A Uranium Past - Documenting Nuclear Science and its After-Effects
Uranium Derby details the 1940’s history in which the first process of uranium purification is developed for the atomic bomb. The film moves forward to the 1990’s when soccer fields for children are built on a contaminated site and into the present as the fields are in use and neighbors of the former reactor contract cancer. Initially Dr. Golchin (who worked as an EPA superfund site regulator) approached me with an idea for a documentary film about a contaminated youth sports complex in my hometown. It was not until the third day of preliminary interviews that I learned Ames history with ionizing radiation extended back to the early forties and the Manhattan Project. I subsequently began to read different books about nuclear testing and research (the most memorable one was Killing our Own; The Disaster of America’s Experience with Atomic Radiation). Through my process of research, I discovered that there is an entire portion of American history about which I knew literally nothing. The public school system in Ames is quite good and yet the topic of nuclear energy was not on any syllabus, despite the fact that our very town played a large role in the development of the atomic bomb. If nuclear warfare has shaped the dynamics of international politics since its invention and we draw from nuclear energy every day to power our computers, how did it come to pass that the entire topic is largely undiscussed? These are some of many questions that have fueled the project. In a sense our film pieces together private stories in order to fill a void. It has grown out of a need for basic information pertaining to nuclear technology—its history, its structure, its unknown role in our lives and also in our deaths. This is my first time producing a film and it has been a wonderful learning process for me. I have been overwhelmingly pleased and surprised by the amount of support our project has received from friends. I am still in the process of learning how to better reach new and wider audiences. At the moment we are in the process of finding partner organizations for the film, which will play a crucial role in the fundraising project. Also many grant-giving organizations to which we will be applying in the next few months require matching funds so the funds raised through crowdfunding will be imperative to the receipt of funds from other organizations. Crowdfunding has been an excellent jumping off point for the project. Any attempts made to overcome shyness are helpful in the crowdfunding process. Sending emails and reminders to as many people as possible is incredibly helpful. People I never would have expected to contribute were incredibly generous towards the project. - Brittany Prater, Video Artist and Filmmaker
- December 6, 2012
Poetry in Motion - Neil McCarthy Crowdfunds Global Success
The inspiration for my RocketHub project was your very own Niall Connolly. We are good friends and toured every mile of rail track in Europe in recent years, meeting some great great people along the way. We’ve played three Prague Fringe Festivals, done gigs in Vienna (where the CD was first recorded), Krakow, Cluj Napoca, Amsterdam and Budapest… It was actually in Budapest at a gig in Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore that a lady by the name of Mary Murphy approached me and asked if I had a CD. I was a bit surprised as I was the poet, not the musician. So I guess a culmination of the touring and the people I have met and the seed Mary planted have resulted in this! I’ve been very lucky in LA to have fallen with a great and supportive group of writers. RocketHub was a new thing for most of my email list to be honest, but they have embraced it and pushed it over the 100% mark. So huge thanks to all in Ireland, Hungary, Austria, England, Belgium, Czech Republic and the US! I guess with any sort of crowdfunding, or group emails, some people are going to be coy; others will put it on the back burner (I am expecting a flurry of “Hey, I missed the deadline, can I still get a CD?” emails in the next months). Some people just don’t even read a post or email anymore! I think that’s the flipside of technology - it’s all to easy to click ‘Like’ these days and feel as if you’ve done your job and pleased the other person. Advice for others? Just take the plunge, but have your strategy set up well in advance. Give yourself ample time and use and abuse the social networking media that is out there. You know your supporters - so how can you get them to read about your project and realize what it is you need them to do and by when. Once you have achieved that, keep at them! - Neil McCarthy, Poet, Writer, Artist, International Crowdfunding Success
- December 4, 2012
Kids For Kids: Youth Social Ventures Take Off
This all started with my experience as president of the student body in middle school. I dedicated part of my time to starting meaningful initiatives and projects, whether it was the inauguration of a school-wide walk or simply an extra bake sale to help pay for a school dance. With each new initiative I conceived came a multitude of obstacles to overcome, many simply due to my young age and the perceived lack of credibility, networking, and capital that I needed to succeed. Upon entering high school, these difficulties only became more profound as I tried to make a larger impact with larger projects. After a year or so I realized that I was not alone in my inability to gain the necessary support to create a successful initiative - but lots of other kids with great ideas struggled with this as well. This was the moment that Kids for Kids was conceived, when I decided that something should be done to further empower youth to create, build, and innovate. These difficulties and sentiments grew as I took steps to turn Kids for Kids into a reality. Through my own experiences with attempting to develop this organization, my passion for helping similarly-minded young people succeed blossomed. With our first project launched and being funded, I am realizing just how much this idea of helping people help those in need by eliminating many seemingly insurmountable obstacles means to me. This organization has become an extension of myself; my will, determination, grit, and heart, and that is why I’m inspired by it, driven by the inspiration of it, yet desperate for it to succeed. It’s hard to imagine myself as a pioneer but I’ve spent much of my time explaining to supporters exactly what crowdfunding is and how Kids for Kids is using it. Our role in its development, although small, has been exciting, as many of my donors that I’ve introduced to the crowdfunding concept have found it inspiring enough to give to other projects using RocketHub. What really excites me is that the crowdfunding model has also enabled young people to give according to their own beliefs, not their parents’ opinions, and this, above all else, has empowered them to donate on their own behalf. In a sense it has given them a medium to voice repressed personal beliefs while learning about others in the crowdfunding community. My supporters have been amazing. From taking on mentoring roles to referring me to friends or sharing my project via Facebook and Twitter. Each and every one of my supporters has contributed in their own unique fashion. My community, whether it be the greater city of Lexington or simply my friends and family has taken it upon themselves to help Kids for Kids succeed, and this support means as much to me as the actual success of my project. Take advantage of the day! I’m an annoying perfectionist and didn’t want to post my project until I was sure it was perfect so I delayed launching it as long as possible. The longer you wait the harder it gets to post until finally you’ve done all this preparation and can’t bring yourself to hit the launch button. From experience, I can tell you that this is not the way to go. Reach out to your core support group (10 to 15 people) and ensure that they are ready to give and be your initial fuelers. Finding the first people to “discover” your project is extraordinarily difficult. Have over half of your needed funds committed before pressing the launch button, to do this simply email anyone you think might be interested and give them a “newsletter” that notifies them to be ready to give while stressing the amount you want them to give, and then gauge it on the feedback you receive from this. The most important thing - have courage in your dream and do the work. - Logan Gardner, Student and Social Entrepreneur
- December 3, 2012
Crowdfunding a Meth Lab - A Success Story
Ethan Perlstein and his team recently concluded a very successful crowdfunding project. The project raised over $25,000 to fund new scientific research focusing on the brain and how amphetamines such as methamphetamine (“crystal meth”) interact with many different parts of a brain cell. This crowdfunding success on RocketHub exemplifies the importance of a strong start and a strong finish. On Saturday morning November 24th, our 52-day grassroots campaign to crowdfund basic biomedical research, which we dubbed Crowdsourcing Discovery, began its final day. We were just south of the $20,000 base camp, and still another $5,000 trek from the $25k summit. My heart told me would make it, but our fundraising data called for a black swan. The final day of the campaign proved to be pivotal. With the pace of contributions significantly increasing. By the time the dust had settled, we’d raised $6,000 from 124 new donors, almost exactly 5-times higher than the preceding day. A big congratulations to Ethan and everyone that made this project fly - you can read more about their journey and crowdfunding analysis. Here’s to many more crowdfunding successes in science and beyond. - The RocketHub Team
- November 29, 2012
Belly Bliss - Supporting Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Parenthood
We (owners Lauren Williams and Deb Mills) started Belly Bliss over 4 years ago because of our sincere belief that women need more support throughout the journey of pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood. We have seen the amazing response and results of emotional and community support, education and good health among our customers. We feel that ALL women deserve the kind of pre and postnatal support that we offer our customers regardless of socio or economical status so we started this campaign to raise money to provide a scholarship program for low-income mothers in our community. Our crowdfunding on RocketHub experience has been positive but raising money, no matter how important the cause, is a lot of work! We hired a PR team to help us spread the word which has been very helpful. We have found that many people are still unaware of crowdfunding so there was a bit of a learning curve for people about what crowd funding is and then what our specific campaign was for. This was a challenge in raising money but once people learned about our campaign, the response was very positive. Our clients understand the importance of receiving prenatal and postnatal support first hand so there response has been very heartfelt! We found that holding events where all proceeds go to the campaign has raised the most money for us and generated buzz. Many people and businesses are willing to donate something other than cash so holding silent auctions helped as well. - Lauren Williams, Doula, Childbirth Educator, and Personal Trainer; and Deb Mills, Certified Yoga Instructor and Lactation Consultant
- November 27, 2012
#SciFund 3 Begins with a Bang - Week 1 Recap
We’re excited to host the #SciFund Challenge - Round 3: Over 35 scientists from around the world raising funds on RocketHub, and telling the stories of some very fascinating science projects. We went live on November 12th - and the momentum has been awesome. It’s been an incredible first week for science crowdfunding. The #SciFund Challenge 3 is crossing the $30,000 mark and most of the projects have received support! Three projects have already reached their goal: The “Missing Link” of plant ecology, Flexible Plants: Fruitful Future, and Getting the dirt on north Florida mangroves. And the press is covering individual projects and the overall endeavor. Here are a few neat projects you should check out - we will be highlighting more as The Challenge continues. Have Tobago’s Corals survived mass bleaching? Autism Intervention: Seeing Faces as a Whole Changing the Face of Farming
- November 21, 2012
Sensitive Solutions-Books for Autism
The inspiration behind my project came directly from the families and children with autism that I have worked with. I have personally witnessed how hard these families and kids work to fit into schools and communities that don’t always understand them. I wanted to help them by creating a more inclusive classroom that understands and accepts children on the spectrum, as well as to create a fun way to learn basic behavior concepts. I truly believe there is nothing better to promote learning and acceptance than books, so I created children’s books that addressed the areas I felt were lacking in typical classroom and therapy settings. The children’s book series serve two main purposes: To generalize symptoms of autism to all children so that they can relate to kids on the spectrum, as well as to serve as a fun way to teach behavior and social learning to children on the spectrum. In addition, each book has a tactile component to promote kinesthetic, hands-on learning, which has been scientifically shown to be the best way of fostering learning in children. My experience has been great so far. We have raised over $7,000, with numerous letters of support coming in every day. It’s great because it’s so easy to access on the internet, and my friends and family just have to email the link out or post it on their Facebook, and all of a sudden my audience has tripled in size. I think in this economy, we have to look outside big corporations and banks to fund new businesses, and this is an amazing way to do it. The issue really becomes creating a draw for people who don’t know me to be willing to donate money. I think the key in doing so is creating an aspect of trust in your character and your idea. For success, find ways to foster trust so that people who don’t know you are more willing to donate. To do this I recommend starting a website that shows you are legitimate and having people who know you write testimonials to your character and for your product on the rockethub comments area. I also recommend building up your social networking before you get started. I’ve never been on twitter or linked in and I really wish I had joined both networks and built up my presence on those sites before launching my project. Facebook is great, but it is only one network. Join as many networks as you can to increase the likelihood of your project getting in the hands of people who are willing to promote it. - Lexi Parker, Writer, Entrepreneur, Autism Educator
- November 19, 2012
RocketHub Provides Guidance on Crowdfunding Future
The RocketHub Team is proud to continue to lead the strong collaboration and cooperation effort with all branches of the United States Government in structuring the most beneficial future for crowdfunding. Following our testimony in Congress, the release of our first whitepaper, and meetings with the White House - our team is excited to release our second whitepaper on the future of crowdfunding expansion. Signed into law on April 5th, 2012, the JOBS Act was inspired by the success of current crowdfunding trends - as seen on RocketHub. A major part of the Act is designed to help entrepreneurs raise investment capital via crowdfunding. Our second whitepaper, titled Implementation of Crowdfunding: Building on Title III of the JOBS Act, provides advice on how to implement the new laws. - The RocketHub Team
- November 15, 2012
#SciFund 3 Has Launched!
We’re excited to host the #SciFund Challenge - Round 3: Over 35 scientists from around the world raising funds, and telling the stories of some very fascinating science projects. We went live yesterday - and the momentum has been awesome. Support is rolling in and nearly all of the projects have already gained traction and funds. #SciFund on RocketHub is the largest crowdfunding for science initiative in human history, where scientists are being funded by “the people,” as opposed to endowments, wealthy patrons, or the government. Even cooler, for the #SciFund Challenge, the public gets new access to the excitement of making modern science. Here are a few other projects that are worth taking a look at - we will be highlighting more as The Challenge continues: The American pika: too hot to handle? Chemical Warfare in the Intertidal Preventing Wartime Violence Against Civilians
- November 13, 2012
Sophia Shorai Shines with “Try” on RocketHub
I decided to embark on a RocketHub / crowdfunding campaign to see my new album, entitled “Try”, come to fruition. I am very excited about this album because it will include my original music and a collection of carefully chosen jazz covers, most of which I have wanted to arrange and record for many years. The original songs on this album are songs that I hold very dear to my heart because they are an autobiographical, musical interpretation of my personal experiences throughout the past year. I hope the world is as ready to accept and care about these songs as much as I am. This is my first experience with crowdfunding and I am enjoying it very much so far. There is nothing more thrilling than receiving positive feedback in regards to your music from friends and fans, current and newfound. As the “fueling” continues, my passion and confidence for this project grows stronger. The fact that my community is willing to help me see this album through to the finish is very encouraging. My advice to others who are interested in launching a crowdfunding campaign is simple: believe in yourself and believe in your project. If your goal is to share with the world a project that you are willing to stand behind completely and you are willing to put in the hard work of getting it out to the public, then go – no holds barred. If you put good out, you will, very hopefully, get good back. Best of luck and thank you so very much! - Sophia Shorai, Vocalist, Performer, and Crowdfunding Extraordinaire
- November 8, 2012
