At very long last, the Black Belts awards are beginning to ship. First we ran into some kind of black belt shortage (not sure I'm buying that one) but the most significant delay was due to the fact that I was unhappy with the case. The embroidery came out very nice to make it special, but a decent case for it was just as important. A black belt is a nice novelty and fits well with the site’s theme but what would you do with it? I wanted it to be in a case you could see through to sit on your desk or alongside any other trophies or awards you might display. The first case looked good, but with no mechanism to hold it together, picking it up would result in the belt falling out and unraveling frequently. We had the manufacturer flip the box so that the top comes off instead of the bottom. Now if someone grabs to pick it up, they'll just get the printed cover in their hand and the belt will remain in the larger portion of the case when separated. We also added some words to the top, "In recognition of..." to better explain the fact that this is actually a trophy and not just some prize or tchotchke you picked up at a conference. 

Thank you for your patience with this, I hope you'll feel it was worth the delays when you get yours. We've committed to giving 100 of these beauties away and our initial shipment will be to only 18 members. So a big congratulations to the first 18 awardees! For all of those on their way, keep at it as there’s plenty left!

Bob

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