Memphis band tapped to write campaign song for Presidential Candidate
Presidential candidate Gabe Newman may not be the front runner this election year. The Party which nominated him as their candidate, The Great American Party, may not count the most registered voters. Yet his campaign has been gaining attention amongst college students and disgruntled voters as he declares with irreverence that this election is not about the economy, oil, or advancing democracy around the globe but that public office is about serving his fellow citizens. His grass roots campaign has used unique tactics to gain attention and engage people in political debate. The campaigns most popular effort to date – opening campaign offices in bars. The Great American Party has been sending campaign volunteers around the country to open offices in bars. “We found that most people are detached from the political process knowing that they are only going to have an either or choice.” shared candidate Newman,” The Great American Party’s goal is to give people a chance to talk about their opinions and ideas about the future of the country without the conversation being about a political party. We are confident that once people talk openly about their concerns they will see the need for the third party. We engage them where they socialize and discuss their values and ideas - in their favorite bar.” Gabe Newman’s style has won him and his party a growing number of loyal followers. Most notably in a time when famous musicians such as Jackson Browne are publicly calling for candidates not to use their music as theme songs for a campaign The Great American Party’s candidate was approached by a band offering to write a campaign song. The underground sensation The Wet Knots based in Memphis, TN met candidate Newman’s campaign team at one of their campaign office openings in a bar. Mott Blades, lead singer for the Wet Knots explained, “We were doing some small bar shows in preparation for our national tour to support our new record when we met the campaign team. Gabe’s platform of don’t take this political campaign to seriously and his desire for elected officials to represent the common man resonated with us.” Mott and his band mates felt a connection with The Great American Party and a few days later called the national headquarters with an offer. “Let us write a campaign song for Gabe is what I offered” added Mott. “I know how music can rally the spirit of a country as part of my family history a relative created music to inspire national pride for the King of Albania” The Great American Party accepted this generous offer and the sound can now be heard in the ear buds of iPods from the bands fans across the country. “Mott did an amazing job capturing the message of our campaign,” proclaimed candidate Newman,” we wanted people to hear, share, and pass around the song so we have put it where the majority of people get their information, on the internet.” The custom crafted campaign song is hosted on the Wet Knots and The Great American Party’s most public forums their MySpace accounts which can be found at myspace.com/greata mericanparty and myspace.com/wetkno ts respectively. ### (Wednesday Aug 27 | post #1)
Legendary Band Creates Campaign Song for Athens Presidential Candidate
Write-in Presidential candidate Gabe Newman may not be the front runner this election year. The Party which nominated him as their candidate, The Great American Party, may not count the most registered voters. Yet his campaign has been gaining attention amongst college students and disgruntled voters as he declares with irreverence that this election is not about the economy, oil, or advancing democracy around the globe but that public office is about serving his fellow citizen. His grass roots campaign has used unique tactics to gain attention and engage people in political debate. The campaigns most popular effort to date – opening campaign offices in bars. The Great American Party has been sending campaign volunteers around the country to open offices in bars. “We found that most people are detached from the political process knowing that they are only going to have an either or choice.” shared candidate Newman,” The Great American Party’s goal is to give people a chance to talk about their opinions and ideas about the future of the country without the conversation being about a political party. We are confident that once people talk openly about their concerns they will see the need for the third party. We engage them where they socialize and discuss their values and ideas - in their favorite bar.” Gabe Newman’s style has won him and his party a growing number of loyal followers. Most notably in a time when famous musicians such as Jackson Browne are publicly calling for candidates not to use their music as theme songs for a campaign The Great American Party’s candidate was approached by a band offering to write a campaign song. The underground sensation The Wet Knots based in Memphis, TN met candidate Newman’s campaign team at one of their campaign office openings in a bar. Mott Blades, lead singer for the Wet Knots explained, “We were doing some small bar shows in preparation for our national tour to support our new record when we met the campaign team. Gabe’s platform of don’t take this political campaign to seriously and his desire for elected officials to represent the common man resonated with us.” Mott and his band mates felt a connection with The Great American Party and a few days later called the national headquarters with an offer. “Let us write a campaign song for Gabe is what I offered” added Mott. “I know how music can rally the spirit of a country as part of my family history a relative created music to inspire national pride for the King of Albania” The Great American Party accepted this generous offer and the sound can now be heard in the ear buds of iPods from the bands fans across the country. “Mott did an amazing job capturing the message of our campaign,” proclaimed candidate Newman,” we wanted people to hear, share, and pass around the song so we have put it where the majority of people get their information, on the internet.” The custom crafted campaign song is hosted on the Wet Knots and The Great American Party’s most public forums their MySpace accounts which can be found at myspace.com/greata mericanparty and myspace.com/wetkno ts respectively. ### (Wednesday Aug 27 | post #1)
Political party opens offices in local bar
How is this a poem? It is a story about a group of people so angry they started their own political party (Aug 4, 2008 | post #3)
Political Party opens offices in local bars
(Athens, GA) Every day seems to bring new dissent in the major political parties as they move toward their conventions. Hillary fans refuse to give up, and conservatives look for a more conservative candidate. The inability to find a rallying point by the major parties has left many voters disconnected giving rise to dissenters on the internet. One new group is taking their campaign off the web and into bars. The Great American Party announced they will be opening official campaign offices in bars to encourage discussion of political issues. The Party has two offices open and is kicking off a tour of Florida bars to open one new campaign office a day, or night, over the next two weeks. “We are about getting people to realize this is their political system and exploring if it really represents them” commented Gabe Newman head of The Great American Party. His group works to get people to realize that the neighborhood bar is often the place where people gather to talk about issues that concern them from jobs to social issues. The Great American Party feels people are not engaged in the process. “We want to get people thinking they can make a difference in what happens in this country. The best place to do that is where people go to talk – their local bar.” add Newman. This passion for change launched the groups initiative to name local bars as “Official Campaign Offices” for the party hoping it would inspire people to talk to their neighbor, even if he is just the guy on the next bar stool, about the status of our country. Since the launch of the campaign over 2,000 people have contacted The Great American Party to have their local bar named an “Official Campaign Office”. This encouraged a team of supporters to take to the road and open several new offices. A team of four volunteers will travel from Memphis, TN across the Southeast to open offices in Florida. The team will be posting pictures and stories of the office opening to the campaign’s blog on MySpace. The Great American Party does not take itself to seriously as a political party; it’s slogan is “We are here to serve you….drinks!” Party officials declare the goal is to get people to realize they have a voice in the process and everyone seems to have an opinion after a few drinks. To follow the progress of the Party you can visit their blog at www.myspace.com/Gr eatAmericanParty. ### (Jul 18, 2008 | post #1)
Political party opens offices in local bar
(Athens, GA) Every day seems to bring new dissent in the major political parties as they move toward their conventions. Hillary fans refuse to give up, and conservatives look for a more conservative candidate. The inability to find a rallying point by the major parties has left many voters disconnected giving rise to dissenters on the internet. One new group is taking their campaign off the web and into bars. The Great American Party announced they will be opening official campaign offices in bars to encourage discussion of political issues. The Party has two offices open and is kicking off a tour of Florida bars to open one new campaign office a day, or night, over the next two weeks. “We are about getting people to realize this is their political system and exploring if it really represents them” commented Gabe Newman head of The Great American Party. His group works to get people to realize that the neighborhood bar is often the place where people gather to talk about issues that concern them from jobs to social issues. The Great American Party feels people are not engaged in the process. “We want to get people thinking they can make a difference in what happens in this country. The best place to do that is where people go to talk – their local bar.” add Newman. This passion for change launched the groups initiative to name local bars as “Official Campaign Offices” for the party hoping it would inspire people to talk to their neighbor, even if he is just the guy on the next bar stool, about the status of our country. Since the launch of the campaign over 2,000 people have contacted The Great American Party to have their local bar named an “Official Campaign Office”. This encouraged a team of supporters to take to the road and open several new offices. A team of four volunteers will travel from Memphis, TN across the Southeast to open offices in Florida. The team will be posting pictures and stories of the office opening to the campaign’s blog on MySpace. The Great American Party does not take itself to seriously as a political party; it’s slogan is “We are here to serve you….drinks!” Party officials declare the goal is to get people to realize they have a voice in the process and everyone seems to have an opinion after a few drinks. To follow the progress of the Party you can visit their blog at www.myspace.com/Gr eatAmericanParty. ### (Jul 18, 2008 | post #1)
Presidential Campaign opens offices in Bars
Presidential write in candidate Gabe Newman has been feverously raising funds for his Presidential campaign. Gabe has committed himself to foregoing federal election funds and raising money from the common man. Unfortunately the only fundraising skill Gabe has is an assorted collection of bar tricks and he is raising funds a dollar at a time. Gabe’s staff did hold a fundraiser auctioning off a Pong a Long Beer pong table did bring out some ardent supporters; it still is not enough to air his first commercial. Thus candidate Newman must increase his base of supporters, to do this he is opening campaign offices. Actually they are already open as his campaign does not have enough money for office space, deposits for lights and phones, and paid staff is far beyond the campaign’s reach. His campaign staff is designated a series of bars as official campaign headquarters. Our national campaign headquarters is located at Allgood Lounge (www.allgoodlounge .com) in Athens, Ga. It is Gabe’s favorite place as drunken girls, tiki bars, and leather furniture have a certain appeal to Gabe, everyone has their peccadillo. Stop in for a drink and talk policy with Gabe in his executive suite with its rich leather chairs. Sorry we could not splurge on the Corinthian leather. Gabe has an open door policy; he also has an open bottle policy, if you bring him an open bottle of beer he will talk to you. To be of better service to his supporter’s office hours are from 5p to closing time. Nothing greases the wheels of democracy like a few beers at happy hour. Gabe declares that the cold war would have been avoided if everyone had just had a few drinks and talked about those damn missiles in Cuba. The campaign staff is looking to open other campaign offices, so if you have a favorite watering hole and are willing to be our onsite staff just let us know and we will send you are official Gabe Newman Campaign Headquarters Certificate for you to present to your favorite bar. They just might give you a free beer for helping them receive this great honor. Plus your mom will be proud as we let all the newspapers and media in your town know that you have been named campaign chair for the Gabe’s campaign in your community. So be part of the solution this election season, and if you can’t do that at least have an excuse when the next president totally BLEEPs everything up even worse. Being intoxicated may not be an excuse in the eyes of the law but it is when it comes to who you voted for in the election. Nominate your favorite bar, be named chairman of a political campaign, and see your name in print in the local paper. It is the all American ideal. You will be popular, wield power, and may have influence over the fate of the world. Ok, none of that may happen but it is sure to be a great bar story and may get people to buy you a drink. Send us your nominations for your local headquarters to streetpeople@gmail .com. Give us plenty of info about your bar does it have a website, a drink special, and most of all where is it located (Jul 7, 2008 | post #1)
Presidential Candidate Opens Campaign office in Athens bar
Presidential write in candidate Gabe Newman has been feverously raising funds for his Presidential campaign. Gabe has committed himself to foregoing federal election funds and raising money from the common man. Unfortunately the only fundraising skill Gabe has is an assorted collection of bar tricks and he is raising funds a dollar at a time. Although our big fundraiser of auctioning off a Pong a Long Beer pong table did bring out some ardent supporters it still is not enough to air our first commercial. Thus we must increase our base of supporters, to do this we are opening campaign offices. Actually they are already open as we don’t have money for office space, deposits for lights and phones, and staff is far beyond our reach we have designated a series of bars as our official campaign headquarters. Our national campaign headquarters is located at Allgood Lounge (www.allgoodlounge .com) in Athens, Ga. It is Gabe’s favorite place as drunken girls, tiki bars, and leather furniture have a certain appeal to Gabe but everyone has their peccadillo. Stop in for a drink and talk policy with Gabe in his executive suite with its rich leather chairs. Sorry we could not splurge on the Corinthian leather. Gabe has an open door policy; he also has an open bottle policy, if you bring him an open bottle of beer he will talk to you. To be of better service to our supporter’s office hours are from 5p to closing time. Nothing greases the wheels of democracy like a few beers at happy hour. I bet the cold war would have been avoided if everyone had just had a few drinks and talked about those damn missiles in Cuba. We are of course looking to open other campaign offices so if you have a favorite watering hole and are willing to be our onsite staff just let us know and we will send you are official Gabe Newman Campaign Headquarters Certificate for you to present to your favorite bar. They just might give you a free beer for helping them receive this great honor. Plus your mom will be proud as we let all the newspapers and media in your town know that you have been named campaign chair for the Gabe’s campaign in your community. So be part of the solution this election season, and if you can’t do that at least have an excuse when the next president totally BLEEPs everything up even worse. Being intoxicated may not be an excuse in the eyes of the law but it is when it comes to who you voted for in the election. Nominate your favorite bar, be named chairman of a political campaign, and see your name in print in the local paper. It is the all American ideal. You will be popular, wield power, and may have influence over the fate of the world. Ok, none of that may happen but it is sure to be a great bar story and may get people to buy you a drink. Send us your nominations for your local headquarters to streetpeople@gmail .com. Give us plenty of info about your bar does it have a website, a drink special, and most of all where is it located. (Jul 3, 2008 | post #1)
Ga Bum gets sponsor to run for President
America is a country that loves a fad from the hula hoop in the 1950’s to beer pong at every college frat house today. Presidential Candidates have often tapped into fads to demonstrate that they are connected to the populace at large. Gabe Newman, 2008 Street Person of the Year & Write in Candidate for President, is no different in his desire to tap into the passions of the common man. Yet he knows that his presidential write in campaign is a long shot and seeks to capture a younger audience who may rally to his cause for election revolution. Gabe has tapped into college student’s passion for beer pong and scored his first corporate contributor. Beer pong is the game played by the average college student today. Gone is the required skill of bouncing a quarter into a shot glass; In is the ability to bounce a ping pong ball into a red plastic cup on the opposite end of a ping pong table forcing your competitor to guzzle 12 oz of frosty goodness. Gabe is much like Henry David Thoreau. Where Thoreau wrote about his life at Walden Pond and man’s connection with nature to simply life, Gabe seeks to encourage people to simply life by chucking work and hanging out with friends all day in public celebrations of brotherhood; and sisterhood because Gabe really enjoys a room full of co-eds. What better way to reach a group that understands this message that to talk with frat boys. Gabe seeks to reach out to college students giving them lessons from his life lived over games of beer pong. Pong-a-long, the leading maker of fine Beer Pong tables and accessories, is always on the lookout for ways to connect with the college market. Gabe’s is something they were looking for in their effort to reach out to college age males. Well, not really they would prefer a really hot sorority girl but Gabe will do just fine because nothing is going to generate press like a Presidential candidate playing beer pong. To demonstrate how their product and the game is part of the American culture, plus to maximize their marketing opportunity, Pong-a-long provide Street-people.com with one of their quality tables to aid Gabe in his effort to raise funds for his presidential campaign making Pong-a-long an official supporter of Gabe’s Presidential campaign. In exchange for their support Gabe has pledge that once he is president Beer Pong will be an officially recognized college sport. It is not a promise that he can really deliver on but no one has pointed out that universal health care has yet to be delivered by any candidate who has promised it. So, there it is. A vote for Gabe is a vote for beer pong! To read more about Gabe & Pong-a-long's support for his run for President as a write in candidate vist Street-people.com (May 29, 2008 | post #1)
Athen's Man named Street Person of the Year
The past twelve months have brought the creators of Street-people.com into contact with a varied assortment of street people from the hustlers in New Orleans who descended on the city to mooch of the aid offered to the victims of the hurricane to the ones we discovered in North Carolina that are celebrated by an annual event on local college campuses. Although we found some unique street people only one street person stood out this year. What makes someone qualified to be street person of the year? Read, learn, and aspire because our 2008 Street Person has big dreams fueled by big bottles of whiskey. After working as a cubical slave forced to gasp for fresh air through a necktie and a heavily starched shirt collar he chucked it all and pursued a varied array of untraditional jobs including professional rodeo clown. Meet Gabe Newman our 2008 Street Person of the Year. How is this clean cut, freshly washed guy, and good looking guy a street person? Simple. If you have ever lost a job because you came to work drunk and then decided the best thing to do was live in your car while you spend your days hitting on cute young waitresses in a bar while you complete your thesis on the effects of liquor on the unemployed you are a street person. Gabe lives in his car, sweet talks waitresses, and ponder the meaning of his life over quality whiskey. Gabe realized that someone needed to be in training to replace Hugh Hefner when he died. Gabe did not want to replace Hugh as the figure head of Playboy. Hugh has served as the image of sophisticated sex and lifestyle for a generation of men. When he passed someone was going to have to be the model by which our society measured manly sophistication. Gabe was just the man. Thus, Gabe Newman needs one thing to start him on his way to being the next Hugh Hefner. A plan that will catapult him into the public eye and make the world envy him. You may be saying Gabe is a drunk, so what, President Bush was a drunk and a coke head and look what he has accomplished. In his first official act as 2008 Street Person of the Year he has offered to run for President. Based on the slogan of “Put a Real Bum in the White House” he plans to run as a write in candidate for the 2008 election. We have promised to help. Gabe is willing to fire up his mobile presidential campaign car, the one he is living in, and visit any city, media outlet, or bar to raise awareness of the issues facing this great nation. That is if you can spot him the money to get there as it seems he has run through his small financial reserves, those double whiskeys get expensive. We will follow Gabe Newman’s candidacy for president on street-people.com (May 21, 2008 | post #1)
Human Hurricane: Street People massing in New Orleans God's wrath could not have done a more complete job of wiping a city from the earth. Three years after one of the most devastating hurricanes to hit land life is yet to return to normal for most people in New Orleans. Still in a city that was to receive social services, FEMA aid, housing redevelopment and debit cards from the President for every resident the return to life before the hurricane is slow except for one group of residents in the city. Street people, those that live on the fringe of society sleeping in public parks, eating from garbage cans, and hustling change by panhandling have returned to the city en masse. Different from the homeless, as almost everyone in New Orleans is trying to return to their pre-Katrina home, street people are often the mentally ill or substance abusers who scrape out an existence on the edge of society living off a communities casts off and handouts. A team of photographers and interviewers from the website Street-people.com will be in New Orleans, April 17-19, 2008 to write about how in a city with a chance to start fresh, the only thing fresh is the street people. “This is the third visit since the hurricane by a team from Street-people.com” commented one of the site’s creators. ‘We have tried to focus on a different element of the redevelopment of the city. While many people are still in need of housing and jobs, those that often do not have the ability to express their needs for assistance seem to have been passed over and returned to their former existence of residing in parks and living off the scraps of society.” The website questions why a city that has had the chance to start from scratch with social services and aid to all it’s residents has once again passed over those with a distinct need for help. Street-people.com bills itself as the online home for the homeless without the urine smell. Referred by social service agencies as in bad taste the site features a gallery of street people and their stories accompanied by belittling commentary from the writer. It’s bad taste style of humor has garnered attention and devoted fans placing it as cult website. The street team will be in the city taking pictures and posting new stories about street people from New Orleans April 17-19, 2008. To follow their tour of the city visit www.street-people. com (Apr 11, 2008 | post #1)
Homeless group attempts to take over movie premire
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Please contact Media Coordinator contact@street-peo ple.com www.street-people. com March 23, 2008 Homeless Attempt To Take Over Movie Opening (San Francisco) – Supporters of homeless people are flooding movies theatres this weekend. They hope to get your attention and that of comedy star Adam Carolla whose new movie “The Hammer” opens this weekend. Representatives from the website street-people.com have been working around the clock trying to take over the opening weekend of Carolla’s movie in several cities. “Our team has been contacting fans of our site in cities where the movie is opening trying to raise awareness of the movie and take over the theatre with our fans” commented media coordinator for street-people.com Wayne Andrews. The effort started when Carolla announced a contest on his website to personally call and thank fans who encouraged their friends to go see his new movie during its opening weekend. This grass roots marketing idea by Carolla to support his movie sparked an idea by the creators of street-people.com. “The creators are always looking for a chance to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and street people” added Andrews, “we thought if the readers of our site could get the word out and take over the movie openings we could get Adam’s attention, win that phone call, and encourage him during the call to talk about the site and the issue of homelessness on his show. Getting a recognized celebrity to talk about your cause can have a major impact of an effort.” Street-people.com garnered attention and criticism when it was launched two years ago from social service organizations and long established agencies that provide services to the homeless due to street-people.com’ s biting commentary. The site bills itself as the “online home for the homeless without the urine smell” and features stories that rail against giving money to panhandlers. “Being panhandled is something everyone that lives in a city understands and is often the most common interaction average people have with the homeless. Our site is an outlet for that part of our culture showing that some people really need aid and others are just scam artist.” added Andrews. The team from street-people.com has reached over 100,000 fans in twenty four hours. “We hope this effort will bring new attention to the issue.” said Andrews. The film opens in selected cities this weekend and the fans of the site have already posted messages on Adam Carolla’s website about the effort to highjack the opening and win the contest to support street-people.com. The team is now waiting to for Adam’s call. # # # (Mar 22, 2008 | post #1)
Homeless take over Portland movie opening
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Please contact Media Coordinator contact@street-peo ple.com www.street-people. com March 23, 2008 Homeless Attempt To Take Over Movie Opening (Portland) – Supporters of homeless people are flooding movies theatres this weekend. They hope to get your attention and that of comedy star Adam Carolla whose new movie “The Hammer” opens this weekend. Representatives from the website street-people.com have been working around the clock trying to take over the opening weekend of Carolla’s movie in several cities. “Our team has been contacting fans of our site in cities where the movie is opening trying to raise awareness of the movie and take over the theatre with our fans” commented media coordinator for street-people.com Wayne Andrews. The effort started when Carolla announced a contest on his website to personally call and thank fans who encouraged their friends to go see his new movie during its opening weekend. This grass roots marketing idea by Carolla to support his movie sparked an idea by the creators of street-people.com. “The creators are always looking for a chance to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and street people” added Andrews, “we thought if the readers of our site could get the word out and take over the movie openings we could get Adam’s attention, win that phone call, and encourage him during the call to talk about the site and the issue of homelessness on his show. Getting a recognized celebrity to talk about your cause can have a major impact of an effort.” Street-people.com garnered attention and criticism when it was launched two years ago from social service organizations and long established agencies that provide services to the homeless due to street-people.com’ s biting commentary. The site bills itself as the “online home for the homeless without the urine smell” and features stories that rail against giving money to panhandlers. “Being panhandled is something everyone that lives in a city understands and is often the most common interaction average people have with the homeless. Our site is an outlet for that part of our culture showing that some people really need aid and others are just scam artist.” added Andrews. The team from street-people.com has reached over 100,000 fans in twenty four hours. “We hope this effort will bring new attention to the issue.” said Andrews. The film opens in selected cities this weekend and the fans of the site have already posted messages on Adam Carolla’s website about the effort to highjack the opening and win the contest to support street-people.com. The team is now waiting to for Adam’s call. # # # (Mar 22, 2008 | post #1)
Homeless take of Seattle Movie Theatres
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Please contact Media Coordinator contact@street-peo ple.com www.street-people. com March 23, 2008 Homeless Attempt To Take Over Movie Opening (Seattle) – Supporters of homeless people are flooding movies theatres this weekend. They hope to get your attention and that of comedy star Adam Carolla whose new movie “The Hammer” opens this weekend. Representatives from the website street-people.com have been working around the clock trying to take over the opening weekend of Carolla’s movie in several cities. “Our team has been contacting fans of our site in cities where the movie is opening trying to raise awareness of the movie and take over the theatre with our fans” commented media coordinator for street-people.com Wayne Andrews. The effort started when Carolla announced a contest on his website to personally call and thank fans who encouraged their friends to go see his new movie during its opening weekend. This grass roots marketing idea by Carolla to support his movie sparked an idea by the creators of street-people.com. “The creators are always looking for a chance to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and street people” added Andrews, “we thought if the readers of our site could get the word out and take over the movie openings we could get Adam’s attention, win that phone call, and encourage him during the call to talk about the site and the issue of homelessness on his show. Getting a recognized celebrity to talk about your cause can have a major impact of an effort.” Street-people.com garnered attention and criticism when it was launched two years ago from social service organizations and long established agencies that provide services to the homeless due to street-people.com’ s biting commentary. The site bills itself as the “online home for the homeless without the urine smell” and features stories that rail against giving money to panhandlers. “Being panhandled is something everyone that lives in a city understands and is often the most common interaction average people have with the homeless. Our site is an outlet for that part of our culture showing that some people really need aid and others are just scam artist.” added Andrews. The team from street-people.com has reached over 100,000 fans in twenty four hours. “We hope this effort will bring new attention to the issue.” said Andrews. The film opens in selected cities this weekend and the fans of the site have already posted messages on Adam Carolla’s website about the effort to highjack the opening and win the contest to support street-people.com. The team is now waiting to for Adam’s call. # # # (Mar 22, 2008 | post #1)
Homeless take over Las Vegas Movie Theatres
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Please contact Media Coordinator contact@street-peo ple.com www.street-people. com March 23, 2008 Homeless Attempt To Take Over Movie Opening (Las Vegas) – Supporters of homeless people are flooding movies theatres this weekend. They hope to get your attention and that of comedy star Adam Carolla whose new movie “The Hammer” opens this weekend. Representatives from the website street-people.com have been working around the clock trying to take over the opening weekend of Carolla’s movie in several cities. “Our team has been contacting fans of our site in cities where the movie is opening trying to raise awareness of the movie and take over the theatre with our fans” commented media coordinator for street-people.com Wayne Andrews. The effort started when Carolla announced a contest on his website to personally call and thank fans who encouraged their friends to go see his new movie during its opening weekend. This grass roots marketing idea by Carolla to support his movie sparked an idea by the creators of street-people.com. “The creators are always looking for a chance to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and street people” added Andrews, “we thought if the readers of our site could get the word out and take over the movie openings we could get Adam’s attention, win that phone call, and encourage him during the call to talk about the site and the issue of homelessness on his show. Getting a recognized celebrity to talk about your cause can have a major impact of an effort.” Street-people.com garnered attention and criticism when it was launched two years ago from social service organizations and long established agencies that provide services to the homeless due to street-people.com’ s biting commentary. The site bills itself as the “online home for the homeless without the urine smell” and features stories that rail against giving money to panhandlers. “Being panhandled is something everyone that lives in a city understands and is often the most common interaction average people have with the homeless. Our site is an outlet for that part of our culture showing that some people really need aid and others are just scam artist.” added Andrews. The team from street-people.com has reached over 100,000 fans in twenty four hours. “We hope this effort will bring new attention to the issue.” said Andrews. The film opens in selected cities this weekend and the fans of the site have already posted messages on Adam Carolla’s website about the effort to highjack the opening and win the contest to support street-people.com. The team is now waiting to for Adam’s call. # # # (Mar 22, 2008 | post #1)
Memphis Center City Commission Pays to Keep Bums Away
Street-people.com, a memphis based website was started almost two years ago to do something about the street people in our city. After serving as volunteers at soup kitchens, working on fundraisers for shelters, and donating to the parking meters that are supposed to provide programs for the street people we got feed up. It seemed our city leaders felt that they had designed pretty posters telling us not to give change to beggars and that was all it was going to take to make the street people problem go away. Yet it seems to get worse every day. It got so bad for two downtown cubical slaves that this site was launched to document that the guy you just gave a dollar to while you made a dash to your office to punch in before being considered late, or coming out of a restaurant on your lunch break, is not going to use it to get off the streets. He is most likely going to use it to buy some substance that will scramble his brain until tomorrow when he can ask you for another dollar. We hoped a little shame, a little truth, and some outrageous comments would get something to change. It has to a degree. The street people team has been featured on local radio and news raising awareness. Our effort seems to be a clarion call as news media from around the country has featured stories about our efforts including an interview with our team being named one of the “Top Ten Interviews for 2007” by WAQY radio. Our site will be featured in Xploited magazine from San Francisco. Locally others have joined the effort from bloggers, to reporters, message boards and forums. Paul Ryburn (http://www.paulry burn.com/blog) has done a great job rallying downtown people to address the issue and his efforts have probably been one of the reasons the Center City Commission got so many calls asking for something to be done. The Center City Commission is now planning to spend budget dollars to hire a private security firm to combat aggressive panhandling. Street-people.com applauds the effort to a degree. We hope this will not be the only effort to address the issue because if you read through our site you will learn that other cities used this technique and all it did was relocate the street people to another part of the city that was not being patrolled. What our city needs is to combine all the efforts of the social programs, church based efforts, and shelters. Could it be that the free lunches that churches give to the homeless and the shelters offering a warm place to sleep might just be enabling these people to stay on the street? It might be time as a community to rethink how we address this issue because the street people population is made up of a diverse mix of people from those who work but just can’t make ends meet, to substance abusers, to those with mental health issues. It would seem a better use of budget dollars for all these organizations and our police to start tracking street people; much like the police do gangs, and work to get them into comprehensive social programs with long term impact. Think about the cost of taking a street person to court for a fine – if they don’t have the money all they are going to do is lock them up in jail after they get two or three panhandling fines and then we the citizens are going to be paying to support the street person through our taxes. I would rather have police dollars spent on stopping the next murder or high school shooting than dealing with a street person. It would be better use of our tax dollars, of the money donated by donors to the soup kitchens and shelters, and of social service budget dollars to create a comprehensive program. It seems to make good business sense as this type of program would cost less in the long run. Otherwise when the Center City Commission stops funding the security – like human cockroaches the panhandlers will be back. (Feb 20, 2008 | post #1)
