50,000 to attend 31 May-3 June Biker Ralley

[lonestarguy]

http://austin.about.com/cs/annualevents/p/rotrally.htm

http://www.rotrally.com/

Ok folks, 50,000 plus bikers from around the country will be blowing into Austin for the annual Republic of Texas (ROT) biker ralley, 31 May - noon Sunday 03 June.How can we exploit for Ron Paul ! ? ! ? ! ? !

There is an estimate of 200,000 people downtown for the Friday nite parade and evening riot, lol.

What we gonna do....who we gonna call......how we gonna take advantage of that weekend?

If it is true that vendor space is sold out inside.......how can we take advantage of this huge gathering????????????

(gulp) Help Brainstorm.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sojourner]

http://austin.about.com/cs/annualevents/p/rotrally.htm

http://www.rotrally.com/

Ok folks, 50,000 plus bikers from around the country will be blowing into Austin for the annual Republic of Texas (ROT) biker ralley, 31 May - noon Sunday 03 June.How can we exploit for Ron Paul ! ? ! ? ! ? !

There is an estimate of 200,000 people downtown for the Friday nite parade and evening riot, lol.

What we gonna do....who we gonna call......how we gonna take advantage of that weekend?

If it is true that vendor space is sold out inside.......how can we take advantage of this huge gathering????????????

(gulp) Help Brainstorm.........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vendor space is not a necessity.

Wear Ron Paul for President tee shirts, mill about making personal contacts while handing out push cards and bumper stickers.

[Sojourner]

Who's up for working the RoT rally???

[austinphish]

This weekend i am completely free to work on anything Ron Paul. I was at the meeting last night, but I am in the Legal/Finance group and failed to get in on the grass roots group. Anyways, if anyone wants to go spread the good word somehow - putting up signs, hanging a banner, I am free. I am also volunteering to go to Kerville - Shit I will go by myself if I could just get some more RP gear - I will buy it.
Anyways, I would like to do something for RP this weekend as I it is not every weekend that I am this free.

Peace,
Michael
holtmichael @ hotmail.com

[ChrisR]

The ROT Rally vendor page says spaces are "almost" sold out. I don't know if that's still the case or if there might still be space left. But the way to find out is contact them. Vendor page is: http://www.rotrally.com/Pages/Public/Vendor.asp

Contact info:

Cherie Griffice
Vendor Coordinator
903-876-6181
E-mail: cherie@rotrally.com

In addition to vendor spaces, camping is FREE in the grassy areas, and people will be allowed in on Wed. to start setting up their tents, etc. There are always a LOT of signs of various kinds.

This IS an important opportunity. As a group, bikers tend to be politically conservative, and lots of them have lots of money. So go for it!

[DonZimmerman]

Does anybody remember the motorcycle escort that Dr. Ron Paul received May 19th? That was the result of Sputnik's support for Dr. Ron Paul!
I'll bet Sputnik will have great ideas on how to promote Ron at the upcoming event.

http://www.tmra2.org/

Ask for Dennis Childers: he's the new State Chair and took an active role in getting the May 19th escort for Ron.

[Sojourner]

My suggestion is to wear Ron Paul tee shirts and mill about amongst the campers and crowd making personal contacts and handing out Ron Paul bumper stickers and push cards.

There is absolutely no substitute for doing this sort of activity - personal contacts one on one is where it's at relative to grassroots activism. Vendor space is good but not necessary, while being pro-active by approaching people is better, IMO.

I'm working on getting a batch of affordable high quality professionally made two color on white vinyl bumper stickers made up by the end of next week so we can distribute Ron Paul bumper stickers at the RoT Rally.

[Bands4RonPaul]

I hope I can get some Bands4RonPaul flyers made by then, that'd be a great place to give out tons of them really fast.

I have a video on our page at
www.myspace.com/bands4ronpaul
that was done by an Austin News Station that showed Ron Paul escorted by Bikers to the Capital for the May 19th Rally.
This was a VERY postitive News Piece also. More than double what they were prepared for, showed up.
It's the KNAX Austin News broadcast, second video from the top on the right.

[ChrisR]

Just in case y'all don't know, it'll cost you $50 to get in the gate at the rally. There are no day passes, and they won't let you stand at the gate to hand stuff out. There are always a few people who try to set up stands and such outside the grounds, but be aware that's mostly private property and you'd probably be run off.

If you want to get access to the bikers without paying for admission, here are a few suggestions:

1) There is a biker breakfast and parade scheduled Wednesday morning to escort the moving Vietnam wall to the rally. I-35 will be closed down for it. Signs along the way would be good. There will be a breakfast at Cabela's in Buda from 6-10 AM and the parade will start staging at 9:15 AM.

2) The official pre-rally party will be Wednesday night at Cindy's GOne Hog Wild in Del Valle on Highway 71, about 7 miles east of ABIA. Go, take signs, bumper stickers, and any other literature. Have fun, talk about Ron Paul.

3) Visit any of the motorcycle dealers in town, especially the Harley dealers on I-35/Braker and So. I-35 n. of Onion Creek Pkway. They might let you leave bumper stickers on their "free" table but if not worth asking if a sign can be put up. In any case, good place to meet lots of bikers.

4) Go downtown Friday night. Half of the downtown streets, including Congress Ave., will be shut down, and all will be packed with bikers for a street party. Parade is due to leave the rally grounds at 7:30 pm and start arriving downtown by 7:45. It'll take awhile for them all to get there. Or - you can station yourself anywhere along the route.

5) Back to Cindy's Gone Hog Wild for post-ROT party Sunday afternoon. (Note: this one might be somewhat sparsely attended .....)

[Sojourner]

Thanks for the very useful info, Chris.

That's something we can work with. Friday night downtown sounds good as well as hanging out at the motorcycle shops, amongst the other opportunities.

$50 to get in the gate - whoa!

[lonestarguy]

In my mind, or what's left of it, is the idea to get max eye balls on large banners with catchy simple rememberable phrases on 5 banners. These banners would be displayed at the strategic travel, inbound and outbound points in the vicinity of the ROT rally on Decker lane. These strategic points would include both ends of Decker lane and the intersection of Loyola and Decker.

Specifically, Banner #1) banner on the top of the "T" on FM969 where Decker "T's" into 969, on the south end of Decker, of which there is a traffic lite (captive audience, thank you very much).

Banner #2) on Decker lane at the lite for all the bikers turning left onto Decker Lane from FM969.

Banner #3) similiar to the number one banner above, where north bound Decker T's into 290. Again, there is a traffic lite, and I've noticed over the many years, that this is a major outbound and in bound route.

Banner #4) On the approach to the intersection of 290E and Decker for the eastbound flow and right turn onto Decker Lane or placed further down close
to the elementary school, for an angle view.

Banner #5) In the vicinity of Loyola where it intersects Decker

I do envision at least a couple of people manning each banners so no one destroys them. We could certainly do rotating shifts of a few hours.

sample banner slogans? I know we can do better than the samples below I've offered. Something related to the biker lifestyle, even if only the weekend biker.

"Bikers for RonPaul2008.com"

"The Open Road leads to RonPaul2008.com"

your ideas?

[lonestarguy]

attempted to delete double post...

[Sojourner]

Excellent suggestions, lonestarguy.

Something along the same lines, except also mobile:

Build an A-frame or modified A-frame (H-frame) to display two 4 ft. x 8 ft. (or larger) signs in the back of a pick-up truck or flatbed. Or a sign on a van or trailer, traveling along the roads where the bikers are most concentrated.

If you build one of these frames yourself, don't forget to put a couple handles on each end so two guys can easily move it.

Anyone with a p/u they care to do this with? The more the merrier.

Realistically, it doesn't matter about the size of your sign or banner (as long as it can be read), what matters is how many times every one of your target audience sees 'Ron Paul 08' somewhere.

[ChrisR]

Great idea! I'm not very good with slogans, but as a whole, bikers are patriotic and prize liberty, which is of course what Ron Paul stands for. I wonder if a sign making that point might be good. How about something like "Preserve Your Liberty. Ron Paul for President 2008" or "Don't lose your liberties, Ron Paul 2008" or something along those lines.

[lonestarguy]

I just talked with the state chairman of Texas Motorcycle Riders Association (TMRA), Dennis Childers, about planting seeds in the minds of an active, many military veteran based, biker groups.

1)He thinks banners are an idea way to get eyeballs on Ron Paul 2008. And thinks we should be downtown with banner and of course along the strategic inbound and outbound roads to the event on Decker.

2)He had this incredible idea of getting the red rags that are available at places like AutoZone and having those pre-printed with whatever info about Ron Paul that is appropriate. Motorcyclers love those rags because it is a functional item that they use, and they stick 'em in their pocket, etc, etc. Yes, fabric can be pre-printed. I heard someone mention coozies to hand out, yes it is functional, but you can jam a rag in your pocket, and boom, its yours, its a keeper, and it could have Ron's stuff on it. This could be used in a National outreach as the motorcycle associations are nationwide with huge rallies..........mercy!

3) If we want to place riders on the backs of some cycles for the Friday nite parade, Dennis said he can make this happen if we want. I envision, some nice people with double-sided Tee's. All the women in RP Nation are beautiful.

Whadya think yall? What can we pull off here? I understand there was a banner party the other nite? Can we repeat?

[ChrisR]

See farther back in thread for opportunities to be visible to the bikers without having to pay to get in to the Rally. Friday night is a good opportunity to not only reach the bikers, but possibly get some free tv coverage. The news media will be out in force to broadcast the parade. From past years, I'd expect them to be filming the first couple of blocks in front of the capitol, facing it, as the biker parade turns onto Congress from 11th St. though one can be observant at the moment to see where they are. Then it would be fairly easy to have some people with Ron Paul signs positioned in line with the tv cameras.

Same goes for the Wed. am parade down I-35 from Cabela's, leaving at around 9:30 and heading north. Tv crews will be there without a doubt. Just observe the camera positions and try to get in line with signs. Would also be a good opportunity to position some riders if the TMRA contact can arrange it then as well.

[lonestarguy]

More 'biker ralley' slogan musings


"Unchain the Constitution, Ron Paul2008.com"

"Ron Paul2008.com, The True Defender of the Constitution"

" The True Defender of the Constitution"
"RonPaul2008.com

"Stand for Freedom"
RonPaul2008.com

Ron Paul
Defender of the Constitution

[lonestarguy]

Also, the chairman said he would place on his table RP bumper stickers, that's inside the event folks. I would do a test stack, give him maybe 50, see how fast they go! Whadya think? Do we have ready access to stacks of RP stuff? We'll need to get these in his hands Thursday morn. He said he'll be quite busy, but he's a real down to earth R P guy!

Sifu, you up eyeballing yet?

I'm a nite worker, so I can help make banners in evening for a couple of hours until 830pm, Tuesday 29th, Wednesday the 30th or Thursday the 31st. So how did that banner making party go the other nite?

[lonestarguy]

People, people, people, opportunity for media event.....Discussing this event with Don and Paul D., and as mentioned in a previous post above, the State Chairman of the Texas Motorcycle Riders Association (TMRA) said if we supply the passengers he will supply the bikes for said passengers to ride on. So lets now solicit those amongst us who volunteer to ride (that's the fun part), all the women possible and all the guys who wish to ride as well, cmon it'l be great. The crowd is gonna be huge. It's important to have a Ron Paul Tee shirt, if possible, hopefully front and back, holding a double-sided sign with a Ron Paul2008 theme.

Perhaps the sign, say the size of a fan, you know, the kind they hand out sometimes at football games, could be double-sided with a RP bumper sticker on each side. Maybe we could make these with basic materials from some of the hobby lobby type stores.

It's would seem possible if a person has no RP t-shirt that something could be done at a T-shirt printing store to get one ad hoc, even if it is basic block lettering. We could decide on the color scheme so it looked streamlined, or is that aspect so important?

I recommend a head count by Wednesday of those willing to ride. With the crowd it will be a rush for the passengers. My.

But the big thing is we might get all this picked up on by tv, print media, etc.

Where we at so far?

[lonestarguy]

I recommend we focus for Friday nite downtown parade, riders, banners at Congress Ave and 11th Street, everyone in some sort of RP regalia, T's, buttons. We have to keep it clean, I mean entrpreneurs are producing every conceivable clothing item with campaign logos. But T's most definitely. We need to start a headcount for riders in the Friday parade, lets say there is no limit, who wants to ride? And where can we make banners tomorrow afternoon and/or evening, and what do we need to make 'em?

This is just me, for the banners is Ron Paul Revolution the appropriate slogan for this type of crowd with loads of veterans and retired folk that I'd say averages close to 40+ years of age, or more 'biker' type slogans? You know, open road, i'm free dont f... with me. unchain my constitution, etc

[austinphish]

to count on me for Friday night, but I can't do saturday during the day for sure.

I don't have a T-shirt? Where can I get one on short notice?

My idea for a slogan is a little more on the cutting edge, but these biker groups are always being harrassed by the government:

"Fight Government Oppression - Preserve Liberty - Vote Ron Paul"

-Michael
(I will check back on here often).

[ChrisR]

Y'know, I'm hoping this TMRA chairman can come through on this, and don't want to rain on the parade (pun intended ;) ) BUT ..... the parade stages INside the rally grounds, and it COSTS to get in there.

There are always a few bikes who crash the parade along the route --- is that what he has in mind? Or has he got some way to get non-paying people inside the gates to ride as passengers?

I'd just kinda like to see whomever is in contact with this guy check on the logistics here, just so everyone's on the same page, y'know?

[lonestarguy]

Indeed, Chris, Paul Davis or myself will check with the state chair about the staging. My, if we can get a headcount tonite, how bout it folks? A short ride of a lifetime for Ron Paul.......who wants to ride?

[lonestarguy]

Anybody aware of some T shirt shops in Austin that apply block lettering?
I'm thinking of a front and back navy blue with white large block lettering T that is as simple as:

P A U L
2 0 0 8



Chris, Austinphish and others, Paul Davis will be joining us here this evening, he gets off work after a bit. Lets see if we can get Nate to join us, anybody know how to raise him? I think they had a banner party a few nites ago creating Ron Paul Revolution banners. I gotta hit the showers and begin my work week, I run to Dallas nitely with a large truck and a couple trailers in tow.

[austinphish]

These are just my opinions:

1. I would like someone from the grassroots leadership (or executive committee) to take charge and decide for us exactly what the plan is for the major events. Just tell us when and where the meeting times are, and what the general outline is.

2. We have to recognize at somepoint that there are 10x more ideas than possible actual actions. I am not saying don't share your ideas, but this goes back to someone in leadership reviewing all these ideas and picking the few that are feasible.

3. I think it would be nice to have a calendar application on our website, where people could post when they are meeting up and what they are doing. For something as large as the COT rally, leadership would be responsible for setting that up, but for something as small as banner making, anyone could set an appointment. I think people could also post on there when the are "free" to help, so say a group of us decide last minute we are going to hang a RP sign off some overpass - we could check the Calendar for who is free and give them a call to join us.
For example, I would add on the calendar that tomorrow night, 7:30 PM at Starbucks Anderson Lane, the Legal & Finance team is meeting up. Anyone interested can come (btw, it is not that interesting :) )

4. I would like to push again that a lof of the email conversations be pushed to this site (www.ronpaulforums.com). If we all agree as a group to check this forum, we can keep a record of our coversations, and then only the important notifications can be sent via email. That way, I won't miss an important email that is directed to me.
This point is apparently very hard to get across.


In conclusion, I love this group and I am proud to be a part of it. I am just offering my opinion on how to make us more effective in the cause of electing Ron Paul.

[austinphish]

Anybody aware of some T shirt shops in Austin that apply block lettering?
I'm thinking of a front and back navy blue with white large block lettering T that is as simple as:

P A U L
2 0 0 8



Chris, Austinphish and others, Paul Davis will be joining us here this evening, he gets off work after a bit. Lets see if we can get Nate to join us, anybody know how to raise him? I think they had a banner party a few nites ago creating Ron Paul Revolution banners. I gotta hit the showers and begin my work week, I run to Dallas nitely with a large truck and a couple trailers in tow.

get in touch with me about the banner making - holtmichael @ hotmail.com

[Bands4RonPaul]

Just so you guys know, I have been asked to make some flyers for this
today, and Ill try to have them done tonight.


But has anyone else already made any flyer designs, if so send them too
me at bands4ronpaul@yahoo.com and Ill look over them and layout what I
think works best. Nobody has to make a design though, I wont have any
problem putting one together. Ill get an amount printed, but you guys
that pick them up can make more alot more yourselves.

I could probably take the flyers to Brave New Books and drop them off there
and Whoever wants to can pick them up whenever they can.

It sounds like itll take a little guerilla tactics getting around to people attending the parade, but whatever works. If you think positive and think things will
work out as they should, they often turn out even better. So just go and
see and often the right thing will happen at the right time and youll be
very successful. Dont fret thinking you will locked out with nothing to do,
even if you are, just give it time and look for opportunities.