Ron Paul Fl@sh Mob!?

[Esoteric]

If you don't know what a flash mob is, watch these vids.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo&feature=channel_video_title


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

HOW AWESOME would it be if we could organize one of these, or even pool some money to hire "improv everywhere" (popular flash mob organizer) to do a flash mob that would draw attention (via millions of automatic youtube views) to Ron Paul?

I think this would be a fun idea to talk about.. it may be far-fetched, but check out the "improv everywhere" youtube channel and tell me it wouldn't be worth it to try!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ImprovEverywhere?blend=1&ob=5

[Unelected]

The goal this time around is to win primaries not be attention whores on the side of a street. Gimmicks are for used car dealerships not for real Presidential campaigns.

[libertythor]

The term "flash mob" has taken a very negative connotation recently with recent headlines. If the media simply reported on a "Ron Paul Flash Mob", many GOP voters might associate RP supporters with thuggery.

[LibertyEagle]

//

[mello]

I suggested something similar a while back. The difference with my idea was that the flash mob wouldn't do anything crazy or dance related. My idea was to get a lot of Ron Paul supporters to show up in the audiences of national talk shows like Letterman, Conan, Leno, & etc. Specifically, it would be during the week running up to Super Tuesday. The flash mobs would act like any other audience. The only difference would be that they would all be wearing the same Ron Paul for President shirts. Every time the cameras cut to the audience is essential free National advertising for Ron's campaign.

And since it would be a grassroots effort, we may get some bonus news coverage about the Ron Paul flash mobs which couldn't hurt just before Super Tuesday.

[sailingaway]

If you don't know what a flash mob is, watch these vids.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo&feature=channel_video_title


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

HOW AWESOME would it be if we could organize one of these, or even pool some money to hire "improv everywhere" (popular flash mob organizer) to do a flash mob that would draw attention (via millions of automatic youtube views) to Ron Paul?

I think this would be a fun idea to talk about.. it may be far-fetched, but check out the "improv everywhere" youtube channel and tell me it wouldn't be worth it to try!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ImprovEverywhere?blend=1&ob=5

I this would be very cool if we could do it very well. But it would take a lot of organization to make it cool. Would we do that?

[Legend1104]

I think it would be awsome. Imagine if we had one occur at Ames right in front of Dr. Paul's both. I have never seen a flash mob video where anyone was upset or angry that saw it. People that see them are so happy that they get to take part in it and see it. I think it would be a new unique way of getting some good attention. Who knows, it might even make people at Ames think about voting for Dr. Paul.

[sailingaway]

Honestly, I wouldn't want to mess with Ames. Any Iowa fair otherwise, though....

[Esoteric]

I think it would be awsome. Imagine if we had one occur at Ames right in front of Dr. Paul's both. I have never seen a flash mob video where anyone was upset or angry that saw it. People that see them are so happy that they get to take part in it and see it. I think it would be a new unique way of getting some good attention. Who knows, it might even make people at Ames think about voting for Dr. Paul.

Maybe something similar to video 1, right in front of Dr. Paul's booth (and right in front of the straw poll entrance)? Maybe all the frozen people would be wearing RP shirts?

[Billay]

No thanks.

[Esoteric]

Honestly, I wouldn't want to mess with Ames. Any Iowa fair otherwise, though....

Yeh, the campaign has already been pretty stern about "outsiders" going to the straw poll. It would certainly create quite the buzz, though!



No thanks.

I think the name, "flash mob" is throwing people off. We wouldn't even have to call it such.

[Billay]

Yeh, the campaign has already been pretty stern about "outsiders" going to the straw poll. It would certainly create quite the buzz, though!




I think the name, "flash mob" is throwing people off. We wouldn't even have to call it such.

How bout getting a bunch of people to make phone calls in Iowa? It would be much more productive overall.

[Legend1104]

How bout getting a bunch of people to make phone calls in Iowa? It would be much more productive overall.

I don't think you would make to great of a flash mob. It would probably be pretty boring just seeing people standing around talking to someone. You might not even be able to tell it was a flash mob.

[Esoteric]

i don't think you would make to great of a flash mob. It would probably be pretty boring just seeing people standing around talking to someone. You might not even be able to tell it was a flash mob.

lol!

[justinpagewood]

Lol such an awesome idea.

[justinpagewood]

I'm gonna see if our OC + LA MeetUp groups would be down to do this somewhere in Los Angeles. It would be a fun, simple event to do as a one-time thing, and try to get a little press, and post on YouTube.

[libertybrewcity]

let's flash mob out into the streets handing out literature to our neighbors. it would be great.

[spaceship_earth]

some of you people are really uptight.

[Esoteric]

some of you people are really uptight.

yeah, what's the deal? It's like we've got 100 clones of Collins trolling every thread telling people to knock on doors. :collins:

This campaign could very well be irrelevant in 12 days - just a little bit of time before knocking on my neighbor's door in Massachusetts will do any good.

[Esoteric]

I'm gonna see if our OC + LA MeetUp groups would be down to do this somewhere in Los Angeles. It would be a fun, simple event to do as a one-time thing, and try to get a little press, and post on YouTube.

This would be epic. I'm thinking it would be difficult do make it Ron Paul themed, but I'm sure we could brainstorm. Doing it in front of the Ron Paul booth at Ames WOULD have that effect..... JUST saying!!

[Billay]

some of you people are really uptight.

Some of you people are politically ignorant.

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

YES.....YES...........YES


I say we plan it for January 20th, 2013 at the Capitol Building in DC and we all show up and cheer like crazy all at the same time. We can also plan some "end the fed" chants and some dancing and some wine drinking and all sorts of things all in flash mob style.

To get to that point will require a TON of planning and concentration and effort though so we should probably not plan on doing anything involving flash mobs or showing up anywhere in Bernanke masks until that point.

[Esoteric]

YES.....YES...........YES


I say we plan it for January 20th, 2013 at the Capitol Building in DC and we all show up and cheer like crazy all at the same time. We can also plan some "end the fed" chants and some dancing and some wine drinking and all sorts of things all in flash mob style.

To get to that point will require a TON of planning and concentration and effort though so we should probably not plan on doing anything involving flash mobs or showing up anywhere in Bernanke masks until that point.

well, plans for that flash mob may be undone in exactly 2 weeks.

[RonPaulwillWin]

Kaskade tweeted he would be mixing in his truck during the electric daily carnival move premier at the Chinese theater on Hollywood blvd. Word spread in the twitterfacebooksphere, so a flash mob ensued. Police in Riot gear came, there were thousands of people there but only about 3 got rowdy, the rest were just dancing, planking etc...they called it a riot.

This guy got arrested.

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/07/27/disturbance-outside-the-hollywood-film-premiere/#/1

Celebration of music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KvIL0f16Ew&feature=player_embedded#at=378

Then the mob came

Kaskade probably just underestimated social media...he only had 90k twitter followers but EDM news spreads like fire on facebook, plus LA is rave central.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ6JwVmAMqI&feature=youtu.be

Thing that bugs me is that old media spun this to be a riot, people dispersed quickly.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/07/28/crowds-much-more-organized-in-hollywood-day-after-mob-scene/

I know there were a few assholes there, EDM is going mainstream etc....

My main gripe is now that an army of lawyers are going to brainstorm and figure out a way to make people liable for tweets. What if one RP supporter got out of hand and they made a national sensational story out of it. The movie was a recap of electronic daisy carnival 2010 at the Los Angeles coliseum. Ariel views and extended Dj interviews was what this movie was about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJvcePy0J_k&feature=player_embedded

Unfortunately, a young girl did die from drinking too much water at that party. There were 100,000 people there, this was a tragic event and it might have been prevented if non-profits like dancesafe.org hadn't been neutered by the government. They used to pass out fliers about harm prevention and at one point, provided free pill testing to make sure it was MDMA and not laced/subbed with a more dangerous drug.

The first fox news report I saw, they stated that people were in line for a documentary about a girl who died at a rave. Crazy blatant spin, as a hardcore RP supporter, I'm used to it by now, but when your a local, and you know exactly what happend, and you see it spun this crazy...who knows what would happen if we tried to have a flash mob....they control the cameras and the mainstream news stories, the interviews...yea if you're connected to FB and twitter, you can get a tons of first hand accounts on youtube.


Anyway, on the economic impact. This forced EDC out of Los Angeles after more of a decade of hosting the party...this year it was at the motor speedway in vegas. It was estimated that hotel rooms, food, gas, etc...provided the city of LA with 42 million in revenue. Because most of the crowd at the vegas party this year was from LA, practically the whole party (240,000) over 3 days, had to stay at a hotel, timeshare, or friends place. It was estimated that the city pulled in 140 mil. Police were impressed at the politeness of the partiers and there a minimal amount of arrests (I know that still sounds bad) The vegas commissioners have actually contacted insomniac and told them they want to create a whole EDC week.

BTW, La is fucking broke...bad move on their part.

TLDR; A flash mob would have to be highly cooradenated because 99% of ravers are peaceful just like RP supporters, but you never know whats gonna happen because social media is so open, there's always going to be a few trolls that hop on board.


EDIT: Oh, and it kinda reminded me of this

http://www.evilmilk.com/pictures/Thanks_Robocop.jpg

[Article V]

I know flash mobs are traditionally done with one large group of people in one location, but I don't see any reason why we couldn't re-invent the flashmob to take place in major cities across the US at exactly the same time. If we toss around unique ideas that garner positive attention for Ron Paul and then show that his support is strong not just online or in select locations, but across the entire country...then I think we're doing a great job in dispelling the myth that Ron Paul has no chance. After all, if Ron Paul's followers can organize something so large as to get noticed across the entire country all at the same time on the same day, that's a politician with some serious influence!

I know there are going to be countless naysayers (there always are), but for those who wish to remain constructively involved in such an idea...we need to toss around ways to create a Purple Cow (not a literal Purple Cow, but a metaphor for something which makes you stop and take notice because it's so remarkably different) that could be duplicated in multiple cities at once.

[Elwar]

Perhaps on election day we could do like the mp3 flash mob. It would not even need to require Ron Paul supporters, you could include millions of people who want to participate.

Have everyone go to the polls and download an mp3 at the same time.

Further instructions on what the mp3 will actually say will not be revealed until the election day. But trust me in that Ron Paul will get a whole lot of votes that day.

[Article V]

Perhaps on election day we could do like the mp3 flash mob. It would not even need to require Ron Paul supporters, you could include millions of people who want to participate.

Have everyone go to the polls and download an mp3 at the same time.

Further instructions on what the mp3 will actually say will not be revealed until the election day. But trust me in that Ron Paul will get a whole lot of votes that day.
I have no idea what your suggestion is. Can you please clarify? It sounds like you want everyone to wait until Nov. 8, 2012 and then have those at the polls download an mp3 while they wait in line to vote.

I'm sure I must be misunderstanding your suggestion because obviously there's no reason why local news media around the country would be attracted to a person pressing a button on their cell phone or iPod, and there's obviously no way that--even if the event was newsworthy--it would have a positive impact on the election since the news wouldn't hit the airwaves until the day after the vote.

Please clarify, as I'm certain I'm misunderstanding.

[Article V]

I was thinking something more along the lines of:

People in cities across the country milling about as 'zombie' voters (people literally dressed as zombies, pretending to be brain-dead 'herd mentality' voters--perhaps they have bland campaign signs for generic candidates, i.e. no one specific); then at a specific time (perhaps 30 minutes into the zombie voter apocalypse) somehow we heal all the zombies across the country through the message of Ron Paul, and they all don Ron Paul campaign gear, now healed as enlightened voters. Perhaps the healed voters mill about chanting their thanks to Dr. Ron Paul for another 30 minutes, then disperse. The whole thing would take an hour total.

That's just one idea (not a fully thought out idea) off the top of my head. I have lots of others.

This is something all Ron Paul supporters could participate in, regardless of their location. All we'd have to pick is the day and time most likely to get attention by passersby, local media, and thus national media. Tens of thousands of zombies healed across the country at one time by Dr. Paul would be impressive and newsworthy. Plus, it makes the point that Ron Paul is now mainstream, so everyone needs to pay attention and get out of their brain-dead comas.

Perhaps September 12th would be a good date? It's charged with Tea Party energy and has significance for the Bill of Rights, as well as significance for the day America woke up to reclaim our Constitutional principles.

[cdc482]

If you don't know what a flash mob is, watch these vids.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo&feature=channel_video_title


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

HOW AWESOME would it be if we could organize one of these, or even pool some money to hire "improv everywhere" (popular flash mob organizer) to do a flash mob that would draw attention (via millions of automatic youtube views) to Ron Paul?

I think this would be a fun idea to talk about.. it may be far-fetched, but check out the "improv everywhere" youtube channel and tell me it wouldn't be worth it to try!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ImprovEverywhere?blend=1&ob=5

Great idea. Unelected clearly doesn't understand the rEVOLution.

[sailingaway]

This would be epic. I'm thinking it would be difficult do make it Ron Paul themed, but I'm sure we could brainstorm. Doing it in front of the Ron Paul booth at Ames WOULD have that effect..... JUST saying!!

Only if done well and if no trolls used it as an opportunity to make everyone look bad. Come on, don't do this to us (re: Ames). Too many people have put too much into that.

However, I had the same thought about a flash mob previously, the first time I ever saw one (not Ames just doing it well and videoing it) although the one that caught my eye a few might not like, because a handful of people can only view Israel politically, and that happens to be where it was done. (It is just the first one I ever saw.) Also some supporters wouldn't be comfortable with this particular one. But it is well done:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQkdUVJQqKo

clearly, this was a big production, and I wouldn't expect this, but less ambitious ones still look good. I'd have to leave that to more creative people than me to choreograph, though. I just think it could be fun.

But Ames is the campaign's production. Some here seem like they are trying to upstage the bride at her big day, there....

[sailingaway]

I was thinking something more along the lines of:

People in cities across the country milling about as 'zombie' voters (people literally dressed as zombies, pretending to be brain-dead 'herd mentality' voters--perhaps they have bland campaign signs for generic candidates, i.e. no one specific); then at a specific time (perhaps 30 minutes into the zombie voter apocalypse) somehow we heal all the zombies across the country through the message of Ron Paul, and they all don Ron Paul campaign gear, now healed as enlightened voters. Perhaps the healed voters mill about chanting their thanks to Dr. Ron Paul for another 30 minutes, then disperse. The whole thing would take an hour total.

That's just one idea (not a fully thought out idea) off the top of my head. I have lots of others.

This is something all Ron Paul supporters could participate in, regardless of their location. All we'd have to pick is the day and time most likely to get attention by passersby, local media, and thus national media. Tens of thousands of zombies healed across the country at one time by Dr. Paul would be impressive and newsworthy. Plus, it makes the point that Ron Paul is now mainstream, so everyone needs to pay attention and get out of their brain-dead comas.

Perhaps September 12th would be a good date? It's charged with Tea Party energy and has significance for the Bill of Rights, as well as significance for the day America woke up to reclaim our Constitutional principles.

If we do anything I think it should be cheerful and attractive. Too easy to take pictures of Ron Paul supporters dressed like zombies and a scared two year old and make it reflect badly. Whatever it is should be charming, not aggressive.

And I'd hope we could get the colleges involved.

[Elwar]

I have no idea what your suggestion is. Can you please clarify? It sounds like you want everyone to wait until Nov. 8, 2012 and then have those at the polls download an mp3 while they wait in line to vote.

I'm sure I must be misunderstanding your suggestion because obviously there's no reason why local news media around the country would be attracted to a person pressing a button on their cell phone or iPod, and there's obviously no way that--even if the event was newsworthy--it would have a positive impact on the election since the news wouldn't hit the airwaves until the day after the vote.

Please clarify, as I'm certain I'm misunderstanding.

Not Nov. 8th. Just the day of the state primaries.

They go to the polls and listen to the MP3.

First thing to do, hop up and down. Second thing to do, start to hum America the Beautiful, Third thing, walk into the polling place humming, Fourth thing sign in to vote while humming, Fifth thing vote for Ron Paul, Sixth thing skip out of the polling place. Seventh thing, go home and watch the news of Ron Paul's upset victory.

Note: You do not have to be a Ron Paul supporter to participate in this flash mob. You can do it just for the fun of it.

[JamesButabi]

I like the frozen one. I think it would be cool for a bunch of people to enter a very busy area like this all wearing shirts the say "The silent Majority".

Everyone then freezes in random spots and directions holding out a pamphlet about how Ron Paul represents everyone (with brief bulletpoints about individualism) and needs the silent majority to gain their voice.

[Article V]

If we do anything I think it should be cheerful and attractive. Too easy to take pictures of Ron Paul supporters dressed like zombies and a scared two year old and make it reflect badly. Whatever it is should be charming, not aggressive.

And I'd hope we could get the colleges involved.
The zombies are not Ron Paul supporters. The zombies are apathetic voters with campaign signs reading, "Vote Red" or "Vote Blue" etc. And they're not scary, they're just braindead and milling about. Something my three-year old niece and her friends would love.

The apathetic voter zombies don't become Ron Paul supporters until AFTER they remove their zombie demeanor. At that point they become very cheerful, very pleasant Ron Paul supporters who simply introduce themselves to the crowds as if they're happy to be human again and happy to meet other humans. And they express thanks to Dr. Paul.

It's impossible to have a Purple Cow that doesn't attract at least some criticism. But like Seth Godin says, if you're not in a position to be criticized, then you are invisible. I think the positive press and fun atmosphere would go far to get the campaign noticed in a good way. Perpetually safe is a great strategy for losing a campaign. In today's over-advertised world, "Safe" is much too risky.

[Esoteric]

I like the frozen one. I think it would be cool for a bunch of people to enter a very busy area like this all wearing shirts the say "The silent Majority".

Everyone then freezes in random spots and directions holding out a pamphlet about how Ron Paul represents everyone (with brief bulletpoints about individualism) and needs the silent majority to gain their voice.

I Like.

[Esoteric]

Indeed, our idea should be tame, yet effective.

You guys think we can pull this off?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnPvbfogeSI

[Article V]

I like the frozen one. I think it would be cool for a bunch of people to enter a very busy area like this all wearing shirts the say "The silent Majority".

Everyone then freezes in random spots and directions holding out a pamphlet about how Ron Paul represents everyone (with brief bulletpoints about individualism) and needs the silent majority to gain their voice.
I like how James is thinking creatively. There are some great touches with his suggestion. Except the frozen one has already been done, so by definition it can no longer be a Purple Cow.

Plus, the frozen one took over 200 people in one location, which many places won't have. In my opinion, we need something that would work and garner attention even if only one person does it. Because ideally, our flash mob will be spread across the entire country.

Additionally, the frozen one (due to the physical limitations of most people) only lasts for a few minutes (3 minutes tops), which doesn't create as much buzz because there isn't enough time for news to spread.

The only reason anyone knows about the 'frozen' flash mob is because the organizers made a video and it eventually spread over time on YouTube. Ideally, our flash mob will be spread not over time and not by us alone; but instantly by thousands of people in cities across the country all making their own videos, reporting it on local radio, posing for photos with our friendly supporters, etc. The 'frozen' one simply is too short and too non-interactive.

Our challenge is to create a Purple Cow where our supporters can interact and pass out Ron Paul info for an extended time-frame in a fun, inviting way. (Pleasant demeanor a must!)

We need something entirely unique, never been done before. Something that works in any location, no matter the size, no matter how many people participate. Something that lasts long enough to generate maximum buzz (think: passerby sees the flashmob, reacts, decides to call a friend, the friend comes downtown to see the flashmob for themself).

I really think we need to reinvent the traditional flash mob. Otherwise, we're just repeating the ideas of other groups (who likely did it better the first time), we're excluding potential participants in cities without the means to duplicate the idea, and we're excluding our audience by reducing the time frame of the flash mob (traditional flash mobs only last for 1-5 minutes).

Let's reach into new territory of the adjacent possible. Take the flash mob and re-invent it into a flash rally!

[Article V]

Look how friendly and fun this "I Like Turtles" kid zombie is:

http://youtu.be/CMNry4PE93Y

Friendly zombie voters encouraging people to "Vote Generic" is funny and stimulates discussion, while making an important political point. People will engage with our flash rally without even knowing we're Ron Paul supporters. Then, at the appropriate time, we shed our zombie layer and don the appropriate "Dr. Ron Paul Cures Voter Apathy" campaign.

It's something that could be done everywhere with any number of people (as little as one, as many as infinity).

It would get noticed (who doesn't notice a friendly zombie campaigning for 'Generic 4 President').

It could involve thousands of passersby as the timeframe is extended.

It would get talked about around the dinner table and likely on local news.

It gets people thinking ("Maybe those zombies have a point... I always vote Red or Blue without thinking, perhaps I should educate myself on the candidates before voting this time around... Who's that Dr. Paul person they were talking about? He sounds fun and different.)