Publicizing Vive

Not to worry, none of these ideas have gone unnoticed. All have been discussed by the board at some time or another. <br />
<br />
The approved Vive poster is a great idea, esp if we can make it downloadable and post it to the site. Ditto for a brochure. The main thing holding us back on that so far is having someone to design/create it. Flick Harrison did a great job on our census materials and we also have another artist, Darcy Watt, on our advisory, who may be able to create something for us. I can certainly ask. <br />
<br />
Apparel has also been much discussed and planned on the board and is something I would like very much to use for fundraising for the site. The simplest and easiest way to do this would be to use <a href="http://www.cafepress.com--we">www.cafepress.com--we</a> provide the logo or other art, choose what merch to offer, and they create and distribute it whenever there is an order. This hit a roadblock only because we have no guarantee that the apparel is a) made in Canada b) sweatshop free, both issues which came up during board discussions. If someone knows a good online store or a way to cross that hurdle, please comment. Otherwise I could set up the online store at Cafepress almost instantly. <br />
<br />
Ultimately, I think time is a big issue for most of these things. Board members have been busy working on incorporation, and more day-to-day site maintenance--an in fact, it's only recently that we've had a fully functioning, and committed, board holding regular meetings. What may really help us get these ideas going is to create a committee, with volunteers from the advisory board and site members, that dedicates time and energy to coming up with and following through on these ideas, answering to the board as needed. <br />
<br />
Does that make sense? Any one interested?<p>---<br>Now call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard, and we hit it fast, with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign.--Rimmer, Red Dwarf <br />

Good point re: the apparel. We could get Dr. Caleb busy with a needle and thread. All he needs is some material from his local Wal-Mart...oh, wait a minute, that won't work.

I'll volunteer to help in any way I can. Unfortunately, as I mentioned artistic talent isn't a real strength with me (but, what is?).

Maybe we should start our own 'Canadianized' cafepress.com?


---
"When we are in the middle of the paradigm, it is hard to imagine any other paradigm" (Adam Smith).

That would be an awesome idea, though it would be a lot of work. Probably best to try to find an existing one first though!

---
Jesse

Funny, CafeJesse.ca kind of grabbed me.

Do you mean a lot of work web wise, or just overall?

---
"When we are in the middle of the paradigm, it is hard to imagine any other paradigm" (Adam Smith).

It would be good to have vivelecanada.ca stickers. One could print them out on a laserjet, but stickers are always cool.

Also, does anyone post the vive to all the blog portals?

<p> How about trying to get more visibility in cyberspace? Left-wing Canadian blogs are beginning to take off, though up to now right-wingers have dominated the Canadian blogosphere. The right-wingers have organized something called the "Red Ensign Brigade" which is kind of their informal network. (And which is also a stupid symbol -- the flag has the flag of a foreign country on it, and is extensively used by hate groups in this country) <p> I don't know if Vive could provide some space to left-wing bloggers a la Daily Kos or provide some service that bloggers might use (the 2nd idea might be best -- as Vive is moderated and bloggers can say some outrageous things). The affiliation of Vive's owners with the NDP, Mel Hurtig etc. might limit appeal in this respect (bloggers on the left come in alot of varieties). Still, Vive might be able to achieve some branding in this respect, and left-wing blogs seem on the verge of exploding. <p> Maybe if Vive did a regular (say weekly etc.) round-up on the best of the blogs Vive could give itself a very positive presence here. The round-up could also be sent out to all the main-stream journalists and politicos Vive has contacts with. Bloggers would absolutely love this, as it plays to their vanity (they like to get noticed by journalists). <p> Just an idea. I don't know how realistic it is. Bloggers can as difficult to herd as cats, but it might be worth thinking about. </p><p>---<br>The poster formally known as Action-Jackson <br />
homepage: http://againstallflags.blogspot.com

I mean web-wise; I imagine it would be overall as well, but that doesn't concern me as much, as there's other volunteers for that stuff.

---
Jesse

I am an artist/designer and am very willing to design something for Vive my only drawback is that I am so not a techno geek. If it would require me getting it downloadable - how would I do that? I just bought a digital camera so I can eventually put my art on the web and am still trying to figure out how to make it look like it really does and not some distortion of it. My avatar is a small section of a larger round piece of floor art I've done. I also knit very well, so I could make touques but to fit a knitted version of the vivelecanada.ca logo onto a touque would make that one big touque and then I'd be crying "sweatshop, sweatshop"!

A Vive calendar may be something we all could contribute to if we have any kind of skills to add to it. i.e. photos, drawing, painting, or I could do the whole thing and donate the majority of the proceeds and advertise my art at the same time! Hey, now I'm thinking.

I like the bumper sticker concept.

I saw one the other day:

Got this car for my wife.
Good trade, eh?

So people do read these things (at least, oddballs like me.

---
"When we are in the middle of the paradigm, it is hard to imagine any other paradigm" (Adam Smith).

I like your avatar. More good ideas.

---
"When we are in the middle of the paradigm, it is hard to imagine any other paradigm" (Adam Smith).

Linking to Vive in some of your html signature or web pages can be quite effective if we are trying to reach an Internet audience. Check the FAQ technical "How to link to Vive" for related info.

If we want to reach the media, creating media events such as entartage, mooning, and Vive cells highly noticeable actions would capture the imagination. But perhaps this is not Vive Light enough in the landof the softspoken and mildmannered people?

Once people do visit on Vive, Vive needs to be welcoming and not confuse people on what they can find here -vs- elsewhere. Canadian Sovereingty looks key but seems to often get lost.



---
"We are all in this together somehow, some more than others somehow"

How about sandwich board signs? Smoke signals might be nice, too.

tyrannyresponse



Here's what to do:

Create a "best bloggers" page like what bourque.org has

All the submitted links would have to be reviewed by the site editors.

Then, create a vive logo using the appropriate scripting code that can be copied into a blogger.com template or some other program.

Bloggers then get to have a Vive logo on their page, and it plays to their vanity again. They are now part of a network.

You could then list the vive at blogshares.com . This would track incoming and outgoing links to the site, and you can then create a top 10 bloggers out of your "best bloggers" list based on web traffic. Bloggers get exposure based on how many incoming hits to the vive they have.

Except that our mission is very specifically to promote Canadian sovereignty and democracy. If we work with other bloggers on the left but abandon the requirement that they have some commitment to the same mission we do, we are even further diluting our purpose; in fact, many leftist bloggers may not share our nationalist vision at all (a la Paul Kellogg socialists who view nationalism as something which can't be a proper lefty cause). Bourque is just a media site, he doesn't have a specific activist agenda the way we do. I would personally only be willing to consider this kind of cross-promotion if we were working with other blogs doing similar work--and although I'd love it if there were a bunch out there, the only one I know about at all is notacolony.ca.

---
Now call it extreme if you like, but I propose we hit it hard, and we hit it fast, with a major, and I mean major, leaflet campaign.--Rimmer, Red Dwarf