CCC [Overview]: Suggest ideas here

[66]

sorry if i've missed a bit...25 pages, and much time lost, i'm afraid. any thoughts on an auction? could be done through eBay or similar. write to capitol, emi, parlaphone and BMG...if they still have anything to do w/CP...see if they'll send off any poster, extra press packs, etc... I have a few things of interest I may be able to put in the pot. a few oops, promos, possible an old US parachutes litho, etc..

[=make trade fair=]

Maybe you could devise some sort of poster or award that we'd give to fair trade shops in our area to put in their window...?

[zeoir]

I just thought i could post this here so everyone would notice it :)

[Sofy]

^That´s sooo great!!!

I havent been coming to the site for a few weeks, school has been terribly full of exams! has something else happened?

[donna_m]

sorry if i've missed a bit...25 pages' date=' and much time lost, i'm afraid. any thoughts on an auction? could be done through eBay or similar. write to capitol, emi, parlaphone and BMG...if they still have anything to do w/CP...see if they'll send off any poster, extra press packs, etc... I have a few things of interest I may be able to put in the pot. a few oops, promos, possible an old US parachutes litho, etc..[/quote']

 

I've just read this entire thread from start to finish... i'm new here, and alot older than you guys, so if i sound abit jaded, i apologize in advance - its just my age showing :laugh3:

 

Im from the u2.com threads, and have been involved in this type of charity idea for the past year.. i see much enthusiasm here, and much of what we went through last year, you guys are just starting to go through now - i love that you guys have started a monthly sponsorship for a child already - its something we were going to try but couldnt come to terms with for many reasons. I have wondered though - what will you do when a month comes that people cant or wont donate enough for the sponsorship - will the few of you who started this end up paying out of your own pockets? I'd say the answer is yes - since you guys have such a fire in your belly for making a difference... but you cant do it for as long as it will take to sponsor this lovely child?

 

There was a suggestion of a website, flyers, newsletters, business cards etc...and another charity, or a new charity each month... dont spread yourselves too thin. One step at a time, concentrate more on how to keep raising the money first, then worry about the extras - pick one.. and go with it with all your energies.... anyone here a lord of the rings fan? remember Bilbo having tea with Gandalf? he said he felt 'thin, like butter spread over too much bread' There is more power in doing one thing good, than many things 'okay'.

 

As for the idea of an auction... i think thats a fantastic idea. My thoughts are that you might want to make extra money and put it into a fund (paypal account) as a cushion or backup... If there is a month when the neccessary money cant be raised for your sponsor child... the buffer, or saved money, is there and you can still pay the sponsorship fee.

 

As for other ways to raise money - there are many ways to raise small amounts of cash - save all your pennies each time you buy something. At the end of a few months, its quite a sum actually. Collect pop bottles at work and cash them in - a few of us did this last year - and in 4 months i collected nearly $60 from the 3 people at work.

 

Like i said, i hope i dont come off as controlling, or critical.. i dont mean to be. I think you guys are awesome!

 

donna

[lunar1126]

Hello Donna and welcome to the CCC!!

 

Thank you very much for your lengthy input - it is much appreciated!! I know about the U2 fan charity organization, and I'm very impressed with all that you have done. Attempting to start up a club of this nature takes dedication and passion from all members, but it also requires good ideas! Your experiences of what has worked and not worked is very valuable to us. True, that it is best not to stretch ourselves thin - wise advise. The Child Sponsorship project is definitely going to be our main focus, but we also want to work on promoting awareness of causes that otherwise go unnoticed by most people (such as fair trade).

 

Your concerns about what would happen if we dont raise enough for one donation month are valid. Fortunately it doesn't take much to carry it forward each month, and I think the other CCC moderators and I are more than willing to pitch in where we fall short. However, I do hope that this wont be the case. A “reserve” stash is a good idea. What do you recommend as auction items? Do you have any experience with ebay's missionfish (http://www.missionfish.org) program? Also, how did you promote the U2 charity club?

 

Thanks for your interest, and a warm welcome once again! :nice:

 

I havent been coming to the site for a few weeks, school has been terribly full of exams! has something else happened?

Sofy, check out The 1.36 Campaign thead and Zali's thread for the latest news on that project. :nice:

[donna_m]

Hello Donna and welcome to the CCC!!

 

Thank you very much for your lengthy input - it is much appreciated!! Attempting to start up a club of this nature takes dedication and passion from all members, but it also requires good ideas! Your experiences of what has worked and not worked is very valuable to us. True, that it is best not to stretch ourselves thin - wise advise. The Child Sponsorship project is definitely going to be our main focus, but we also want to work on promoting awareness of causes that otherwise go unnoticed by most people (such as fair trade).

 

Your concerns about what would happen if we dont raise enough for one donation month are valid. Fortunately it doesn't take much to carry it forward each month, and I think the other CCC moderators and I are more than willing to pitch in where we fall short. However, I do hope that this wont be the case. A “reserve” stash is a good idea. What do you recommend as auction items? Do you have any experience with ebay's missionfish (http://www.missionfish.org) program? Also, how did you promote the U2 charity club?

 

Thanks for your interest, and a warm welcome once again! :nice:

 

ah! i am long winded - its my only fault :rolleyes: :laugh3:

 

auction items... well, a lady we know that runs the African Well fund had an auction a few months back. She auctioned off about 30 photos of U2 in concert - all photos were snapped by fans during the shows. I think the lowest price photo went for nearly 75 dollars. We (as a fan club) raised $4000.oo in about 10 days with this auction. As far as i know, it was only the fan club that bid on the photos... and she had to clear it with the moderators to be able to sticky the post at the forum, but because the photos were taken by fans, she didnt need permission from U2's management to sell them.

 

a friend of mine and i are developing a project which will be strictly items to auction as well - with proceeds to African Well fund, ICROSS, World Vision. The items we're going to auction include the RED Independent newspaper that Bono was editor of for a day, and a copy of Rolling Stone with Bono on the front cover. Again, we plan on posting the auction info and link at the forum and nowhere else.

 

There are many things people can auction off -its just a matter of finding a market for it. IF you can get Coldplay items to auction, and IF you can get permission from the mods to post the info here, you'd be amazed at how many people will bid on it, especially if they know its for a charity that the band supports. AS well, there must be items that are available only in Europe that people in the USA want, and vice versa.

 

As for other issues.. make sure that you keep talking about them here. Things like Product RED, Music Rising (new orleans musicians fund, etc) all have websites. RED has a blog and are looking for people to input ideas and to help build it from the ground up. We finally realized that even though most of the fans at the forum had heard about One and MPH and such, we still needed to talk about it - new fans show up all the time, many lurk for days before jumping in. AND people change their minds from reading people's posts and learning on their own.

 

Also, make sure that all of you are signed up for updates from ONE - chances to send emails to the policy makers when needed. Sign up for MPH in CAnada and send emails to our new prime minister who has no intentions of keeping up with the foreign aid/fair trade promises of the previous leader. Sign up for LIVE8 and again get emails when to send letters to the G8 leaders. Because of the noise we made last year.. the G8 have Africa on the agenda for this years meetings as well... having the same issue two years in a row is highly unusual ive read.

 

missionfish - yes i know of them, but only know that you have to be based in the USA to be able to use them through eBay. I"m in Canada, so it didnt work for us.

 

As for promoting... we have only promoted the charity thing through the U2 forum, and some of us with our other on -line friends, coworkers who are sympathetic, and family (who all think we are crazy! lol) We've not promoted it outside of that. The thought did come up, but it seemed to be a massive undertaking with many pitfalls and disadvantages. What we did come up with, is that some of us donate to a registered charity in U2's name (like the African Well fund) so that they realize it all comes from the fanclub.

[victaniac]

Wow, thank you so much for the insight! :cheesy: It's so mind blowing how you guys were able to raise $4,000! Incredible, really.

 

I'm kinda liking the auction idea.. may I ask where the items for the auction came from? Where they all submitted by the auction organizers or the fans?

 

Hmm.. I guess since the enthusiasm for the $1.36 Campaign have been so great, I've never really had any concern regarding not meeting our monthly responsibilities. I truly believe it's quite easy to meet, but it definitely wouldn't hurt us to have money reserved for Zali just in case. Great idea! :nice:

 

Also, thanks for mentioning those other funds like ICROSS, Music Rising, World Vision, Project Red.. never heard of those. I realize the CCC is just getting started and we should stay focused on the activities we're involved in right now, but it's interesting to read about all these other organizations and projects that maybe we could support in the future.

 

Thanks again for your reply and lending your knowledge, very much appreciated! :kiss:

[donna_m]

the auction items were supplied by the fans...all photos taken of the band at various concerts.

 

music rising was created by Edge and the people that run the grammy's. none of us could afford a $3000 guitar, so we convinced them to produce tshirts like the one Edge wore, and we all bought one. they had the tshirts ready for purchase in three days! 100% of monies for each shirt goes to the musicians fund.

 

ICross is strictly canadian and very tiny, but some of us support it by knitting comfort dolls....small dolls that are used as packing foam for vials of Aids medicines. the meds are shipped to clinics in africa, and unpacked and the dolls are handed out to the local kids. its something that costs pennies to make, and is easy. if anyone is interested in knitting, i can post the pattern.

 

world vision has been around for many years - at least 15 that i know of. if you only have 5 bucks to give, you can 'shop' and buy things like bed nets, plant seeds, vitamins to prevent blindness etc as a one time gift. WV is one of the better ones - l think its less than 5% of money collected goes to administration costs.

 

RED is bono's new project. a way to move from aid to fair trade. GAP and others are joining. if you buy a GAP RED tshirt, 40% of the money goes to the global fund, as well as the shirts being made in africa, by africans, using african organic cotton, making a very fair wage. there are other products like motorola phone, american express card, shoes, sunglasses. etc.

 

every little bit helps

[Plug_in_coldplaying]

you are very interesting about it:o

[donna_m]

:) thanks heh.

[Plug_in_coldplaying]

yep,no matter,im too into

[gloria002]

how did we work ?

 

Been a busy week here, I'm delighted to see Donna already started telling what we've all been up to :-)

 

When I started for Brussels, my intention was to have a warm welcome for the band. It had to do with the presale and general sale being quite a fiasco, and everyone complaining ...

 

I posted a topic in the international section in the Zoo, to see how others would react to the idea. Much to my joy and relief, quite a few people responded, and we tried to find something that would work. Visible, meaningful, safe for everyone, not blocking anyone’s view, not leaving a mess at the venue, keeping in mind it was outdoors hence any kind of weather was possible, and stay away from logistical nightmares … very high demands.

Shortly after that, the wonders of technology brought Bono's speech at the TED-awards on my computer. The one speech that had me convinced that, if ever I was to take action, this would be a good time. We found out about the ONE-bands, and decided to have our own version of them, meanwhile guiding people to the real ones. White bandanas, made of cloth. For people to wear around their head, on their arm, it didn’t really matter, as long as they were visible. The warm welcome was turning into a request to people to act as ONE. We all loved the idea.

So did Clear Channel (event organisation) when we informed them what we had in mind. BUT ... they couldn’t give us approval to bring anything into the venue. They said we needed permission from Principle Management. I called, faxed, e-mailed … but the only answer I got was : “they are looking into it” I can see what the problem was. We had a Belgian humanitary organisation, who was actually willing to pay for thousans of those bands. Protos, part of the North-South movement, teaching people how to find drinking water, how to keep wells working, so they are no longer depending on aid. We thought it fit right into the concept of ONE. And in fact, months later, they turned out to be part of the Belgian version of ONE (2015 – de tijd loopt). But I guess everyone was terrified that we were about to connect the band to an unknown organisation. I had forseen that, and added a request to allow us to distribute pure white bandana’s. Things we made ourselves, from shredded sheets or God-knows-what-else, no organisation involved. But even that question was left unanswered.

With less than 4 weeks to go, me, and my Zootop-friend Reggy, realised we had to make a drastical change in our plans, because the answer would never be there in time. We set up a website, and decided to go after the people who were coming to the gig. Websites, radio-stations, magazines, newspapers, … They weren’t exactly waiting for us. I kind of tricked one paper into printing the story, and slowly but surely, the rest followed. Hours and hours and hours have I spend online, searching for media and fansites, posting what we were up to, guiding pple to our website. I have mailed a gazillion people to try and spread the word ...

We were horrified a few times in the last 2 weeks. Some journalists had the story wrong. How hard can it be, we explained with both hands and feet, AND we had a website in 3 languages ! It did teach us to make a press release and have them use that. No mistakes possible.

Others wanted us in the paper and not our story. Anyway, about 1.000 people let us know through the website, they were joining us. And I don’t know how many more were convinced we were bringing those bandanas ourselves, and would hand them out. Damn !

In the middle of our frustration, people were mailing us to say they had 20, 50, … 2 persons had 300 bandanas ready, and were asking where to bring them. I decided to give it one last desperate attempt with Clear Channel to be able to get those inside … and 3 days before the gig, they said YES ! With too little time left to get that info out, a few of us started shreading sheets in massive amounts. The last 5 sheets I had, I took with me to the door the day of the gig. A quite enjoyable way to make the day go by, even for the ones sitting around us who watched us struggle with pieces of cloth. lol.

Since we weren’t allowed to hand the bandana’s out on the streets, me and 5 friends were carrying a ton of bags as we went through the gates, hoping security would be informed. Luckily, they were. Once inside, we secured our spot at the rail outside the bomb shelter, and 6 of us started working, telling people what they were for. Asking them to join this cause. Thanks to the papers, most people already knew what they were for, and they were actually screaming for them ! 4.000 bandana’s, and surely, not enough ! Truth is, it was hard work, but so much fun to do !! Neither me nor Reggy could have imagined that so many people would give us such warm reactions. We were both amazed and thrilled by the experience.

 

Sidenote : none of us had a clue Bono would take things as far as he did during the shows. Imagine our surprise when we heard his speech at the beginning of ONE during the first show of the tour !!

[gloria002]

Donna - Dublin

 

Somewhere in the proces of our preparations, I found out about Donna who was doing a similar thing for the Vancouver gigs, but with ONE T-shirts (she should tell her own story !).

And when Debbie mentionned she wanted to set things up for Dublin, the three of us joined forces.

My hubbie send me a link to a radio-station that was doing a special on U2, and I send them an e-mail with our plans : spread the word on ONE - MPH, ask pple to show their support by wearing a white T-shirt with those things printed on them. Well, I did send out a lot of e-mails (again!), and so did Donna and Debbie, but they were one of the few who responded. I told them I was merely back-up. That Debbie was in charge of Dublin. But once I was in Dublin, they called me on my cell. Saying they wanted all 3 of us on the phone to talk about it. They wanted us live on the radio at 6 pm, but by that time, I would be inside the venue, somewhere up front, with a support act onstage. Not exactly a good time to get a call. Plans changed, they would call us in the afternoon, and tape it.

I was in the GA-line for the gig when the call came, with soundcheck going ! Debbie was somewhere in Dublin, and Donna was pulled out of her bed in Canada. Dave Fanning was the one who interviewed us. Me, moron, having trouble remembering names, had no idea who I was talking to. My zoo-friend Diarmuid went nuts and said, you actually have God on the phone, and I thought, HUH ?

For those who don't know him (hèhèh, I'm NOT the only one), he's a very famous DJ in ireland. One who has supported U2 from the very beginning ... pfhihi, let's say I found the right man without realising it :-))

But you know, maybe it’s for the best, being ignorent made it easier to just say what I had to say, without getting nervous. It was hard enough to hear and understand everything. English is not my first language and in the middle of the conversation, U2 soundchecked ‘Who’s gonna ride your wild horses’, and the crowd in the GA-line went nuts !!!

[gloria002]

a banner born

 

4 days in Dublin, with way too much partying and way too little sleep. It took me about a week to recover from it. Good thing I had a holiday. And while I was sitting in the sun in the backyard, listening to my Ipod, I was pondering about all the wonderful experiences I had so far. 3 fantastic gigs. But so much more !!! I found wonderful souls in the Zoo. Some of them I met at the gigs. And other than that, a lot of people go to multiple concerts, and all of us – fruitcakes – kept running into each other. We had our hearts filled with the same passion and joy, and our head with a lot of similar ideas.

Over the years, I have spend a lot of hours at doors to see U2 play. But I never talked to so many people as I was doing now. And for the first time in my life, I realised just how many people feel the same about U2 and the causes behind it. After 22 years of fruitcakeness on my own, I finally found a ‘family’ that fitted me perfectly. I just had to do something with those feelings. Thus, I took out the last sheet I had, and decided to make a banner to express this. “Zootopians united against poverty”. 2 afternoons in the sun, and although I felt a bit silly, I liked what it looked like in the end. What I was going to do with it, I actually had no clue. I thought I’d figure that one out on the road.

I posted 2 pictures in the Zoo, and received some really nice reactions. I decided to take it with me to the next gigs (Amsterdam II and III) and see if I could find more people to join the cause. Meanwhile, I had been gathering the names of the people who had started actions elsewhere, and wrote those on the banner.

Similar experiences in Amsterdam. More names added to the banner. More people joining the movement. Unbelievable !

[gloria002]

ONE thread - Lisbon

 

By then we’d set up a special One/MPH thread in the Zoo. All the pictures from people taking action all over the world, we try to gathered them there. I posted mine too and apparently, those caught the attention of the rest of the animals in the Zoo. Interesting … But first, I had one last show to attend … Lisbon. Yep, but not without problems.

The broker where I bought my tickets, decided to go into voluntary liquidation one month before the show. Hence, no tickets and my money gone !! With flight and hotel booked, and my heart set on the experience, I searched the net to find new tickets. I don’t understand a word of Portuguese, but reading it went surprisingly well. So I bought a pair of tickets from a scalper on some sort of Portugese ebay-website and was worried about how this deal was supposed to end.

Up came the live chat/broadcast for Milan (one person calling from the show, one collecting the call broadcasting from behind his computer, and all the others listening and typing - yahoo chat) I joined - actually enjoyed hearing something that sounded like U2 in a filled bath-tub (luckily, the sounds isn’t always that bad on the live-chats), but I also ran into Hugo Martins, a Portuguese guy. A total stranger, fellow Zootop, who decided to come to my rescue after he heard my story. He drove 2 hours up the country, scarcely missing the terrible forest-fires. Had to wait another hour for that guy to show up with the tickets, and drove 2 hours back to Lisbon. Said he didn’t want my money until I got to Lisbon, and he could deliver me those tickets personally. I fell off my chair when I learned he did all this from the goodness of his heart for a total stranger. And more was to come.

The Portugueese set up the One World – One love action, to join hands during ONE. Excellent work, more names to be added to the banner and the campaing got extra publicity due to their efforts to get their initiative in the media.

When I got to Lisbon with my husband, Hugo had us ‘adopted’ by a group of 49 Portugueese (and 1 Mexican) fruitcakes, who had travelled to see all gigs on the Iberian peninsula. Hugo took us to the Concha Bar the day before the gig, where I was introduced to the guys who started One world-One love, AND to the people from Pobreza Zero (Portuguese ONE). More pictures for the Zoo coming as I pulled out the Zootopians united against poverty banner and the press had a field day. Pobreza Zero gave us one of their banners to take to the gig.

Who has rope in her pockets when she goes to a U2 gig ? Well, I do. Blame it on too many festivals and friends asking me if I’ve seen their missing shoe, which usually I have, tied up with the rest of our and their gear when evening falls ! Anyway, we hung that banner on the fence for the press to pick it up.

We spend 2 more fantastic days in and around Lisbon with a few U2-fans. Glorious days. we stay in touch, and we know we will meet again. :-)

[gloria002]

banner starts travelling - the hype did the rest

 

For me, one of the best summers ever had come to an end. But the banners had another journey to make. Our work of spreading awareness isn’t finished … at all !

Once home, I checked if all the names were added, and off they went to Jill in Canada. Donna’s Canadian clan, who set up the white ONE T-shirts campaign in Vancouver earlier on the tour, had high plans for the Toronto gigs. I suggested I send the banner out there and Jill said she would take it. (Donna, think you should tell your paint job here :-))

More people found out about it, and volunteered to take the banners to the gigs they were attending. Spreading it out in the GA-line and explaining people what they were for. Always trying to get them to at least think about the issues, guiding them to www.one.org.

From Toronto, it travelled to the Peace Museum in Chicago, for the auction of the green Falcon. (The Zoo gathered 9,000 dollasr because we wanted the guitar to stay in the Museum. Unfortunately, we got outbid by deeper pockets. But then again : our Money went to the Museum, so even though we lost, we still win). It got there too late for the auction, but still in time for the shows (it got lost after delivery and a totally freaking out Zootop send me messages, I managed to calm her down, said nobody ate the thing and told her to look for it logically, and she soon found it.) Thus, she took them to the Chicago shows, where people who’d heard about it, went out to look for it, to add their names. Not exactly what I had in mind at the beginning. But then again, I had nothing specific in mind. All I wanted was to send it out, hoping others would feel what I felt, and get involved. I gave it a few minutes thought, and concluded this evolution was actually good. I realised these banners had become some sort of symbol, and I figured : how can we say no to someone who wants to become ‘part of the family’ by adding his name on it.

Up came Milwaukee, with one of the mods from the Zoo as safekeeper. Pam (Feathers) sewed the 2 parts together, which made it easier to carry from one place to another. And they alerted me late at night, that they had it signed by Edge and later on, by Bono. I was a bit worried that this would make the banner a hot item. But the symbolic aspect made the Zootops who carried it, protect it as if their lives depended on it. I smiled and thought I didn’t have to worry. The banner started leading its own life, actually doing a better job than I'd ever dared to hope it would.

[gloria002]

onstage again

 

Next, New York. Sharon set up a campaign for the gigs in New Jersey on the first leg, and was a perfect choice to take the banner to the gigs in NY and Philly. My Portuguese friends, Hugo and Tania, travelled to America for the gigs there, and I told them to hook up with Sharon, which they did. Next thing you know … I get a text message in the middle of the night, that kicked me straight out of my bed. Hugo texted me at the spot, that Bono took Tania onstage to show the banner to the audience. … The only girl in the entire venue who had seen the banner here in Europe … The coincidence was striking!

More stories and pictures for the Zoo. And more people were inspired. In fact, this banner seemed to give some of them the courage to stand out from the crowd, get involved, and try to convince others. Two women in Atlanta and Salt Lake City decided to start campaigning, and Donna and I backed them up, helping them by sending out e-mails to radio-stations and newspapers and keeping them motivated when response came slow of not at all (yeah well, been there done that. to them, it was all new and when you're enthousiastic, you think the whole world is. Not.)

More travelling : Houston, Dallas and Las Vegas.

The banner moved on – thank’s to FedEx for some very short deliveries - : Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta. Kristen doing a great job in Atlanta. Admitting that she was so scared … a little girl in a big city … but she went out there, talked to the people in the GA-line to have them join the One Campaign. (sign up forms come in so handy :-))

Ottawa. Blake, who made a MPH-banner and has been taking it to all sorts of places, and has send it out to all kinds of places in order to find support for the cause, collecting signatures. He managed to meet Bono and have his banner signed. But more importantly : he also managed to deliver it to the Prime Ministers Office.

We had Carolyn there who worked very hard all day. Asking people to sign the ONE declaration in the GA-line, and at the ETS party. Talking to the press, ... She took ‘my’ banner to the gig, spot at the fence … and Bono pulled her onstage to show it to the audience again !

Yep, a hype is all you need. The press loves it, and that's the perfect way to get the campaign in the spotlight.

[gloria002]

Portland - end of leg 3

 

Next Montreal and Boston, where Marcy made 5,000 ONE-signs to hand out in the GA. (after we heard that, we advised pple to use copy-machines, hihi)She was allowed to distribute those signs inside the venue before the show. But nothing was on the back, and both Donna and I later ran into posts from pple who wondered what it was all about. which is why we suggested to the next in line to add a printing on the back. Saying what and why, where pple could find more info and what they were supposed to do with the signs.

 

Johnny, another hard working member of the Canadian clan, bringing the banner from Montreal to Boston to Sharon. Sharon texted me there was ‘magic in the air’. Bono pulled the banner onstage again, and specifically wanted her up there too. Excellent choice, if you ask me :-) Buffalo, where the banner was in the safe hands of Carolyn again.

 

Salt Lake City, where Renee had prepared her action for weeks. Calling people to bring a white T-shirts with ONE. Bought 200 ONE-bands to hand out, took sign-up forms, ... talking talking talking ... After that, she flew to Portland, taking the banner to the next show.

 

Portland.

I had been saving extra money and holidays, because I had plans to come to America to see one of those small gigs. The choice between Sharon (Boston) and Donna (Portland) was heart-breaking, so I let fate decide. A few weeks before the show, I entered a section in the Zoo I didn't often visited, and I stumbled accross a post that ETS has GA’s for Portland. The choice was made.

It was a tremendous pleasure to meet Donna, after working together for so long. And to meet the others we work with.

We ended up handing out thousands of ONE signs again. And THANK YOU signs, a great initiative from the people from interference :-)

 

I brought the banner home after this ‘jetlagweekend’ (back and forth in 4.5 days - 24 hours of travelling to get there)

It was full, I added a third piece in Portland using safety-pins. time to sow it all together :-)

[gloria002]

in short

 

So much for Donna being long-winded. LOL

 

OK, in short, what have we learned :

 

- focus on ONE topic, keep forces united.

 

- one volunteer at a show is already enough to get a few things done. The more people you have, the more you can do of course. But let's not forget why we are doing this : not to impress anyone, but to get the word out, to inform people, to have them sign up. Even if only ONE person signs up, that's a success ! Because that ONE person, can bring in more !

Disappointment and keeping people focussed and motivated has been a challenging job for Donna, me, and a few others we work with. And that includes ourselves too. Yes, I have had my moments where I wanted to give up, and a gentle soul picked me up and kept me going.

 

- work with press releases. Some journalist can't read ! grrr. We now have templates that we can adjust.

 

- the more you can work in a uniform way at several shows, the bigger the impact. News spreads, and the press enjoys covering things if it fits into a bigger picture.

 

- whatever you are doing, make sure your efforts don't go to waste. So either you spend a lot of time talking, or the explanation is on the back of the paper, or you hand out cards with further info or you find something else :-).

 

- we have set up websites, we have yahoogroups to unite people per show or per country, to spread news and ideas and ways to work. We have templates people can use, so they don't have a lot of work to get organised. Of course they can work out their own idea, the more the better ! Japan will have origami crane birds. It took me over half an hour to make my first one. lol. Give me a break, I was following instructions on a Japanese website, so I could only rely on pictures ! Hahaha.

 

 

- Early july, Sharon made a video from the pictures we took during our campaigns. Hans (who's in charge of the upcoming campaign in Hawaii) has added the ones that came later. The whole LOKAHI-ONE initiative can be found here http://www.geocities.com/onehonolulu/ (including the new video).

 

- contact venues and/or concert organisation to make sure nobody stops you once you start working on the field. get the necessary permission

 

- work together with existing organisations. Heaven knows the help I got from Holly Hight (ONE-volunteer in america) has been priceless.

 

- a hype comes in very handy when it comes to get the media's attention. And the most horrifying to me : try to not be turned into a hype yourself !

[gloria002]

I hope ...

 

I hope this terribly long story is of some use for you guys.

 

I'll post the rest of the banner's journey if you want that. Need to prep some food now :-)

 

And we'll be up, ready and moving very soon ... the new dates will be announced within the next week !!!! :-))

We might have to change our templates and stuff. Add http://www.joinred.com/ perhaps ?

 

 

O GOD NO !!! Just found out one of Edge's guitars for Music rising is on e-bay. Asking price : 25000 dollar. Some people have no shame !!!!!!!!!!

[lunar1126]

Wow, Tina!!! I can't tell you how inspiring your story is. Believe me, I read every word...twice! I really am so heartened to hear about all the good you and your other Zoomates :P have been able to accomplish through perseverence and passion. What a joyous, united ruckus you have been able to generate...around the world! Beautiful. Coordination seems to be the key, and you guys have got that down pat.

 

Thank you so much for sharing it all...without sparing any detail. (And yes, I would love to hear more about the banners jouney if you have the time to type it up.)

 

I do hope the CCC can be half as successful as you have all been. I'm positive that what you have just shared will really help motivate us as a group, so for that, thank you again. :kiss:

 

If you ever make it to Portland again, it would be an honor to meet you. You as well, Donna. :nice:

 

I wish you much luck, and many more incredible experiences, with this new leg of the U2 tour!!

[gloria002]

Thank you so much for sharing it all...without sparing any detail. (And yes, I would love to hear more about the banners jouney if you have the time to type it up.)

You're on !

 

I'm positive that what you have just shared will really help motivate us as a group, so for that, thank you again. :kiss:

That's the idea :-)

 

If you ever make it to Portland again, it would be an honor to meet you. You as well, Donna. :nice:

 

You live in Portland ???!!!??? What are the odds !!!

[gloria002]

leg 4 - to South America

 

This part was already written. Someone started a birthday book for bono, and we added this as entry. It's a different approach, I let those who carry it speak, instead of doing all the talking myself :-)

 

 

Donna :

Last December in Portland, through the generosity of John, your body guard, I was able to pass on a CD to you and the band containing stories and pictures of how you have inspired us - inspired me - to try and make a difference in this world. I don’t wish to repeat my own story, you've most likely already read it. Instead, I want to continue 'our' story. Much has happened since Portland. It wasnt the end after all.

 

In Portland, I was blessed to meet Tina and Pascal at the show, and after the concert, they picked up the 'Zootopians United Against Poverty Banner' and took it home. When the 4th leg Tour was announced, the mad planning began again.

Tina :

Portland. By far the maddest trip I ever made. Having Donna picking me up at the airport holding up a ONE sign … great thinking of hers. It was such a joy to finally meet her and so many other people we’ve been working with for months. By the time Donna, Sammi, Pascal and I got back to the hotel on Sunday afternoon, most of ‘m had arrived. Including Renee who brought the banner from Salt Lake City. They gathered behind it and held it up in front of the window of the lobby as we approached the building. Hihi, crazy zootops, but … I must admit it was quite the view. And having all of us with GA-tickets together in the bomb shelter the next day … we sure got our Christmas miracle !

Some 5 hours after the end of the show, I headed to the airport, taking the banner home. After Christmas, my mom sowed that third piece to it, and found new strappings to add. I started looking for people for Leg 4.

Monterrey and Mexico City were easy. No power in the world could stop Tania from going to Mexico, not only to see the shows, but also to celebrate a reunion with Alicia. Baja already volunteered to take it to the shows in Mexico, all I had to do was hook them up.

I thought I was gonna have to send it to Portugal in order to get it to Mexico, until Denis reveiled his plans, saying he was travelling to Monterrey for the show. As he’s one of the Dutch who came to Brussels with 300 nicely folded white bands, packed per 10 in a big bag, I was very pleased to put the banner in his hands.

2 days before I was gonna send it to him, another lovely surprise came out of nowhere. Cor (a longtime fan, Dutch too, I’d seen him in the Zoo before, but not really close) volunteered to pick it up at my place. Driving all the way from Rotterdam out here and back again to deliver it to Denis. I was glad it left my home with someone who cared, rather than having it shipped by some company.

Denis :

Feb. 9, 2006 - 13.00 CET - Somewhere, thousands of feet above the Atlantic Ocean

I am actaully sitting here on seat 22B, flight Delta 39 from Amsterdam to Atlanta with final destination Monterrey Mexico where I will receive yet another dose of my miracle drug! With me is Beatriz Carrillo, with us the banner! At this moment I am wondering if Delta realises that seat 22B seats more then one person. It seats a whole zoo and quite comfortably actually.

That, along with a tremendous feeling of honour, is the way I feel with the banner in my possesion.

As I told my zoo family: they're here with me. My zoo family.....these are people I've not even known a year, or even less. Yet we are so close. The reason? The shared love for U2, the great hearts and the exposure of all best that u2 brings out in people.

As we know Bono is a technology nut. The zoo is a perfect example of what technology can acheive, I feel. Just look at all the wonderful stuff that goes on in the zoo. People getting together, bonding, inspiring, motivating, comforting eachother during difficult times, raising funds for MPH causes, getting the word out about the situation in Africa and KEEPING it out.

 

Questions I ask myself looking back at the non-internet era.

- Would I have met all of these wonderful people?

- Would I be sitting here right now on my way to Mexico?

- Would I have been as aware of the situation in Africa as I am today?

- Would the banner be now what it has grown to be?

My answer to trhese questions would all have to be no, or probably not....scary thought isn't it?

[gloria002]

South America - part 2

 

Renee (in response to Denis’ words) :

These words are so beautiful. Thanks for posting them. Denis, you have not met me, and I doubt you know who I am, but I feel as close to you as any of those names on the banner that you carried.

 

The power and inspiration that the banner carries is beyond words. I carried it , protected it, mothered it and loved it while it was in my possession December 11th until December 18th. And this "simple little web site" has changed my life. I have met like minded people accross the world. I know the good that all of us can do when we unite. We are all different, from different backrounds, cultures, walks of life, but we are all one in our humanity and we do "Carry Each Other". We only own this one life and we must do the most we can ...and I see so many of us doing just that. From Tina to Donna to Sharon to Ultraviolet to Tania to you...and so many many more. This is a special time we are living in...we can dream big and out loud and I know we are going to achieve great things.

 

I am now rededicated to the ideals of my younger adulthood. Life comes full circle. I am decicated to the desperate need of extreme poverty. I have helped get my local ONE group up and running and this is just the begining. Missionary work is not far away.

 

Lets keep that banner going...its a beautiful creation, a child that all of us had a part in making it grow. I am so proud to have had the honor to carry it in SLC.

Peace,

Renee

Tania :

On feb 14th, me, Alicia, Max and a couple of fan friends were invited to a TV show from a local music channel (Telehit) to talk about U2…and to tell the banner’s story. The program wasn’t directed in the best way, and they didn’t focus on the banner the way I wanted them to. Still, they mentioned it and I could tell the story of how it had started, it’s purpose and how far it had travelled, spreading the word on ONE and MPH. That seemed to be enough to be recognized the following day, while queuing at the Azteca. People were asking questions, and it felt great to be able to tell them more. Baja arrived soon, so I passed it on to her. But I still wanted to add my story to the banner’s diary, So I sat on the floor, being number 733 on the queue, and added my memories to that piece of history that has been written by fans during this tour. It’s wonderful to see how this piece of tissue became part of our personal lives, how it turned into a bit of each one of us. ‘One’ says: ‘We’re ONE…but we’re not the same’. That day I had to change the line. ‘We’re MANY actually.... United in ONE purpose, ONE idea, ONE goal to achieve: a better world. Brought together by one simple common passion: U2

 

 

Tina :

The next one I found to continue our work was Celeste in Argentina. A friend of Alicia’s, Max, guided me her way. She runs a website www.u2arg.com. The first thing I saw when I checked the place out, was a small white MPH-banner at the top of the page. A good start. I mailed her the full story, asked if she would be willing to take the job, and ship that banner to New Zealand afterwards.