alright guys. we need to get this coin rolling. If you're holding big bag of coins. Do something to spread the wealth. there are two giveaways happening right now. we need more brainstorming

This coin needs to be distributed fairly around

on the page https://www.mintpal.com/withdrawals  there is no record on withdrawing BTC

on the page https://www.mintpal.com/balances   it showed that my BTC is at pending status

I don't receive email confirmation and the support ticket has not been answered yet.

I did not receive email confirmation so I sent the support a ticket. Got no reply in 2 hours and am still waiting.

With regards to Lloydie's suggestions, I think multipool.us already offers something approximating this arrangement - you mine, choosing what coin, then later you can convert it into BTC.

However, it's a massive leap to go from running a pool like this, to running an exchange for fiat. Any time you interact with fiat, by nature, you're playing it by their rules, and that means regulations and paperwork - most pools (especially the smaller ones of which Vertcoin has correctly encouraged a plurality so far) won't be interested in taking on, or capable of handling, the hassles associated. "Decentralizing exchange to fiat" is much easier said than done; you can't code your way out of this, because what's stopping it isn't a computer problem, it's a regulatory one.

I can't receive the email confirmation of BTC withdrawal from Mintpal so it is still at pending status.

Do you have the same problem with mintpal?

HERE IS MY ADDRESS I HAVE WITHDRAW VTC BUT AFTER 24 HOURS STILL I HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY MONEY.
VjtQDVtFwFZCNQfEPp6s9zcjvU54LLyhpQ   

Re: security.  I think something like localbitcoins could work at the pool level for reputation and number of trades.  The pool would hold the coins and act as mediator at the same time. It can decide to pay the miner or the buyer but not itself.

Having a VTC/USD exchange would be the best thing to do IMO. It will allow the public to buy VTC without first buying BTC, thus removing the fear/distrust of BTC in the process. It'll also allow people like me who are not mining fast enough to get more VTC easily .

I've happily engaged people on mining, some of them get it and some don't, never hurts to try . I don't think it makes sense to explain cryptocurrency to anyone without talking about mining. Where do the coins come from then? I've frequently used the concept of actual (gold/silver) mining to explain it and get a eureka moment.

Apologies if I'm pointing out something obvious:  One of the key strengths of Vertcoin compared to Btc, Ltc and Doge, in my view, is the decentralised pools in Vtc.  It would be good to use this natural competitive advantage to decentralise exchanges somehow.  It would really cement Vtc's position as a coin for ordinary people, where people trade with people and not big businesses (like ASIC companies and big exchanges).

You are spot on! At one point, credit cards were non existent & people got travellers cheques. Today our Canadian dollar bills are half plastic and the banks are informing clients that the Federal Government will be eliminating cheques by 2016. Times change. Expectations change. Cell phones now don't have buttons. Virtual payments will become the norm.

It'll just be a matter of how easy you can make it for people to put money in & use it. And of course feel safe that nobody will be taking it from them. Online banking is likely way less secure than they make it out to be yet people still believe in banks since they've been around 100 years. Silly but that's the way it is.

This is a very early thought/concept: is it possible to setup "exchanges" connected to every Vtc pool? So, the pool will have a bunch of Vtcs sitting in reserves that everyone can see (avoiding mt gox transparency problems).

Miners can elect the percentage they wish to keep and the percentage they wish to make available on the exchange and what crypto they are willing to accept. The percentage made available would be sold by the pool and then paid to the miner in the crypto of their choice.

Over time, miners can also add bank details to accept dollars via the pool/exchange mechanism, to sell Vtc for fiat.

Just an idea. Feel free to point out obvious problems with this setup.  

Tell me if I am wrong:

So far, the only people this coin can well benefit in the near future are the miners. In all other respects (especially as a payment method), is there any way to win the race against BTC and LTC or even gain market shares from them?
Now your counter argument might be: why should we win a race? We can build our own market.
To be honest, do you really think this works? Merchants will accept what is widely adopted. This is BTC. People will accept what is widely adopted. This is BTC. Let's call miners another group in this game. As soon as ASICS conquer the whole market, they will turn to mining VTC. What is happening now?
By thinking through this process, it becomes clear that this must be a reaaaal long term investment (long term in the cryptocurrency world).
You cannot really open successful parallel markets with another cryptocurrency, can you? What is required to put VTC in a really successful position is quite a lot of transition of the whole BTC market to let's say VTC.
Hard to imagine. It will take time to enter the really important industries like retailing and so on. They just got comfortable with BTC and now you enter the door and tell them that there is a better alternative... Wow. So, I think we are very much dependent on the mining advantage. And this will probably take quite some time to convince they many people it needs to make this coin really take off. Wrong?
I hope we get that zerocoin feature implemented as fast as possible.

It's one thing to say that, and entirely another to do so. Vertcoin currently has no non-speculative value. The people who might one day use it have no current interest in it, and won't unless the ASIC Armageddon kicks in. The people who might use it after that are so far away that talking about them makes no sense.

You can't sell average people on Vertcoin because the things that they're interested in don't collide with the things we're interested in.

Yeah I agree with this. If you talk to normal people, you'll hear this a lot.
Here's an idea - go and give some VTC to a friend or relative the next opportunity you get. Don't try to convince them it's not a scam, don't tell them it's not a pyramid scheme if that's what they believe. Just say "I mined some of this, figured I'd give you a bit now while it's cheap - if it goes up a lot, it'll be a nice gift", leave it at that.
I'm going to do it the next opportunity I get.

Marketing focus at this stage has to be directed to the alt coin community. Consider this your b2b. Btc has a head start on the mainstream, let them do the hard work. The next gen (us) will follow.

Glad you had a chuckle.

You did suggest we have a cartoon image.

The spartan image is a meme among vert holders.

Our current market is the alt coin community which recognizes the flaws in Btc, Ltc and the need for anonymity. Everything else will follow, and even then, the marketing has to be done in a competent, professional way. Im sorry, but you are not going to get Mr and Mrs Smith to consider cryptos with just astroboy. There has to be a proven and shown economic incentive for them to adopt it. Vtc will do this, because its the superior product in a new industry.

Not sure why you guys are arguing..

More of everything is good for Vertcion.  More marketing, more memes, more gimmicks, more development, more tech, more blogs, more word of mouth, more viral marketing.

More, more, more.. let's fire on all cylinders!

I think the problem here is that you're trying to sell a product, and Vertcoin is a service. That kind of marketing can work for service brands ("For everything else there's Mastercard") but I really don't see how adding a cute mascot, at this stage, would help in any way. Jingles are for television adverts, "good marketing" is too vague to discuss. What exactly do you propose? Bear in mind you're trying to sell something that doesn't have intrinsic benefits for anyone other than the people mining it. I think Vertcoin's viability rests solely on adoption by miners, at least in these early days. You won't convince them to come with cute or sexy marketing; either they'll see the potential in the gains that the algo provides, or they won't. I'm taking a fairly long view here. Litecoin didn't start out valuable, it became valuable because the mining community adopted it in response to FPGAs/ASICs. The network conditions that kind of situation creates validate the currency, and I hope to see the same for Vertcoin.

That's my take, anyway. I welcome criticism.

Its possible to create an emotional attachment without reverting to cartoonish gimmicks. You mentioned geicko before and i thought that was an unfair comparison. Geicko has been around for nearly 100 years. The gecko campaign has only been around the last ~5 years, long after it solidified itself as a market leader. This is the nature of business. Stand out as a serious contender, gain market share, then work on "hype" marketing.

In regards to Paypal/Google/Yahoo...I remember when they first came out. It wasn't "viral marketing" which drove them to the top, it was the quality of their services. The product spoke for itself. Marketing is needed and is a must, but it has to be based on facts, not gimmicks.