CCC [Overview]: Suggest ideas here

[tinker]

I hardly ever visit the U2 website, I get my news elsewhere. I keep subscribed so I can get my GA tickets, though....:rolleyes: Other than that, it doesn't mean much to me.

 

I'm thinking maybe with the U2 fans, and the actual organizations... maybe with them we could share some ideas.

 

I am trying to create a website for that purpose right now. It's been an idea in the back of my head for a while, but I've been so busy with work and school, and the domain name I want is already owned. I am currently in the process of making a bid, but I still have no idea how much the guy wants...He just told me to "make an offer"...which likely means that he doesn't know, either, lol.

[julimp92]

HI guys i just wanted to tell u all that i thinks a great idea and that im in if u need me :D

[lunar1126]

wow...tinker, I got a tingle up my spine just reading your story. That's absolutely amazing what you, and the U2 community, accomplished. I truly believe that this little project can evolve into something as big!! With the recent surge of interest, I've got high hopes! I think it is wonderful that you picked one cause (water wells) to which you guys devoted all your energy and passion. Thank you so much for sharing your story, and offering your support here. Welcome aboard!! :D

 

And thanks to everyone else who wants to help! I keep getting warmfuzzy feelings after reading everyones posts. :nice:

 

Okay, on to business matters: I called up local tshirt shops today to get price quotes on tshirt printings. What I basically found out is that screen printing is quite expensive because there is a hefty fee to make screens for each individual color used in the design. In the case of the first design I made (globe), there would be 4 colors, and that would run a pretty penny. There would be an approx. $60.00 cost to set up the screens, then $10.50 per shirt (on orders over 30 shirts). Once the screens are made however, we can bypass the screen set up fee the next time we get reprints. In any case, screen prints, even though the color lasts longer, and they can be printed on any color fabric, are going to be quite spendy. The other option is iron on transfers (also called heat transfers) in which we are not limited by the number of colors in the design. However, the colors do fade a little bit and (according to the guy I talked with on the phone) can only be printed on white shirts. If we got bulk orders or iron-ons at one of the shops I called, the price would be about $9.00. I can go there, and see some samples to check the quality. The actual color quality depends on the quality of the printer used to make the transfer. This made me think....where I work, I have access to really hightech printers, so if I can buy blank transfer sheets (I think HP makes something like this), I could potentially make them at home. This would really lower the cost of production. If some of you guys have similar technology available to you, maybe you could print some too? But this is a lot of work that would be distributed (probably) amongst only a few people who have the means to produce and ship the products. The more I think about it, the more I am drawn to cafepress.....

 

Seems our two options are:

1) Cafepress:

Pros:

We wouldn't have to worry about product production or shipping

Cons:

Money management - who'd be in control? Who'd get it to the charity?

Cost of t-shirts...in my mind, we'd have to price them at a minimum of $20.00 to make this worthwhile.

 

2) Ebay & missionfish:

Pros:

Money would be automatically sent to charity bypassing the worry of someone stealing the money

Cost of each shirt would be lower

Cons:

The burden of producing and shipping products may fall on just a few peoples shoulders - could get complicated

 

Soooo..........anyone have any other suggestions to throw into the bucket?

 

Ack, sorry...I didn't mean to babble on so much about tshirt princing and all!! We just gotta come up with a finalized plan so we can get some ideas into motion.

[clockpolitiks]

Wow guys, this is really awesome. I cant believe i havent found this thread till now! I'd totally help out. Donations, whatever ya need! Nice shirts too! I'd buy one. Oh and I work at a law firm, and we have very high tech printers and stuff. If you told me what to get I might be able to help.

[an_cat]

By god, lunar1126 (oh, and this is off topic, but is there something easier I can call you?), I'm absolutely amazed by your work. I applaud you ten fold for making this so doable!!! I think that if I explained to my parents about this whole thing, and the charity involved, blah blah, they could approve my involvment in regards to handling shipping, or whatever. Perhaps if we WERE to make them ourselves, then we could do that, have people email the gmail account, get addresses that way, then have those who can be trusted to make/ship/handle expenses in regards to the shirt can split the people who want the shirts equally. Did any of that make sense? However.... I still don't know about that... I'm not TOTALLY comfortable with giving out my own address, let alone how some other people might feel (some people are pretty young and with credit cards, would HAVE to go through their parents).

 

I'm drawn to cafepress. The shirts might seem expensive, but for shirts, that's an incredibly good price. The shipping and production is a huge, HUGE bonus. Then we could just handle the money and stuff through the gmail. I also really like the missionfish, however... Some of the charities directly linked to Coldplay aren't on there. I love Amnesty and UNICEF, though. Those are ones I lean towards, personally.

 

 

Talking about the wells, and how the U2 comm got behind one major idea, are we thinking of doing something like that? I think that the shirts and merchandise is really cool for just simple donations to charities (who, we'll have to decide later/soon). But what if we came up with a really incredible project? I'm going to start scouring around to see if there are things going on that need help, or need to be stopped, whatever (sorry for the use of "whatever" here, I realise that sounds kind of flippant).

 

 

 

Again, thank you to EVERYONE for being involved with this! I think we're going to need help, but in the end all our hard work will be rewarded time and time again!

[victaniac]

^Yay! Welcome aboard :nice: I'm super excited by the new surge of interest! :cheesy:

 

As for our options Lune.. unless we have a separate paypal account that'll cover the printing and ink/supplies expenses, I don't really like the sound of you or anyone printing out shirts because that means you'll be wasting your own money. But let me get something straight.. to use eBay/Missionfish we'd have to make the shirt ourselves, right? If so.. then maybe we could focus on making our shirts (at a minimum of $20, like you said) through Cafepress. And we could also have tons of other things that Cafepress offers, like mugs/cups, teddybears, caps, scarves, calendar, cards, postcards, stickers (like airieslady suggested) and other little things that go for way less. People don't have to necessarily shell out $20+ bucks to contribute by buying.

 

Not sure who could be in control of getting it to the charity.. I think it's safer if a few people could be in charge of that so there's less chances of something going wrong? And for others to be more assured that the money will not be handled irresponsibly.

 

I'm so excited! Tinker what you started up sounds simply unreal..amazing. I'm so glad you made your way over here, I'm sure you'll help us enormously with all your experience. The site you're making.. what is it about exactly?

 

Oh and Nadia my thesis on Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace novel.. kinda focusing on the profound effects of war on the various facets of society. Sounds horribly boring I know, but it's not really! :laugh4:

[an_cat]

I also really don't like the idea of people having to make the shirts totally by themselves. What if they just don't come out right, etc? I know that I once tried to make an iron on shirt and uh..... well after a couple washes it started to peel off and that was the end of that. With cafepress/missionfish I think that they make the shirts themselves, ship them themselves, but all money and that gets sent to the owner of the shop. I think? Or am I wrong with this?

 

 

I've gotten an idea, I'm going to start PMing new people, and just a lot of people in general on here, to let them know about this. A lot of people in the lounge section don't ever visit here, so I think I'm going to make a thread letting them know. Does that sound ok to you guys? I'm going to in particular "target" the new people, it would be nice to get them involved, make them feel really welcome. Plus, I've been accused of being a "bitch" to new members (:rolleyes: ) so maybe this will shut people up. LMFAO

[Texasluvsjonny]

maybe everyone could check with tshirt print shops in their area and we could see which city we could get the best deal in.

[lunar1126]

Talking about the wells' date=' and how the U2 comm got behind one major idea, are we thinking of doing something like that? I think that the shirts and merchandise is really cool for just simple donations to charities (who, we'll have to decide later/soon). But what if we came up with a really incredible project? I'm going to start scouring around to see if there are things going on that need help, or need to be stopped, whatever (sorry for the use of "whatever" here, I realise that sounds kind of flippant)[/quote']

 

Yup, I was thinking the same - find one big idea, and give it our all, instead of hopping around from charity to charity. One think I'd really like to see us get involved with is 'sponsor a child' thru Save the Children. You basically are able to sponsor one child by regularly donating money each month to him/her. The minimum donation is $28.00 a month, which, I think we could easily meet, and exceed. In return, we would be mailed information about 'our child' and would be able to directly communicate with him/her....which would be SO, SO special!!!

 

Vic, I'm thinking cafepress too. :( I really wanted to find something where we wouldn't have to have a gobetween between the money and the charity...but it looks like the best option at the moment. Maybe we can try it out, and see how well it works. If it doesn't, we can attempt something different. But I'm still googling around for other 'cafepress-like' sites....something might turn up!

 

Btw, your thesis sounds fascinating...not boring at all! :P May I assume you are an English/lit major?

 

Danielle, you can call me Nadia...coz that's my name! :D

[Texasluvsjonny]

I'm going to in particular "target" the new people' date=' it would be nice to get them involved, make them feel really welcome. Plus, I've been accused of being a "bitch" to new members (:rolleyes: ) so maybe this will shut people up. LMFAO[/quote']Or you could just beat them up and take their lunch money. Hey it's for charity, so you'd be like Robin Hood. :laugh4:

[lunar1126]

Hahah, yeah Danielle, let's reel in the n00bs!!! Let's put 'em to work!!! I kid, I kid. :P Kinda. heh btw, I've been meaning to ask for a sticky request for this thread. I think I'll do that now! :)

 

And you're right, with cafepress, they make and ship everything ordered, but missionfish will NOT work with cafepress....it is strictly for eBay. Sadly we cannot have the best of both worlds. :(

[an_cat]

Hey Nadia, that's definately better than using your username! heh.

 

 

!! I love the sponser a child idea! That would be so much fun, and really great for everyone! Awwwwww! I have ALWAYS wanted to do that, but never got the chance to. This could be incredible!! If we got our own section of the forum, we could have threads with each update to keep everyone regular on it! *makes wonderful plots*

 

heh, bring the newbies in on gunpoint "DAMNIT, WORK FOR OUR CHARITY OR NEVER COME BACK! *cackle*" lmfao lmfaooooo

 

I made a thread in the Lounge section, by the way. A lot of people don't visit the Coldplay one from there, and I want EVERYONE to know about this, so I think that'd be good.

[lunar1126]

I see your Lounge thread. :thumbsup: Now we sit back and wait for all those Loungers and n00bs to file thru the door! And they will come. :whip: :sneaky:

[an_cat]

I think for anything in there to get attention it's got to have a really snazzy title... bleh. *hopes SOMEONE in there takes the "time" to look!*

 

Oh yes, and I'm starting to send out PMs right now. Here's what they say (for the newbies):

 

Hello, and welcome to Coldplaying! We all truly hope you have a great time here, and meet great people!:D

 

I'd like to draw your attention to an ongoing project that a few of us are trying to get the community involved in. It's the 'Coldplaying Charity Club'. You don't have to do anything to join, just come visit the thread and share in our ideas. We'd appreciate you looking at the organizations listed in the first post, they are really worthwhile. Coldplay is a world conscious band, and that is one of the reasons we love them so much. There's no reason why their fans shouldn't be the same way!

 

Then the link, which I have to get now. Think that's good?

[lunar1126]

Sounds great!! Would you mind if I used it to send out too? Though, I don't want to the newbies to get repeats of the same msg from you and me...maybe you can handle it for a few days, then I'll take over, then someone else? We could rotate PMing duty. :P

[an_cat]

Heh, of course! Here's what I have for the "older" members:

 

Hi! I'd like to draw your attention to an ongoing project that a few of us are trying to get the community involved in. It's the 'Coldplaying Charity Club'. You don't have to do anything to join, just come visit the thread and share in our ideas. We'd appreciate you looking at the organizations listed in the first post, they are really worthwhile. Coldplay is a world conscious band, and that is one of the reasons we love them so much. There's no reason why their fans shouldn't be the same way!

 

Here is the thread:

 

http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28988

 

We're trying to get our own section of the forum, but only if there's enough interest.

 

Thank you for your time! :)

 

Which is the same thing, without the welcome stuff. I'm sure the newer members won't know that they're the same, they don't know anyone anyways... LOL!! ;) I'm going to write down who's posted in this thread and detract them from my PMing, then go through the members list and just do everybody. Hell, I want everyone to know about this! Ok... maybe not EVERYONE, but certainly the people signed on. LMFAO! There's a lot of "dead" accounts here, anyways...

 

 

I just found a really good article that explains problems in the southern half of Africa (and even Africa as a whole, I don't know why the article is so specific?). It's good and could help explain the problems in a simple way to people who might not be aware of what's going on (AKA: the people living under rocks!)

[an_cat]

Fatal Problems in Africa South of the Sahara

Published Nov 17, 2005 by Celin Childs

 

Despite Africa South of the Sahara’s rich history the present day is filled with tragedy. Disease and poverty have taken such a serious toll on the region that the death rate is constantly rising. Not to mention the great population that is also steady increasing at an alarming rate, creating more famine and disease to spread throughout the land.

 

HIV/AIDS is the fifth main cause of death in this part of the world. This disease has already destroyed so many lives in Africa since the 1960’s and is continuing to demise a majority of the population. By this year, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is expected to be the third leading cause of death.

 

This disease destroys a person’s immune system causing them to be more susceptible to other fatal diseases such as tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, cancer, pneumonia, and others. Many people contract the disease from having sexual intercourse without protection causing the bodily fluids to mix. It is also caused by the sharing of dirty needles, from mother to child either from birth or through breast milk, and through transfusions of infected blood. Once infected with this disease a person is incurable and will eventually die.

 

Often times people receive the disease because of the increased spread of poverty, a traditional family breakdown of support systems, and miners having sexual intercourse with prostitutes and then transporting the disease to their wives.

So many people have contracted the disease already that treatment for it is scarce and costly. Many people can not afford to take on the medical expenses and they end up suffering until their death.

 

Orphans roam the streets of Africa because many of their family members have passed away from the disease and they are left to survive on their own. Africa South of the Sahara has the world’s highest and most rapidly increasing spread of the disease. This region reported that 40% of the population has already contracted the disease being the ages of 15-49 years.

 

Organizations are constantly working solutions in order to control this critical problem by providing condoms, sex education to the youth, and educating people on the harmfulness’ of the disease. However, more money, in this region, is spent on armaments than on facilities to help people with this fatal condition.

 

Not only has HIV/AIDS taken a serious toll on this region but tropical diseases have also. Tropical diseases are one of the main environmental problems of Africa S. of the Sahara. This tropical climate creates epidemics such as malaria, river blindness, cholera, Ebola, and sleeping sickness. Sleeping sickness comes from tsetse fly infestations from the cattle. Sleeping sickness has had the power of killing more than 200,000 people in one year. There is a cure for this fatal disease, however, many people can not afford health care to treat it.

 

Famine is also a huge problem in this part of the world. Many people can not afford food to adequately supply their families. Many children die at a very young age from malnutrition and diseases associated with malnutrition. The widespread of poverty, inefficient food distribution, and the population growth are all factors to the reason that famine has taken such a heavy toll on this region. Somalia, Kenya, and Rwanda are some of the many countries effected by this horrible problem.

Population in Africa S. of the Sahara has had such an alarming increase that the population rate has exceeded the economic growth. Many of the countries in this region are unable to supply adequate food and water to the masses because of the increasingly large population. Many of these countries rely on outside help from other countries and continents in order to receive a limited supply of food.

 

In only twenty one years the population almost doubled from about 380 million people to 638 million people in Africa S. of the Sahara. The population increase in the year 2000 was 1% over that of the agricultural growth causing serious problems for supplying adequate food supplies to the people. As modern medicine became sufficient the death rate fell, however, the birthrates mostly stayed the same or decreased very slowly.

 

Africa plans on controlling the population. The plan is to encourage people to have smaller families because of the many pressures that larger families have to deal with; including: economical, political, and cultural issues. The population is also being forcibly controlled by the epidemic of HIV/AIDS which is constantly increasing the death toll and reducing the life expectancies in this region.

 

As the population steadily increases in Africa so may the threat of serious diseases. Hopefully as technology enhances and medical solutions began to become more apparent than this portion of the world will one day regain its richness.

 

Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/14316/fatal_problems_in_africa_south_of_the.html

[lunar1126]

You know what we could do? We could sort the member list alphabetically and both pick letters to cover. You start with A, and I'll do the Bs...and only PM the active members (people who have logged on sometime within the past month, let's say?)

 

Can you post the article link in here? You know, this term I'm actually taking an anthro class on Africa, so as I find/learn important/interesting information, I'll try to post it in here as well.

 

Edit: You're too quick for me! Thanks for posting the article. :)

[Texasluvsjonny]

Are any of you members of Oxfam? I am and they often send out requests on special projects or crisis situations. They ususally ask for a minimum donation of $15. East Africia food relief was the most recent one I received.

 

Anyone that doesn't have much cash, Amnesty International can always use people to write letters. Prisoners have a better chance for survival if their captors know someone out there knows about them. I know a lot of people on here speak many lauguages, so I sure that would be very helpful.

[an_cat]

Heh, I meant to say in my last post that I was going to post it after I entered it! LOL!

 

I'd be very, very willing to do that. Since I'm on vacation all week I have plenty of spare time on my hands. And it's not like we'll have to write out the same thing over and over again (that wouldn't be fun...!). I think we should definately rotate, how about we do that? I'll start with the A's! There's a way to know if they're active, right? You just go into their profile and see when the last time they logged in? Boy, I hope so! LMFAO

 

That is so cool that you're taking a class on that! I'm actually looking into Internationl Relations/Third World Studies for my college major! So this is REALLY great for me! Wow, maybe I could put it on my application...:idea2: heheh!

 

 

Well, I'm going to go watch a movie now (wow, vacation is awesome). I'll be back on later to see if my thread in the Lounge did any good, and I'm going to keep looking for interesting articles to educate people with.:)

 

EDIT:

 

Holy crap, what a great way to mark my 4,000th post!!!!

[square_1]

Your lucky. I have to go to school all day :\

[lunar1126]

Are any of you members of Oxfam? I am and they often send out requests on special projects or crisis situations. They ususally ask for a minimum donation of $15. East Africia food relief was the most recent one I received.

 

Anyone that doesn't have much cash, Amnesty International can always use people to write letters. Prisoners have a better chance for survival if their captors know someone out there knows about them. I know a lot of people on here speak many lauguages, so I sure that would be very helpful.

 

Great ideas Angie! I'm not signed up for Oxfams newletters, but I'm sure that would be a great resource. I am signed up for the UN Wire which helps me keep abreast of (under publicied) international news.

 

Enjoy your movie Danielle. :)

[Texasluvsjonny]

If anyone is interested in writing letters for Amnesty here are a couple of web sites with info.

 

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/action/resources/lwg.shtml

 

http://www.amnesty.org/campaign/letter-guide.html

[lunar1126]

^ Both those links will be very, very helpful. Added to the first post! :)

[tinker]

Wow guys' date=' this is really awesome. I cant believe i havent found this thread till now! I'd totally help out. Donations, whatever ya need! Nice shirts too! I'd buy one. Oh and I work at a law firm, and we have very high tech printers and stuff. If you told me what to get I might be able to help.[/quote']

 

How 'bout a pro bono lawyer in case this ends up an official org? :D