"We are still here" ad in the Oregonian?

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Keithl

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May 17, 2008, 11:16:09 AM5/17/08
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I don't know how much a large ad in the Oregonian costs; probably
many thousands of dollars. It would be sweet if we could get a "Free
Community WIFI is still here" ad ready for the Oregonian to run around
the same time that the lights go out at MetroFi. In my dreams, I
imagine a full page that is a few short paragraphs about PTP, a big
map of the nodes, and the bottom of the page sporting the logos and
addresses of nodes that are willing to kick in some of the cost of the
ad, as well as logos for the non-profits that support and fund PTP
(big logo for Meyer Memorial Trust, if Marie Detherage could kick in
some ad money, or for Netequality if Michael Burmeister-Brown did the
same). If PTP was a bit flexible about timing and placement, the
Oregonian might offer a good rate. Mike Rogoway might have some ideas
to share.

Perhaps some of the few advertisers that are still supporting MetroFi
would be willing to get on board, too. They want to reach Wifi
users; if they do so by being on a map page that Portlanders will
tend to cut out and keep, then they achieve the same goals.

I assume that among all of us, our acquaintances, and our thousands of
happy users, there are some folks that can design a nice scalable
newspaper ad, and others that can shmooze the potential advertisers.
The fall of MetroFi can be a great opportunity for PTP, if the time
and energy is there to run with it.

Tyler Booth

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May 17, 2008, 12:46:55 PM5/17/08
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There may be a non-profit rate. Stephouse might have a few dollars to
help out with that.

Paul Charles Leddy

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May 19, 2008, 6:18:33 PM5/19/08
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I'd donate $200. Let me know, I can send via paypal.

This seems like an exciting time of failure. But I am easily aroused.

Michael Weinberg

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May 19, 2008, 6:32:33 PM5/19/08
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This ad idea appears to have legs.

One question that comes to me is whether the O is really the target
audience for us? I'm inclined to think that the WW might hit a group
that is more active in the community and inclined to become involved
or donate to us. I don't read the paper edition of the O more than
once a month. I check it online.

I do tend to flip through the WW, because their website gives me a
headache and it tends to be available at coffee shops and the like,
when I have 10-15 minutes to sit and read.

Of course, I may be abnormal. Do you or your friends and colleagues
read the paper O or WW more frequently?

Michael

--
Michael Weinberg
President
Personal Telco Project, Inc.

seth shikora

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May 19, 2008, 6:44:30 PM5/19/08
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It's not really about the target audience for ptp, but that of Metrofi
wouldn't it? I'm not suggesting one or the other, but the WW crowd
might be already well aware of PTP's efforts. Maybe not. I don't read
the oregonian either, I'm much more likely to be reading WW, but I
know plenty of people who do.

Seth.

Michael Weinberg

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May 19, 2008, 6:50:04 PM5/19/08
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Well, it's about getting people aware who will support us in one way
or another, right? So it would not be bad to remind people who may
already know about us that we're here and still working.

Paul Johnson

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May 19, 2008, 7:12:24 PM5/19/08
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On Monday 19 May 2008 03:32:33 pm Michael Weinberg wrote:

> Of course, I may be abnormal. Do you or your friends and colleagues
> read the paper O or WW more frequently?

Statesman's Journal. But then again, I could be wrong, I live in Salem. And
the Oregonian has circulation figures that put it as the most widely read
paper in the tri-state area. You can occasionally spot the yellow Oregonian
boxes as far out as Bonner County, Idaho.

--
Paul Johnson
ba...@ursine.ca

Explaination of .pgp part: http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Mail/rant-gpg.html

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Caleb Phillips

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May 19, 2008, 7:58:45 PM5/19/08
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Even a poor climbing-bum/grad-student, like me, would pitch what he
could for a grrreat idea like this one. Do it!

Gary

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May 20, 2008, 2:46:55 PM5/20/08
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Since the Oregonian is a state-wide paper, why not the Portland Tribune?

Jim Blandy

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May 20, 2008, 3:53:39 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 11:46 AM, Gary <ga...@eyetraxx.net> wrote:
> Since the Oregonian is a state-wide paper, why not the Portland Tribune?

I'd be astonished if The Oregonian were not far and away the newspaper
most widely read by our target audience. I'd guess WW would be
second. The Portland Tribune has got to be much more limited; the
fact that it's specific to Portland doesn't help if the absolute
number of Portland-area readers is lower.

Sam Churchill

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May 20, 2008, 4:10:05 PM5/20/08
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The Oregonian has a variety of edition, some targeted to The City,
others not. Perhaps a 1/4 page ad in the Sunday edition of the
Business section might do the job at a reasonable cost.

Before there's a call to action, however, it might be good to have
Plan A. And link to it.

I think it was Tom Higgins who did such a great job making the PTP
page on Metrofi the DEFINITIVE resource.

- Sam

Paul Johnson

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May 20, 2008, 4:20:15 PM5/20/08
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On Tuesday 20 May 2008 11:46:55 am Gary wrote:
> Since the Oregonian is a state-wide paper, why not the Portland Tribune?

Is Pamplin Media even open to the idea? It's kind of a radical, hippie
concept compared to what usually goes on in their papers and on their radio
station.

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Russell Senior

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May 20, 2008, 6:46:06 PM5/20/08
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>>>>> "Sam" == Sam Churchill <schur...@gmail.com> writes:

Sam> I think it was Tom Higgins who did such a great job making the
Sam> PTP page on Metrofi the DEFINITIVE resource.

Check out the editor column in this link:

http://wiki.personaltelco.net/MetroFi/Portland?action=info

You will find that Jason McArthur has done the bulk of the work on
PTP's wiki pages for MetroFi.


--
Russell Senior, Secretary
rus...@personaltelco.net

Michael Weinberg

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May 20, 2008, 9:32:36 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Sam Churchill <schur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Oregonian has a variety of edition, some targeted to The City,
> others not. Perhaps a 1/4 page ad in the Sunday edition of the
> Business section might do the job at a reasonable cost.

I did some checking this afternoon, here's what I learned. This will
hopefully help to calibrate this discussion a bit.

Oregonian full page ad: $10.5K+ for B+W, over $12K for color. This ad
would be in a regular section and go to the entire state.

Oregonian InPortland: $1.5K for B+W around $2K for color. This goes in
the Thursday InPortland insert, which is tabloid sized and only
included in papers in Portland proper.

WWeek full page: $2.5K for B+W (we get a discount) no word on color.

Portland Monthly: $5.5K for an ad in the magazine.

Thoughts?

Michael

Gary

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May 20, 2008, 10:00:15 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, 20 May 2008, Michael Weinberg wrote:

> Thoughts?

Why not contact Mike Rogoway of the Oregonian and invite him to a weekly
meeting to brainstorm? http://blog.oregonlive.com/siliconforest

-Gary

Michael Weinberg

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May 20, 2008, 10:03:53 PM5/20/08
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Brainstorm? I'm not sure I follow.

Tom Higgins

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May 20, 2008, 10:19:08 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Sam Churchill <schur...@gmail.com> wrote:


I think it was Tom Higgins who did such a great job making the PTP
page on Metrofi the DEFINITIVE resource.
 

Not me, I just posted a few links. 

seth shikora

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May 20, 2008, 10:19:07 PM5/20/08
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well, I guess 1.5k is vaguely conceivable. Could we give out space in
the ad per donation, ala firefox? Maybe change it a little so the
bigger the donation, the bigger the mention, kind of like a tag cloud?

Seth.

Michael Weinberg

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May 20, 2008, 10:39:17 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 7:19 PM, seth shikora <se...@shikora.org> wrote:
>
> well, I guess 1.5k is vaguely conceivable. Could we give out space in
> the ad per donation, ala firefox? Maybe change it a little so the
> bigger the donation, the bigger the mention, kind of like a tag cloud?

I think that 2.5k gives us a much bigger hit than 1.5k. The InPortland
insert is probably read by fewer people than the WW is. Also, being a
weekly, I expect that the WW is read over the course of many days,
whereas InPortland probably gets tossed along with the rest of that
day's paper when the next one comes.

I like your idea of a tag cloud and certainly encouraging people to
help sponsor it to show their support and to get recognition. Does
anyone want to help to solicit those donations?

Michael

> Seth.
>
> On May 20, 2008, at 6:32 PM, Michael Weinberg wrote:
>
>>
>> On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Sam Churchill
>> <schur...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> The Oregonian has a variety of edition, some targeted to The City,
>>> others not. Perhaps a 1/4 page ad in the Sunday edition of the
>>> Business section might do the job at a reasonable cost.
>>
>> I did some checking this afternoon, here's what I learned. This will
>> hopefully help to calibrate this discussion a bit.
>>
>> Oregonian full page ad: $10.5K+ for B+W, over $12K for color. This ad
>> would be in a regular section and go to the entire state.
>>
>> Oregonian InPortland: $1.5K for B+W around $2K for color. This goes in
>> the Thursday InPortland insert, which is tabloid sized and only
>> included in papers in Portland proper.
>>
>> WWeek full page: $2.5K for B+W (we get a discount) no word on color.
>>
>> Portland Monthly: $5.5K for an ad in the magazine.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> >
>
>
> >
>

--

Seth Shikora

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May 20, 2008, 11:28:30 PM5/20/08
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What would we need? It would be fun to show the tag cloud in real time
as donations come in and a copy of what would be run. Any graphic
artists in the crowd? Vote for the favorite ad along with the
donation? Who writes the tax receipts?

Seth

On May 20, 2008, at 7:39 PM, "Michael Weinberg" <mic...@personaltelco.net

Michael Weinberg

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May 20, 2008, 11:33:34 PM5/20/08
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On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 8:28 PM, Seth Shikora <se...@shikora.org> wrote:
>
> What would we need? It would be fun to show the tag cloud in real time
> as donations come in and a copy of what would be run. Any graphic
> artists in the crowd? Vote for the favorite ad along with the
> donation? Who writes the tax receipts?

The PTP board will ensure that every donor gets a receipt.

Sam Churchill

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May 21, 2008, 12:15:18 AM5/21/08
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Free publicity is the best kind. You get it from calling a press
conference and offering useful insights and solutions.

An iconic photo op helps. A picture is worth a thousand dollars.

- Sam
------

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 8:33 PM, Michael Weinberg

--
Sam Churchill
(www.dailywireless.org)

Caleb Phillips

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May 21, 2008, 10:20:06 PM5/21/08
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> Oregonian InPortland: $1.5K for B+W around $2K for color. This goes in
> the Thursday InPortland insert, which is tabloid sized and only
> included in papers in Portland proper.
>
> WWeek full page: $2.5K for B+W (we get a discount) no word on color.
>
> Portland Monthly: $5.5K for an ad in the magazine.
>
> Thoughts?

Sheesh. This stuff is expensive. What about a half page add in the WW?
$1250? That's starting to sound a little more reasonable, especially if
we can do some specific fundraising.

FWIW, WW is my preference. Although I think people have put forth
excellent arguments for the O, the WW is a cheaper, is relevent for
longer, and is hands-down a better written and researched paper.

I'm going to try not to think about how much tasty beer I could buy for
$1250.

--
Caleb

Paul Johnson

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May 22, 2008, 12:58:13 AM5/22/08
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On Wednesday 21 May 2008 07:20:06 pm Caleb Phillips wrote:

> FWIW, WW is my preference. Although I think people have put forth
> excellent arguments for the O, the WW is a cheaper, is relevent for
> longer, and is hands-down a better written and researched paper.

I'm willing to agree with you if you're completely overlooking the absolutely
misguided Savage Love column.

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Sam Churchill

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May 22, 2008, 2:11:39 AM5/22/08
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> I'm willing to agree with you if you're completely overlooking the absolutely
> misguided Savage Love column.

I'd argue the opposite. The Master of prose is Mark Morford, a
columnist for sfgate.com
www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/archive/

Pure gold.

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