Last fall, the Occupy movement amplified the voices of the 99% in cities and parks around the country, and in doing so literally changed the national conversation. 

In October, two filmmakers uploaded a 30 second video to YouTube with voices from the Occupy Wall St, and then it was posted on the crowdfunded advertising platform LoudSauce, and 168 people pledged over $6,000, and LoudSauce aired the first Occupy spot on national television, reaching over 3.2 million viewers with a message direct from the occupiers themselves. It even aired during Fox News' O'Reilly Factor. 

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Now, with the 2012 political campaign season underway, the national dialogue is again being controlled by the super wealthy. The influence of the 1% is channeling its voice powerfully through the Super PACs, whose average donation is $88,000 according to the Sunlight Foundation. 

We need to take back the conversation again. We need some kind of people’s PAC to amplify voices of the 99%.  

 

So this spring, we’ll reawaken the nation by occupying not just city parks but also America’s television sets. We're calling on filmmakers, online activists, and people like you to create and share 30-second spots capturing a message or vision from the voices speaking up for what's possible in the streets. 

And this time around, we’re raising the stakes- together we’ll raise $150,000 from thousands of regular citizens, showing millions more Americans on national TV what really matters to the 99%. 

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So whether filming the marches during May, inspired by a powerful poem shared on YouTube, or remixing voices from the news, go ahead and edit together a spot worth amplifying on national TV. We're asking that you making it 27 seconds, so they spots can be customized to include a final call to action and a powerful and transparent "Paid for by" with voices from the 99%.  

Then submit it on LoudSauce before May 21st with a strong headline and an audience that you hope to reach. At the end of May, the campaign will open up to funding from the public - and any spot receiving at least $1,000 will be aired on national TV. So get ready spread the word about your video, ask your friends and networks to chip in and get your video on national TV. 

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Another world is emerging, and it's time to amplify our vision to inspire the country again. By purchasing your own airtime for the messages that most represent your values, the movement can communicate directly with other people, without the media distorting our message. 

 

It’s time to transform our democracy, it’s time to occupy the airwaves. 

Join us: loudsauce.com/occupyspots

Together, we can reach millions.

 

It's so inspiring to see the faces of the funders of this ad glittering on bustling Times Square. Kudos to UP Greek Tourism and the 333 proud funders of the Up Greek Tourism campaign.

"Engaging new supporters online and turning them into donors is a critical task for any nonprofit organization, and a LoudSauce campaign can be a great tool to help them achieve it."

Thanks to Heath Wickline from the Uniting NC campaign for this comprehensive case study of how non-profits can use LoudSauce to grow their followers, collect press, and increase their impact. 

 

Crowdraising: Running a Successful LoudSauce Campaign for Uniting NC

Advertising can be a great vehicle to make a real, emotional connection with our audiences and to raise the visibility of a campaign or organization. But the expense of buying ad space can be a barrier to many nonprofits. Ads aren’t worth a thing if no one seems them, and ad prices are based on the number of eyeballs that will see them. That’s why Super Bowl spots are obscenely expensive while you see ads for local furniture stores in the middle of the night. It’s how the system works and it’s a conundrum.

Social media may now provide an answer. A new online platform calledLoudSauce is looking to change that difficult advertising equation by introducing a simple way for individuals to amplify ideas they like. Using a model similar to platforms like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, LoudSauce’s users are putting their money where their mouths are by crowdfunding ads from good causes that highlight smart ideas, get people thinking, and change hearts and minds.

Last fall, I had the chance to pilot the service by helpingUniting NC, an organization working to make North Carolina a place that respects and values immigrants. For an exciting, statewide billboard campaign, we raised $3,500 through a combination of online crowdfunding and old-fashioned in-person fundraising. At least as important as funding this unusual campaign, were the additions to Uniting NC’s email list: a 5% increase, exclusively from people who had already demonstrated their willingness to open their wallets. And when the billboards went up, they attracted huge attention from local and regional press, vastly expanding the reach of the campaign and enhancing Uniting NC’s stature statewide.

This is how we did it.

 

Continue reading 'Crowdraising: Running a Successful LoudSauce Campaign for Uniting NC'

"Drivers coming off the Bay Bridge in to the city during the last week of 2011 will probably recognize this curious billboard message from "The Bay Bridge". The billboard was part of a crowdsourcing experiment from San Francisco-based startup LoudSauce..."

Read more of the story behind the Bay Bridge billboarin the SFist. 

This holiday season, LoudSauce is doing something a little different. You've been following progress with our San Francisco billboard project- going up off the Bay Bridge during the final week of 2012. We've asked you to help us brainstorm, design, and vote for the best ideas- now with the billboard design in hand, it's time to fund it!

To celebrate the season of giving, we're kicking off the 12 Days of LoudSauce. For the next 12 days, we'll be humming our own version of the old song-- all about the gifts that spring up when people come together.

LoudSauce is an idea made possible by the generosity of others, so we're asking you to join us-- by getting into the holiday spirit and helping fund this project. Wouldn't it be cool if one of the last major advertisements of 2011 was a meaningful, community-driven message?

Each day we'll be adding a line to the song and a creative image to spread over Facebook- so keep your eyes peeled and join the choir. Donate here today: http://loudsauce.com/campaigns/59

 

The 12 Days of LoudSauce

To follow the rest of the song, follow us on Facebook!

On the tenth day of LoudSauce, the people made a pledge to the top 10 billboard ads of 2011,

 

 

Imagine if next year's Grammys were hosted by Planet Earth. Check out this awesome video from Pacha's Pajamas, the story and music album that teaches kids about the environment through pop culture.

Help Pacha's reach millions of kids by chipping in to spread the story of Pacha through the most popular YouTube videos. Donate today by visiting Pacha's LoudSauce campaign page.

Banned on the Hill (and in Europe!) from Franke James on Vimeo.

Wondering what's possible with a LoudSauce campaign? Check out this awesome video from Franke James, the artist who ran a LoudSauce campaign to take her blacklisted art to the streets (bus stops!) of Ottawa. 

Cross-posted from Huffington Post San Francisco and Huffington Post Occupy Wall St

I remember ten years ago, as a middle schooler witnessing the tides change in our country -- seeing burning towers on the TV screen and in the months that followed, watching a war unfold. Over the last decade, Americans have faced a series of major upheavals, from housing crisis and the onslaught of the recession, to a historic election that stirred our guarded optimism. 2011 punctuated this decade of upheaval with a wave of unrest and revolution that spread from Tunisia to Wall St. As the year draws to a close, I can't help but feel as if a new era is approaching. What if the message that defines 2012, and this emerging era, came from the crowd?

For this historical moment in time, it feels especially meaningful to live in the Bay Area. I recently moved from Washington DC -- which I had long considered to be our nation's center of gravity -- fed up with working to affect change amid the political mudslinging, gridlock, and compromise. Here in San Francisco, I am in awe of the revolution that is taking place regardless of the political climate -- all around me, individuals are tossing out the rule book, redefining the game, rebuilding and re-imagining whatever systems and industries stand in our way.

Days after I arrived in San Francisco, the whole country suddenly was swept up in a major wake-up call -- people flocking together, deciding enough is enough, the current political and economic system has got to change. What inspires me most about the Occupy Movement is the collective realization that the wait is over -- across cities and towns, people are rejecting the notion that we'll have to wait for change to happen to us, for the economy to recover, for the jobs to be created, for the policies to change, for the conversation to start.

Simultaneously in San Francisco, entrepreneurs, innovators, and builders are already at work using their own ideas, creativity and strength in numbers to build a more just and sustainable system. There's Square -- which is revolutionizing small business transactions via mobile payments, and Benefit Corporation based out of the Hub San Francisco -- that believe business can do good and do well -- as well as Kiva,CarrotMob, and countless other ingenious and inspiring groups that have refused to wait for change.

One Bay Area start-up is concerned in particular with the role of media in bringing about meaningful change. LoudSauce, co-founded by Colin Mutchler and Christie George, takes inspiration from tools like Twitter and Facebook, which have enabled us to influence our friends and networks. LoudSauce is working to expand the definition of social media, to take people-powered messages one step further by providing people with the tools to reach beyond their current social network -- occupying billboards, bus stops, and TV ads with messages created and funded by the 99%.

It seems fitting that at the cusp of 2012, one of San Francisco's major commercial billboard spaces will be occupied by a message envisioned, designed, chosen and paid for by the people. Starting with community-generated ideas (via Facebook questions) and with the help of a handful of Bay Area designers and creative types, LoudSauce is asking the Bay Area to vote over the next three days on which message should go up on the billboard and greet over 600,000 drivers after crossing the Bay Bridge during the final week of 2011.

This project is just one of the many springing out of the Bay Area, showing the world that together, crowds of people everywhere can literally shape the kind of world we want to live in. I'm resolved in believing that 2012 will begin the era of the positive, entrepreneurial and crowd-driven spirit that will revitalize this country.

This holiday season, LoudSauce is asking you to help to shape the message that greets drivers crossing the Bay Bridge into San Francisco during the final week of 2011. First, we asked for your ideas on Facebook- tons of great slogans and concepts came in. Next, we held a brainstorming party to takes these ideas to the next level and enlisted Bay Area creative types to come up with some designs. 

Drum roll please... The LoudSauce Highway 101 Billboard Campaign is now LIVE - now it's your turn to tell us which billboard design you LIKE best. The most popular design will be the one that goes up on Highway 101 and reaches hundreds of thousands of Bay Area commuters after the holidays.
 

Here's how it works:

1- Check out the billboard designs below or by visiting the campaign page

2- To vote, click the "Like" box under your favorite billboard design 

3- After you've liked your favorite design, invite all your Facebook friends to like it too!

The billboard page will show up in your newsfeed, making it easy to invite, tag, post, and share with co-workers, relatives, friends, and housemates.

4- Don't forget to chip in- By donating, you'll be bringing this billboard to life. As a creative and meaningful holiday gift, you can also donate in honor of a friend or family member. 

Let's usher in the new year by sending a powerful message to over 600,000 Bay Area drivers and showing the world how together, we can shape the kind of world we want to live in. We need you to help make this happen- which billboard should we bring to life?

Happy Holidays from the LoudSauce team,

Colin, Caroline, Adrian, and Nick 

 

 

Last night's Billboard Happy Hour at the Hub San Francisco was a major success and a lot of fun.

Our friends from Compost Modern and Big New Ideas, and the Presidio sustainable MBA program, as well as long-time LoudSauce advisors, Christie George and Charles Baker joined us for pizza, beer, and some inspired brainstorming around what to put up on the San Francisco Highway 101 billboard for the last week of 2011. 

We started with some of the great ideas from our Facebook Questions poll- from LoudSauce fans around the country. A few themes that stood out:

• 2012 is a year for renewal- marking a new beginning. 
• We're already building the new system right here in the Bay Area.
• There were also a lot of the ideas around sharing, compassion, and messages that relate specifically to car drivers. 

After some conversation, we broke out into groups, threw around crazy ideas, jotted down slogans, and doodled designs on blank templates. Once the creativity was flowing, we regrouped and everyone presented a few of their best ideas- there were a lot of "huh"s, "ha!"s and "hmm"s uttered in agreement, amusement, and excitement.

Next we all grabbed markers and left little dots on our favorite billboard ideas- a few key favorites emerged: 

• "2012: The beginning is near", "2012: It's just the beginning…"
• "Compassion requires no receipt"
• "We are SF. Let's build the new system"
• "If you support government spending, keep driving"

As luck would have it, a few people stepped forward to take on the design for each idea- what awesome friends we have. 

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In the next few days, we'll roll out these billboard ideas online. As we mentioned in our last blog post, we want YOU to decide which design goes up and reaches hundreds of thousands.

By donating, you'll be bringing this billboard to life. But don't just stop at donating- the idea with the most "Likes" gets the billboard, so if you really love the idea, spread the word and get all your friends, co-workers, and relatives to Like it as well! 

We'll let you know  the billboard campaign goes live- and we'll make it easy for you to tell everyone you know about it.

Stay tuned!