. That being said, it seems like your best bet might be to get the cheap pads and mount them on board and cover them ala the link that someone else posted.

[Ikari Warrior]

Well, the kids decided to go with a weekly bake sale to start raising the funds. They brought it brownies and cookies and set up a table with prices and signs. The older kids are only with me for about an hour and a half in the afternoon, but in that short time they made $30.

They plan to do it every Thursday afternoon, changing up the items, until they raise enough for quality pads.

I was thinking they'd need about $200 or so, what kind of pads would you suggest (apart from the obvious Cobalt Flux) I've seen some pairs of metal pads for $200 on ebay in the Bemani Controllers forum that look nice. Any opinions?

[CYRiX]

I tihnk that the next best pad after the CF is the RedOctane one, but don't just buy any pad on ebay, a lot of them look good but the plexiglass will break or it will have bad wiring and the connections will get too loose to play on.

[Cmosfm]

Little Suzy: "Mommy I played a dancing game at school, I'm real good at Little Bitch!"

:hmm: