Contacting Radio Stations?????

[rodsfree]

Guys,
I just had an IDEA!!!!

BIG question.
I've got a local radio station that serves the 18-34 year old market and thay are number 1 in my area. They have a killer morning show and are really big on community involvement type things. They are always doing the blood drives and a bunch of other things.

What I'd like to know is if it would be alright to contact them and ask them to get the word out about Folding@Home. About how it's a great way to contribute and that for most people it can be put on autopilot. All the things that the research can be applied to. The fact that we all do this and the only thing in it for us is bragging rights when we do well and support when we don't. Maybe we can get them to ask for old computer part donations on air. And to put the links and software on their website. They've got a group of super-loyal listeners that they call "P-1's". (P-1 Frank, etc) which they get involved in ALL of their community support stuff.

What would be really great is if I could get them to host a borg script for user name "rodsfree".

So - What do you all think?
Would it be worth a shot? And could I get some assistance if they start getting computer part donations? I wouldn't be able to host that big of a farm - small apt woes.

 

[BillR]

I think the concept is great.

Getting it all to work in your favor might be a bit harder.

Getting people to fold for team #33 might not be too bad, but people are going to tend to make up their own minds about the “who” part.

Either way if anyone folds it’s all good

Luck

 

[rogue_jedi]

if you start getting computer parts, ship them to kodiakstar. he has free power at his apartment now, and is asking people to send him their extra stuff that wouldn't otherwise be folding.

and that sounds like a really good idea if you can pull it off. you could even refer them to here for any questions they might have.

 

[r00k]

not that i want to be a downer, but be sure that if you do something like that, that there is some release of liability. as much as i hate to say this, a buddy of mine started folding cuz i kept pushing him to, and one of the computers at his office was left folding overnight, and would not turn on at all the next day- i'm sure he still blames me for it, and he does not fold now because of that one incident. if anyone's computers were to overheat and stop working, they would blame the radio station, and / or you etc. even though they are at fault know what i mean? but yeah the word is folding - let's spread it!

 

[sharp]

do it.
go in, call in, whatever... show up and look like you know crap from fried fruit. SHOW THEM the site, the sci papers, teacher links etc.. and suggest "maybe a contest" to name the team.. p-1 squad, wolf pack, whatever. it can be a on going thing that they have.. and that their listeners can be a part of. offer to provide guides on how to setup, and provide answers to questions they might have. .. some harder questions might need to be answered by stanford.. DO NOT promise a guide / help / whatever in a lenght of time you can't do it in.

1) They do not want to look stupid.
2) They will like something that is free to them, that IS good and LOOKS good that listeners can be a part of... (brand loalty and all that).
3) Offer to help and that it will be their thing. (the best for us is if they were a "sub team" under the 33 banner but for the project, do whatever will keep them in year after year.. and that, IMHO, is their own team)
Over a 180,000 systems are doing it right now... remember it does have drawbacks.. be upfront. $2 (on a 8 hr box) a month higher power costs... extra heat.... but it DOES NOT slow down a system any more than the AV proggies unless it is short on ram. .. offer to have guidelines to help their listeners.. and email support if they wish (that is your call if you want to make that kind of commitment).. it is great on 95% of machines, they could have a lot of fun, and do real good, while showing community support, and vision.

AWESOME idea. make it happen.

 

[Leadman584]

An impressive presentation would be beneficial in this, and so many other instances. We need a [H]orde video. I can provide a couple TB's of copyrighted material, which is of little use here. Surely, we have some creative types, with access to a vid cam? A team video is needed. We have one of the 2 coolest team logos, in all of folding. Folks really should fold in their own names, if they are convinced to join the fight.

Hopefully, a good bud from work, will be throwing his 8GHz+ into the [H]orde helmet this weekend. If you're efforts, make it possible to reach 100K people with the folding word, that's incredible, wonderful, and very useful. In the typical population, we could possibly get 30-50 new teammates from such an attempt. I've tried 5 or 6 times to get either of the local papers to do, even a small story on folding@home. Chirping crickets, still. If you can reach 250-400 thousand people, there's a chance of recruiting a hundred new teammates, or at least folders.
I don't blame folks for not folding(though I wish they would), the fear is insanely powerful. I'm afraid of screwing up a lightspeed install, most folks are afraid to install firefox, with equal levels of fear. Phunky_Monkey( MAC Moderator @Divx.com, and Top 50 [H]ardfolder) put it very well in a recent post. "Every computer on Earth should be folding, even if I have to install it, I have plenty of teammates to help."

Back on topic, good luck with you're presentation to the station staff. Don't let a negative response get ya down. I have to look at over 11K rigs at my tech school that can't fold. Sysadmin is unemployed, if I borg a single rig.