#OccupyWallStreet Idea - Massive promotion

[payb.tc]

I've changed the exchange pointer to bitcoin.org, and the announcement is now online http://feedtheprotest.com/node/223

that's great!

(slight typo at the bitcoin.org link, where the preceding space is caught up in the href)

also, i took the liberty of creating this link which anyone can verify as correct.

[1714022005]

1714022005

[1714022005]

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[evoorhees]

Okay this idea is moving forward quickly. 

We are likely not going to do a "preloaded" card with money on it... it is more elegant but time and cost issues are a problem (mostly sequential printing, lost donations, etc.)

OperationBitcoin.com or .org will be the landing page where we send people via QR code on a printed business card. Business card will be short and sweet, landing page will be more descriptive, indicating how to claim free btc, get wallet, and other resources.

I encourage any of the interested donors to join our chat. Several of us are in the IRC room #operationbitcoin

[evoorhees]

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DONORS - thread continued here:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=45943.0

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[Littleshop]

How long do you think this protest will last?

[Stephen Gornick]

I didn't see it mentioned,  but I don't think using Instawallet is the best idea for this.
Any Bitcoins at unclaimed URLs will be lost.

Not necessarily.  Keep a list of all addresses that are funded.  Give the card an expiration.  If the Instawallet funds aren't spent by a certain date and time, they get recirculated to a new Instawallet address.

[Litt]

How long do you think this protest will last?

I think it will last for a long time. It's been a long time coming for OccupyWallStreet imo and it's only going to spread to other cities.

This is a golden opportunity for bitcoin. People need to learn that bitcoin is a way to peacefully protest against Wall St. and gradually give the power back to the people.

[LightRider]

#ObsoleteWallStreet

[BitcoinPorn]

reddit up http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/ktz1b/the_occupywallstreet_bitcoin_promotion_people_on/

[Technomage]

We need way more community marketing projects like this one! This is the one thing we've been missing that could make Bitcoin much bigger. I hope this one succeeds and starts a new trend of community marketing projects.

[ineededausername]

When's this project going live?

[RodeoX]

We need way more community marketing projects like this one! This is the one thing we've been missing that could make Bitcoin much bigger. I hope this one succeeds and starts a new trend of community marketing projects.

Agreed. This kind of stuff used to happen all the time here.  Now most people wast their effort making bold, unqualified statements.

[nefanon]

Excellent idea, can't wait to see it launched.

[Litt]

Helping the organization become aware of how to use bitcoin will be vital imo for the movements success more than they realize.
If they stop the flow of donations, it can certainly have a tremendous effect to the growth and survival of the movement.

It's only a matter of time before Paypal and the banks freeze all their funds no different than Wikileaks if they haven't tried already.
This is nothing new and I'm sure many already expect it and even welcome it to fuel the movement even further.

[payb.tc]

a little offtopic, but check this out: http://www.observer.com

Since protestors took up residence in Wall Street's Zuccotti Park on September 17, "Occupy Wall Street" has snowballed from a small Anonymous gathering to a national movement covered by all the major news networks.

it will be awesome if some of those occupywallstreet stories start including a line or two about bitcoin.

(perhaps someone more organised can leave something in the comments section linking back to this bitcoin promo).

[osmosis]

.

[osmosis]

FYI - PayPal troubles seem to be beginning for the occupation: http://feedtheprotest.com/node/219

Why not teach them to accept bitcoin? (feedtheprotest org. that is)

I'm a little confused too since matt aka carbonpenguin has told me he has connections to the people behind it, if it's the technical that's bothering you I'm sure Yifu Guo and his crew will love to help you if you go to the meetup on this Wednesday, he is a bright young man. Also Yifu has made a reddit post on this matter http://redd.it/ktai9

I just convinced the guy doing the tech work on FeedTheProtest to start accepting BTC - I'm writing the text of the post to introduce the concept as well as announce the address. Below is what I've written so far; any suggestions for revisions would be appreciated:

As our [recent experience with PayPal] has all too painfully demonstrated, relying exclusively on corporate payment processing to fund a movement that seeks to undermine corporate power is a risky proposition. As such, we at Feed the Protest have decided to begin accepting donations in Bitcoin, the anonymous open source peer-to-peer currency that was used to help fund Wikileaks when they [faced similar issues]. To learn more about how Bitcoin works, visit [We Use Coins], and, to get your hands on some, the major exchange can be found at https://mtgox.com. It is our hope that the PayPal situation will be resolved soon, but we can be certain that all Bitcoin payments will, in fact, go through. Send your Bitcoins to: [XXXXXXX]

This could be an issue. Im getting back from lots of people, "is that feedtheprotest trustworthy?   i.e., how do we know it isn't feedthescammer?"  Is there some way they could verify what they are doing?

[carbonpenguin]

FYI - PayPal troubles seem to be beginning for the occupation: http://feedtheprotest.com/node/219

Why not teach them to accept bitcoin? (feedtheprotest org. that is)

I'm a little confused too since matt aka carbonpenguin has told me he has connections to the people behind it, if it's the technical that's bothering you I'm sure Yifu Guo and his crew will love to help you if you go to the meetup on this Wednesday, he is a bright young man. Also Yifu has made a reddit post on this matter http://redd.it/ktai9

I just convinced the guy doing the tech work on FeedTheProtest to start accepting BTC - I'm writing the text of the post to introduce the concept as well as announce the address. Below is what I've written so far; any suggestions for revisions would be appreciated:

As our [recent experience with PayPal] has all too painfully demonstrated, relying exclusively on corporate payment processing to fund a movement that seeks to undermine corporate power is a risky proposition. As such, we at Feed the Protest have decided to begin accepting donations in Bitcoin, the anonymous open source peer-to-peer currency that was used to help fund Wikileaks when they [faced similar issues]. To learn more about how Bitcoin works, visit [We Use Coins], and, to get your hands on some, the major exchange can be found at https://mtgox.com. It is our hope that the PayPal situation will be resolved soon, but we can be certain that all Bitcoin payments will, in fact, go through. Send your Bitcoins to: [XXXXXXX]

This could be an issue. Im getting back from lots of people, "is that feedtheprotest trustworthy?   i.e., how do we know it isn't feedthescammer?"  Is there some way they could verify what they are doing?

I will actually be heading back down to NYC from tuesday-thursday for the express purpose of (a) organizing some people on the ground to do regular updates and (b... and most exciting to me) getting the Officer Accountability Project database fleshed out. The announcement of the latter project can be found here: http://feedtheprotest.com/node/224 and we have a few sample profiles. What I will be doing is trying to get a relatively complete catalog of the "white shirts," with the ultimate goal of creating a time-line of the behavior of each of the officers that is easily searchable (so new instances of police violence can be rapidly contextualized and compared with previous behaviors). This is the project that has been taking up most of Kevin's (the tech lead) time over the past few days, but now that we've got the back end in place it should be ready for rapid expansion when I get down there. If you want your bitcoins supporting other elements of the movement, by all means send them to where you feel most comfortable, but I believe we're doing pretty important work.

Also, as I'll be down on Wednesday, I will try to make the BTC meet-up, so long as there is not anything urgent going down in Liberty Plaza at that time. If anyone wants to get together and compare notes at any other point while I'm down there, drop a pm, and I'll send you my cell phone #...

[osmosis]

I will actually be heading back down to NYC from tuesday-thursday for the express purpose of (a) organizing some people on the ground to do regular updates and (b... and most exciting to me) getting the Officer Accountability Project database fleshed out. The announcement of the latter project can be found here: http://feedtheprotest.com/node/224 and we have a few sample profiles. What I will be doing is trying to get a relatively complete catalog of the "white shirts," with the ultimate goal of creating a time-line of the behavior of each of the officers that is easily searchable (so new instances of police violence can be rapidly contextualized and compared with previous behaviors). This is the project that has been taking up most of Kevin's (the tech lead) time over the past few days, but now that we've got the back end in place it should be ready for rapid expansion when I get down there. If you want your bitcoins supporting other elements of the movement, by all means send them to where you feel most comfortable, but I believe we're doing pretty important work.

Also, as I'll be down on Wednesday, I will try to make the BTC meet-up, so long as there is not anything urgent going down in Liberty Plaza at that time. If anyone wants to get together and compare notes at any other point while I'm down there, drop a pm, and I'll send you my cell phone #...

This sounds really good. My suggestion is, from your website you need a section called "Where your donations go to" and list of these details and more, in an as organized and exact professional manner as possible. This is the primary thing you could do to encourage doner confidence.

[carbonpenguin]

I will actually be heading back down to NYC from tuesday-thursday for the express purpose of (a) organizing some people on the ground to do regular updates and (b... and most exciting to me) getting the Officer Accountability Project database fleshed out. The announcement of the latter project can be found here: http://feedtheprotest.com/node/224 and we have a few sample profiles. What I will be doing is trying to get a relatively complete catalog of the "white shirts," with the ultimate goal of creating a time-line of the behavior of each of the officers that is easily searchable (so new instances of police violence can be rapidly contextualized and compared with previous behaviors). This is the project that has been taking up most of Kevin's (the tech lead) time over the past few days, but now that we've got the back end in place it should be ready for rapid expansion when I get down there. If you want your bitcoins supporting other elements of the movement, by all means send them to where you feel most comfortable, but I believe we're doing pretty important work.

Also, as I'll be down on Wednesday, I will try to make the BTC meet-up, so long as there is not anything urgent going down in Liberty Plaza at that time. If anyone wants to get together and compare notes at any other point while I'm down there, drop a pm, and I'll send you my cell phone #...

This sounds really good. My suggestion is, from your website you need a section called "Where your donations go to" and list of these details and more, in an as organized and exact professional manner as possible. This is the primary thing you could do to encourage doner confidence.

That's an excellent suggestion - I will be seeing Kevin tomorrow and will try to flesh something out and have it up by tomorrow evening...

[Gabi]

Nice job!