Ct. Gulcher's Meetup
August 25, 2013
4:30 PM

In attendance: Rick (Eudaimonia), Joan (Mrs. Eudaimonia), pcbhem1, Oliver, Mrs. Oliver, Non_mooching_artist, Mr. Non_mooching_artist
On Google Meetup: Khalling and rockymountainpirate

Meeting opened at 4:35 PM with opening remarks by Rick. Everyone introduced themselves and explained how they came to discover Rand and Objectivism.

Rick outlined that he had been on a conference call with some of the producers of the movie and when Rick suggested the meetup, they were interested in what would come out of it.

Rick then spoke about his promotions for ASP2 as strategies that could be repeated for ASP3:

He did a screening for the Philosophy Club at SCSU; he and the advisor were the only ones to show up. So marketing on college campi is probably not successful strategy.
More successful, was a screening of ASP1 for any of his extended family who were interested. There were at least six or seven people there, all of whom went to see ASP2 in the theaters at least once.
He also had a movie night to screen ASP1 two weeks before ASP2 hit the theaters. This night was sponsored by the Republican Town Committee in Rick's home town of Woodbury. This event brought out about 50 people, most of whom had not read the book. The attendees included the heads of the town's RTC as well as the town's First Selectman.

Next the floor was opened to ideas for how to locally market ASP3.

Mrs. Oliver suggested that it would be a good idea to have a “movie on the beach” ( they live in Fairfield) and just set it up and let it run. People are naturally curious, so they will stop by to see what's going on.
Rick commented that he and Joan recently saw a screen set up on their town's main street to show Disney movies for the local kids. It did attract the attention of passers-by.

Oliver then said that he used to do a lot of volunteering for public access television, and that perhaps we could get a short ten minute edit of scenes from the first two movies and a tickler from the third to promote the idea of the philosophy, rather than necessarily an advertisement for the book or movie.
Rick commented that he would check with the ASP3 producers to see if either their intellectual property could be used for this purpose, or if they would like to reserve the option of this strategy for themselves.

Rick then mentioned that he suggested on a previous ASP3 producers' hangout that they should consider opening ASP3 in the same manner as Ironman 3: on opening day, charge a set price for a screening of ASP1 & 2 and then finish with ASP3.

Rick then proposed his ideas for “guerrilla marketing” of ASP3. Among these ideas were:

A sticky note campaign similar to one used in the lead-up to the 2012 election. Write “Who is John Galt?' or similar ASP3 phrase on a sticky note and leave it at a gas station pump, bathroom mirror, any place where there is public foot traffic. This is non damaging to personal property and gets the phrase out in the public eye.
The set up for the campaign is minimal: carry with you at all times a sticky pad, marker or, if really motivated, a pre-made ink stamp.

A social media photo campaign. Make a sign with “Who is John Galt?” or similar ASP3 phrase written on it. Then place the sign in front of any business which has a “Closed”, “For Sale”, or “For Lease” sign, or any example of social decay. Then photograph the sign and post the photo to social network sites.
The set up for the campaign is also minimal: create the sign, and carry in your car at all times the sign and a digital camera.

A co-operative landlord campaign. Identify owners of street facing business properties which are currently for sale or lease and ask to place a “Who is John Galt?” or similar ASP3 phrased sign up in their window until the property is sold/leased.
The set up for the campaign is much more involved and requires time dedicated to public outreach and possible cash outlays for micro-leasing of the window space.
pcbchem1 suggested that this might show the philosophy in a negative light, and maybe we should be celebrating the philosophy as it liberates one to achieve?
It was also discussed that perhaps we should promote the movie in the form of questions – “Who is John Galt?” or “Do you think something's wrong?” Read Atlas Shrugged.

A Tea Party co-operative campaign. As Objectivist and Tea Party philosophies intersect, attend Tea Party rallies with signs which obliquely promote ASP3.
The set up for the campaign is also involved and requires time to identify and attend rallies.
Rick suggested attending the new Tea Party Overpasses for Impeachment events and mentioned that there is one scheduled in CT on August 30th in New Haven.


Rockymountainpirate then suggested wearing AS branded items at all times to encourage questions from the public. She also reported success in doing so.

Mr. Non-mooching_artist then suggested that we should begin using social media to our advantage as the other side does. He then suggested that we start a YouTube channel to promote the movie and its philosophy in relation to a weekly hot news topic such as the nine year old who was told he is disqualified from again winning a book reading contest so that someone else might have a chance to win. He then suggested that Rick should host the channel.

Rick commented that he would check with the ASP3 producers to see if they would like to reserve the option of this YouTube weekly commentary strategy for themselves.
Rick also agreed that, in implementing a social media strategy, a Facebook page and twitter feed should be set up for all pictures posted for the other suggested campaigns.

Meeting adjourned at 5:45