Bitcoin Forum

BitPay is proud to sponsor this event and setup a "Bitcoin" booth.   The PAUL Festival is a large, Libertarian event taking place this week in Tampa

http://www.paulfestival.org/ (http://www.paulfestival.org/)

In addition to talking about bitcoin to the attendees, we have permission to SELL STUFF in the booth.  So, what I would like to gather over the next 10 days, are some different products that can be purchased with bitcoins.

What I have so far:

Bitcoin Magazine
Casascius coins
Butterfly Single miner
BitPantry.com
Beesbros.com
BitBrew
CryptoAnarchy

We have a few samples from each business, and we have 2 iPads where they can order online from your website right from our booth.

UPDATE:  We will be sponsoring the concert performance of Tatiana Moroz http://tatianamoroz.com (http://tatianamoroz.com) and have BITCOIN banners on stage during her performance, and at her meet & greet!

UPDATE:  BITCOIN is front and center now on their website!  Check it out!

http://www.paulfestival.org/ (http://www.paulfestival.org/)

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/561986_433050566747058_493088684_n.jpg


UPDATE:  Photos from the event - with the bitcoin banner on stage!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/photo2.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/paul1.jpg

Ask the bees brothers about this - their stuff is amazing  ;) : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60863.0

Darktounge email me please tony@bitpay.com

Done!  We got their stuff coming :)

Perhaps giving donations to Wikileaks?

1HB5XMLmzFVj8ALj6mfBsbifRoD4miY36v (This is wikileaks' address, but you should confirm on their website)

Cool, so you have something your booth visitors can use to play bitZino (blackjack and video poker) or SatoshiDICE using real money then!

Be sure to have some of these there, as I'm sure it would go over nicely  :)

http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/ron_paul_bill.jpg

http://printcoins.com/images/gallery/ron_paul_bill.jpg

Message me your mailing address. Ill send some.

I'm going to be re-tooling BitBid soon. I've had a bunch of people sign up then never post anything to sell. Kind of frustrating.

Show them Coinabul.com. Or even better, bring an ounce of gold and offer to sell it to anyone who has bitcoins for 10% below spot price. You may not find a buyer, but it's good for conversation.  "See this gold ounce? You can buy it below market price... but oh, wait, sorry... we don't accept your silly monopoly FRN bucks."

It's crucial for them to see that they can buy gold/silver with Bitcoin. Make sure gold and bitcoin are presented as friends and allies to Ron Paul supporters ;)

Good idea…some silver would be good too.

How about some Shire Silver as well? By the end of this week I might be able to send a silver card as well as a gold card. I do know that many people don't quite get what Shire Silver is until they actually see it in person.

alpaca socks

+1

I think this is a great idea.  

Also, you might check out this thread - nice quality Bitcoin stickers:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=93794

Wish you luck  :)

And there is supposed to be media coverage there as well, so be sure to tug over some camera crews ;)

http://www.dailypaul.com/248359/media-flocking-to-tampa-for-paulfest

 ::)
catering to the nut jobs...

Would you call investors along the lines of Steve Forbes nut jobs?


Also:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanlewis/2012/06/14/gold-as-an-investment-vehicle-heres-how-to-buy-it/

We would be happy to showcase some shire silver in the bitcoin booth!  Thanks for reaching out.

I'll make sure you get a few brochures too.

Adam Kokesh is speaking on Sunday…he's talked about Bitcoin several times on his podcast…we're hoping to have a chance to meet him.

what does that have to do with anything?
i dont dispute that owning gold might be a good investment. but for somebody not yet having bitcoin, the possibility of buying gold with bitcoin is totally irrelevant. he could just buy it with his fiat money instead of buying bitcoin first and then buying gold with bitcoin. its purely symbolic, trying to tie the value of bitcoin to that of gold or silver. it doesnt make any sense and works with irrational feelings rather than actual useful properties of bitcoin.

besides that, i dont know if steve forbes is a nut job. i only know him by name and have superficial knowledge of his political positions. which are, in my opinion, very irrational and backward to the point of barbarism btw.

even when the overall price you pay will be better than any fiat based gold dealer will give you? why do you think coinabul.com sells gold and silver at such attractive prices?

Perhaps it's something to do with the price dynamic that gold is subject to being even more applicable to the bitcoin price dynamic (i.e. "golder than gold")?

Whadya reckon?

If that's really true (I haven't studied coinabul's pricing), I think it would be good PR for this crowd to promote it as the cheapest way to buy gold.

I've not specifically checked the gold price, but the silver price I have checked. And it appears to be approximately 23% cheaper than what is considered to be a good deal (the comparison wasn't totally direct; coinabul's price was for generic silver pellets and the price I compared it to was for something more processed. I find it hard to believe that pressing the silver into sheets adds 23% ~33% to the price).

Not to mention that if you order to the EU, coinabul currently do not charge sales tax/VAT (not applicable for the Ron Paul event I know, but still useful to know)

Edit: never employ Carlton as a mathematician

I updated the OP with the new information that we will have BITCOIN banners on stage during the concert performance of Tatiana Moroz!

How much is the single going to be selling for? I'd love to get my hands on that.

John-  Thanks for recommending us.  We are excited about this.  The kids think its a lot better than waving Ron Paul signs on the road in a snow storm (they did that last election).

Bit-Pay team:  We are making honey caramels tonight and will ship them to you Saturday morning.

Having bought sheet silver, I don't find it hard to believe at all.

Now you just need to convince her to sing "Silver and Gold and Bitcoin and Hallelujah" :)

spiccioli

I will be there in Tampa!  I'll come and meet you guys there.  Great idea.

I have updated the OP with this annoucement

UPDATE:  BITCOIN is front and center now on their website!  Check it out!


http://paulfestival.org (http://paulfestival.org)

Nice! How much coin do I need to bring for the single FPGA? C'mon give me a hint?

Coinabul is nowhere near the cheapest way to buy gold. I just checked their prices vs the online gold retailer I usually use and Coinabul wants the equivalent of US$100 more for a 1 oz American Eagle. Now if they wanted to have a sale exclusive to Paul Fest and cut their prices for that, I can see that there may be a good bitcoin/coinabul marketing opportunity there.

The price with shipping is $633.  If bitcoins stay around $10 through the weekend, then 63-64 bitcoins should cover it!

Will the fpga be there? I could pick it up no problem. Will there be wifi, or should I bring a paper wallet?

I have one FPGA single, but it is ours and we will be using it to demonstrate mining in the booth for 3 days.  So you can't buy this one! 

Oh, and to think I was gonna get used one at a discount! :P

If I get one, I'll look around. Thanks anyways. Might still show.

We finally got our Paul Festival Specials listed on our website and are also offering it to forum members.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60863.msg1125538#msg1125538 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=60863.msg1125538#msg1125538)

Bump!  Because Bitcoin is digital gold...

https://i.imgur.com/HEeD7.jpg

UPDATE:  Photos from the event - with the bitcoin banner on stage!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/photo2.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/paul1.jpg

In our booth we are showcasing the bitcoin accepting businesses.  And yes, we are mining bitcoins LIVE in our booth!

That gonna be the first time I see a BFL mini rig on photo.

Is it operational?

Amazing, amazing!

https://i.imgur.com/jE5Z2.jpg

Good times, wish I was there.

Mining at the booth.  Pure awesome.

the Single is operational and mining at ~880 MH/s (with the red light on)

The mini-rig is just an empty case, there's no hardware inside :)

Lookin good!  ;D

Just one small nitpick about the booth. It looks like if I'm walking by I'd think "hey, a BitPay booth, not sure what that is...". I wouldn't even see the Bitcoin logo if I didn't stop at the table. Any chance of a banner with a more prominent Bitcoin logo? By now many people may have heard of Bitcoin, so seeing the booth at the PAUL Festival could be a major call to action.

I'm thinking more like this:
http://i.pgu.me/PTBOC4dh_original.jpg

EDIT: or maybe the banner that's on the stage also on the back wall of your booth.

heh, I imagine people gonna ask similar questions alot, better be prepared for it ;)

We have the bitcoin banner ON STAGE with all of the concerts and speakers.  That gets alot more eyeballs than our 10x10 booth :)

Yes, I just added an edit. Any chance of getting the banner size from the stage also on the back wall of your booth (or front of table)? Just so people can know to stop at the booth? I don't know the environment there of course, I'm just thinking it's hard to know we have actual Bitcoin reps there standing by  ;D

Anyone else going to be at the Paul event at the Sun Dome on Sunday?

Don't worry, we've got 3 of the bitcoin polo shirts from CryptoAnarchy.us that we will be wearing tomorrow and Sunday. We've also got Alison's sister in the booth.  There won't be any doubt that bitcoin is here.

Wow, great job!

Awesome!  ;D

Nice booth! Well done...
That cup of coffee sure needs a coffee warmer :-)

The Casascius physical bitcoins and the Bitcoin Magazine have been the top sellers so far!

That makes sense. Thanks for the update!  :)

Do people seem to have heard of Bitcoin?

what ballpark numbers are we talking?

Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson speaking on stage, with the bitcoin banner!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/gary.jpg

Heh, I believe Gary Johnson might have been the first politician to have received a bitcoin (at least the first presidential candidate to have received one):

 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=41892.msg606229#msg606229

Tatiana is performing her concert now. She will be in the Bitcoin booth for a meet & greet after the show!

Her performance at PorcFest last month:

 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xPo2R8Zl58
 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA11ODU1MJ8

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/tati2.jpg

Meet and Greet Tatiana Moroz and Jordan Paige in the bitcoin booth!

We are sold out of Casascius coins.  I need to bring more tomorrow.  Magazines and BeesBros are selling well also. 

wait a minute!  hold on right there!  Alison has a sister?  OMG  :D

Team Bitcoin!  Stephen, Heather, and Tony promoting Bitcoin at Paul Fest

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/group.jpg

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/heather800.jpg

Vette's for Ron Paul!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/vette800.jpg

We sold a bunch of the Casascius bitcoins today and we were accepting credit cards in the booth.  We sold out!  I will have to bring more tomorrow.

The samples from BitPantry and BeeBros were big hits!  

We met some of the RNC Delegates from Oklahoma and Louisiana.  The big C-SPAN bus was there today also.

And incase you are wondering, YES - Heather has a blockchain wallet on her iphone, she has a BitFloor account, and we paid her in bitcoins today and she knows how to use them!

Tomorrow's schedule includes Peter Schiff and Adam Kokesh.  Should be another great day!

Thanks for all of your hard work promoting bitcoin!  I should have sent more stuff!!

And so far during 2 days of Paul Fest, our Butterfly Labs FPGA single has mined 0.4 bitcoins while at the event. 

That's probably not the best way to promote bitcoin right now.  ;D

Why not?  I'd say about 20% of the people coming into our booth were interested in the mining aspect of bitcoin.  They understand that this is the heart of how the distributed architecture of bitcoin actually works.   

I'm just trying to put myself in the shoes of the unknowing bystander, and well "I've earned 4 bucks using this 1000 dollar gadget" isn't that good of an argument.
No need to become defensive... I appreciate your efforts, but just like to play devils advocate once in a while ;)

4 x 365 = 1460

1460 - 1000 = 460

keep on dreaming
But luckily most people know about moores law, you might fool them. (that's not nice though)

But one thing people: Ignore my post I don't wanna derail this thread :)

the FPGA single we have in the booth is $599.  It is this model listed here on the left:

http://www.butterflylabs.com/products/ (http://www.butterflylabs.com/products/)

it makes about 0.35-0.40 bitcoins per 24 hour period, out of the box with no modifications.

Apple is not amused.

I think they should sue everyone who install things they don't want on their iphone!

hehe, they thought about that but received the US banhammer not long after trying and failing to sue the guy who programmed the orginal jailbreak.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/feds-ok-iphone-jailbreaking/

The blockchain wallet is in the Apple App Store now with full send and receive bitcoin functionality. There is no need to jailbreak the phone.

We have helped at least a dozen bitcoin newbies install this App so far this weekend.   And let them buy their first bitcoins.

Hey Bitcoin is great but lets not forget the point here: Ron Paul.  Thanks to all bitcoiners down there at the rally for supporting Ron Paul and having a hope for the future of the USA!

I've never seen so many USans stand for a politician before.  Never seen tens of thousands turning out to see a politician, nor a polititician who continuously demonstrates a factor of 10 more interest than any others in polls, search trends, and turnout at rallys at speeches.  Take a look at all the professionally done animations and support videos for Ron Paul by citizens on their own dime.  There are several pretty decent rap songs about this guy.  Even video games.  I'm not old enough to remember JFK but I think this outpouring of support and love is the biggest seen by any politician perhaps in the history of the nation.       

Has there ever been this kind of support from the populace for any DC politician?  How will these RP folks feel about paying taxes and supporting DC when Dr. Paul is gone?  What do people turn to when hope to save the system from the inside dies?   

Currently live feed from USF sun dome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEmDu1AYA4o 

Thanks for link, I ended up not showing.

Another awesome speech.

Saw the festival at cspan. was good.

Jim Gray, the VP nominee with Gary Johnson, just spent some time in our booth. Nice guy, he's a judge and former prosecutor from Orange County.

Peter Schiff on stage with bitcoin!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/17E4E252-8704-4956-A425-442CFD4A7124-3305-00000342C7BAC2DA.jpg

really what did that man have to say?

Adam Kokesh!  I gave him a physical bitcoin

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g296/tonygal/6477C2A9-4E03-480C-B9E6-E555F99DDC27-3576-00000367E9955739.jpg

Youtube cut/censored that video.

bitpantry is down

and how does one redeem bitcoin paper like those ron paul notes?

Mt. Gox will let you redeem a private key.  So will the Blockchain.info (web wallet).

...and the Armory wallet.

try their backup site

http://btcpantry.com (http://btcpantry.com)

Right, we didn't explain it quite that way...we introduce the hardware by describing how it's what secures the bitcoin network, prevents double spends and enables it to be decentralized.  We then say that for doing this work, they are compensated with bitcoins.  We later tell them that it's colloquially called mining.  Depending on their background we may go into more technical depth.  For many people that had heard of bitcoin but didn't quite "get it", I think this was the explanation they needed to hear to make it finally click.

Sounds like you guys are doing a great job! Thanks!

What do you mean dies? Ron Paul has educated numerous people about the message of Liberty, and raised monetary awareness by explaining the Fed and fiat currency. There are Paul supporting candidates rising to positions of political power all over the country. In a few years the Paul movement will probably control the Republican Party. Things are just getting started.

And there is Rep Justin Amash (R-MI) already in the house, continuing Dr. Paul's fight for Liberty. Just to name one in particular.

The two party system is a symptom of, but not the root of the problem.

The root of the problem is money in politics, amplified by inflationary unconstitutional money. That has resulted in in too much, and the wrong kind of government. The Founders understood the dangers of inflationary unsound money. That's why they mandated only gold and silver could be legal tender in the States. That has never changed.

Unfortunately, we've strayed from the Constitution in many ways, with the monetary aspect being the most insidious. We also have a Congress with decreasing level of intelligence overall. But the trend is reversing. Smart people are getting involved in politics again, and the unconstitutional dollar system is coming to an end.

I believe people will soon return, because they have no choice, to the basics as the country was meant to be, in terms of money, peace (wars are expensive), and liberty.

There will always be a level of corruption. The Founders understood this. That's why they designed the system to have checks and balances on power. Everyone is familiar with the three branches of government -- legislative (Congress), executive (Presidency), judicial (Supreme Court) -- existing for this reason. But what is less known, unfortunately, was the final check they put on government power: money. People start paying political attention when it affects their pockets. With inflationary unsound money you can finance any size government, including the wars, you want because people don't feel it as directly.

Actually I think it's directly THE topic.

Both Ron Paul and Bitcoin are attacking the same problem -- governmental monopoly control over money -- from different ways.

Listen to Gary Johnson's speech at paulfest where he promotes alternative currencies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tLN5NBZ5KU

he's running for President if you didn't know

Gary Johnson gets it. That's the strongest I've heard him embrace Ron Paul's policies. He isn't Ron Paul, but he's the closest you'll get and still be mainstream.

I heard Johnson agree with auditing the Fed, but that's the first time I heard him say he would sign legislation to abolish it.

There is just one large difference IMO between Gary Johnson and Ron Paul, which is understanding of economics and monetary policy.

My directly preceding post explains why that's so key, and this is where Ron Paul shines. Gary Johnson just said in that video he wants to abolish the income tax and replace it with the fair tax. Ron Paul wants to get rid of the income tax and replace it with nothing. Johnson says he wants to balance the budget now because otherwise it will result in a dollar collapse. He doesn't understand economics enough to know that a collapse is imminent regardless.

Gary Johnson talks about pulling out of Afghanistan and ending the wars, but only Ron Paul talks about closing all our military bases around the world and bringing all troops home immediately. In other words, Gary Johnson is Ron Paul a little watered down. Johnson believes in retaining some of the old system. I don't think he realizes just how far off track the country has gotten.

One thing Ron Paul often says is we Americans have to ask ourselves what should the role of government be? If it's to be the policemen of the world and take care of people cradle to grave, then, yes, you have to keep some of the old system, including taxes. That may be a legitimate view, but it's not the view the Founders had.

The root of the problem is not money, it's power. Take the power away, and their money dries up.

I think this interview he was pretty passionate and Ron Paul'esque too, for anyone that wants to see all his views:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnF1cJ1va2E

Gary I believe talked about ENDING the FED, CLOSING MILITARY bases, and cutting MORE out of the budget the first year than Ron Paul, if ron paul only means 1.0 Trillion. There has to be taxes from somewhere and we need to start somewhere. no taxes = no government. People aren't ready for that. They're barely ready for NO income tax and cutting revenue by 30%, changing medicare etc.

Politicans only can do what they can GET AWAY WITH

great point. money is almost directly related to how much power you have or can get, thats why people confuse it

"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws." - Mayer Amschel Rothschild

money = power

yeah yeah...and girls are evil too...
http://www.anvari.org/db/fun/Gender/Proof_that_Girls_are_Evil.jpg

Ron Paul called his 1 trillion a "token" cut. He understood it still wasn't enough. The system is too far out of whack, but as a viable presidential candidate (and perhaps as a medical doctor too) you don't just stop trying to revive the patient, even if you know it's hopeless.


No, that depends on how much government you want.

no taxes = no large government


They were ready for it before 1913 the year the Federal Reserve and income tax began...


That's true. That's why Ron Paul won't be elected president this year. And that's why we will have a crisis before things really change.

yup. just let government accept donations. better government should get more donations

but does that feel like a conflict of interest?

make it illegal for corporations to donate and unlimited personal donations so we can tell who a donation is coming from

yup expect big crisis. if internet still up and government not taking it over,

expect bitcoin to fluorish

Ron Paul also prefers the federal government be funded through excise taxes and non-protectionist tariffs.

Does anyone have a photo of this booth at paulfest?