30,000 DVDs to win the Iowa straw poll

[Gigaplex]

Situation
The straw poll for Iowa is in 2 months. Bush won this in 2000 with about 8000 votes. This is an unofficial poll but has a huge impact on the country because it happens so early on. Winning the straw poll in Iowa will get Ron Paul media attention, might start establishing him as a front-runner, would get more donations, would establish him as a viable option to the GOP base, would set the tone for other states.

Solution
Get around 10,000 Iowans to go to the straw poll and vote for Dr. Paul. This project has the additional benefit of creating a huge amount of supporters in Iowa. It may be enough to hit critical mass an ensure a win for Iowa in the primaries.

Strategy
Video seems to be the most effective way to create hardcore Ron Paul supporters. I have personally seen a McCain supporter and a Hillary supporter be converted to Ron Paul supporters through video in Iowa. It seems that most people, if they watch enough video of Ron Paul, become supporters. A flyer or something like that will not motivate most people to drive to a straw poll but a video might. So the idea is to make a DVD that is a compilation of Ron Paul videos, founding father quotes, etc. geared towards Iowa. This has the added benefit that it could be adapted for other states and run through the production line again.

There are three goals of the video:

1. Get people to the straw poll
2. Give them any additional information or instructions that would be helpful such as info about the caucus or the idea of copying the dvd and giving it to friends
3. Get contact information for future use in campaign

Estimation
Enough of these videos would need to be made to get 10,000 people to this poll. The following factors need to be taken into account when determining how many DVDs to make:

• Not all people that get the DVD will watch it
• Some people will watch the DVD and not become supporters
• Some DVDs will reach more than one person
• Some people will go to the poll and vote for Ron without ever having seen the DVD

Here is my rough estimate but keep in mind that this is a very rough estimate and can change:
1) DVDs that are watched by one or more people - 1 in 5
2) people that go to the poll - 1 out of every 5 that watch it
3) people that vote for Ron in the poll without seeing DVD - 1 additional person for every 5 that watch the DVD plus 500 people
4) for videos that are watched, the average number of people that watch it - 4

x = number of dvds
(1/5)(4)(1/5)x + (1/5)(4)(1/5)x + 500 = 10,000 people
x = 29,687.5

Things that will affect this estimation:
The amount of people that vote for him outside of the DVD project will depend on what other activities are going on in Iowa, what kind of media coverage he gets here in the next two months and what kind of attitude the regular gop goers have towards him at the time of the poll so the 500 figure I gave could be way off.

The number of people that watch the dvd that have it will be different depending on how the dvd is distributed. If people are picking it up voluntarily at a starbucks or something like that then most will probably watch it. If you are going house to house giving it to the person who answers the door, that might get less people to watch it and if you are just hanging it on people's doorknobs, that will be even less so distribution will affect this factor quite a bit. Labeling will also affect that factor.

It is unknown how many people will be motivated enough to go to the poll but it has been my experience that the people that like Ron Paul get pretty motivated and we are not asking a lot. There are probably certain stunts that the gop or media could pull to screw with these numbers as well.

Deadlines
Here are some tentative deadlines for the 4 main milestones and how much time is allocated to each:
June 22 - have first DVD (20 days from today)
June 29 - have all replication done (approximately 1 week)
July 31 - have all DVDs distributed (about a month)
August 11 - straw poll (about a week and a half free before this for final preparations)

If this schedule seems tight, that's because it is. There is not a lot of time available but I don't think these are impossible deadlines.

Pricing
A professional DVD replication service would obviously have to be used in order to duplicate this volume of DVDs. These are the prices according to proactionmedia.com:

disc label, no case or sleeve - $0.44 per DVD, $13,200 for 30,000
disc label, with plain white paper sleeve - $0.48 per DVD, $14,400 for 30,000
disc label, in plain white paper sleeve - $0.56 per DVD, $16,800 for 30,000
disc label, case with color printing on front and back plus a color insert - $0.73 per DVD, $21,900 for 30,000

Packaging is an important consideration here. If a professional-looking DVD case with images on the front and back, an insert and the whole deal gets twice as many people to watch it, then that is more cost effective than going with the cheapest option of a plain white paper sleeve. The estimation above was done with the dvd case packaging option in mind.

Current Status (as of 2007-06-02)
The Central Iowa RP Campaign group has only had a pre-meeting meeting so far and so not everyone was present. The big meeting, which will be the first one where everyone will be there, is monday. At this meeting, I will present this plan and see if everyone is willing to help with distribution. I imagine they will be glad to help.

In the meantime, I am doing a bit of probing to see if the funding and expertise is there to make this happen.

Several people have already come forward with funding so that is going very well.

I have been building a website which could be used to get people's contact information if a slide was slipped in on the DVD to point people to it. I could have that operational by the end of the month so we are okay on that.

I need someone handy with photoshop to create the cover, insert, and disc label. I could probably do this but it would severely threaten the deadline.

I need at least one video editor but several is preferred. I have been learning how to do this over the past week but if I had to do this all on my own, that would also severely threaten the deadline.

If you fit any of these roles and are willing to help us win the Iowa straw poll, please contact me immediately. Keep in mind that winning Iowa's straw poll will make your state's straw poll much easier :)

[Bradley in DC]

Truly excellent. I think there are other RP supporters in/near Iowa in other foru and Meetup.com, etc. Hopefully we can organize others to help you out. Also, we can send mailings out to local libraries, at least, perhaps to registered Republicans. Obviously, hand delivered by native Iowans would be best!

[heiwa]

I think this is a great idea too.

Why not ask all of us supporters to make the cd's...

You can get 50 cd's for less than $20. Most people have the capabilities to make cd's on their computers. If you had 400 people make 50 cd's each and donate the $20 - $40 for making the cd's and labels, you could easily cover the cost.

It's a great way for people to make a direct action and within most people's price range.

It won't look as professional, which might seem like a drawback, but in reality it's a big plus because:

- It will offer others like myself who would love to be in Iowa, but can't, a way to contribute.

- It will show the people in Iowa that people all over the country are asking for their vote.

You could even do something like leave a place on the front of the cd for the people who make it to sign it and send best wishes to the recipient.

[Swmorgan77]

Situation
The straw poll for Iowa is in 2 months. Bush won this in 2000 with about 8000 votes. This is an unofficial poll but has a huge impact on the country because it happens so early on. Winning the straw poll in Iowa will get Ron Paul media attention, might start establishing him as a front-runner, would get more donations, would establish him as a viable option to the GOP base, would set the tone for other states.

Solution
Get around 10,000 Iowans to go to the straw poll and vote for Dr. Paul. This project has the additional benefit of creating a huge amount of supporters in Iowa. It may be enough to hit critical mass an ensure a win for Iowa in the primaries.

Strategy
Video seems to be the most effective way to create hardcore Ron Paul supporters. I have personally seen a McCain supporter and a Hillary supporter be converted to Ron Paul supporters through video in Iowa. It seems that most people, if they watch enough video of Ron Paul, become supporters. A flyer or something like that will not motivate most people to drive to a straw poll but a video might. So the idea is to make a DVD that is a compilation of Ron Paul videos, founding father quotes, etc. geared towards Iowa. This has the added benefit that it could be adapted for other states and run through the production line again.

There are three goals of the video:

1. Get people to the straw poll
2. Give them any additional information or instructions that would be helpful such as info about the caucus or the idea of copying the dvd and giving it to friends
3. Get contact information for future use in campaign

Estimation
Enough of these videos would need to be made to get 10,000 people to this poll. The following factors need to be taken into account when determining how many DVDs to make:

• Not all people that get the DVD will watch it
• Some people will watch the DVD and not become supporters
• Some DVDs will reach more than one person
• Some people will go to the poll and vote for Ron without ever having seen the DVD

Here is my rough estimate but keep in mind that this is a very rough estimate and can change:
1) DVDs that are watched by one or more people - 1 in 5
2) people that go to the poll - 1 out of every 5 that watch it
3) people that vote for Ron in the poll without seeing DVD - 1 additional person for every 5 that watch the DVD plus 500 people
4) for videos that are watched, the average number of people that watch it - 4

x = number of dvds
(1/5)(4)(1/5)x + (1/5)(4)(1/5)x + 500 = 10,000 people
x = 29,687.5

Things that will affect this estimation:
The amount of people that vote for him outside of the DVD project will depend on what other activities are going on in Iowa, what kind of media coverage he gets here in the next two months and what kind of attitude the regular gop goers have towards him at the time of the poll so the 500 figure I gave could be way off.

The number of people that watch the dvd that have it will be different depending on how the dvd is distributed. If people are picking it up voluntarily at a starbucks or something like that then most will probably watch it. If you are going house to house giving it to the person who answers the door, that might get less people to watch it and if you are just hanging it on people's doorknobs, that will be even less so distribution will affect this factor quite a bit. Labeling will also affect that factor.

It is unknown how many people will be motivated enough to go to the poll but it has been my experience that the people that like Ron Paul get pretty motivated and we are not asking a lot. There are probably certain stunts that the gop or media could pull to screw with these numbers as well.

Deadlines
Here are some tentative deadlines for the 4 main milestones and how much time is allocated to each:
June 22 - have first DVD (20 days from today)
June 29 - have all replication done (approximately 1 week)
July 31 - have all DVDs distributed (about a month)
August 11 - straw poll (about a week and a half free before this for final preparations)

If this schedule seems tight, that's because it is. There is not a lot of time available but I don't think these are impossible deadlines.

Pricing
A professional DVD replication service would obviously have to be used in order to duplicate this volume of DVDs. These are the prices according to proactionmedia.com:

disc label, no case or sleeve - $0.44 per DVD, $13,200 for 30,000
disc label, with plain white paper sleeve - $0.48 per DVD, $14,400 for 30,000
disc label, in plain white paper sleeve - $0.56 per DVD, $16,800 for 30,000
disc label, case with color printing on front and back plus a color insert - $0.73 per DVD, $21,900 for 30,000

Packaging is an important consideration here. If a professional-looking DVD case with images on the front and back, an insert and the whole deal gets twice as many people to watch it, then that is more cost effective than going with the cheapest option of a plain white paper sleeve. The estimation above was done with the dvd case packaging option in mind.

Current Status (as of 2007-06-02)
The Central Iowa RP Campaign group has only had a pre-meeting meeting so far and so not everyone was present. The big meeting, which will be the first one where everyone will be there, is monday. At this meeting, I will present this plan and see if everyone is willing to help with distribution. I imagine they will be glad to help.

In the meantime, I am doing a bit of probing to see if the funding and expertise is there to make this happen.

Several people have already come forward with funding so that is going very well.

I have been building a website which could be used to get people's contact information if a slide was slipped in on the DVD to point people to it. I could have that operational by the end of the month so we are okay on that.

I need someone handy with photoshop to create the cover, insert, and disc label. I could probably do this but it would severely threaten the deadline.

I need at least one video editor but several is preferred. I have been learning how to do this over the past week but if I had to do this all on my own, that would also severely threaten the deadline.

If you fit any of these roles and are willing to help us win the Iowa straw poll, please contact me immediately. Keep in mind that winning Iowa's straw poll will make your state's straw poll much easier

I'm working on encoding a DVD of about 20 clips including a high-res Bill maher appearance and high-res austin fundraiser speech. I am still trying to get one that comes out without any glitches, when I get a good .ISO I will post.

If I can get your address I will mail a few discs that can be duplicated

[Swmorgan77]

I think this is a great idea too.

Why not ask all of us supporters to make the cd's...

You can get 50 cd's for less than $20. Most people have the capabilities to make cd's on their computers. If you had 400 people make 50 cd's each and donate the $20 - $40 for making the cd's and labels, you could easily cover the cost.

It's a great way for people to make a direct action and within most people's price range.

It won't look as professional, which might seem like a drawback, but in reality it's a big plus because:

- It will offer others like myself who would love to be in Iowa, but can't, a way to contribute.

- It will show the people in Iowa that people all over the country are asking for their vote.

You could even do something like leave a place on the front of the cd for the people who make it to sign it and send best wishes to the recipient.

A widely distributed audio CD is a good idea too. The trick would be covering all of the bases in a short enough time to fit in the time. The other up-side is if people are away from home and they get a CD, they can pop it in their car or computer at work.

[Gigaplex]

Bradley: Yeah, there definitely are a bunch of other supporters here. The meeting on Monday is with the meetup.com people. It's supposed to be like 20 people.

Heiwa: I thought about having people burn the DVDs themselves but it just doesn't seem practical when looking at the unavoidable deadlines. I don't think I could find enough people to get 30,000 DVDs burned and sent to me within the span of only one week. Also, it might be more expensive when taking the labels and cases into account. People could certainly help out though by sending money to the project - every little bit helps. I also need graphics and video people so that I can have a better chance at meeting the deadlines. And maybe the nontechnical people could help with storyboarding. I will have more on that later.

Swmorgan77: It sounds like you are on the ball. I can't wait to see your DVD. An audio CD would be nice to have but I bet the DVD you are making would be even more effective.

[Suzu]

I need someone handy with photoshop to create the cover, insert, and disc label.

You have one volunteer. Contact me by PM.

[Suzu]

A widely distributed audio CD is a good idea too. The trick would be covering all of the bases in a short enough time to fit in the time. The other up-side is if people are away from home and they get a CD, they can pop it in their car or computer at work.

CDs are also cheaper to produce. The difference in cost might allow for a nice jewel case and art for the same cost as DVDs.

And remember, this is Iowa, where there are probably lots of people still without DVD players.

[lonestarguy]

What about the professionally produced "America: Freedom to Fascism."

This video fills in all the gaps about the perilous trajectory the nation faces and of course Ron Paul is in the video. This video, imho, locks in a prospect by truly educating the viewing citizen. It is powerful stuff, friends.

We already have permission by Aaron Russo, the director/producer to make copies.

After a person views this video, if they are truly critically studying this video, there armed with the knowledge that they can never turn to any other standard mainstream candidate. And in this election, Ron Paul stands out not only because of his consistent message, but that a video drives it home in the minds of viewers.

This video can also be viewed on the internet, just google it.

Heck, copies could be going into the hands of voters as we speak if we encourage the local Iowans.

So, the dvd is available. And they can be going into the hands of voters now! But we need to go house to house and gather the citizen's name, mailing address, email addy, telephone number, and voila, we have something we can work with.

Now, certainly it would be nice to have a lovely jacket to put the dvd in. That can be worked on, but we don't have to wait until it is perfected. We can begin getting the dvds out.......TODAY!

Now, I do believe we need some good literature to hand out as well, like a door hanger, to go along with the dvd. There is already a solid one I'm hearing who created a doorhanger that there is a link to at this forum. The creator is "chordchaser" if I'm correct. I'd love to get people's opinion on that. Let me go see if I can go find it, but if someone finds it before me, super!

[Bradley in DC]

In the scientific poll where Dr. Paul has done best so far was the Zogby poll putting Dr. Paul at three percent. Important to note is the democraphic breakdown of that support: Dr. Paul had six percent statewide AMONG WOMEN (with presumable no statistically significant support from NH guys). I think we should bear this in mind in our early propaganda materials. Think Rachel. Think peace. Think respect.

[lonestarguy]

(copied from "Sparx" on the ronpaulforums)

Campaign Literature - Printable Fliers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You may or may not have seen these, but just for everyones reference...

Free downloadable brochures and door hangers made by Chordchaser may be found here:

http://www.myspace.com/chordchaser

Direct blog and links from chordchaser:

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

FREE RON PAUL CAMPAIGN LITERATURE!
Category: News and Politics

Listed below are links to full-color and grayscale versions of Ron Paul campaign brochures and three different door hanger files I created using Adobe Illustrator. The door hanger files each contain 5 different door hangers and instructions for printing. All files are print-ready Adobe Acrobat PDFs. They have Ron's bio, a list of his principles and his views on important issues—and they are 100% free! If you are a Ron Paul support organization and you request it I will customize them with your organization's name, address and URL.

Brochures:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4mxmxxnm3wu
(Full Color File)

http://www.mediafire.com/?3wnkdmokmmz
(Grayscale File)

Door Hangers:
Desktop Printers
http://www.mediafire.com/?3t5dytvdgez
(for desktop printers)

Commercial Printers
http://www.mediafire.com/?azginjzncwy
(for commercial printers—offset)

Commercial Printers with Bleed
http://www.mediafire.com/?60zjmjwoj3d
(for commercial printers—offset with bleed)

P.S. I made a campaign video, posted on youtube, check it out:
Campaign Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Y_I0sxeoc

[lonestarguy]

(copied from chorchaser post himself)

Due to increasing traffic and requests I've created the Ron Paul Graphics Group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RonPaulGraphics/

All artwork I've created is available at this site at no cost. I've also attracted new designers who've been posting their stuff and we are offering brochures, bumper stickers, fliers, tee shirts (including kids tees) and more. If you require technical support to get these print-ready PDF files produced we can help.

—Neal (chordchaser)

[Sojourner]

I'll undertake burning 50 - 100 DVDs for Iowa.

Distributing these DVDs to Iowans who participate in the Ames straw poll is a 'have to' kind of deal.

[heiwa]

Hey GP!

Thanks for the reply. I understand your need for speed - please remember that there are a lot of us willing to help.

Is there any chance you could include a voter registration form with your literature? Just a thought... I know that 30,000 pages adds significantly to the cost. If you have a cd, you could add a printable version there...

Anyway, good work!

Jen

[Dave]

Hey GP!

Thanks for the reply. I understand your need for speed - please remember that there are a lot of us willing to help.

Is there any chance you could include a voter registration form with your literature? Just a thought... I know that 30,000 pages adds significantly to the cost. If you have a cd, you could add a printable version there...

Anyway, good work!

Jen

Good idea. There are pdf files of registration forms from the Iowa Secretary of state here:

http://www.sos.state.ia.us/elections...g_to_vote.html

[denvervoipguru]

While local RP chapters continue their ongoing outreach and education over the next year or so, we CANNOT neglect to apply INCREASED GROUP EFFORT toward election milestones like the IOWA CAUCUS, NH PRIMARY, etc.

Great start on this project.

- Is there any type of DVD media that could store both DVD and audio and play in both DVD or car CD Player?

[Thor]

If Bush won by 8,000, and you are only seeking 10,000 who vote for Ron Paul with this, that margin is not very wide to get a win. If the regular voters turn out, even if he gets 10,000 votes, he might still be behind.

What about doing 50,000 DVD's? I found a place online in a real fast search that will do 50,000 in a paper sleeve for $35,000 (and $28,000 with no sleeve) http://www.nationwidedisc.com I am sure there are others too...

I would also request a high quality 1MB/s or better copy of the final video in quicktime or windows media or whatever to put online in quality higher than YouTube.

I have a website I already registered - rpvod.com (Ron Paul Video on Demand) and I can put the clip on there after I encode it into a high quality but broadband friendly format for flash.

I can get that up in a day. And then anyone can go and watch it it a quality far better than YouTube.

If we could only get email addresses from the GOP for all Republican members in Iowa... hmmm.... they "should" share that info with a Republican candidate, but...

if you want the video in a nice high quality online, get me a copy. PM me.