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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Aloha Festival #3 (Sacramento, CA) Report & Photo Album: After finishing the move into our new home in Santa Clara, I was able to apply for & get a non-profit booth at the 2nd Annual Sacramento Aloha Festival 2012 held Saturday, October 13 at the California Exposition & State Fairgrounds (map). Among booth visitors were several notable members of the “it’s a small (Polynesian) world” group - one fellow, who was in attendance at the original 1975 Hōkūle‘a launch at Kualoa Regional Park in O'ahu, searched the booth’s Polynesian Voyaging backgrounder info display board photo (to see if he could spot himself in the picture), from National Geographic’s March 8, 1975 photo of the event “Hōkūle‘a Launching Consecration Ceremony (story)”; another visitor was the wife of the original project manager overseeing construction of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s 2nd Voyaging Canoe Hawai‘iloa; lastly, a man & his wife, recounting their recent travels in Melanesia, while procuring a small plane ticket to the Solomon Islands, mentioned standing in the ticket line directly behind, (& later getting acquainted & hanging out with), of all people our Hui Board member Byron Washom - those folks being Kae & Greg Aaron, en route to the 2012 Festival of Pacific Arts.
Between the 2 Aloha Festivals I evolved the booth design to handle either indoor or outdoor locations & resolved the “wind blowing over easel-mounted poster boards” problem (originally requiring laying the boards horizontally flat down & weighted on tables) by reworking the exhibit design to suspend the display boards vertically like hanging signs from the tent canopy roof framework. As noted in the previous Aloha Festival update, “For all Hui folk, Friends of & recipients of this email, please feel free to download any of these photos for upload to your website, Facebook, email, etc for promoting the Mo’ohike Fundraiser”. The photos are available for viewing/downloading at the Google Picasa Web Album Aloha Festival 2012, Sacramento”
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Aloha Festival #2 (Napa Valley, CA) Photo Album: I took a set of photos of the booth & event & uploaded the photos to the online photo album hosting service, Google Picasa Web Albums. I added captions that do double duty, describe the scene and self-document the setup or layout. As a result some captions are a bit lengthy, probably too long to read during a timed slideshow view. Consequently I recommend “manual advance” through the photos, basically in Picasa’s default “grid view” or all photo thumbnails, click on the 1st one, then either click on the “< >” icons on the side of the photo, or use keyboard “<- ->” arrow keys to advance to the next photo. Also, when viewing a photo, Picasa has a nice zoom feature accessed by click the “magnifying class +” icon above the top of the photo just left of center. When you click it a popup screen appears with a larger photo; on the upper left corner is a “+/-“ control you can click to further magnify or, alternately, in the bottom right there comes & goes (as you move the mouse cursor around) a thumbnail of the photo with a “_____+” zoom slider with drag-able slider box on the slider line; as you drag the slider toward the “+” & the photo gets too big to fit on the screen, a small white “viewport” rectangle appears on the thumbnail – you can then click in & drag the viewport rectangle around to pan & scroll to different areas on the “too big to fit” photo to see all areas. To get out of zoom & back to the photo grid, click the zoom popup’s upper right corner “X” close window control or press the keyboard “Esc(ape)” key. For all Hui folk, Friends of & recipients of this email, please feel free to download any of these photos for upload to your website, Facebook, email, etc for promoting the Mo’ohike Fundraiser. To download a photo, when viewing a photo, click the “Download” pop-down menu above the top of the photo just left of center adjacent the “magnifying glass +” icon. The photos are available for viewing/downloading at the Google Picasa Web Album Aloha Festival 2012, Napa Valley
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Aloha Festival #2 (Napa Valley, CA) Preparation: I reviewed The Manaleo Hawaiian Cultural Foundation info on their upcoming Napa Valley Aloha Festival, particularly, for acquiring a non-profit booth, their Vendor Information, which involved downloading their Non-Profit Booth Form (which included a Hold Harmless Agreement), coming up with a booth fee, late application fee (applies after 6/1) & returnable cleaning deposit, & complying with their requirement that booth exhibitors provide their “own 10x10 canopy [tent], preferably white and in good condition [&] tables [&] chairs”. I filled out the forms, wrote a check for a 10’ x 10’ booth space, plus late fee, plus 15 amp power outlet, wrote a 2nd check with self-return envelope for the Cleaning Deposit, put everything in an envelope & mailed it to Napa Valley Aloha Festival Vendor Coordinator Karen James’ provided POB address for the 5th Annual Napa Valley Aloha Festival, Saturday, September 15, 2012, 10am-6pm, at Napa Valley Expo (map; 2011 Napa Valley Aloha Fest Layout)
Meanwhile I’m currently working on the booth setup & its various displays – I’ve gotten the Festival-required 10’x10’ Canopy, several folding tables, tri-fold display boards & 2 chairs. For “Hawaiian-izing” the booth, as inspired by the Mo’okiha construction shed tiki bar, to provide a wall from folding table edge to ground, & to cover the canopy tent roof, I’ve obtained bamboo reed fencing & thatch. For a booth sign, Toni & I have designed, ordered & received a Vistaprint Extra Large (8 foot) Banner. The booth also contains the following additional exhibit content besides the fundraiser display board(s):
● Voyaging Backgrounder: To provide context, exhibit boards presenting a backgrounder on Polynesian Voyaging (I expect these will be similar in format to those I did earlier for my African village technology project non-profit Paths of Native Africa (PoNA) fundraiser for solar power projects, called “PoNA ‘Sol Power’ Solar Power Exhibit” (display boards photos: overview, closeup) – especially notable are a number of photographs, appropriately credited, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library Pacific Collection website, in The Last Navigator author’s Steve Thomas Traditional Micronesian Navigation Collection, taken during his study with Master Navigator Mau Piailug during their time together on Mau’s home island Satawal in the Caroline Islands of Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia (for ex. Community, Canoe House & Mau teaching Navigation)
● Canoe Types: To reflect the canoe types at Hui O Wa'a Kaulua (double hull transoceanic Mo'okiha, double hull Hawaiian inter-island Mo'olele & outrigger Waipa), several wooden (part Koa) Polynesian Canoe Models
● Voyaging Theater: To play media like Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Voyaging Library voyaging documentary DVDs, a Portable Blu-Ray Disc / DVD Player & 24" LED 1080p HDTV
● Voyaging Library: To show voyaging books, prints of the covers of Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Voyaging Library voyaging documentary Books – a special on-hand book exhibit is my copy of the Polynesian Voyaging Society Voyaging Manual
● Web Access: To provide web surfing, Toni’s Windows 7 Laptop with internet access at the booth provided by my Google Android Smartphone’s option for Mobile WiFi Hotspot
● Backup power: To provide backup power for the booth’s 15 amp power outlet, a Portable Power Pack
Additionally, Hui & “Friends of” folk are providing the following:
●● Loren: Maui artist extraordinaire Loren Adams, by previous arrangement with Toni & me to get a print of his magnificent Mo’okiha painting into our home, (the arrangement recently amended & upgraded to include a larger print for displaying at the Aloha Festival booth, which Loren has kindly made available at printing cost for the fundraiser project), Loren has prepared, printed & shipped to us a Limited Edition Fine Art Print Reproduction, measuring over 40 inches across, of his painting "The Maiden Voyage of the Mo'okiha", which print arrived Wednesday before last. Loren, thank you soooo much for this breathtaking & visionary artwork - due to its mysterious attractive power, hapless Festival victims will surely be drawn to the booth, unable to resist the painting’s powerful lure ;)
●● Kimo: Dear Leader writes, concerning booth brochures, “I will have it made and sent to you”, a stack of typo-corrected Hui brochures (Captain Tim, during my visit to the Mo’ohika construction site, showed me an error on the brochure, an email address typo of an extra leading “h” in the email address), providing a great marketing piece to round out the exhibit
●● Roji: Our Aloha Festival friend writes “Awesome...I can help out at the booth”
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Canoe “Dream Team” Conference Call (Sunday, Aug. 26, 11am): Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association (PICA) hosted San Francisco Bay Area Aloha Festival exhibitor Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association (NCOCA) booth contact Roji Oyama recommended his Festival, PICA, NCOCA & Canoe “Dream Team” contacts meet with Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua to discuss what else all concerned could do to help with the Mo’ohika fundraser. A Conference Call was decided the best format & was arranged by Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California (HCCNC) President Daryl Higashi, hosted by HCCNC with Daryl serving as call activator (emailing all the Call # & User Pass Code) & moderator. Also in attendance was Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association (NCOCA) President Bernie Bernal. Prior to the meeting Roji had emailed us “This is going to be Cliff's presentation to us, so I will let him lead and we will follow with our opinions...Cliff: please prepare a short presentation as to what you would like to accomplish: 1. monetary objective 2. time deadline for launching Mo'okina o Pi'ilani o Mau'i 3. project to-date...brief us on how far it has come...After this short intro by you, we can discuss how to do this, with feedback from all”. After delivering my presentation (which included an update to the Time Deadline – originally I’d been informed by Captain Tim they were shooting for later this year, but Roji mentioned Kimo had noted it’d been extended to March 2013), the following items were discussed:
●● Canoe Organizations: Roji suggested getting in touch with his contacts at Southern California Outrigger Association (SCORA), Pacific Voyagers & various recently visited Latin American canoe clubs, about which he earlier emailed on Aug. 7, “As I came back from Brasil last week, I am now really connected with the va'a community there. Contacts in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Peru are forthcoming"
●● Kamehameha School Alumni Association: The organization was suggested as a possible resource, particularly its branches in Hawai’i & California (Northern, Southern)
●● Donor Canoe Rides: Roji suggested offering double hull canoe rides as an incentive to donors & I mentioned (& sent him a link to) Captain Tim Gilliom’s just such a business, Polynesian Canoe Adventure
●● Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) Grant: OHA was suggested as a possible resource, particularly their Community Grants Program
●● Monied Sailing Community in San Francisco Bay Area: This community was suggested as a possible resource
●● Official Letter of Request: As noted in an email Roji wrote, “The local chapter of the Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce of Northern California (HCCNC) and the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association (NCOCA) are interested in supporting the efforts of Hui O Kaulu'a”. Both organizations maintain extensive connections with their communities, for example HCCNC’s Business Members & Affiliate Hawaiian Resource, Organization & Club Hawaii Links & NCOCA’s Clubs & Links. (Also well connected is Roji’s contact Halau 'O Kawainuhi Founder Kumu Kau'i Peralto, (for example the HOK webpage Links) & indirectly, through the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) webpage listing on HOK, ACTA’s webpage on Partners & Resources). Both Daryl & Bernie pointed out that, for their respective organizations to help the Hui, the organizations would require an “Official Letter of Request” from the Hui itself, from Kimo or Board, on official letterhead & including a listing of any & all of the Hui’s support groups, such as those listed on the bottom of the Hui webpage Donate where it reads "Mahalo Nui to our Sponsors" & lists Valley Isle Excursions, Hawaii Community Foundation, The Strong Foundation & Tucker Custom Homes
●● Official Letter of Request Follow-up: After the conference a flurry of emails ensued aimed at cobbling together the Letter of Request, as evidenced by the following email excerpts:
●●● Roji: “Cliff, when you have a moment, please send the name of the [Hui] marketing person”
●●● Toni: “The Hui marketing contact is Lani Minihan, Owner, Lahaina Marketing Company, lahainamarketing@gmail.com”
●●● Roji: “Potential supporters… The local chapter of the Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce and the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association are interested in supporting the efforts of Hui O Kaulu'a...Their organizations both have boards which require a request, in writing, from your hui, regarding what kind of support it is seeking...the funding ...is the main objective...With respect to Cliff...he cannot officially request assistance: that has to come from...the hui...I am leaving early [Mon Aug 27] morning for Honolulu…I will be in Mau'i on [Wed-Thu] September 5-6 [& returning to California Mon Sep 10]. I will call you upon arrival to discuss this matter. There is also the Pacific Island Cultural Association, regional Kumu Hula halau and others. If a letter of request could be drafted and presented to all of the organizations, the ball could start rolling to put out a mass informational appeal via, social media and email...Cliff informed us that you have engaged Lani and her marketing firm in Lahaina I would gladly contact her regarding this matter, if, indeed, she is the one who would be responsible for generating a document of this nature”
●●● Roji: “Aloha Lani…I will forward your letter on to Daryl Higashi (current president of the Hawai'i Chamber of Commerce of Northern California) and Bernie Bernal (current president of the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association). These two entities are the ones who need a formal letters of proposal. They will reply directly to you with the criteria necessary for them to make presentation to their respective boards…I will be in Mau'i on September 5-6 to meet with Kimokeo regarding this project. I hope to meet you during that time. Cliff Thompson has been instrumental in getting us in California up to speed on the current state of the project. Also, I have been in touch with the Academy of Hawaiian Arts regarding their potential participation in future events along with other Hawaiian musical luminaries who reside in the Bay Area”.
●●● Lani: “I am following up on behalf of Hui o Wa'a Kaulua, to your email requesting a formal letter of request and proposal. I will be working with our Executive Director - Anela Benson to fulfill this request…Could you please send me a brief note outlining exactly what kind of information your board is looking for to assist in their decision to support the Huiʻs efforts.
●●● Daryl: “Lani: A general letter requesting HCCNC's support regarding your program and activities would be be sufficient. HCCNC will be able to send out email blast to our members regarding your program once I can get Board ok…“If you can, please send me a quick note when the letter is mailed. I would like to present to my Board by mid-Sept if possible”
●●● Lani: “Aloha Daryl…I just received the revised budget and am working on your letter - I will have it for you my tomorrow morning (Wednesday).”
●●● Roji (after meeting in Maui with Hui folk): “Aloha nui kakou...I returned from Mau'i last evening. I met with Lani Minahan to discuss strategy for fundraising on the mainland...both what we can do and what she could do from homebase in Lahaina…They have had success raising funds locally, but those resources cannot be relied on to bring in the balance needed to get Mo’okiha on the water…Importantly, I did receive a call from Anela Benson, the executive director of the hui. She is a full-time school teacher and has been occupied with other projects, so she has not had time to add her input. She expressed the need for her to review the proposal letters being generated from Lani, for correct context; content and wording, so she will do so with her…This is important in that how this project is presented from the start will have bearing on how it is perceived by the community. So, an edited version of the original letter may be forthcoming…I made new contacts and alliances with people from Canada, Pacific Northwest regarding support for this project...Bernie, if you have contacts with SCORA execs, please let me know so we can eventually reach out to them. PICA will need to be included as well....finally, I will give Ana Blanco (Ocean Film Festival) a shout to see if she can chime in with her suggestions for a screening…Lani and I also discussed the need to revamp their FB page (they will do it in-house) to make it more appealing and have it multi-lingual.
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Aloha Festival #1 (San Francisco) Follow-up: As a result of attending the recent 17th San Francisco Bay Area Aloha Festival (put on by the Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association (PICA)) & talking up the Mo’ohika fundraiser while meeting PICA Aloha Festival Chairman (Uncle) Julian Avilla & his wife (Aunty) Shirley Avilla, as well as Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association (NCOCA) President Bernie Bernal & Ho'okahi Pu'uwai Outrigger Canoe Club member Roji Oyama (both of whom turn out to be well acquainted with Kimo, Captain Tim, the Hui & Mo’okiha), there’s been a sizable expansion of the network of contacts (highlights among these include Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California President Daryl Higashi, San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival Director Ana Blanco, Hawaii Music Live Founder Susie Kagami & Napa Valley Aloha Festival Vendor Coordinator Karen James), leading to a significant increase in momentum on the fundraiser, from new acquaintances from these & their partner organizations, interested in helping our fundraiser efforts, as noted in post-festival emails we exchanged, excerpted below:
●● Roji: “Aloha Cliff...It was a real surprise when you came up to our booth last weekend at the Aloha Festival. I was just speaking to someone about the Pacific Voyagers, Hokule'a and interest in voyaging in Japan. I would like to meet with you as I can help put out the word in our community and link to Southern California and beyond. As I came back from Brasil last week, I am now really connected with the va'a community there. Contacts in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Peru are forthcoming. When I saw Mo'okina O Pi'ilani last October, I was blown away as Tim showed us around the wa'a...I hope we can meet, in person, along with association Bernie Bernal and Kumu Kau'i Peralto [Founder of Halau 'O Kawainuhi] (she was invaluable as coordinator of protocol when the tavaru [Pacific Voyagers Fleet Tavaru 2011 (story)] visited a year ago, here in San Francisco) to discuss some fundraising possibilities. I know the director of the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival [Ana Blanco], who could also assist us, possibly getting a theatre venue to do a larger screening of films to benefit this cause”. Roji further noted “Napa Valley Aloha Festival...we did have a booth there last year for another non-profit project. I think this would be a nice event to attend and publicize the project...You can contact [Festival Vendor Coordinator] Karen J[ames] directly and arrange things...If you need volunteers, I am sure I can get members from several canoe clubs to help you. I will try and come up myself”. Later Roji added “The local chapter of the Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce and the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association are interested in supporting the efforts of Hui O Kaulu'a”
●● Kau`i: “Aloha mai kakou...Please keep me in the loop. I will do whatever I can. I agree with Roji, let's meet soon as time is going to fly by.Bernie & Roji...sounds like a job for the “Dream Team”
●● Bernie: “Cliff - It was nice meeting at Aloha Festival. It is pleasure helping where we can and we'll do what is in our power to share your organization with others. I am attending a PIKO Kanikapila event today in San Anselmo and will bring a stack of your flyers that you gave me at Aloha Festival”. After attending the event Bernie added “The crowd though small was very receptive to the flyer. I spoke a bit about your efforts and the people were receptive as many were in tune with not only cultural but environmental”. Concerning Kau’i’s “Dream Team” Bernie also noted, “Actually there are many people from various organizations
on the team on this end. NCOCA, Hawaii Chamber of Commerce [of Northern California (HCCNC), President Daryl Higashi] and Kumu Kau'i of Halau 'O Kawainuhi are the principal players and we help…simply to perpetuate the Polynesian cultures”
●● Shirley: “Aloha Cliff and Toni...PICA held its wrap-up meeting for the 2012 Aloha Festival last month, but due to the lengthy agenda, and because several members of our Board of Directors were not present, the item I requested on the agenda [regards the Hui fundraiser pitch email I'd earlier sent] was forwarded to the next Board of Director's meeting. We hope to have a Board meeting within the next month...the Board will reply to your request as soon as a decision has been made on your behalf regarding the Maui voyageing canoe
● San Francisco Ocean Film Festival (SCOCF): I prepared & sent a specially tailored compact version of the fundraiser project backgrounder & email pitch (similar to that created for earlier mentioned “Notable Donor Candidates” (Voyaging documentary filmmakers et al), for following-up on Roji’s idea of a fundraiser benefit screening, to San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival Director Ana Blanco. For the screening I offered use of our Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Voyaging Library voyaging documentary DVDs & included in the email, for preview purposes, a note that, “online tiny screen, low res YouTube versions are available for The Navigators, Wayfinders & Light at the Edge of the World: Polynesia…Of these, particularly stunning [is] The Navigators by Dr. Sam Low (has remarkable & rare material on ancient Polynesian Navigation, for example, at night in his village on…Satawal, in the Caroline Islands of the Yap island group in the Federated States of Micronesia, the last surviving [then] Elder Master Navigator and Voyaging Canoe builder Mau Piailug, teaching navigation by [& as shown by video clip links at] stars & ocean swells)”. SCOCF screenings typically take place at San Francisco’s premier tourist attraction Fisherman's Wharf on Pier 39 at Theater 39/Bay Theater (map)
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
.
What's been done:
Canoe videos uploaded: I shot 3 canoe videos in HD 1080p during our stay in Maui, 2 at the Hui (of Mo’ohika & Mo’olele) & 1 on Makena Beach by our hotel at Makena Beach & Golf Resort (of Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association inter-island sail hosted by Kimo), & have just finished editing & uploading to YouTube the last of the 3. On YouTube the videos are individually accessible as well as grouped together in a Playlist. Also, the Friends of Hui website has dedicated canoe webpages containing embedded versions of the videos. Lastly, the Hui Mo’ohika Fundraiser Donate webpage section “Related Links” has a Friends of Hui link so donators can access the canoe page videos & enjoy the full range of double hull & outrigger adventures. Here are the video links:
YouTube
Mo'okiha O Pi'ilani: Maui Voyaging Society Hawaiian Double Hull Transoceanic Canoe Visit [06:26]
Mo'olele: Maui Voyaging Society Hawaiian Double Hull Canoe Mo'olele (Leaping Lizard) Afternoon Sail [41:14]
Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association (HSCA): Maui visit hosted by Kimokeo ("Kimo") Kapahulehua [39:52]
Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Playlist
Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua
Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Mo'okiha Fundraiser page section "Related Links" (has Friends of link)
That's it for now,
Cliff Thompson
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
.
What's been done:
Email Campaign Phase 1 Executed:
● Toni, as earlier emailed Hui fundraiser core contacts Melanie, Kimokeo, and Byron, wrote of her ”sending out [fundraiser pitch email] notices posted on my personal Facebook page and my personal and work Google Plus accounts. I submitted the Hui information that I had so you guys will qualify for matching funds for any donations made by Googlers. I just made a donation to the Hui from the Web page and that will be matched by Google. I think they do their matches once a quarter…[she further recommended] to update your non-profit information with the state of Hawaii so that your contact information is current. Google was able to look up the non-profit, but there was no contact information provided [required for matching funds]. Additionally Toni has posted fundraiser pitch email notices to various User Groups at Google including the Sailing Group & Green Tech Group
● Kimo emailed us back that the Hui contact information had been updated, so now Google employee donations will be matched by Google’s matching fund feature
● Laura, fellow Googler helping us with the fundraiser, has forwarded the fundraiser pitch to the Google Alumni Assoc. as well as her Google contacts in both California & Hawai’i. Serendipitously, she & her husband Jim will be vacationing soon in Hawai’i, including a few days in Maui, from Monday - Saturday, October 29 - November 03. They’ll be celebrating their 20th anniversary on the 31st & have expressed interest in a sail on Mo’olele if possible. If the timing is right & the Hui can do, it would be great if the Hui could treat these fundraisers, as they did me, to an afternoon sail aboard historic double-hull canoe Mo’lele (as this sail imparts considerable Mana towards permanently galvanizing one’s enthusiastic & continuing support of all things Polynesian/Hawaiian, especially Voyaging ;)
● I’ve sent out a large number of fundraiser pitch emails to friends in America, Europe, Africa & Asia, with a particular concentration in California, Florida & Hawai’i, as well as to online social networks. I’ve also sent the fundraiser pitch to several special subgroups, including my alumni organization & friends/peers who are principle folks in my life’s primary pursuits in Computers (career, as Microsoft Desktop/Mobile Applications Programmer/Software Developer (backgrounder)), Green Tech (career, as Appropriate Technology Evangelist/Engineer (backgrounder)) & Robotics (pastime, as hobbyist (backgrounder)). Additionally, last weekend I attended a major Pacific Islanders happening here, the Pacific Islanders Cultural Association (PICA) event, the San Francisco Aloha Festival, which resulted in acquiring, emailing & distributing fundraiser info to a large number of new contacts covering pretty much the whole Oceania/Pacific Islander community in Northern California. The list of folk I’ve emailed is as follows:
●● Social Networks: Facebook & Google+ (screenshots)
●● Notable Donors: Documentary filmmakers Sam Low (‘The Navigators’), Gail Evenari (‘Wayfinders’), Eric Metzgar (‘Spirits of the Voyage’) & Na'alehu Anthony (‘Papa Mau’), as well as elected Living Treasure of Hawaii 2012, Polynesian Voyaging Society Co-Founder Dr. Ben Finney (‘Hokule'a: The Way to Tahiti’)”
●● Alumni: My international school Villa St. Jean (VSJ) alumni organization email distribution list of some 450+ members worldwide, for whom I administer the school blog, to which I’ve reported on Polynesian Voyaging. One of my classmates is currently NASA HQ (Washington) Space Science Director for Strategic and International Planning, Dr. Marc S. Allen, who frequently flies the NASA Jet to NASA Ames Research Center (here in Silicon Valley adjacent Google) where we arrange get-togethers, & who emailed us last Tue., Aug. 7 he’s just arrived at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena to meet up over the stunningly successful Aug. 5 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover landing (animation). Serendipitously, Notable Donor Polynesian Voyaging Society Co-Founder Dr. Ben Finney, also the University of Hawaii (UH) Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, in later years got into “applying anthropological perspectives to the origin, conduct and impact on humankind of exploring, utilizing and expanding into space”. At UH he taught the course “Anth 432 Human Adaptation to Living in Space” & in the 1990s was a National Research Council Associate with the SETI project at NASA Ames Research Center & in 1994-2003 the co-chair of the department of Space and Society at International Space University
●● Computer Group: Fellow Microsoft programmers; friends at Google including Google Enterprise Applications writer Matt Werner; my godson at Apple Computer, Applications Group Audio Product Marketing Manager Jeff Taylor-Cross (responsible for music software GarageBand/for iPad & LogicPro); & Silicon Valley friends executive-level involved in various high tech startups
●● Robotics Group: As a Principle of the San Francisco Exploratorium Museum hosted robot club, the San Francisco Robotics Society of America (SFRSA), I emailed my next door neighbor NASA Ames (Mountain View) Intelligent Robotics Group (IRG) Director Terry Fong; my VSJ alumni NASA Space Science Director for Strategic and International Planning, Dr. Marc S. Allen; last SFRA President, RoboGames FounderDavid Calkins; & SFRSA Exploratorium technical curators Larry Shaw & Ron Hipschman. The museum hosts the online exhibit “Never Lost: Polynesian Navigation” which features video interviews with legendary Polynesian Voyaging Society members Dr. Ben Finney, Herb Kāne, Naiona Thompson, Bruce Blankenfeld, Shorty Bertelmann & Billy Richards (Billy’s interview describes live 3-way satellite link communication between Naiona & students on Hōkūle‘a & NASA astronaut Lacy Veach aboard space shuttle Columbia), at Talking Story
●● Green Tech Group: As the Appropriate Technology (AT) Evangelist for the NGO Paths of Native Africa, a 501(c)(3) non-profit helping developing nations with AT projects, with whom I’m also on the Board of Directors, & having received by AT training from California’s “ground-0” AT resource, the combo for-profit Real Goods (RG) AT store & nonprofit Solar Living Institute (SLI) AT training facility, I emailed my SLI instructor Alex Aragon & RG consultant, (now running his own AT business The Solar Way Forward (SWF)), Mike Strykowski (“as the former Renewable Energy Education Manager for Solar Living Institute, Mike designed solar electric systems, curriculum, and taught around California. He works for PG&E doing renewable energy trainings, and engages in off-grid and on-grid PV design, wind energy, micro hydro, solar thermal and whole house energy efficiency for Real Goods. Mike provided solar electric design and consultation for solar powered schools in Africa through "Paths to Native Africa," and provides solar design consultations for WE CARE Solar -- SWF About); also, for Green Tech at Google, my friend Google Apps Program Manager Leslie Leland, who sponsors the Green@Google Group (for the Green group, Leslie earlier booked legendary Stanford alumni & host to the ‘60’s ecology revolution & back-to-the-land movement, through publishing his famous “access to tools” Whole Earth Catalog (online), speaker Stewart Brand (wiki))
●● Pacific Islanders Cultural Association (PICA) San Francisco Aloha Festival: Toni created a Fundraiser Project Pitch Flyer, 500 home printed color copies of which I took to pass out at the 17th San Francisco Bay Area Aloha Festival (webpage), on Saturday & Sunday, 10am - 5pm, August 4-5, 2012, at the San Mateo County Event Center. The annual event is put on by the Pacific Islanders' Cultural Association (PICA), which includes among its activities maintaining a list of all Northern California Outrigger Canoe Clubs via liaison with the Northern California Outrigger Canoe Association (NCOCA), which had a Festival booth run by NCOCA President Bernie Bernal & Ho'okahi Pu'uwai Outrigger Canoe Club member Roji Oyama, both of whom turn out to be well acquainted with Kimo, the Hui & Mo’okiha. They graciously provided display table space for the Flyer, as well as recommended emailing NCOCA, & especially its list of NorCal Outrigger Canoe Clubs, for help distributing Fundraiser Pitch Emails. Also at the booth was Pacific Voyagers coordinator Kumu Kau’i Peralto. Additionally at the Festival was PICA’s restoration Koa Canoe Project exhibit (photo), manned by project lead & Aloha Festival Chairman Julian Avilla, who as well generously made room for a stack of Flyers & recommend emailing PICA for help distributing Fundraiser Pitch Emails. PICA too had a Festival booth staffed by Mrs. Avilla, who also kindly set up space for the Flyer. Upon returning from the Festival, I added to the Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua website new Festival-related webpages, one with a downloadable PDF for the Flyer & one with a slide show of the Festival, then at the end of the following week (last weekend) worked a marathon 3 day weekend emailing the fundraiser pitch to the following individuals, groups, organizations, businesses & performers:
●●● PICA, NCOCA, Bernie, Roji & Kumu
●●● Northern California Outrigger Canoe Clubs
●●● Aloha Festival Vendor List & Food Vendors List
●●● Aloha Festival Entertainment Schedule Performers List
●●● Aloha Festival Education Pavilion Workshops Presenters
●●● Aloha Festival Pamphlet advertisement contacts
What's next:
● Aloha Festival Follow-up: I‘ve received email replies from Festival exhibitors to whom I sent the fundraiser pitch, some of which replies involve potential additional resources we can add to the fundraiser effort
● Fundraiser Project Tasks Scheduling Adjustments: Currently Toni & I are in the midst of moving into a new house we just bought here in Silicon Valley. We’d been house hunting locally for quite a while, looking for something near Google to avoid commuting; it’s currently a seller’s market with few properties, forcing us buyer’s into relentless bidding wars – but on our about 20th house, we fell in love with the place (the back yard borders on Saratoga Creek which is running water), & after a bidding “dance” placed a winning bid, getting the news that the house was ours on the Saturday morning of the Aloha Festival, about an hour before I came up & met Roji & Bernie. So, I will aim to juggle the move tasks & interleave them with the fundraiser tasks, processing the latter as time & resources permit
Action Item:
● Laura & Jim Bergheim’s Mo’lele sail setup (Kimokeo): Laura is a fellow Googler helping us with the fundraiser by forwarding the fundraiser pitch to the Google Alumni Assoc. as well as her Google contacts in both California & Hawai’i. She & her husband Jim, our friends & former neighbors, will be vacationing in Maui, from Monday - Saturday, October 29 - November 03. They’ll be celebrating their 20th anniversary on the 31st & have expressed an interest of a sail on Mo’olele if possible. If the timing is right & the Hui can do, it would be great if the Hui could treat these fundraisers, as they did me, to an afternoon sail aboard historic double-hull canoe Mo’lele. In an earlier email from Aug. 9th Laura writes, “...even if we can't get a ride, we'd to love to meet the boat guy and see the craft in person. It sounds amazing!”
That's it for now,
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs fundraiser.
What's been done:
● Fundraiser Webpage Launched - on Hui website: Kickstarter declined the fundraiser citing “this project does not meet our guidelines”. Toni recommended alternately setting up the campaign on the Hui web site, using its Pay Pal account and doing the fundraising emails as planned to drive traffic to the Hui site instead of Kickstarter. Advantages to this approach are that money received comes to the Hui immediately, there’s no artificial time limit, no all-or-nothing funding, and the only costs are Pay Pal fees which are considerably less than Kickstarter fees. Additionally, Toni & I met with a fellow Googler friend named Laura (who has several years experience working Google community fundraiser projects), who pointed out offering gifts for donations actually can be disadvantageous for several reasons: donations are not tax deductible, some donors are employees of companies that will offer matching funds (like Google) but won’t when a gift is involved, & donation amounts are significantly reduced from having to deduct the cost of purchasing & mailing the gifts – consequently we’re advised to drop the donor gift component to rake in more money. As a result, last week Mel worked on getting the Hui website login info to Toni &, after a few problems & tries, by last Sunday Toni was able to login, work on the donation page, finish around midnight & email an announcement that read “Tonight I uploaded a revision to the donate page that basically contains the content that we originally developed for Kickstarter, but without all of the "rewards" for donations. The next step is up to everyone in the Hui to start getting people to come to the site and make donations…Cliff will be shortly sending out model email letters for everyone to follow. I will be making contact with people at Google who are interested in sailing as well as all of my friends. I am hopeful that this will be a great campaign and that the money needed for the canoe's completion will be raised quickly!”. The donation site webpage is at “Building a Hawaiian Voyaging Canoe”
● Fundraiser Pitch Emails: I created an email with pitch content, available in 2 flavors, “for folks not familiar with the voyaging canoe story” & “for folks familiar with the voyaging canoe story”, that you can use for the emails you send out. I’ll send these out right after, & as companions to, this email, so you can edit to suit & just Send/Forward as appropriate. To distinguish which is which, I’ve created a simple website named Friends of Hui O Wa'a Kaulua to store this project’s working documents, & copied the emails content to the site’s webpage named Fundraiser Pitch Emails
What's next:
● Notable Donor Candidates: I’m working on specially tailored versions of the “for folks familiar” fundraiser pitch email, for a short list of unique Voyaging Canoe folk, which includes Voyaging Canoe documentary filmmakers Sam Low (“The Navigators”), Eric Metzgar (“Spirits of the Voyage”) & Na'alehu Anthony (“Papa Mau: The Wayfinder”) - from & with all of whom I occasionally purchase media & enjoy email exchange - as well as Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) Co-Founder Dr. Ben Finney (“Hokule'a: The Way to Tahiti ”), elected Living Treasure of Hawaii 2012. Perhaps there are other Voyaging Society Principle folk (such as the PVS index of Founders/Teachers) you may know who would be receptive to your contact
● Deeper Google Involvement Exploration: Toni & I will further brainstorm & follow up with the fellow Googler mentioned above (Laura) on Google fundraising opportunities. Laura mentioned avenues worth pursuing are Google Alumni group(s) & other potentially related “Groups@Google”, which include the Sailing Group & may include additional Groups devoted to, for example, Indigenous Culture, Ancient Technology & the like. She also suggested considering additional Silicon Valley tech company execs with related interests as possible project sponsors, citing, for example, database giant Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, because of his major interest in Yachting (including placing in the America's Cup) & purchase last month of Maui’s neighboring island Lanai (story)
Action Item:
● Fundraiser Project Email Campaign: As Toni noted above, it’s “up to everyone in the Hui to start getting people to come to the site and make donations”. Use the pitch email content as you like, edited to suit, & email friends to announce to the world "now is the time for all good voyagers to come to the aid of their canoe" & do our best to go viral
Alrighty Then - We are Good to Go J
That's it for now,
Cliff & Toni Thompson
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Hi All,
I’m sending along this latest update from Toni:
“We have finally been able to verify the Hui's bank account with Amazon, so are on to the last phase of submitting the project. Melanie needs to supply a short biography, then I will submit the project to Kickstarter for approval, likely Sunday. They should get back to Melanie in about 3 or 4 days to let us know if our project is a go for their site.
Once we get approval from Kickstarter, Melanie will let everyone know, I will make the site live, and Cliff will send out the email patterns for everyone to send to their friends requesting them to go to Kickstarter and donate“.
Regards,
Cliff & Toni Thompson
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Hi Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani & "Friends of" Gang,
Here's what's happening with the Mo’okiha ‘o Pi’ilani Canoe final construction costs Kickstarter fundraiser, what we've been able to achieve since returning to the mainland last week.
What's been done:
● Donation gifts finalized: Inspired by PBS TV "Pledge Night", we've worked out a roster of "gift in return for donation amount" which includes the book "The Last Navigator", DVD "The Navigators", postcard/painting of Mo'okiha & tickets for voyages on Mo'olele & Mo'okiha. To reflect these changes, Toni has updated the pdf mockup (on the right column with all the $ amounts) of the Kickstarter project site
● Real Kickstarter Project webpage construction: Toni has begun & pretty much completed the process of building the actual Kickstarter project webpage, which must 1st be submitted to Kickstarter for a review/approval process before going live
● Overview video created: As it's our 1st time around & there's a bit of a learning curve, we've discovered most successful pages include a very short project intro/overview/summary video which we're advised to include (if you were pitching a Silicon Valley Startup Proposal to a Venture Capitalist, this video would be the equivalent of the "60 second elevator pitch"). A popular recommended format is a very brief slide presentation, with impressive graphics & soundtrack, arranged as a slide show & played as a video, resembling a movie trailer. Inspired by the Maui Theater 'Ululena play Kimokeo treated us to, Toni (utilizing her Google training video production experience) & I storyboarded a 7 slide animation. The soundtrack utilizes a royalty-free song (culled from our subscription to Killer Tracks), while the graphics variously come from photos we shot at Mo'okiha's construction site, artist Loren Adams' Mo'okiha painting (permission to use obtained) &, for historical context, 4 depictions by Herb Kane (we believe permission to use is covered by Fair Use Policy, as each scene displays for just 5 seconds, includes Herb Kane's signature, & is for Non-Profit fundraising purposes, but just to be sure we recommend checking with Herb Kane's people, whom Kimokeo mentioned he knew & could contact). A mockup of the video for preview is temporarily up on YouTube under Toni's account, titled "Mo'okiha O Pi'ilani Kickstarter Project Intro"
● Hui O Wa'a Kaulua Amazon Account: As I write this, Toni is on the phone with Mel working out the details of setting up the Amazon account that Kickstarter uses to accumulate canoe project donations. I'm informed by Toni there's a manual account verification step involved & Mel's on it, then once that's done the project page is complete & can be submitted to Kickstarter for approval, which looks like will happen over this weekend
What's next:
● Kickstarter Project Announcement: While we await response from Kickstarter, we'll be writing-up a boilerplate announcement to email friends (starting with you folks on this email list), asking them in turn to share & pass along the info using all available social networking channels (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, email distribution list, Rolodex, carrier pigeon, talking drum, et al) to announce to the world "now is the time for all good voyagers to come to the aid of their canoe" & do our best to go viral
Action Item:
● Kickstarter video Herb Kane graphics permissions verification needed (Kimokeo): The 4 Herb Kane scenes we'd like to use are from Herb's paintings titled, in order of appearance, (1) "Discovery of Hawai'i" (2) "Ka'anapali in the Ancient Time (3) "The Cook Expedition Entering Kealakekua Bay, January 1779" (4) Hokule'a II. For further identification purposes, the full set of slides are viewable in a mockup storyboard pdf (Herb's are slides 2-5) at "KickstarterCanoeProjectPreso"
That's it for now,
Cliff & Toni Thompson