Ron Paul blimp needs $70000 by tomorrow!

[buffalokid777]

1.) The blimp is NOT cost effective vs the Ron Paul Air corps.

2.) A superbow commercial will reach more than the blimp than the aircorps.

As great a novelty the blimp is the aircorps are a much better investment....

How much money and days wasted have been due to bad weather where the blimp can't fly, I look at the Flight Plan for the blimp and see day after wasted day...due to maintence or weather....

It has run it course....

Donate to the MLK Free at last money bomb 1st

The Ron Paul Aircorps second....

And beg the campaign to spend the money on a superbowl spot....

 

[Mckarnin]

You already said it will fly for the time purchased, so it doesn't need 70,000 dollars. It will fly longer with more money, obviously, but it doesn't need it.

The current contractual month ends tomorrow, the 18th of January. The additional money we have now would get us a few more days but not to Florida.

 

[NJ Carlos]

IMHO, the blimp is a money leak. Yea, it's a cute idea that hits the local news...but do people actually follow up and go look into his positions? The blimp is akin to handing out DVDs: people may have intentions to look into it, but it eventually gets set aside. Advertising needs to be PRO-ACTIVE. Why do you think direct-marketing is king? You ask anyone who is a direct-marketer (whether it be opt-in or co-reg e-mail, snail mail, specific TV venues), and you will see targeting in marketing is SUCCESS. At this point, the blimp is only flying along the eastern coast if I'm not mistaken, while we should be directing funds to NV where Paul is seeing some strong support.

Also, looking at the transparency, I see some unfair use of the money. If the staff is only manning the blimp why do they need to earn $2k/mo each, burning a total of $10,000/mo? Even if they were off work for 3 or 4 months, that isn't a good use of money. Why are they profiting off this operation when others are donating and putting money OUT. Some are taking time off work to canvass in other states, with only some Chip-in money that hardly covers the costs. They can't be kind enough to give up their time without making more than minimum wage in NJ? Also, what is the necessity of streaming video? How many viewers are watching? Is there any performance-based analysis going on or are they frivolously tossing money into whatever seems appealing at the time?

 

[Mckarnin]

IMHO, the blimp is a money leak. Yea, it's a cute idea that hits the local news...but do people actually follow up and go look into his positions? The blimp is akin to handing out DVDs: people may have intentions to look into it, but it eventually gets set aside. Advertising needs to be PRO-ACTIVE. Why do you think direct-marketing is king? You ask anyone who is a direct-marketer (whether it be opt-in or co-reg e-mail, snail mail, specific TV venues), and you will see targeting in marketing is SUCCESS. At this point, the blimp is only flying along the eastern coast if I'm not mistaken, while we should be directing funds to NV where Paul is seeing some strong support.

Also, looking at the transparency, I see some unfair use of the money. If the staff is only manning the blimp why do they need to earn $2k/mo each, burning a total of $10,000/mo? Even if they were off work for 3 or 4 months, that isn't a good use of money. Why are they profiting off this operation when others are donating and putting money OUT. Some are taking time off work to canvass in other states, with only some Chip-in money that hardly covers the costs. They can't be kind enough to give up their time without making more than minimum wage in NJ? Also, what is the necessity of streaming video? How many viewers are watching? Is there any performance-based analysis going on or are they frivolously tossing money into whatever seems appealing at the time?

Is minimum wage in NJ really less than $1.91 an hour?

K

 

[NJ Carlos]

Is minimum wage in NJ really less than $1.91 an hour?

K

Where are you getting that number from? If anything they should be compensated for a normal day at work, which is 8 hours. Last I checked minimum wage in NJ was $6.50 or $6.75 and was on it's way up to $7.00. At that rate, an average worker receiving $7.25 (as most small stores like delis, supermarkets, etc, start at this rate) will make $290 a week on a 5 day work week before taxes, That's $1,160/mo before taxes. I can't see how we should be paying for time OTHER than a typical 8 hour work day. Hell, I'd love to commission some coders to throw together GPS coordinate plotting, some crew, and fly around in a blimp for $500/wk. Where do I sign up? But in all seriousness, if I WAS involved, I would be donating all money that I didn't spend to eat/drink/sleep back to the operation. Personally, I believe that's the honorable thing to do...

 

[NJ Carlos]

I'd like to note: they initially were paying that staff of 5 $1,500/wk EACH. I'm sure they caught some flack and took it down a notch. Problem is they didn't take it down ENOUGH.

 

[Taco John]

The blimp has not come anywhere near close to meeting expectations. There is virtually ZERO media coverage. We got more coverage leading up to it's launch than all the time it has now been in the air.

"Just come home"

.

Incorrect. The Blimp draws a lot of coverage. Especially local, grassroots coverage.

 

[NJ Carlos]

Just wanted to clarify my whole point, and that is they are making $12.50/hr for riding in a blimp and *some* media relations. Additionally, these men have volunteered to do this, we are not forcing them, therefore we should not feel obligated to pay their time-off. If they can't afford to do it, don't volunteer. I'd gladly take their place for $1000 or even $500/mo.

 

[Mckarnin]

Where are you getting that number from? If anything they should be compensated for a normal day at work, which is 8 hours. Last I checked minimum wage in NJ was $6.50 or $6.75 and was on it's way up to $7.00. At that rate, an average worker receiving $7.25 (as most small stores like delis, supermarkets, etc, start at this rate) will make $290 a week on a 5 day work week before taxes, That's $1,160/mo before taxes. I can't see how we should be paying for time OTHER than a typical 8 hour work day. Hell, I'd love to commission some coders to throw together GPS coordinate plotting, some crew, and fly around in a blimp for $500/wk. Where do I sign up? But in all seriousness, if I WAS involved, I would be donating all money that I didn't spend to eat/drink/sleep back to the operation. Personally, I believe that's the honorable thing to do...

I am the project manager for the Ron Paul Blimp. I am married, have two children and bills to pay and I have been working 16-18 hour days since December 1st. I put some work I do as an Independent Contractor on hold for December and January so I could dedicate all my time to this project.

I have responded to and written thousands of emails answering questions and coordinating the people on this project, I am on two phones throughout the day and researching and pursuing anything/everything/anyone we need to operate. I also help update the blog. I am located in Pittsburgh, PA am not with the blimp, have never been with the blimp and am not likely to be. I agreed to wait until the blimp took off to start collecting my $500 a week as a sign of good faith which means that I "made" close to $1,500 in December (which I was just paid the first $1k of) which comes to $2.94 an hour. That is before I subtract any expenses like extra cell time and office supplies. I do not feel bad at all about accepting that amount of money for my work.

Those who are with the blimp are not living it up and to be honest being with the blimp on a regular basis is just as draining as canvassing or anything else that requires long hours of discomfort in cold temperatures (no heat in the blimp) and being away from home. In addition the blimp moves so the folks on the ground are driving or in cars much of the time when transiting. It is not glamorous and they have to work ridiculous hours to get online tasks done late at night when they aren't on the road or in the blimp (where mobile broadband is "iffy" at best).

 

[Mckarnin]

1.) The blimp is NOT cost effective vs the Ron Paul Air corps.

2.) A superbow commercial will reach more than the blimp than the aircorps.

As great a novelty the blimp is the aircorps are a much better investment....

How much money and days wasted have been due to bad weather where the blimp can't fly, I look at the Flight Plan for the blimp and see day after wasted day...due to maintence or weather....

It has run it course....

Donate to the MLK Free at last money bomb 1st

The Ron Paul Aircorps second....

And beg the campaign to spend the money on a superbowl spot....

2 days out of 7 are down days for maintenance and a crew break...we try to time them to coordinate with bad weather so we just use the two a week.

 

[ValidusCustodiae]

I am the project manager for the Ron Paul Blimp. I am married, have two children and bills to pay and I have been working 16-18 hour days since December 1st. I put some work I do as an Independent Contractor on hold for December and January so I could dedicate all my time to this project.

I have responded to and written thousands of emails answering questions and coordinating the people on this project, I am on two phones throughout the day and researching and pursuing anything and everything we need. I also help update the blog. I am located in Pittsburgh, PA am not with the blimp, have never been with the blimp and am not likely to be. I agreed to wait until the blimp took off to start collecting my $500 a week as a sign of good faith which means that I "made" close to $1,500 in December (which I was just paid the first $1k of) which comes to $2.94 an hour. That is before I subtract any expenses like extra cell time and office supplies. I do not feel bad at all about accepting that amount of money for my work.

Those who are with the blimp are not living it up and to be honest being with the blimp on a regular basis is just as draining as canvassing or anything else that requires long hours of discomfort in cold temperatures (no heat in the blimp) and being away from home. In addition the blimp moves so the folks on the ground are driving or in cars much of the time when transiting. It is not glamorous and they have to work ridiculous hours to get online tasks done late at night when they aren't on the road or in the blimp (where mobile broadband is "iffy" at best).

I, for one, appreciate all your hard work and believe you deserve every penny of your salary. The Blimp is a huge success, has been well worth the investment, and even if it does not fly on has done an amazing job of spreading Ron Paul's name and message. It has set a great precedent and showed us how we can get around unconstitutional campaign finance laws. It has been a great way of fighting back against the establishment.

To those who think that the blimp team has been anything less than diligent and forthright, you're entitled to think that way. I, for one, applaud the service of the blimp team AND the blimp CREW and everyone else involved for making this happen. You guys RULE!

 

[NJ Carlos]

I am the project manager for the Ron Paul Blimp. I am married, have two children and bills to pay and I have been working 16-18 hour days since December 1st. I put some work I do as an Independent Contractor on hold for December and January so I could dedicate all my time to this project.

I have responded to and written thousands of emails answering questions and coordinating the people on this project, I am on two phones throughout the day and researching and pursuing anything and everything we need. I also help update the blog. I am located in Pittsburgh, PA am not with the blimp, have never been with the blimp and am not likely to be. I agreed to wait until the blimp took off to start collecting my $500 a week as a sign of good faith which means that I "made" close to $1,500 in December (which I was just paid the first $1k of) which comes to $2.94 an hour. That is before I subtract any expenses like extra cell time and office supplies. I do not feel bad at all about accepting that amount of money for my work.

Those who are with the blimp are not living it up and to be honest being with the blimp on a regular basis is just as draining as canvassing or anything else that requires long hours of discomfort in cold temperatures (no heat in the blimp) and being away from home. In addition the blimp moves so the folks on the ground are driving or in cars much of the time when transiting. It is not glamorous and they have to work ridiculous hours to get online tasks done late at night when they aren't on the road or in the blimp (where mobile broadband is "iffy" at best).

Thank you, you are a true help to the cause... but you're in fact missing my point. This is further demonstrated by the fact you are living at home and not on the road, which is understandably much more cumbersome. You feel as though since you felt it in your heart to volunteer, that you should be paid for your services? Does this not completely nullify the point of volunteering? Most individuals that volunteer are paid only for survival necessities like food and lodging. Additionally, you are paying a *salary* to a web designer, who I'm confident does not work 16-18 hours a day on that web site as it is far from professional grade and could be commissioned through a bid contract on rentacoder.com ...

I just can't reiterate enough that you are volunteering your time and money to this cause, and so to throw that in the face of supporters is wrong and immoral. You have in fact just convinced me to *not* donate $50 to the blimp's $70k deficit and instead direct it to Dr. Paul's official campaign. I'd love to debate this for hours on end, but if you can't reconcile the difference between voluntarism and employment, my efforts to convey any sort of opinion are ultimately futile.

 

[NJ Carlos]

Are your employers, as a company, logging all time? I'd like to see time logs of this 16 to 18 hours a day work schedule. Would be appreciated for *transparency's* sake.

 

[ValidusCustodiae]

Are your employers, as a company, logging all time? I'd like to see time logs of this 16 to 18 hours a day work schedule. Would be appreciated for *transparency's* sake.

Time logs? Are you serious? I could see if they were being paid hourly... they're being paid a salary to perform a job function. This woman has tried to make the point that she could not have afforded to do all she has done for the blimp if she wasn't getting paid anything for it. We're talking about a mother trying to help support a family in one of the rottenest economies we've had in a long time. She's willing to devote herself to this project and deserves to be paid for it, that's my 2 cents.

 

[CriticalThinker]

Dude - i am SOOOOO tapped

 

[NJ Carlos]

Time logs? Are you serious? I could see if they were being paid hourly... they're being paid a salary to perform a job function. This woman has tried to make the point that she could not have afforded to do all she has done for the blimp if she wasn't getting paid anything for it. We're talking about a mother trying to help support a family in one of the rottenest economies we've had in a long time. She's willing to devote herself to this project and deserves to be paid for it, that's my 2 cents.

Actually if this company wants to be financially sound, yes, it needs to keep logs of employee time. By their own definition, they are an advertising company. You seem to take her side so readily, yet overlook the fact that Katherine Memole is a true volunteer. I also have not been able to find Mckarnin on the transparency page of RonPaulBlimp.com -- are you receiving $500/wk as well? If so, I'm not understanding why there is no mention of it.

Just a question though, has anyone started forming an audit committee? I'd be interested to hear their evaluation.

 

[buffalokid777]

2 days out of 7 are down days for maintenance and a crew break...we try to time them to coordinate with bad weather so we just use the two a week.

At 300,000$ a month to operate the blimp that is $20,000 a week....$80,000 a month when the blimp isn't flying....THAT IS BEING WASTED......PER MONTH OF OPERATION.

I loved seeing the Blimp take flight for the first time...it IS novel, it IS an idea outside the box...it IS NOT cost effective vs' alternative methods.

The Ron paul air corps is not restrained by weather, is MUCH cheaper....$300,000 would get us MANY more hours of flight time.

The Only downside to Aircorps....is the banner isn't quite as big. Save the money...fly lower.

the goal of the Ron Paul Aircorps is 300 hours flight time for a cost of $120,000

If the blimp is in the air 5 of 7 days a week at a cost of $300,000 a month.

I figure 8 hours a day of flytime. So for 28 days Only 20 would be spent in Flight.

Compare the cost ratio.

The Ron Paul Aircorps is much more cost effective. Twice the flight hours for less than half the price without having to be grounded by weather in most situations.

I'll say again, I loved the idea of the blimp...but it has run it's course, Airplanes and helicoptors pulling banners are much more cost effective and not limited by cold weather states and can be in multiple cities at onec...ie....super tuesday.

 

[NJ Carlos]

At 300,000$ a month to operate the blimp that is $20,000 a week....$80,000 a month when the blimp isn't flying....THAT IS BEING WASTED......PER MONTH OF OPERATION.

Actually $350,000/mo and that doesn't include financial commitments to the "volunteer staff."

 

[buffalokid777]

Actually $350,000/mo and that doesn't include financial commitments to the "volunteer staff."

Do the math....

Ron Paul Blimp 160 Flight Hours $350,000.

Ron Pauil Aircorps 300 Flight Hours $120,000.

The Aircorps can fly over 3 different cities at the same time.

The Blimp can only be over 1 city at a time.

I loved the blimp...it was really great!

But we must always improve and adapt.

The Aircorps I think will have the same effectiveness as the blimp.

I remember the reactions of people seeing the aircorps go over cedar rapids and the camera phone pics. They seemed to have the same enthusiastic responses as the people who seen the blimp. The only difference is using planes and copters is MUCH cheaper.

The blimp has been spending time over South Carolina lately. If RP pulls a surprise win in SC, I'll eat my words and say the blimp is worth the higher cost than the Aircorps....but if the results in SC are similar to Iowa for RP....I say the using planes and copters instead of the blimp is a no brainer. covering 3 cities at once per day before super tuesday is better than having 1 blimp in 1 city per day.

Decentralized aerial advertising

 

[NJ Carlos]

I agree... have you looked into these guys for Florida primary:



Another company: www.myspace.com/skyspotadvertising Skyspot Advertising, LLC.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV3J6n-LtB0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2JIt88ieu8