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Members Projects 2.0


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#1 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 08:14 AM


Hi all,

What an amazing push by the people we rely the most heavily here! Thanks for putting such a tremendous showing on. Now that the first phase is all but over and we have attained the goal we set for ourselves of over 2000 nominations and have a tremendous chance of making it to the Top 25, we need to develop the next phase a bit.

I have to apologize if the Methuselah Foundation has been largely absent from this conversation that has developed around the Members Projects effort here but as you have probably rightly guessed we have been very busy. I for instance have been manually updating our home page with the new stats at every opportunity. I have followed the distance to the next leader and watched us overtake the 20th spot and we are now at #19. It appears everyone is keeping pace with each other in our end and barring something unforseen, I do believe we will have more to talk about in the near future and that is what this thread is for.

In the wild-and-wooley days of Round 1, we learned a lot, both on how to deal with the sponsoring organization (for one thing they want to keep a low profile in their association with potential "fulfilling organizations".) You may not know this, but they get to PICK the organization that fulfills the winning project, so the Foundation is not even guaranteed that they would get the job. If in the application you actually specify who that organization has to be, that may be grounds for not selecting your project. Interesting twist. So I just mention this so that we can understand that there may need to be some modification to our approach as we move forward to accommodate new information. We want to make sure that our efforts get the best chance possible of being effective.

So that's about it for now regarding the next phase. Please PM me or MFURI Director alias kmoody if you're interested in being involved in some of the planning and strategies that the Foundation will be undertaking for maximum online social networking effectiveness and make this thread the place for that discussion.

Thanks!

Kevin

Edited by kevin, 01 September 2008 - 08:17 AM.


#2 kismet

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 03:01 PM

How does round 2 look like? So we can still make it? I thought it was over if we didn't get into the top 5 now.

#3 brokenportal

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 05:51 PM

If MF has social networking gurus to help with round two, and I assume will be throwing some money behind the efforts then that should about do it.

The odds are now 1 in 5.

I was reading through the top projects and I think that a lot of them are padded down with votes. They have tons of votes, relatively obscure ideas, and few comments and discussion going on in their projects. I forsee 6 or 7 teams probably being disqualified for that.

We have a ton of comments, so we stick out. I was listening to that Edward Skloots bio and he seems to emphasize that a clear cut shiningly rhetorically concise project will be given more consideration. I was thinking that anything that the current wording may lack in that department could be over come through much more clear and straight forward wording in advertisement made surrounding it, and in discussion at the members project site. So if you can make clear comments like that then consider doing that. As for an idea of the wording they are looking for, I would look at last years winning teams. I noticed a theme in how they were worded. I would follow that if possible.

I encourage everybody to continue to read through the AE Project page and continue to look for little quircks and things we may be able to use to help get the advisory panel to take notice. Ill be continuing to do so and chat here in the forums and at meetings.

MF is best equiped to finish it off, lets run all of our action through Kevin and Kelsey and Mind from here on out, such as this purchasing of ad space. Of course brain storming in the mean time will yeild some good fruit so lets continue to meet to keep that up.

Edited by brokenportal, 01 September 2008 - 07:00 PM.


#4 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 05:56 PM

How does round 2 look like? So we can still make it? I thought it was over if we didn't get into the top 5 now.


Nope.. now the hard part comes along. Round 2 is only open to card-holders (obviously the "sponsoring organization" would like to see as many new card members sign up as possible and use this as a strategy for doing so.. pretty slick.. btw.. I'm avoiding the use of the Am*x word deliberately as I would like to keep these conversations low profile)

One question I have is I'm not sure if they continue to count votes accumulated in Round 1 towards the final total or if we start fresh and have to go back to the original supporters with cards and see if they can go through another round of voting.

I'm also thinking that, at least in my town, it may be worth setting up some kiosk in a mall close to a university with a wireless connected laptop and very clear instructions for signing up. I'm not sure about the next round being that amenable to email solicitation and that a targeted effort to 'real' people might be something to try.

From a social networking perspective, a start might be in listing the number of different sites and friendly blogs that we are aware of and we definitely will need to include the planning of our marketing and creative people at the MF to ensure that our messaging is clear and consistent so we come across as professional and able to execute a demanding project concisely. I have to stress that Kelsey is ultimately the man to make the decision on when and where to pull the trigger on these things as we certainly need to coordinate with the efforts going on in other groups including the MF chapters in NY, SF and LA, which in themselves may be great on the ground assets.

I look very much forward to seeing this beast evolve... thanks again everyone..especially bp!

Kevin

#5 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 06:09 PM

If MF has social networking gurus to help with round two, and I assume will be throwing some money behind the efforts then that should about do it.

The odds are now 1 in 5.

I was reading through the top projects and I think that a lot of them are padded down with votes. They have tons of votes, relatively obscure ideas, and few comments and discussion going on in their projects. I forsee 6 or 7 teams probably being disqualified for that.

We have a ton of comments, so we stick out. I was listening to that Edward Skloots bio and he seems to emphasize that a clear cut shiningly rhetorically concise project will be given more consideration. I was thinking that anything that the current wording may lack in that department could be over come through much more clear and straight forward wording in advertisement made surrounding it, and in discussion at the members project site. So if you can make clear comments like that then consider doing that. As for an idea of the wording they are looking for, I would look at last years winning teams. I noticed a theme in how they were worded. I would follow that if possible.

I encourage everybody to continue to read through the American Express Members Project page and continue to look for little quircks and things we may be able to use to help get the advisory panel to take notice. Ill be continuing to do so and chat here in the forums and at meetings.

MF is best equiped to finish it off, lets run all of our action through Kevin and Kelsey and Mind from here on out, such as this purchasing of ad space. Of course brain storming in the mean time will yeild some good fruit so lets continue to meet to keep that up.


Yes BP.. we do have some social networking heavy weights including Roger Holzberg who was a top Disney online marketing exec as well as a couple of other very experienced individuals in our camp. This has effectively now become a target for our meagre resources in finances and attention such as they are. The potential for MFURI and by extension these types of activities is dramatic and was something I understood when I suggested putting it up for nomination what seems like months ago now. Both Renaud and Kelsey have been instrumental in setting this up and putting flesh on its bones so that it can stand for nomination and ideally should be involved as much as possible.

Your odds are encouraging.. :)

Considering that we have a third the votes of the leader, we are at least within dreaming distance! With the right type of approach for getting actual card holders to vote we may be able to make the top 5.

Yes.. !! let's certainly brainstorm! The meeting that was scheduled for today is a great start. Mind mentioned you may not be there Eric.. which would.. suck. Are you available?

The MF needs to become more involved to keep things steady and provide consistent and effective ways to coordinate and channel enthusiasm, but the ideas and effort belong to those who feel passionate about the Mission.. as it always has been and always will be. We hope we can live up to the responsibility and provide some resources and clear direction as we ramp up our efforts to approach Round 2. As always we rely on the vision we share and the strength of the conviction that we can help our aging and suffering fellows.

KP

#6 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 06:23 PM

UStream Chat Thread:

4PM CDT, Monday, Sept 1

http://www.imminst.o...mp;#entry260761

Edited by kevin, 01 September 2008 - 07:10 PM.


#7 brokenportal

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 06:25 PM

I dont think the votes from round 1 card members will be counted in round 2 because people could vote for more than one project in round 1. Although they might because maybe more than 1 can be voted on in round 2 also. It sure would help, because like people are saying, I dont know how easy it is going to be to prod people into voting twice. Youll know that the ones that do are sincere in their support of the project though, so maybe the advisors take that into account.

That kiosk idea is a great idea. Do you have substantial ground support that is willing? Would anybody around here be willing to do that? I dont have a lap top myself. School is starting up so that can probably be harnessed. Maybe if you give out pencils and keep a stack of university maps at your station or something. Maybe people could even give away ending aging books at that time or something as a double promotion.

I did all my recruiting in myspace and off of my contacts list and emails found by googling 'bio engineering undergraduate coordinator contact'. Do you think it would be a good idea to compile our contacts list in one place for MFs promotional outreach?

Your right about the clear consistent proffesional messaging. Im glad your here for that because now we dont have to worry about it. If we can get all the cogs in the beast synchronized it will be well equiped to keep the seeds planted in this fertile meme we've prepared all these years sprouting. I dont know about you guys but Ide step out on a limb and say I see a very large harvest coming in around a year from now.

#8 brokenportal

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 06:31 PM

Also, about your concern from the other thread. These are pretty searchable. Imminst is on page two of google when searching for members project. Ill keep the wording obscure too but Im not sure if it will help. Nor am I quite sure if its necessary, I thought about it too, but they will be expecting people to stratagize right? They may even be impressed the more legit strategizing they may find.

#9 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 06:42 PM

Also, about your concern from the other thread. These are pretty searchable. Imminst is on page two of google when searching for members project. Ill keep the wording obscure too but Im not sure if it will help. Nor am I quite sure if its necessary, I thought about it too, but they will be expecting people to stratagize right? They may even be impressed the more legit strategizing they may find.



Agreed. I'm sure they can appreciate these things don't pop out of nowhere however I always feel more comfortable publicly revealing plans as they become more fully formed rather than the messy mindmeld that often can give the impression that people are flailing. But I think that if anyone gives an impression of organized chaos, it is the fractally generated information patterns emanating from ImmInst.. :)

I'm thinking we may need some private non-searchable threads for some items which if they can be accomplished here would be great.

Mind, is this possible to create such a set up and place this thread in that forum for more discrete discussion? We can start a 'public/members' thread elsewhere where we can put our more fleshed out thoughts.. does this make sense?

KP

Edited by kevin, 01 September 2008 - 06:43 PM.


#10 JMorgan

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 08:02 PM

Phase 2 starts completely over. Cardmembers will place one vote for the best project out of the top 25. (Non-cardmembers are still encouraged to participate in the discussion boards which WILL be important when the advisory board chooses the top 5.) So, yes, we will need to contact everyone who we've previously contacted and get them to come back again (after 9/9/08).

It's worth checking out their very extensive FAQ and terms pages, which are pretty easy to find from the home page. I won't post the link in the interest of maintaining a low profile.

#11 brokenportal

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 08:04 PM

If you guys are going to meet in ustream today for the MFURI meeting, Mind wont be here, and Ill be gone for the day too. Im leaving now. Ill be looking forward to updates and stuff though.

#12 kevin

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Posted 01 September 2008 - 11:41 PM

If you guys are going to meet in ustream today for the MFURI meeting, Mind wont be here, and Ill be gone for the day too. Im leaving now. Ill be looking forward to updates and stuff though.


Well we did have a brief meeting in UStream. It was great to connect real-time with dnamechanic who I've known and has been an MF supporter since the beginning of time! Others came along later, but we missed them as I had to go for an appointment. Still, I think without having bp there as well as Mind, it was justifiably a short session. If we want to be productive, we will need to have Eric there and some clear points to discuss.

At this point the way forward as I see it is to:

1) Finish off Round 1 with as many votes as possible and retain our position in the top 25. We've been as high as 19 and have now dropped with a relatively comfortable lead to 21 but things can go south if we don't continue to solicit people in these few remaining hours. I myself am going to visit my family and get ALL of them to sign up at dinner time! We'll see how that goes.. ;0

2) The Methuselah Foundation needs to take stock of the current situation and make a list of the the things we need to do maximize the success of Round 2. This will likely take place early this week.

3) Take some of the initial thinking from the MF that incorporates a broad plan and the resources that will need to be brought to bear and hold a brainstorming session, likely by conference call later in the week with the key people who will be involved in our outreach efforts. An agenda will be developed in advance and topics can be suggested here in this thread. Please start doing so as soon as the mood strikes you. The wisdom of the crowds shall will out. We will address these as the personnel become available and are able to gather the information necessary.

Thanks again all who are working so hard to make this effort a success. Eric and Michael and all the rest... we are indebted to you for your help!

Onwards and Upwards!

Edited by kevin, 01 September 2008 - 11:42 PM.


#13 Mind

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Posted 02 September 2008 - 08:37 PM

2198 Nominations! Good job everyone. The project made it into the top 25.

Next stop - the top 5.

#14 brokenportal

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Posted 02 September 2008 - 10:07 PM

In the beginning I have to say, I thought there was a good 70% chance we wouldnt make it. A couple of weeks into the contest there were only about 100 nominations. Its important though and was a good indicator in my eyes of the where the hearts and minds and vision of indefinite healthy life extensionists are at.

They always say that if you beleive in something never give up. Not just over all, but in the transient parts of it to like this project.

Methuselah picked up the pace, we picked up the pace, a few other organizations jumped in and now here we are, at the step of another crucial door to the future. Do we hold the key? Theres a 1 in 5 chance. Its things like this that are going to help decide whether we chisel the Immortality Institutes cause on the face of history, or on the heads of our grave stones.

Over the years we have willed the begining work of this cause into existence, we have willed a crack in what everybody thought was an impenetrable pro aging trance. Now round 2 is coming up, can we will the key to that door to 1.5 million dollars into existence?


There will be a new strategy for round 2.

If anybody wants in on that then meet with us tomorrow in the wednesday brainstorming round table meeting. For anybody unaware of meeting times and places there is a listing at imminst: meeting schedule

Round 2 voting is for card members only. If you have ideas for making that happen then bring them to the table. Kelsey and company are cooking up some official plans and will let us know. So if you want in on that then let me know and Ill compile a list of volunteers.

#15 AgeVivo

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Posted 02 September 2008 - 11:31 PM

IMPORTANT:
1. we need to answer to all our families and friends that participated so actively,
in particular if they didn't really know about those 2nd and 3rd rounds, at least not to give a bad impression, and at best to make them vote again and help get a good funding Here is a try. Please help me improve it, i'll send it tomorrow after the meeting:

Congratulations to you all we reached the 2000+ objective (2198!) and made "Undergrads fighting Age Related Diseases" it to the top 25 funded projects (19th!) Actually the degree of funding depends on 2 other rounds that only concern cardholders (yes, those rules were a bit hidden: http:am?expres?.com/???) : a second round that finishes on September 9th, and a 3rd round that finishes on October 14th. and in fact we were quite surprise to reach 2000+ so easily. So please - if you feel so - don't hesitate to vote again!

2. were is a good official link to members project on A.E.'s website (not smthg like an add in a corner)??? otherwise sincerely this may look like fraud.

Edited by AgeVivo, 02 September 2008 - 11:41 PM.


#16 brokenportal

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 12:26 AM

We'll be meeting to go over this kind of stuff tomorrow. I really dont know what the best direction to go in is at this point.

We will be working more directly with MF now. Im going to see if Kevin and or Kelsey can go over this stuff with us in the chat tomorrow. Remember, thats 4pm cst time in the ustream.

#17 JMorgan

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 06:21 AM

I will be applying as a cardmember asap. I would encourage everyone who isn't a cardmember to sign up for an AmEx (even if you don't have any intention of using it). The blue card doesn't have an annual fee, so really it's just a matter of taking the time to apply.

The next round BEGINS 9/9/08 so the sooner we sign up the better.

Edited by JMorgan, 03 September 2008 - 06:22 AM.


#18 kismet

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 03:02 PM

What can we Europeans do now to help? Discuss the project on the A*EX-board?
How many votes by cardholdes do we need? (anyone compared with the last year?) Realistically what are our chances?

#19 brokenportal

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 06:11 PM

Maybe we can get a listing of people who will vote. I dont know if they will all take the time to respond though. Do you guys want to send something out to your contact lists asking who is willing to vote again? Ask them if they have the card and then we can list those who do and dont and then talk to each one that doesnt have a card about signing up. Ill look through the sign up site and get familiar with it so as to be able to make it as simple as possible to get people to sign up.

Kismet, you can still email people over here and get them to sign up. As to comparing the votes to last years... If that info were available that would be superb, that would be a huge tool. Can you look for that? Look for how many votes last years winning teams had if you can. As to our chances, they go as far as your vision goes. In another world, there is a set of things that we did that got us to win this. Lets just figure out what those things are and do them. The place we finish will be in direct proportion to the drive we put into it.

We will be meeting today, everybody who wants indefinite healthy life extension please meet in the ustream chat.

#20 kevin

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 06:48 PM

Maybe we can get a listing of people who will vote. I dont know if they will all take the time to respond though. Do you guys want to send something out to your contact lists asking who is willing to vote again? Ask them if they have the card and then we can list those who do and dont and then talk to each one that doesnt have a card about signing up. Ill look through the sign up site and get familiar with it so as to be able to make it as simple as possible to get people to sign up.

Kismet, you can still email people over here and get them to sign up. As to comparing the votes to last years... If that info were available that would be superb, that would be a huge tool. Can you look for that? Look for how many votes last years winning teams had if you can. As to our chances, they go as far as your vision goes. In another world, there is a set of things that we did that got us to win this. Lets just figure out what those things are and do them. The place we finish will be in direct proportion to the drive we put into it.

We will be meeting today, everybody who wants indefinite healthy life extension please meet in the ustream chat.


Good strategies bp.. I may not be able to make the chat as I have an afternoon appointment that overlaps with the a university department chair. I hope that Kelsey and/or Renaud can make it as they really are critical to leveraging the strengths we have here.

kevin

#21 rfournier

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 08:31 PM

Hi All,
This is Renaud Fournier - the NY Director of Development for the Methuselah Foundation who came up with the original idea of entering the Amex Members Project competition, and posted the project on the Amex website. Kevin Perrott kindly invited me to join this thread. I unfortunately just got his email and tried to join the chat but either it is over or I am not able to join it (I'm not familiar with the Imminst site yet so please bear with me). I would like to share some of my thoughts for round 2 and get all of your input. Getting through round 1 was tough, but getting into the top 5 will definitely be very challenging. If we all put our heads together and get organized I think we can get there. Hope to hear from you all soon.
Thanks
Renaud

#22 brokenportal

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 08:51 PM

The meeting will start in the ustream in about 20 minutes. Here is the link:

Im going to get a list of volunteers from here that are willing to put in the time for the second voting from the 9th to the 30th. If anybody from around here has ideas for other people that may want to help then direct them to this thread and the meetings and we'll get them in on it. Im thinking maybe we can hold a recruiter recruitment drive from now till the 9th, if anybody wants to do that and think its doable then lets discuss getting that going.

We are also going to be talking about the faq in future meetings, and all the details in the AE page to keep people reading it and see what kinds of insight we can get from it.

Im also going to see if we can get our contacts to respond telling us who will vote and who doesnt have a card. Im not sure if we will be able to get a lot of response for that though. If we can do that then we can develop a plan to get people who dont have cards to sign up for them.

I also want to talk about ads and spending money on them. If we do some research and find a good cost effective spot to advertise this where we think a lot of card members would be then I definently think it would be worth spending at least a couple hundred dollars on. Some people dont think spending money on ads would be a good idea. I could even see justifying as much as $1000.00. Maybe not, I'll see what you all think in the discussion.

#23 AgeVivo

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Posted 03 September 2008 - 10:50 PM

A typical letter to thank our families/friends/contacts that were so active in the first round, and encourage them to vote in the second round:

Hi all,

Thank you and... congratulations everyone we reached the 2000+ objective (2198!)!!! On September 9th the top 25 funded projects will be announced and "Undergrads fighting Age Related Diseases" shall be listed.

Your help may be usefull again: now that the project is selected we read the rules more carefully (we initially didn't expect to get 2000 votes so 'easily') and from September 9th to 30th AMEX cardholders will be allowed to vote in order to orient AMEX's choice on the distribution of funds among the selected projects.

So on September 9th, to confirm the first selection and the possibility/importance to vote again, I might spam you again ;-)

Cheers

PS: official description from American Express: "Members Project: Join Cardmembers to make a positive impact in the world" (official link on their front page, lower left, Important Annoncements: With $2.5 billion, how would you make a difference?)

comments are welcome before I send it

#24 brokenportal

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 12:16 AM

I would omit the spam part, and I wouldnt talk about misreading the rules. I would just state that because of them we made it to the top 25 and that now we need their help for round 2 getting to the top 5.

From this last meeting this is my conclusion of things to do: recruiting help, what recruiters can do, faq meeting, make a new video, placement of an ad. Please give us your feedback and help us make this list better and get it done. Some of these things of course may be ommited.

Recruiting help to get votes:

1. Send me your email address in pm if you are going to be recruiting for votes.
2. Talk other people into recruiting too, have them send me their email. We will do this until the 9th and aim to build the list of recruiters to around twenty five.

List of things recruiters can do to get votes:

1.set up university kiosks with lap tops
2.put up ads directing people to the kiosk and the A E project in general.
3.ask the university if you can write "sponsored by(that university)" on it.
-put on kiosks already at the university
-in computer labs
-in lap top lounges
-in the undergraduates of sciences offices
-write it on chalk boards
3. Send out flyers to corporations and hospitals asking them to post it in employee lounges, by time clocks etc..
-make a list of addresses
-make an A E project flyer
-find somebody who wants to buy stamps and send them out
4. send out emails and comments on the internet

Schedule a special AEMP faq meeting in the mfuri meeting thread for tomorrow in the ustream, ask people to read through the faq, advisor bios, last years winners, this years contestants etc.. and report on their findings tomorrow.

Make a new video asking for people to vote and sign up at amex, post it on something like youtube and then send people to that link in order to get the views in the video up to see if we cant get it into a "most popular" catagory in youtube. Maybe Minds first video will still work, and we could add "sign up for amex here" in scrolling words over the video or something. I like the first one made. They are in the ustream video recordings.

Research possible placement of an ad in a high traffic credit card use area. Aim for around $500 to $1000. Lets research this until friday and meet at 4pm cst time to discuss it then. If we come up with some doable options then lets petition for some money. Im in for $100. If anybody else can put in money then let us know here or pm me about it.

Edited by brokenportal, 04 September 2008 - 06:11 AM.


#25 JMorgan

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 02:26 AM

One thing we need to stress for those who are not cardmembers is that they should still participate on the project's message board. The advisory board weighs the level of interest there as well. It's not just the votes. What's important is to not just pile on comment after comment of praise, but let's get some real discussions going.

Also, did someone say there was a video? Perhaps a link to a youtube video can be placed in the comments section.

#26 Athanasios

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 02:32 AM

Make a new video asking for people to vote and sign up at amex, post it on something like youtube and then send people to that link in order to get the views in the video up to see if we cant get it into a "most popular" catagory in youtube. Maybe Minds first video will still work, and we could add "sign up for amex here" in scrolling words over the video or something. I like the first one made. They are in the ustream video recordings.

If this is done you probably shouldn't use Mind, but record another one, as it may conflict with his job.

#27 JMorgan

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 03:05 AM

Hey, anyone notice one of the advisory members (Takamura) has a history of working on aging policy and research? I'd like to know what she thinks of our project. :)

#28 brokenportal

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 06:21 AM

Good idea about discussing stuff at the AEMP. Ide like to see more discussion going on in their rather than just praise too. I saw some criticism in there a couple of days ago and responded to it. I almost wish there were more criticism. I also posted a link to the video in the comments a few times, but it should really be added a couple of times a day.

As for putting the video anywhere else thats right about asking Mind. He asks that we ask him before using the videos anywhere except in the AE site. If we do a youtube one then somebody else should probably be used. Does anybody want to put one together right away? We can always go over it from there. Maybe make it a 5 person thing, each saying part of the pitch. Each person could be standing outside in a clearly different part of the world, that would be interesting.

Ill check into that bio by tomorrow too, anybody else that reads through the faq and wants to meet with us, we will be discussing it in the ustream tomorrow at 4pm cst time.

Edited by brokenportal, 04 September 2008 - 06:23 AM.


#29 modelcadet

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 01:41 PM

Hey, anyone notice one of the advisory members (Takamura) has a history of working on aging policy and research? I'd like to know what she thinks of our project. :-D


From their site, found here:

Dean Takamura served as the U.S. Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary for Aging in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1996–2001, during the second term of the Clinton Administration.

While assistant secretary, Dr. Takamura led the development of a modernized Older Americans Act and initiated the design and proposal of a new national program — the National Family Caregiver Support Program.

Dr. Takamura was the gubernatorially appointed Deputy Director of Health (COO) for the Hawaii State Department of Health, the third-largest health department in the nation. Previous to this, she was Director of the Executive Office on Aging, where she led the design and advocacy for the nation's first actuarially based, state-run, universal long-term care financing proposal in 1988.

Dr. Takamura has received a number of awards for her work in aging policy and program development. In 2006, the National Association of Social Workers named Dean Takamura a Social Work Pioneer, a designation given to a small group of professional leaders.


There's also a video... but I can't access it on Chrome, and I'm too lazy to try in firefox (how quickly I've betrayed you, netscape!)

Also... we should consider being more pro-active through the features of the Members Project site itself. I notice there are several categories for searching projects on the main page:
1st Tab: Recently Updated.
2nd Tab: Most Popular
-Most Nominated
-Most Viewed
3rd Tab: Location (view projects by state)
4th Tab: Hot Topics (a tag cloud of project areas like Education and Health, by views)

In the Most Popular tab, you can click "see more" to access other rankings. (Most Nominated, Most Talked About, Most Emailed, Most Viewed, Project Name, Recently Updated)

How we currently stand:
Most Nominated - 22
Most Talked About - 1
Most Emailed - 220!!!
Most Viewed - 16
Recently Updated - 13

#30 dnamechanic

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Posted 04 September 2008 - 06:04 PM

The following represents an email message similar to those that I have sent.

This message can certainly be improved upon.

It is provided here for anyone who would like to use it or modify it for their own purposes.

Suggestions for improvement are very welcome.

Please note the italicized words, they must be modified before sending.

Subject: Undergrads Fighting Age-Related Disease

Hi "friend or acquaintance name here"

One line or so of general greeting, maybe something in common with recipient here.

I am asking for help on a project initiated by the Methuselah Foundation.

The project is part of a Methuselah Foundation Undergraduate Initiative
(MFURI) called, "Undergrads Fighting Age-Related Disease".

This is a Methuselah Foundation link:

http://www.mfuri.org/

A(organization) has set aside $2.5 million to support causes such as this.

You can see the proposal to A(organization) here:

http://www.memberspr...ect/view/BVVE2C

This project could help introduce undergraduates to aging research.

There has already been a round of elimination for proposed projects at
A(organization). There were over 1,000 projects submitted and it has been narrowed
to the Top 25. This project made it into the Top 25. The next
round of eliminations begins on September 9 and will primarily be
determined by votes by A(organization) card holders. Eventually the Top Five will
share in the $2.5 million.

If you, or anyone you know, holds an A(organization) card/membership then you could
help promote this effort by voting, beginning on September 9.

The Methuselah Foundation is currently planning a strategy aimed to push
this project into the winning Top Five, here is a brief update:

http://tinyurl.com/6laajs

There are many other approaches to promoting this project, for example
A(organization) provides a "Members Project Widget" (see bottom of page
at the A(organization) members project, second link above).

If you have questions or suggestions, please let me know.

If you have friends or (students, colleagues, or other optional terms here) that can help,
please send this message to them.

Thank you,
"your name here"


Edited by dnamechanic, 04 September 2008 - 08:10 PM.





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