Making a new video--would like suggestions

[wonderingmind42]

Hey all--
Within the next 5 days (before wife and kids come home) I plan to post another video on my YouTube page, to take advantage of the fact that I have 2500 “subscribers”--people who signed up to receive an automatic notice anytime I post something. The video will be another call to spread the word, sharing some new suggestions for action that have come up since I posted the HIAE videos 3 months ago. Before I make the video (working title “Git ‘er Done!”), I thought I would gather your ideas here as to things I should include. Here’s what I’m thinking to include so far:

* Share the 5,000,000 view figure and some of the press. Use this to argue that is it completely feasible to change the culture by passing a simple idea along--that we’ve got a good start, and now if we really push, we could possibly light the whole thing on fire. Issue an inspiring call to make this idea totally “viral”--beyond the internet--so that it keeps popping up conversations, letters to the editor, newsletters, etc.

* Graphically show exponential growth on whiteboard (“You tell ten, then they tell ten,” etc.).

* Give some strategies for spreading the word. In particular, tell people to get creative, and to lobby “multipliers.” That is, instead of just being content to forward it to your friends and family, brainstorm “Who could I turn on to this idea that would then pass it on to WAY MORE people than I or my friends ever could?” Multipliers like: celebrities, journalists, executives, elected officials, bloggers, vloggers, talk show hosts (t.v. and radio), charities, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, think tanks, lawmakers, musicians, “experts” you see quoted in articles, presidential candidates, producers, directors, authors, columnists, athletes, internet video contests (enter HIAE or borrow the arguments and put them in your own video), re-posting on other video sites. I mean, just imagine if this got on Oprah--BAM!--mission (of changing the culture) accomplished. Other suggestions?

* Point out the role that a single person can play. For example, if the still-anonymous johnq5 hadn’t reposted “The Most Terrifying Video,” the videos probably would not have received any mainstream attention, because--for some unknown detail of a reason--that posting was the one that put the views into the millions, which is what makes the story news for the mainstream media. So had that one person acted differently, we probably wouldn’t even be out of the starting gate at this point. That’s not to say that if you--Joe Schmoe-- do take some action, then the world will be saved as a result. But just think if you are unknowingly in the position that johnq5 was, and you choose not to take action. Your choice to take action or not MAY BE that one flap of a butterfly’s wings that starts the typhoon. You might be a Rosa Parks, a person who later history judges to have played a pivotal role, though at the time your action seemed so simple. When the tinder is dry--as it very much seems to be right now--a single spark in the right spot can set off the wildfire. So start throwing sparks!

* When writing letters to lawmakers, it may have greater impact if you write a simple letter, and then put the remainder of the energy you can spare for the endeavor into getting others to write letters as well, rather than putting a bunch of energy into writing an excellent letter. My understanding is that a lot of what happens to letters sent to lawmakers is that they get lumped into summaries, and THOSE are what get passed on to the decision makers (“Last week we got 52 letters from constituents on the subject of ferret fashion: 12 letters for and 40 against”).

* This could literally be the biggest publicity campaign in history. Because instead of paying a huge, structured, well-funded organization to do the work, we merely hand a simple idea to individuals, and each individual does a little bit to spread the idea to others, who do the same, growing exponentially, until the entire bloody culture is saturated with it! Buhwah-ha-ha-ha! (Oops. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. But it is an EXCITING possibility!) The end goal: a policymaker cant turn around without having a constituent in their face demanding “What are we--you--going to do about climate change?”

* I want to encapsulate the idea, the meme, into a single sentence, so that I can say things like “This idea--that blah blah blah--could be the thing that cuts through all the debate.” What I want is the “blah blah blah” part. Here’s a couple possibilities: “. . . the issue is so potentially dangerous that we can’t wait for certainty, and instead have to look at the risks, which show us that the risks of inaction far outweigh the risks of action.” Or something along the lines of what I saw someone here put on a flyer: “. . . we must change the question from ‘Is it going to happen?’ to ‘Can we afford to continue to ignore the possibility?’” Essentially, the videos explain the idea, but what exactly IS the idea (in one sentence, please).

* Call people’s attention to Focus The Nation on Jan 31.

* Encourage people to visit and join the discussions at manpollo.org, The Manpollo Project group on Facebook, wonderingmind42.com, and SaveOurHides.com.

* As you spread the word, keep in mind that the idea is to cut through the debate with a new way of viewing things, rather than jumping into the “Is not!/Is too!” fray. For instance, instead of telling people “This guy (in the video) is right,” ASK them “Hey, what do you make of this?”

Try to get back to me (here on this thread) with suggestions within the next 48 hours or so. Title?

Cheers!
Greg (wonderingmind42)

[Ken Zakreski]

Hey Greg,

I would say to keep an eye on the prize. Getting a full fledged analysis of the risk associated with human activity. Google scholar search "risk management" and "climate change" - start looking for papers on the subject leading to a full blown manpollo project. It will be under another name I guess. Maybe track down some risk management scholars get an update on what a manpollo project would look like.

Your viewers will want info on the progress, let em have it.

Ken

[chaingeling]

I feel honoured to be quoted - even if nameless - as the, to my knowledge, only Dane on this site. :-P
I'm afraid, however, that it takes a whole lot more than just the information you've presented to get everything into action - most people will still not take action, regardless of how many experiments involving fire you show. They need a sense of immediate danger to themselves and to their nearest (dearest), which is why scare tactics work so damned well.
I know it seems illogical and abnormal, but I'm certain to an extent you could agree with the sentiment; It's not about "Getting it done!", it's more about organization, responsibility and goal.
As Ken says, you need to keep your eyes on the prize; The Manpollo Project. I'd say, however, that this project should only be realized if people demand it - if they support action against GHG Emissions already, the cause of the Manpollo Project becomes moot - and there is quite a staggering amount of people already supporting this (NAS, AAAS, USCAP etc.).
If I were you, wonderingmind42, I'd just wait. If you do want to make a movie, perhaps you should make one where you solidify "Your Mission" with actual material; As you know, Your Mission merely tells us "geeks" to get out there and fight the good fight and bring the issue up - which is what we've done, and there's even been established a number of websites for this purpose with lots of information like, what can you do, guides to countering sceptics and so forth - I'd argue the best cause of action would be to gather a bunch of links, put them on whiteboards and throw them out to the 2500 who subscribed to you.
Suggestions to titles:
War Efforts
Battle Provisions
Or something alike. :-)

[Tempest Stormwind]

"The War Effort" is a catchy enough title. ;)

I'm a tad tired at the moment (yes, Greg, I *do* sleep sometimes, although if given the means I'd gladly excise that flaw), and I have a conference to present at tomorrow, so a more cogent reply will have to wait for now.

However, I'd like to point out that it may not be wise to mention Johnq5 by name. Sadly, that video's almost certainly a hack, and the not-so-tech-savvy media reported it as it saw it.

(Another example hack: How many of you think Ghost Love Score, a 10-minute epic by Finnish power metal band Nightwish, when combined haphazardly with clips from Gerrard Butler's version of Phantom of the Opera, is totally awesome and worthy of a +20 rating or greater? (Well, as a fan of both, I would, if the production was better, but that's beside the point.) Probably nowhere near as many as this fan vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ryxgs7oj0) reports. The comment ratings are a dead giveaway -- not only are comments disabled and the numbers totally out of line with what you'd expect on the video given the hits, but press "view all comments" and look at the sudden surge.)

I don't know what hack was used, nor do I know if it's possible to hack YouTube's hits system or just the comment system... but the evidence of a hack is a black mark. (On the bright side, looking for raw links for both your version and his version could give us a rough comparison of how often they showed up. His showed up much more often than yours, suggesting it did propogate further, so there may be some truth in the story.




For the record, before I sign off, I've been having a VERY civil discussion with a skeptic (a true skeptic, I might add, not a denialist claiming to be one -- it's reassuring to hear that they exist), and I was able to boil down How It All Ends into two sentences: Climate is extremely complex, so why are people like you and I debating it instead of figuring out how it impacts our lives? In the face of the uncertainties and the risks, is it in our rational best interest to oppose action on climate change, or to advocate for it?

Merging the former into the latter and changing the tone gives us "With the uncertainties and risks of climate change, is it more rational to oppose action, or to demand it?"

(The way I write persuasively is to open with a casual hook, segue into the argument and its supporting evidence, countering the obvious objections, building tempo until the BAMF phrase (shown above), and concluding with a hook designed to get them to think. By leaving the subject matter to *before* the final hook, they aren't left with as much of an activist impression of you, but by delivering a thought-encouraging statement so closely to a thought-provoking one, you accomplish the same effect. On an aside, The Most Terrifying Video does almost exactly this (although its timing on the BAMF phrase ('the only rational choice is column A') is different, it opens with a casual hook ("what's the worst that can happen?") and closes with the thought-encourager ("how lucky do you feel?"). This is partly why I think it was so effective.)

Your suggested phrase, "we must change the question from ‘Is it going to happen?’ to ‘Can we afford to continue to ignore the possibility?’", is an *excellent* flyer phrase, but not on its own, since while it carries momentum well, it lacks a good lead-in to give it that momentum. If we're putting together a short ad, I'd suggest a one-sentence hook, a short transfer, the BAMF statement (i.e. above), this 'can we afford to ignore it' as a transfer statement, and then a thought-encourager finale. (To all you English majors in the audience, yes, this is very similar to a plot curve. There's a reason the plot curve is so prevalent -- it works.)

Possible thought-encourager finales (that may require bridge text between the BAMF and the encourager) are "Can you afford to [avoid/ignore] this?", "Are you so sure that you'd bet your family's lives on it?" and "If not today, when? If not you, who?"

Two other powerful phrases to use here (at any point, really) are:
"Nobody's perfect. Could you be wrong?" -- Simultaneously covers Nature of Science, Risk Management, No Holds Barred (the strongest unique point, falsifiability) and How It All Ends in one sound bite
"How lucky do you feel?" -- When combined with the right risk-management wager phrase, this is both thought-provoking *and* thought-encouraging, and it's in the right tone to smack people in the face.

The concept about "isn't it worth the time to be honest and thorough with yourself" is a great one as well, but harder to express as a sound bite.


Putting all of this together for a flyer to scatter or something, it'd look a bit like this (note: Unrefined, thrown together in a few minutes, and using ((this)) to indicate speech bubbles or similar that are visible at a distance and obviously not the words of the poster's "speaker"):

You hear people shouting about it everywhere:
(("Global warming!" "Hot air!"))
Cutting through the backtalk seems impossible, so you ignore it.

But nobody's perfect. Could you be wrong?

With the uncertainties and risks of climate change, is it more rational to oppose action, or to demand action?

Everyday people like us must change our question from ‘Is it going to happen?’ (which we can't know) to ‘Can we afford to continue to ignore the possibility?’ (which we must know).

Are you so sure that you'd bet your family's lives on doing nothing? Because we only get to play this game once. How lucky do you feel?



Manpollo.org Logo
Get informed, and let it change you.

The use of color, format, and spacing provide a degree of control that sound bites don't. The colors here aren't finalized, but one thing I'd like to mention is the use of opposing colors: Blue and orange are obviously distinct and everyone, on some level, equates them as opposites, so we use them to ilustrate conflicts. (We may want to use another color pair for the debate at the top, since I don't want to associate risk management with the powerful phrase "global warming", lest it scare away the fanatics.) The same methodology is used to link the BAMF to the Manpollo logo here, but that's strictly temporary.

If the "honest and thorough" line can be devised, it should preceed the BAMF and follow the "could you be wrong" line.

Note that there's a bit of sleight of hand *toward* the denialists -- we end the two-part bubbles on their side, and we use "we can't know" instead of the more accurate "we can't know until we get there" (leaving a casual reader on either side of the debate feeling fine -- the deniers agree we don't know, the scientists know we can't know, and the people in between see a statement that both sides have been feeding them), simply because it's followed by the more emphatic "we MUST know" to try to change things.

It even remains neutral in the debate until the last sentence, which only implicitly implies the "take action" side -- this is deliberate in an attempt to get people to think for themselves, making their own judgements without us steering them (which is what HIAE advocates for, although strictly speaking HIAE advocates for *imformed* decisions, which I hint at by including Greg's chemistry professor's quote.). If this whole poster should remain neutral, 'doing nothing' can be rephrased to 'ignoring it'.

Not perfect for a sound bite, but catchy for an advocacy poster, I think. Could probably be pruned a bit, but not bad for an exhausted sleep-deprived student in half an hour slapping together catchphrases.


(Dammit, it's been half an hour since I started this? I need to try to sleep now. Hope that helps. Really, we should run that by our communications experts first; I'm just an amateur at it.)

[wonderingmind42]

I am glad you are on our side.

[agingtree]

Wow, Tempest! Wow! Really impressive stuff!

When I showed the videos to my college students (in December, as soon as I found them) I got several comments that captured for me the reason HIAE is flying. "These videos ask you to think for yourself, unlike Al Gore, who tries to scare you and stuff a lot of facts down your throat." (!!!)

When people feel pushed, many of us hit overload and shut down. (Even as a teacher, if I had too many papers to grade, I found myself cleaning house or playing a video game.) People want to feel that they are in control of their lives and therefore need to take in new information at their own timing. (Psychologist Martin Seligman has written books on how important it is for people to have choices and control.) Offering wise questions to ponder, reminding people about the limits and values of a scientific approach, and risk management are excellent tools to get from confusion to action.

Once people decide to act, there is a lot of info on possible actions to take. Anyone can find them. The challenge is to get people invested in looking and acting. Important to stress there are solutions, that some countries are alreay on the path and not experiencing economic loss, and that we will have more options the sooner we get started.

Some personal opinions, maybe helpful. Mother Nature will be offering a generous number of scares in the immediate future. i.e. Australian are looking at their record-breaking drought and getting SERIOUS. I think the need will be for more groups building scenarios, realistically laying out what the new world could look like.

Greg, I like your list of people to get in contact with. And I think your division of actions into 3 categories - personal, political and business, is a solid overview, with a stress on reach out, reach out as more important than any other current action.

Noting to do with war in the title, please. Will be confused with Iraq and it is crucial to remember to speak to the goodness and wisdom in others, not to have an image of fighting them, which doesn't inspire anyone to listen to us. (Ditto for Iraq, but that is for another forum.)

Hope you will take in all these suggestions and go do your own thing. Your own inspiration has done an amazing job so far.

aging tree

[BaerbelW]

Wow, Tempest! Wow! Really impressive stuff!
....
Noting to do with war in the title, please. Will be confused with Iraq and it is crucial to remember to speak to the goodness and wisdom in others, not to have an image of fighting them, which doesn't inspire anyone to listen to us
....

aging tree

Yes, Tempest, very impressive! I'm already thinking about how best to translate your suggestions into German catch-phrases.

I agree with aging tree that the video's title (or any other title for that matter) shouldn't contain words like "war" or "battle".

How about brainstorming for words, which give an impression of powerfully and quickly spreading the word and put that into the title?

Here is something I just thought about to get the ball rolling:
"avalanche" (it is a somewhat negative word, but it is also a word evoking powerful dispersal of something)
or
"torrent" (also something which is very powerful and spreading)
or
????

Cheers
Baerbel

[wonderingmind42]

How about brainstorming for words, which give an impression of powerfully and quickly spreading the word and put that into the title?

Here is something I just thought about to get the ball rolling:
"avalanche" (it is a somewhat negative word, but it is also a word evoking powerful dispersal of something)
or
"torrent" (also something which is very powerful and spreading)
or
????

Cheers
Baerbel

Baerbell--yes, yes! I like the idea of brainstorming for powerful words which evoke in a single word what we are going for. So here's some brainstorming--others please join in. (Remember, with brainstorming, don't evaluate the word when you think of it, no matter how lousy--just write it down because it might lead to something good).
windswept
riven
sweeping wind
whirlwind
reaping and sowing
deluge
mudslide
landslide
tsunami
snowball
rolling
cascade
dominoes
epidemic
wildfire
infection
virulence
transmission
hot zone
torrential
chain reaction
explosion
explosive
bursting
sunburst
nova
supernova
whooshing
sweeping
tidal wave
earthquake
tectonic
revolutionary
transformation
hey--presto!
sudden
pervasive
saturate/saturated
precipitate
catalyze
spark
set off
fire
light up
flash


Cheers!
Greg (wonderingmind42)

[wonderingmind42]

Some personal opinions, maybe helpful.
aging tree

Aging tree--
Your generalizations are really helpful. But I don't know what you meant by the above.

Greg

[BaerbelW]

Here are some more:
firestorm
spiralling
floodgates
barrage
landslide
inundation
ablaze
volcanic
eruption

Cheers
Baerbel

[agingtree]

Aging tree--
Your generalizations are really helpful. But I don't know what you meant by the above.

Greg

Clarification: A personal, unscientific forecast of mine, which might NOT be of any use to you at this moment, is that climate destabilization is becoming and will become obvious to lay people everywhere in their own area - from skiiers who had no snow before Christmas last year in VT; to residents in the Rocky Mountains who see whole mountainsides of Jackpole Pines being devasted by beetles because there is not enough cold in the winter to kill the bugs off and too little water to give the trees strength for the fight. Even weather that is likely not caused by global warming is being blamed on global warming. The concept is entering the vernacular.

To let in the awareness that this is happening / will happen around the entire world, is so huge, it is mind-numbing. It is my guess that the underlying resistance is fear-based. And there will be a switching point on awareness about GCC sooner or later and people who are already grounded in awareness need to do some far-reaching thinking to have some paths marked out - how as a whole society, a whole world will we get from here to there.

Which comes back to the importance of reminding people of some familiar tools such as the scientific process, risk management, etc. And reminding folks that we have more options if we start now and work together.

More brainstorming:

I might be inclined to lean on the concept of democracy - "democracy is the belief that informed people talking together will find the best possible solutions for a problem. We need your thoughtful voice, your vision and your experience in the dialogue." (The visions of young people is at least as valuable as the experience of older folks, maybe much more so.)

"Get informed and then find that which is yours to do to be part of the solution."

"We are all part of the problem: we all need to be part of the solution."

Maybe some of this rambling will inspire more useful thought.
aging tree

[wonderingmind42]

Agingtree--very helpful. Thank you.

More brainstorming of catchwords:

propagate
furtherance
disseminate
scattering
sharing
spreading
begetting
breeding
engendering
multiplying
spawning
gensis
dawning
dawn
inception
catalyst
seed
blizzard
cyclone
ferment
furor
hurricane
tumult
uproar
tempest
storm
wind ;-)

Chip in, people! Add! Better yet--winnow!

Cheers,
Greg (wondering
mind
42)

[chaingeling]

I think using the "word of the problem" will give the perspective of turning the problem into something good, once we come out of it, like Nietszche said; "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.", so, without further ado;
Climate Change Evolution
Global Warming Solution
Winning with the Environment
Team Up for Ourselves
Quest for the Common Good
Mission for All of Us
Universial Problems - Universial Solutions!

[wonderingmind42]

I think using the "word of the problem" will give the perspective of turning the problem into something good, once we come out of it, like Nietszche said; "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.", so, without further ado;
Climate Change Evolution
Global Warming Solution
Winning with the Environment
Team Up for Ourselves
Quest for the Common Good
Mission for All of Us
Universial Problems - Universial Solutions!

Yeah. . . I'm intrigued by trying to put some positive in the picture, because I think one of the barriers to people getting on board is that the news can be so overwhelmingly bad that we just tune it out. A neighbor said something that I think applies here. She suggested using nostalgia, since that is often a very effective marketing tool. Almost everyone feels that yesterday they had more space, more community, more safety. Pitch: we’re up against limits to growth. Wouldn’t it be cool to go back to that “The future is wide open, limitless” feeling? We can do that if we move to renewable and sustainable things.

Had another thought, spurred by a Dutch guy who wrote: "Risk management is the political trick we're missing , i knew it already but didn't find a way to promote this." I like that hook: The Missing Piece. This idea--risk management--is the missing piece that's been holding us back from agreeing on the best course.

So, we want a short buzzphrase or title that encapsulates 1) the viral nature/avalanche/wildfire spreading of the idea that changes the culture, and 2) the positive opportunity is presents us. (Ugh. I almost gagged when I noticed that right there I pretty much said "Let's view this problem as an opportunity," which has always made me want to vomit.) What I'm going for the with the opportunity angle is that the GCC picture really gets pretty dire, making the person who is learning about it feel worse and worse, more and more hemmed in, quickly triggering the coping mechanism of sticking their head in the sand. The trick, perhaps, is that as you lay out the picture, placing brick after brick in the wall, after they feel sufficiently distressed to be motivated, but before they're so distressed that their coping mechanisms kick in (ignoring or denying), you show a door out, giving a sense of relief and openess, and they move to it of their own accord.

Hmmmm. . .

Greg

[waspbloke]

On the positivity front...

Despite some of the more dire and overwhelming aspects of the environmental problems, I remain resolutely optomistic that this is a unique moment in human history, to really change things for the better.

I think combining this with the nostalgia thing, you might want to think about harking back to the pioneer/fronteering spirit. The "undiscovered country" thing, "The greatest adventure"...me being from the UK not sure what the cultural cliches are but you get the idea. Just so long as you steer clear on the circle-the-wagons analogies :P

[agingtree]

Yeah. . . I'm intrigued by trying to put some positive in the picture, because I think one of the barriers to people getting on board is that the news can be so overwhelmingly bad that we just tune it out. A neighbor said something that I think applies here. She suggested using nostalgia, since that is often a very effective marketing tool. Almost everyone feels that yesterday they had more space, more community, more safety. Pitch: we’re up against limits to growth. Wouldn’t it be cool to go back to that “The future is wide open, limitless” feeling? We can do that if we move to renewable and sustainable things.
...
Hmmmm. . .

Greg
Nostalgia is solid. You have already appealed to the internet crowd, you need the older group to get on board.

Bill McKibben said that the biggest change we would need to make would be to learn to work with / even need our neighbors again. Excess oil has made us falsely independent of and isolated from one another. (My words summarizing his point.) So when you paint a return-to-the-past future, stronger communities would be a solid and truthful addition, i.e. "Buy Local" or "Ride the Bus"

networks
connections
communities
team up

one more strategy for problem solving - What would I do if x were true? What would I do if x were not true? Where do those circles/lists overlap? That part surely I could do now.

You could challenge people to identify one piece of the puzzle they do feel sure about - oil is running out or clean water is running out or we need to stop cutting trees (the lungs of our world) and then do something to contribute to the solution of that corner of the problem? Pro - that would give them a bite size piece. Con - it mentions more specific problems and would encourage one solution at the cost of another - biofuel from corn wiping out corn prices. hmmmm

am so appreciating the Manpollo community here that are talking together, working together - awesome
aging tree

[agingtree]

If you post right after your own post does that mean you are getting too wordy??

An inspiration:
Title of yet to be created video: Into Action, Part 1 -- xxxxxxxxx
Content:
--much of the above stuff - basically get involved wherever you are
--brief review of 3 arenas for solutions - individual, political, business
--Push 1) letter-writing
---and 2) sending the first video to all
---and 3) joining Manpollo movement
--Preview next Into Action (renamed Part 2 - Your mission) as a good thing to do, especially for folks who are online a lot, enjoy debate. But not the only action.

It currently stands that your loudest request is to be an Information Warrior and enter dialogues - a perfect fit for some people, but many might prefer writing letters, etc.

There, quite enough for now. aging tree

[chaingeling]

aging tree: "Your mission" - already taken, sorry. :-)
Into Action seems like a good title, though.

[hggh3]

Maybe talk about global dimming: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2058273530743771382 (gets interesting 20 minutes in).


"Some scientists now consider that the effects of global dimming have masked the effect of global warming to some extent and that resolving global dimming may therefore lead to increases in predictions of future temperature rise. According to Beate Liepert, "We lived in a global warming plus a global dimming world and now we are taking out global dimming. So we end up with the global warming world, which will be much worse than we thought it will be, much hotter."
"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming
I don't know if this is backed by any authoritative sources:
but see the External links section

[chaingeling]

hggh3:
It's not exactly off - Global Warming isn't exactly right either as we're not even entirely certain of what GHG emissions might cause in the end, although it's generally agreed that it will increase temperature - but this may produce some unforseen other consequences - other climatic changes, so "Warming" is incorrect - and so would dimming. :-)

[wonderingmind42]

liftoff

Agingtree--I like your suggestion. "Into Action--Part 1" is now the working title until someone comes up with something better. :)

Cheers,
Greg

[chaingeling]

"Into the fray" has always sounded more ... Hectic and appealing to me.. But that's a preference. :-)

[hggh3]

I still think global warming is an acceptible phrase...
A lot of people like the word climate change because it's less scary too.
Frank luntz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v0i4JfJ_Bw 6:02 p2-4 (http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=frank+luntz+maher&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv)

Learn more about advertising here (*note: cynical, may alter how you think of advertising irreversibly--seriously, take discretion).
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/view/
The very divisive Luntz is in part 5.

This guy is also responsible for calling Bush's logging industry 'Healthy Forests Initiative' http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/interviews/luntz.html
Luntz is a conservative thinktank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFL-LubDF9c


We still describe diseases by the name of the disease when getting a point across (not by the symptoms):
We call chicken pox 'chicken pox' not 'itchy bumps'... too vague. And destabilization is a difficult word that's hard to roll off the tongue, use: chaos.
I think the mainstream calls it Global warming, not climate change... and Global warming is how I learned about it in class in the 6th grade (1996 - Calif. public school)

I think 'punishing' things will be catchier, why: we are affected by pain moreso than pleasure. Check out the PBS persuaders (the cynical video) and watch part 4 about Clotaire Rapaille and the 'reptilian hot button'... I actually read his book 'the culture code' (it's on amazon) and he talks about imprints on our mind:
"The stronger the emotion, the more clearly an experience is learned. Think of a child told by his parents to avoid a hot pan on a stove. This concept is abstract to the child until he reaches out, touches the pan, and it burns him. In this intensely emotional moment of pain, the child learns what “hot” and “burn” means and is very unlikely ever to forget it."


Possible names:
Climate Virus (CO2 could be interpreted as a spreading, infecting virus, or we're the virus that passes it on. no one is immune, use this concept out if you use this title as it's an incredible way of spreading the video (http://www.manpollo.org/forums/showthread.php?t=61), and it's sustainable because people make new accounts and choose newest viewed videos to tag, or maybe we are the vaccine vaccinating everyone)
The Climate Vaccine
The Climate Vaccination: Booster Shot
Operation: Saturation
Pay it Forward (from that movie concept)
Global Warring (this is actually what Kucinich refers to the current oil wars about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx42ltyMwsA , goes well with information warriors).
Climate Bomb
Global Bomb
Earth Bomb: The Manpollo Project (like a nuclear blast, but natural forces will be much of our destruction, the Ron Paul people also call their money donations on a single day a 'money bomb')
Climate Bomb: Your Obligation
Ecocide and You (wiki ecocide)
An Alternative Truth (a play on words, takes some thunder from that other movie, offers hope for alternative energy sources)
The Day Before Tomorrow (takes some thunder from 'the day after tomorrow' about the sensationalist climate change movie)
Warm is the New Green: It's not easy being Warm (some kermit reference there)
Boiling Point (how much evidence do you need until it's too late, I guess another Al Gore frog reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7_3Wmet9IQ)
The Ultimate Question
The Ultimate Gift (spreading the word)
A Logical Proposal (like a modest proposal)
Intelligent Destruction (intelligent design people will watch, how all of our electronic/motor devises are using energy lead to manmade global climate change)
How to Win the Energy Endgame (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/51)
We Must Win the Climate Endgame
Sustainable Solution
Don't Become Desensitized
The Six Billion Person Question (6 million dollar man)
Are You the Answer to the 6 Billion Person Question?
The Six Billion Person Lottery Ticket
State of the Planet
Don't Watch Me, Bro
I'm Greg Craven, I’m here to rescue you. (luke skywalker says this in star wars)
What you Crave (I saw this on a 1996 whitecast homepage http://web.archive.org/web/19961201214109/http:/www.whitecastle.com/)
Red Bull Theater (masterpiece theater)
I've got a very bad feeling about this.
Global Warming: The Official Earth Edition
Great Question of Life, The Earth, and Everything
The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Earth, and Everything is... You
The Global Warmer's Guide to the Galaxy (TGWGTTG)
The Global Warming Guide to the Galaxy
PANIC!: The Global Warmer's Guide to the Galaxy
DON'T PANIC!: The Global Warmer's Guide to the Galaxy

Though I did say use pain works... it's important to lift that person up -- hope/humbleness is so important in the video (the title is just there to grab attention, and a single click)

Another great PBS frontline film is about private military contractors/privatization (must see -- not about global warming--but they do talk briefly about oil):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/warriors/view/com4_hi.html
Also watch "growing up online" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/ to get a pulse of what this generation is like

Also you should mention the manpollo app (as it puts the video right on people's profiles, and updates the stats daily [saying 'for every 1 person that adds this app 9 more view this video] to show how effective having the app is)
http://apps.facebook.com/manpollo/

And you should lay out some commandments, like Moses, 10 things the people out there need to do (tell them to watch all videos so they can reference them to skeptics and hold a conversation in their favor -- you address what the hardline skeptics debate ad nauseum about in youtube comments for 'how it all ends'--or say just watch mechanics of gcc, scare tactics, and the solution, and people should avoid political sides (focus on issue, not motive...) dismiss/distance yourself from al gore if you must [people have knee jerk reactions to him, the carbon tax, and the UN], be levelheaded in debate, stay up to date on reddit.com/digg's environment section...last one being: don't become desensitized and don't check out on today's hopeful information)

[Ken Zakreski]

Regarding change in our lifestyles you're gonna need more then an appearance on Oprah to get there. Remember Oprah "just a few scant years ago" during a show taping flew the entire studio audience to Atlantic City on a whim. The Queen of Carbon is gonna need to do a lot more then guesting Al Gore to turn her image around. Don't get me wrong she can do a lot of good and according to Canadian scientist David Suzuki, reducing beef consumption can go a long ways to reducing our carbon footprint. Something Oprah has demonstrated the ability to accomplish (albeit in the past, not so much lately).

The methods required to achieve change in behavior is regional. Canadians have an author Margaret Atwood with a book Survival that describes in detail the relationship Canadians (though their literature) have with nature the monster. Canadians are used to dealing with the enemy nature. US Americans not so much. Nature in the US is to be conquered (i.e. The west was won), I suspect if we really could poll US attitudes regarding Climate Change we would find an attitude of "good, let us finally destroy nature to demonstrate our mastery, it is our birthright to be the top".

That said the enemy in Canadian minds is nature and will require a different message to US Americans and Mexicans and Europeans.

So for the US American market, war on nature is right. My recommendation is:
We Can Do It demonstrated by Rosie the Riveter

The poster below is from our recent fund raiser for our community station (I am involved in the start up). Rosie is from the US war effort and was used to encourage women to join in the war effort. Could work here; cold work now.

http://members.shaw.ca/gabriolaradio/images/poster.jpg


This is the kind of effort that will be required to save our planet from the impacts of both global warming and our legislators short sighted work on emissions control (chimney scrubbers, auto catalytic converters) that resulted in global dimming reductions that are accelerating global warming. It was the farmers that discovered the dimming from the ancient records of timing the evaporation in a dish of water and the scientists discovery of the diurnal day impacts from 911 grounding of aircraft.

It is our legislators that hold the key to success for our effort, based on a push from an informed citizenry calling for better decisions. Laws reducing carbon fuel use are one step, but creating an attitude of risk management for all laws should be the goal. There is no longer a right or a wrong for decisions, but what should be, a measured cost of the passage of laws.

[wonderingmind42]

Daaaag, hggh3! You crack me up! Too many great ones to choose from! (Do you work in marketing?) Got sucked into "The Persuaders"--great link.

At this point, I think I'm loving the title "Operation Saturation: On the Threshold." (Sorry, agingtree.) Can't decide whether to add "of a New Way" to the end of that. I like it, but may be too long. Thoughts?

I'm also REALLY liking "We Can Do It!" (Too many good titles! I just wanna mash 'em all up and use them all together!) Maybe end with the Rosie image. Or, somehow work it into the exact middle of the video, so that it appears as the thumbnail. That would be cool!

Greg (wonderingmind42)

[wonderingmind42]

Crickey. It just struck me how amazingly awesome and talented this group is. I wish I could just hand over EVERYTHING to you all and go to bed. But I acknowledge that I'm something of the poster child at this point. So I'll do the things that only a poster child can do (like this video for my subscribers, media appearances, and maybe the book), and then completely keep my hands off all the other amazing projects that are springing up. (I just spent a couple hours just checking out Google and Vonango hits on "manpollo"--very cool! Turns out there's a www.howitallends.org website out there as well!)

Cheers,
Greg (wonderingmind42)

[agingtree]

Daaaag, hggh3! You crack me up! Too many great ones to choose from!

At this point, I think I'm loving the title "Operation Saturation: On the Threshold." (Sorry, agingtree.)

Greg (wonderingmind42)

Operation Saturation: On the Threshold has more p-zazz and also hints what you want viewers to do - get busy reaching out and also echoes - How It All Ends - that will be up to you.

And Rosie the Riveter - yes

aging tree

[wonderingmind42]

"Operation Saturation: On the Threshold" is up in four parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJPAWd98v8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUlYo1iYWZ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XFHQn1puLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZurM7c19ig

Ken and agingtree, you'll note that Rosie made it in the last segment. :)

Thanks so much for the help all! It's been instrumental in boiling the message down to more sound-bite size, which is a good thing.

Cheers,
Greg (wonderingmind42)

[Tempest Stormwind]

"Operation Saturation: On the Threshold" is up in four parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJPAWd98v8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUlYo1iYWZ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XFHQn1puLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZurM7c19ig

Ken and agingtree, you'll note that Rosie made it in the last segment. :)

Thanks so much for the help all! It's been instrumental in boiling the message down to more sound-bite size, which is a good thing.

Cheers,
Greg (wonderingmind42)

Having gone through those, I'm tickled that you quoted that flyer.


By the way, I should note that Frank Luntz is not a climate skeptic. He was, when he wrote the infamous 'Luntz memo (http://www.luntzspeak.com/graphics/LuntzResearch.Memo.pdf)' which became the Bush administration playbook on GW spin, and he rationalizes what he did then a bit now, but he does, nonetheless, support the scientific consensus. (You can see more of him doing this here (http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/denialmachine/video.html); he shows up early on and toward the end. It's mostly a documentary about the denialists (Singer, Ball, Michaels, etc), so you've probably seen it before, but it's a good crash-course in the importance of evaluating your sources.). Sadly, he's not using his (undeniable) talent at wordspin to call for action, though.



Over the next little while (after my midterm on Wednesday) I'll start working on the by-minute/topic index on How It All Ends. At the very least, it's something the DVD could definitely use (use it as basis for scene-jumping).



EDIT: On part 3, I just noticed a sign in your classroom that intrigues me. It looks like a no-littering sign but appears to involve throwing away a fish. Is this some bizzare Douglas Adams reference that I'm missing?

[chaingeling]

Tempest: Not as tickled as I am that you'd use my basic idea of changing the question. I have logs to prove it - bwhehehehe! :-P
Only criticism I have for the video is..
Greg.
We know you get interviewed _ALOT_, but does the guy watching it really need to know? :-)
It seems a lot like showing off, to be honest, even though I know you don't mean to.

[goney3]

chaingeling: I watched the videos and did not get that impression, nor did I know that Greg had ANY press. It was nice to see and hear about IMHO.

RE: these videos - They brought me to this forum. So kudos to all! :)

[Tempest Stormwind]

Tempest: Not as tickled as I am that you'd use my basic idea of changing the question. I have logs to prove it - bwhehehehe! :-P

's was Greg's idea. See TMTVYES. Still, I did borrow some of your terminology -- if it ain't broke... ;)

Only criticism I have for the video is..
Greg.
We know you get interviewed _ALOT_, but does the guy watching it really need to know? :-)
It seems a lot like showing off, to be honest, even though I know you don't mean to.

I saw it more as "Look, this IS taking off!".

Which, believe it, *is* needed to motivate people to rally. It's been theorized that if 5% of the population is motivated behind a social cause, it will succeed, because it will propogate, pulling people who are on the fence and from there spreading to people who are truly indifferent. The only way that happens... is through communication. People who are on the fence need to know that it's building momentum, and people who are unconnected need to be made aware of it: both of these happen through press, and if the press goes unnoticed, the meme doesn't spread.

Therefore, I think this video was needed in that regard. It showcases, clearly:
1) that the problem *is* being taken seriously by people with an obvious vested interest in trying to reduce risk / improve security (something that HIAE left more or less to the Risk Management video).
2) that we *are* having an impact, and it's building momentum
3) that changing the question is one way of cutting through all this damn debate (in some areas, notably North America), leading to solutions, which 1) illustrated are required, and
4) That you, yes, YOU, can help with this.

It also provided a handy visual reference to all of his sources *and* a reference to Manpollo.org -- in other words, unlike the other videos, it directly points people to the tools they'd need to keep spreading the word.

I'd say it's effective.

[chaingeling]

's was Greg's idea. See TMTVYES. Still, I did borrow some of your terminology -- if it ain't broke...
Ignorance is bliss, damn you! *Mind breaks down*
Meh, Game Over, restart! Woopie! :O

I saw it more as "Look, this IS taking off!".

Which, believe it, *is* needed to motivate people to rally. It's been theorized that if 5% of the population is motivated behind a social cause, it will succeed, because it will propogate, pulling people who are on the fence and from there spreading to people who are truly indifferent. The only way that happens... is through communication. People who are on the fence need to know that it's building momentum, and people who are unconnected need to be made aware of it: both of these happen through press, and if the press goes unnoticed, the meme doesn't spread.

True, I didn't see it that way - I forgot that not everyone is on this page and reads about it, every time Greg gets interviewed and such.
I just thought it got a little drafty; Maybe mentioning the larger TV-networks and newspapers Greg had been on (and that many more wanted Interviews) would've been sufficient.