Got up, dusted off my pants and got back to work. This has been going on, in one way or another, for almost seven years. I will fall down again and I will just get back up.
Working on Twitter each day. Simply posting the message many times a day. Won't change a thing. Will sit down and look at the YouTube numbers after May 5th. Perhaps the tea leaves will show a pattern after four weeks of tweets.
Also, will video tape my TED talk and get that posted. The presentation will be the easy part. The logistics of getting equipment and camera operators together will be the main hurdle. Again, want to have that posted on YouTube by May 5th. at the latest.
The Oak Ridge story is a great story, my screenplay is a solid story of a little boy losing his father. Everything else is simply execution: leveraging social media to raise awareness of this great American epic and also raise awareness of my screenplay in Hollywood. One or two lucky breaks and this story will get out there!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Just Get On With It
There are many reasons for my current funk, but the main reason is the failure of my IndieGoGo campaign. I've got $80 online and another $60 in person. Have eleven weeks to go. My goal was $100,000 by June 14th. Safe to assume I will probably not reach my goal, but at IndieGoGo you keep whatever you raise.
Need to promote it on the social media sites with a ton of personal appeals to folks. Will also send links to hundreds of military bloggers. Will also need to press the flesh in east Tennessee. The concept of ideas going "viral" on the Internet is smoldering somewhere between a cliche and mythology. Stories abound, but contrary to the myth, the more I pass out my business cards, the more hits I get on YouTube.
People will donate to this "cause" because they have a deep personal connection to it. In short, they had a family member who worked on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge.
Here are the links for both IndieGoGo and YouTube.
http://www.indiegogo.com/forgivenessonline-1?a=433232
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQO7pOfBdxY
Need to promote it on the social media sites with a ton of personal appeals to folks. Will also send links to hundreds of military bloggers. Will also need to press the flesh in east Tennessee. The concept of ideas going "viral" on the Internet is smoldering somewhere between a cliche and mythology. Stories abound, but contrary to the myth, the more I pass out my business cards, the more hits I get on YouTube.
People will donate to this "cause" because they have a deep personal connection to it. In short, they had a family member who worked on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge.
Here are the links for both IndieGoGo and YouTube.
http://www.indiegogo.com/forgivenessonline-1?a=433232
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQO7pOfBdxY
Monday, April 2, 2012
A low point
I decided to do another practice run of my TED style speech. TEDxNashville had their show on Saturday. I chose not to go. I think it would've been hard for me to sit through presentations which I knew were weaker than mine.
Not to imply that all the presentations would be weaker, but I've watched repeatedly all the presentations done in 2011 and 2010. There were a couple of real clunkers each year. It happens. I should have been on that stage in Nashville Saturday.
I invited 15-20 people to the Sunday practice run. One person showed up. We had a great talk about how I needed to better leverage my time and efforts to get the Oak Ridge story out to the world. It was a very productive discussion.
But still, it was a very low moment for me. If I can't get Oak Ridgers to act, how in the world can I expect the world to take notice?
I spent last night looking at all the work over the last seven years and all the dead end leads I have chased down. My life would be extremely easy and carefree if I just stopped trying to sell Forgivenessonline. I have spent thousands of hours pounding my head against the wall.
Thousands of hours a year would be available. I could go back to reading 50-100 books a year. Hell, I could write a book. Freedom to Fail, my long essay about the social contract in America has been collecting dust. I could spend hundreds of hours fixing up my wife's house. It needs lots of TLC. I've always wanted to shoot 90 on a golf course. That would take a little time. Always wanted to hone my skills in a kitchen so at least I could claim a certain competency there. And my guitars gather dust. I could really take my playing to an aspiring, awesome place.
But could I live with myself if I gave up on Forgiveness? Would I be haunted forever? Would I, deep in the night, look out the window, listening to the wind sing through the leaves on the trees and think, "What if?"
I don't know. I don't know.
Not to imply that all the presentations would be weaker, but I've watched repeatedly all the presentations done in 2011 and 2010. There were a couple of real clunkers each year. It happens. I should have been on that stage in Nashville Saturday.
I invited 15-20 people to the Sunday practice run. One person showed up. We had a great talk about how I needed to better leverage my time and efforts to get the Oak Ridge story out to the world. It was a very productive discussion.
But still, it was a very low moment for me. If I can't get Oak Ridgers to act, how in the world can I expect the world to take notice?
I spent last night looking at all the work over the last seven years and all the dead end leads I have chased down. My life would be extremely easy and carefree if I just stopped trying to sell Forgivenessonline. I have spent thousands of hours pounding my head against the wall.
Thousands of hours a year would be available. I could go back to reading 50-100 books a year. Hell, I could write a book. Freedom to Fail, my long essay about the social contract in America has been collecting dust. I could spend hundreds of hours fixing up my wife's house. It needs lots of TLC. I've always wanted to shoot 90 on a golf course. That would take a little time. Always wanted to hone my skills in a kitchen so at least I could claim a certain competency there. And my guitars gather dust. I could really take my playing to an aspiring, awesome place.
But could I live with myself if I gave up on Forgiveness? Would I be haunted forever? Would I, deep in the night, look out the window, listening to the wind sing through the leaves on the trees and think, "What if?"
I don't know. I don't know.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The roller coaster that is IndieGoGo
It's early in the morning in east Tennessee. It's very quiet. Too quiet for me. I have posted my IndieGoGo link on Facebook several times over the last three weeks. Have gotten three donations from close friends, but that is it.
I have got a few weeks to turn this puppy around. Will start sending the crowd funding link to the hundreds and hundreds who have contacted me because they watched my YouTube video about Oak Ridge.
Here are the links:
I have got a few weeks to turn this puppy around. Will start sending the crowd funding link to the hundreds and hundreds who have contacted me because they watched my YouTube video about Oak Ridge.
Here are the links:
Monday, March 12, 2012
Leprechauns at Rockefeller Center In New York
Rumor has it that this morning a small Leprechaun with a green mohawk roamed the canyons of Rockefeller Center hoping to snag some airtime on The Today Show. A leprechaun, the dictionary tells me, is a small mischievous sprite. That's a perfect description.
This kind of punked-up version of an Irish prankster, hoped to promote a 5K run this St. Patricks' Day in Oak Ridge. She had a sign to flash at the TV audience. At the bottom, she was kind enough to provide the website address for my newly posted site.
Everything was going according to plan until said Leprechaun, with entourage in tow, arrived at Rockefeller Center. The sprinting little spirit was determined to force The Today Show, into an unexpected direction.
But powerful social media forces had other plans. Over 10,000 screeching teenage girls had jammed into Rockefeller Center to make certain that The Today Show went in One Direction and one direction only. Over 10,000 vials of 16 year old estrogen cannot be ignored. Plans were abandoned. Green mohawks are powerful things, particularly with St. Pat's approaching, but 10,000 squealing girls??? There are limits to what even sprites can do when a hot new boy band comes to town.
I can't make this stuff up. At least she tried. Plenty of stories to tell at the 5K run on Saturday!
forgivenessonline website
This kind of punked-up version of an Irish prankster, hoped to promote a 5K run this St. Patricks' Day in Oak Ridge. She had a sign to flash at the TV audience. At the bottom, she was kind enough to provide the website address for my newly posted site.
Everything was going according to plan until said Leprechaun, with entourage in tow, arrived at Rockefeller Center. The sprinting little spirit was determined to force The Today Show, into an unexpected direction.
But powerful social media forces had other plans. Over 10,000 screeching teenage girls had jammed into Rockefeller Center to make certain that The Today Show went in One Direction and one direction only. Over 10,000 vials of 16 year old estrogen cannot be ignored. Plans were abandoned. Green mohawks are powerful things, particularly with St. Pat's approaching, but 10,000 squealing girls??? There are limits to what even sprites can do when a hot new boy band comes to town.
I can't make this stuff up. At least she tried. Plenty of stories to tell at the 5K run on Saturday!
forgivenessonline website
Saturday, March 10, 2012
There He Goes Again!
Your time is precious, I don't want to waste it, but you folks need a little background about the people who are critics of the bombing of Japan. There is a small group of academics who are called "the revisionist historians." Their title tells all. This is what they believe.
Over two-thirds of Americans, when last polled, believed the bombings were necessary. You would never know this from tracking the major news outlets. The revisionists dominate the conversation, and they have for decades.
The Godfather of the revisionists is Professor Gar Alperovitz. His book, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, is the bible for revisionists. Published in 1995 it reflects over 30 years of research. I have read it. Felt it a duty to do so. The body of the text is 668 pages. With notes, index and acknowledgments it comes in at 847 pages.
Professor Alperovitz recently had an op/ed piece on the website of The Washington Post. It is a very true reflection of his beliefs. Here is the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/from-the-atom-bomb-to-attacking-iran-a-leadership-lesson-for-obama-from-our-nuclear-history/2012/03/07/gIQA7Pu2wR_story.html
Hope you enjoy it. The sixth paragraph begins, "Although documentation is sketchy......." That describes the professor perfectly.
- Japan, in the summer of 1945, was on the verge of collapse, and surrender
- The United States KNEW Japan was on the verge of collapse
- We bombed them anyway, just to bully the Russians
Over two-thirds of Americans, when last polled, believed the bombings were necessary. You would never know this from tracking the major news outlets. The revisionists dominate the conversation, and they have for decades.
The Godfather of the revisionists is Professor Gar Alperovitz. His book, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, is the bible for revisionists. Published in 1995 it reflects over 30 years of research. I have read it. Felt it a duty to do so. The body of the text is 668 pages. With notes, index and acknowledgments it comes in at 847 pages.
Professor Alperovitz recently had an op/ed piece on the website of The Washington Post. It is a very true reflection of his beliefs. Here is the link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/from-the-atom-bomb-to-attacking-iran-a-leadership-lesson-for-obama-from-our-nuclear-history/2012/03/07/gIQA7Pu2wR_story.html
Hope you enjoy it. The sixth paragraph begins, "Although documentation is sketchy......." That describes the professor perfectly.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Unintended Consequences
Started a fund drive at IndieGoGo.com a few weeks back. Set it up before the drive really started, so I could work out all the wrinkles across platforms. Still a few wrinkles, but it is working.
Part of the donation process at IndieGoGo is that donations can be made anonymously. Or, donations can be made in the name of another person. And the amount of the donation can be hidden too. So, at the end of the drive, I could get thousands of donations anonymously, or in the name of others, or in the name of fictitious folks or, in amounts that are unknown. In the secret city, most of the funding could be secret. Hidden. In the shadows. It seems fitting, doesn't it?
Part of the donation process at IndieGoGo is that donations can be made anonymously. Or, donations can be made in the name of another person. And the amount of the donation can be hidden too. So, at the end of the drive, I could get thousands of donations anonymously, or in the name of others, or in the name of fictitious folks or, in amounts that are unknown. In the secret city, most of the funding could be secret. Hidden. In the shadows. It seems fitting, doesn't it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)