Faceless Blog

Last week, I had to stop in at one of my doctors in Pittsburgh, in order to get clearance to start wearing a shrinker on my left leg.  If you haven’t been following along, this is the last big step before getting fitted for prosthetics on both sides.  After we were done, but before leaving, I was waiting for my wife outside the restrooms when a flyer on one of the tables in the waiting room caught my eye.  The flyer instantly took me back to my high school days, and something that I only did once, but always wished that I’d done again…and now’s my chance. 

The flyer was for Pittsburgh’s Great Race.  Many years ago, I walked the 5K course with my mom and several of her co-workers.  We had a great time and, unfortunately, I never did it again.  Well, that’s changing.  I decided, then and there, that I’m doing it again.  My mom and my wife have already agreed to walk with me, and I welcome anyone else who would like to join us.  We won’t be doing next year’s Great Race, because I don’t want to rush myself on my new legs, but we’ll definitely be doing the 2012 Great Race.  (Specifically, we’ll be doing the 5k Walk.  Again, I don’t want to push myself too hard at this stage, and running is definitely pushing too hard.)  Of course, if I’m going to do this, you know that I’m going to kill two birds with one stone, so as we get closer to the actual date of our participation, I’ll be asking people to sponsor me in this wonderful event.  I haven’t decided if the money will go to Child’s Play, my usual charity, or if (for a change) I may go with a charity that helps out new amputees, as that seems particularly fitting.

Of course, I will keep you all updated on my training for this event, as well as my progress on the new legs, as things develop.  Just thought you’d like to know!

Link:  Pittsburgh’s Great Race

So, for those of you who are just tuning in, I’m going to be getting fitted/measured for my prosthetic this coming week.  I also greatly enjoy raising money for Child’s Play when possible.  Since I won’t be able to make it out to PAX Prime, I’ve been thinking of ways to contribute without being there.  I have an idea…but I’m looking for input on it.

You have, no doubt, seen those fund raiser sites before where you donate X amount of money and get 50x50 pixels of ad space, or something like that.  Similarly, there are many examples of selling ad space on vehicles, and even more…unusual stuff like selling sponsorship of private events and selling ad space in the form of a tattoo, for example.  Well, my idea is a sort of mash-up of several of those ideas.

CONCEPT #1

Bidding would be opened up on a certain date and run for a predetermined amount of time.  Throughout the process, the top X bidders would be listed on a web site that would be updated as new bids are submitted.  At the end of the bidding phase, the twitter names of the top X bidders would be printed out on vinyl lettering and attached to my prosthetic socket.  They would stay there until that socket needs replacing, which could be anywhere from six months to a year.  During that time, it’s a rare and unique form of advertising and/or publicity.

CONCEPT #2

This is similar to the first concept, except instead of bidding, space would simply be purchased on a per character basis.  (with some sort of upper limit, most likely)  In this method, the purchaser would not be limited to their twitter username, but could place whatever message they want, within the specified constraints.

Constraints:  No profanity, hate speech, etc.  I have to walk around with this 24/7, so I don’t want to be embarrassed to go outside or risk arrest.  :)

All proceeds, from whichever concept is chosen, would go to Child’s Play.  So, any ideas out there?  How can I do this in the best way?  Does anyone know a business that would donate some vinyl lettering for the end result?  When the time comes, I’ll also be asking everyone for a lot of retweets to spread the word, too…but we’re not quite ready for that just yet.  Send your ideas to @Facelesscog or facelesscog@gmail.com