My idea for a tribute to Ben
#17
Originally posted by Super D
Sit tight for just a couple of days. I'm addressing this today with the Excellence publisher, chief editor and sales manager, all of whom I know. I'll see if they can donate this page, and if not, to give us the lowest price possible.
We, in turn, can help make up the cost by spreading the word across the internet boards to buy this Excellence issue, and contribute to the charity as Ben would. It will not only offset the cost, it will further the charitable contributions tremendously.
I'll report back.
Dave
Sit tight for just a couple of days. I'm addressing this today with the Excellence publisher, chief editor and sales manager, all of whom I know. I'll see if they can donate this page, and if not, to give us the lowest price possible.
We, in turn, can help make up the cost by spreading the word across the internet boards to buy this Excellence issue, and contribute to the charity as Ben would. It will not only offset the cost, it will further the charitable contributions tremendously.
I'll report back.
Dave
#19
Guys, the folks at Excellence have been very kind, compassionate and insightful in our discussions today. They have two items for us to consider.
First off, they publish letters to the editor, as you know. And they do so randomly from the many they receive. If we get one to them in the next three weeks (by approx June 24th), they've promised to publish it in the next issue. 500 words (about one quarter of a full feature story) should be the limit. This will need to be submitted for approval, but I've let them know we'd like to not only honor Ben, but also to encourage participation in supporting a charity in his name, and they are very supportive of such an idea. They believe that this type of letter will possibly be viewed as even more credible than an ad, and they think the effectiveness of attracting participation in charitable contributions on Ben's behalf may be very close to that of an ad, and the cost is zero. Once we have a final letter, I'll submit it for approval and follow through with any facilitating needed for completion. By the way, the editor had emailed with Ben in the past, so he's with us in spirit on this for sure.
Secondly, since they already publish paid ads for charities, they can't donate ad space if we choose to run an ad, lest they incite a small war. What they will do, however, is waive the requirement for multiple insertions to qualify for the deepest discounted price offered to charities. They will allow us to get the best price, even only running one ad if that's what we end up doing. The information about the charity and the ad content description must be submitted ahead of time for approval, and we'd have 4 weeks from today to submit the final ad, provided that content was already approved. If we don't intend to make it an ad that elicits participation in a charity, we may still get a favorable price, but it's a good opportunity to really reach thousands of passionate Porsche people, so I hope we do take advantage of that.
I'll captain getting the letter submitted, costs ironed out for the ad, mechanical requirements for the ad layout, and facilitate favorable placement with the publisher.
We need a chief writer/content creation point person for the letter.
We also need a creative director/content point person for the ad.
I move that we either take this offline, or we start a new OT thread for this, so we can create content, compare versions, etc and not keep this one of the top threads in this memorial forum as it'll turn into input overload, and it's really sort of a production thing that will be ongoing over the next few weeks.
Your thoughts?
First off, they publish letters to the editor, as you know. And they do so randomly from the many they receive. If we get one to them in the next three weeks (by approx June 24th), they've promised to publish it in the next issue. 500 words (about one quarter of a full feature story) should be the limit. This will need to be submitted for approval, but I've let them know we'd like to not only honor Ben, but also to encourage participation in supporting a charity in his name, and they are very supportive of such an idea. They believe that this type of letter will possibly be viewed as even more credible than an ad, and they think the effectiveness of attracting participation in charitable contributions on Ben's behalf may be very close to that of an ad, and the cost is zero. Once we have a final letter, I'll submit it for approval and follow through with any facilitating needed for completion. By the way, the editor had emailed with Ben in the past, so he's with us in spirit on this for sure.
Secondly, since they already publish paid ads for charities, they can't donate ad space if we choose to run an ad, lest they incite a small war. What they will do, however, is waive the requirement for multiple insertions to qualify for the deepest discounted price offered to charities. They will allow us to get the best price, even only running one ad if that's what we end up doing. The information about the charity and the ad content description must be submitted ahead of time for approval, and we'd have 4 weeks from today to submit the final ad, provided that content was already approved. If we don't intend to make it an ad that elicits participation in a charity, we may still get a favorable price, but it's a good opportunity to really reach thousands of passionate Porsche people, so I hope we do take advantage of that.
I'll captain getting the letter submitted, costs ironed out for the ad, mechanical requirements for the ad layout, and facilitate favorable placement with the publisher.
We need a chief writer/content creation point person for the letter.
We also need a creative director/content point person for the ad.
I move that we either take this offline, or we start a new OT thread for this, so we can create content, compare versions, etc and not keep this one of the top threads in this memorial forum as it'll turn into input overload, and it's really sort of a production thing that will be ongoing over the next few weeks.
Your thoughts?
#22
ive been speaking with darren about the ad and would gladly offer my assistance with anything you need if you decide to go ahead with an ad. im currently doing a course in design so this is the area of my passion.
hope i can help out.
hope i can help out.
#23
Cool guys, let's take this either off-line or into OT 'til we get it done. Then we can post up the final stuff here after we submit it to be published.
My brain's a little squishy right now, what's better....OT or off-line as far as collaborating and organizing?
My brain's a little squishy right now, what's better....OT or off-line as far as collaborating and organizing?
#26
Guys, this is all "ON HOLD" temporarily, while we attend the memorial service and give the family some space and time to be together and grieve. Charlotte has final say on anything, and respectfully we mustn't move forward without her blessing. We'll pick up this discussion next week. Thanks all, sit tight.
#28
Originally posted by Super D
Guys, the folks at Excellence have been very kind, compassionate and insightful in our discussions today. They have two items for us to consider.
First off, they publish letters to the editor, as you know. And they do so randomly from the many they receive. If we get one to them in the next three weeks (by approx June 24th), they've promised to publish it in the next issue. 500 words (about one quarter of a full feature story) should be the limit. This will need to be submitted for approval, but I've let them know we'd like to not only honor Ben, but also to encourage participation in supporting a charity in his name, and they are very supportive of such an idea. They believe that this type of letter will possibly be viewed as even more credible than an ad, and they think the effectiveness of attracting participation in charitable contributions on Ben's behalf may be very close to that of an ad, and the cost is zero. Once we have a final letter, I'll submit it for approval and follow through with any facilitating needed for completion. By the way, the editor had emailed with Ben in the past, so he's with us in spirit on this for sure.
Secondly, since they already publish paid ads for charities, they can't donate ad space if we choose to run an ad, lest they incite a small war. What they will do, however, is waive the requirement for multiple insertions to qualify for the deepest discounted price offered to charities. They will allow us to get the best price, even only running one ad if that's what we end up doing. The information about the charity and the ad content description must be submitted ahead of time for approval, and we'd have 4 weeks from today to submit the final ad, provided that content was already approved. If we don't intend to make it an ad that elicits participation in a charity, we may still get a favorable price, but it's a good opportunity to really reach thousands of passionate Porsche people, so I hope we do take advantage of that.
I'll captain getting the letter submitted, costs ironed out for the ad, mechanical requirements for the ad layout, and facilitate favorable placement with the publisher.
We need a chief writer/content creation point person for the letter.
We also need a creative director/content point person for the ad.
I move that we either take this offline, or we start a new OT thread for this, so we can create content, compare versions, etc and not keep this one of the top threads in this memorial forum as it'll turn into input overload, and it's really sort of a production thing that will be ongoing over the next few weeks.
Guys, the folks at Excellence have been very kind, compassionate and insightful in our discussions today. They have two items for us to consider.
First off, they publish letters to the editor, as you know. And they do so randomly from the many they receive. If we get one to them in the next three weeks (by approx June 24th), they've promised to publish it in the next issue. 500 words (about one quarter of a full feature story) should be the limit. This will need to be submitted for approval, but I've let them know we'd like to not only honor Ben, but also to encourage participation in supporting a charity in his name, and they are very supportive of such an idea. They believe that this type of letter will possibly be viewed as even more credible than an ad, and they think the effectiveness of attracting participation in charitable contributions on Ben's behalf may be very close to that of an ad, and the cost is zero. Once we have a final letter, I'll submit it for approval and follow through with any facilitating needed for completion. By the way, the editor had emailed with Ben in the past, so he's with us in spirit on this for sure.
Secondly, since they already publish paid ads for charities, they can't donate ad space if we choose to run an ad, lest they incite a small war. What they will do, however, is waive the requirement for multiple insertions to qualify for the deepest discounted price offered to charities. They will allow us to get the best price, even only running one ad if that's what we end up doing. The information about the charity and the ad content description must be submitted ahead of time for approval, and we'd have 4 weeks from today to submit the final ad, provided that content was already approved. If we don't intend to make it an ad that elicits participation in a charity, we may still get a favorable price, but it's a good opportunity to really reach thousands of passionate Porsche people, so I hope we do take advantage of that.
I'll captain getting the letter submitted, costs ironed out for the ad, mechanical requirements for the ad layout, and facilitate favorable placement with the publisher.
We need a chief writer/content creation point person for the letter.
We also need a creative director/content point person for the ad.
I move that we either take this offline, or we start a new OT thread for this, so we can create content, compare versions, etc and not keep this one of the top threads in this memorial forum as it'll turn into input overload, and it's really sort of a production thing that will be ongoing over the next few weeks.
My proposals and points to consider:
1) PM me your email address and phone contact info, so I can have an off-line contact list for us to communicate through (we will not be using 6speed as our workplace).
2) Let's address the "Letter to the Editor" option first. It's free of charge, it will spread the word, both in honor of Ben and in benefitting a charity in his name. After we get that done and sent off to the publisher, then let's address the ad on the tail of it as the next item on the hit list, look at costs and build out the team to get it done.
3) Albert is very experienced with ad production, editorial and creative, so I'm nominating him as "Producer" for the ad. Any other nominees?
4) The Letter to the Editor--as noted above, this is a 500-word piece. I think this should be a collaborative effort with 2-3 main writers doing the bulk of the work, and the rest of the group reviewing, commenting and helping to edit. This is something we should be able to create start-to-finish in one week. Not knowing who is a writer, or who would like to be part of the 2-3 writer core team, I'll volunteer to be one. Anyone who is an experienced writer or wants to nominate other core writers, do so here.
Albert, any organizational methodology you want to employ, please do. I look to you as perhaps the sole "pro" here, so while I facilitate publishing communication, I appreciate your hands on the steering wheel so we don't make this overly complicated or unproductive.
Thanks all. I'll look for your PM's if you want to work on one or both of these items (indicate that in your PM, and also your applicable experience with candor).
Best Regards guys.
Dave
#30
You all should think "article" instead of "ad space"....Get someone whos an accomplished writer/PR expert to do a story on his life, passion, and how he affected so many others all over the world through various communities etc....Then spin to several mags and follow through untill they pick it up which almost all look for "Feel Good" stories......