Getting Publicity

[Ausimax]

It seems very difficult to generate interest, even in a cause as worthy as OPR. Several Months ago I wrote to ABC Radio (our public broadcaster, and the largest network in the country) in both Cairns and Townsville, our two largest cities on the North Queensland coast and the heart of Cyclone territory.

I was trying to get a bit of air time for OPR as this was about a week before the Ist anniversary of Cyclone Larry that all but wiped out Innisfail, suggesting that there may still be people with damaged photos and that we may be able to help.

I never received any acknowledgement that they even received my email's and being unable to receive the radio transmissions from either station have no idea if it managed a mention, yet for all that week down here every TV channel and radio station were running retrospective about the Cyclone and Innisfail twelve months on.

I also wrote to three photographic clubs/societies in the area two in Cairns and one in Innisfail itself, informing them of the work of OPR and how with their help to gather and process any damaged photos we would probably be able to restore them for the people of Innisfail and surrounding district.

I received one email reply from a photographic society in Cairns that they would discuss the matter at their next meeting, and from the other two there has been only silence, all in all a rather disheartening result, I'm sure they would have been much more interested if it had been their photos that were destroyed.

Then like so many things these days your efforts seem to be for naught, all you can take comfort from is the fact that you at least tried!

Max

[glennab]

Hi Max

I've gone through the same thing -- I've contacted our St. Petersburg and Tampa newspapers, NPR, and anyone else who comes to mind.  And I'll continue to do so.  So far, the only "official" interest I've gotten is from my husband's engineering company, and they had me write a little article for their newsletter.  What kills me is that if I'm talking to someone and tell them what we do, they're fascinated and think it's so wonderful.  I guess we'll have to continue to try to get word out and be as creative as possible (and with this group that's saying a lot!) in figuring out the most effective people to contact.  I'm going to try to get word to our state representatives, because Florida is so often razed by tornadoes and hurricanes (this is supposed to be an especially bad year, from what I've read - we're working on our emergency kit now.)  And I'd think that some of the first responders, like the Red Cross, would be good people to at least be aware of what we do.  It's not an immediate need in the face of the storms, but at least people would know not to throw away their photos when they could be salvaged.

As with you, I get disheartened, but I'm so proud of our efforts that I won't give up on getting the word out. After all, we're only a year old, and the more we grow the more likely it'll be that our work will be recognized.  I don't know if you monitor this, but I keep track of how many people are on the forum when I am, and we always have a number of guests.  I've seen as many as 10 at one time, which is awesome!

You're the best for trying to keep us all "employed" -- I have mixed feelings about that, because I wish there weren't disasters that created the work we do, but it's a fact of life, so I'd rather people know about us.

(I'm reminded of the year that Hurricane Charley was headed directly for us, and we sat here in the dark waiting to get blasted.  At the last minute he turned and demolished the area south of us.  There was the relief of not losing everything we have and the guilt that since we didn't take the hit, other people did -- and severely!)

All we can do is pray that La Niña goes somewhere else to play and we have a quiet season.  And keep trying to get word out about OPR.  I will if you will!

Hugs!

Glenna

[OPRAng]

If it means anything there are a lot of us that know your pain. It is hard to retain your focus on the right direction, but I recommend reading some of the thank you notes I've posted. That is where we are most recognized and we matter the most.

Thank you for trying to get the word out. There are some legal and logistic issues with international work, but that is a long story and I can't even guarantee that I can expain it all.

I hope you and your family were not directed affected by the cyclones and the anniversary does not bring up unhappy memories.

Thank you for all of your work. The people that matter the most (the families we work for) know what you are doing and it means to world to them!

Angela

[Ausimax]

Hi Angela,

Sorry I didn't know of any issues with international work, I had previously emailed Dave about this matter, mainly from the point of view regarding the use of photos as examples of our work.

In the Emails/letters I sent out I did not include any images and refered them to the OPR Site. Below is a copy of the email to dave and the letter I sent out.


Quote
"Dave,
I am thinking of trying to drum up some publicity, and maybe business in Australia, particularly in the north of Queensland which is prone to cyclones. Several brewing there at present.
What I need to know is, what is the position on using OPR restoration photos for publicity? Do you have a blanket agreement for their use or do you have to get permission on an individual basis.
It is hard to publicise OPR without showing examples, however I would not consider using any without specific permission, as I feel that they may be very personal to the owners, I even keep them private on my photo hosts for that reason.
What is OPR's position on taking in work from areas other than the US? Last year a Cyclone struck the town of Innisfail in NQ, causing major damage to most of the community, at that time I twice emailed the local newspaper "The Innisfail Advocate" suggesting they contact OPR as we may be able to provide the same service to the people of Innisfail, unfortunately they choose not to reply.
It would be handy to know how OPR stands on this matter before I go out beating my drum.
Regards,
Max Schaefer"

Quote
"Max,


We already use some photos to publicize our cause. If you have particular photos in mind, let me know which ones they are and we can contact the owners to seek their permission.


OPR's ultimate goal is to help everyone that we can. In order to do this, we need volunteers who can pick up the ball and run with it when disaster strikes in their area. Let me know what you'd like to do and we can talk about how to get the ball rolling.


Thanks for all that you've done and all that you do Max. You're a very prominent and valuable member of the crew. It's volunteers like yourself that are going keep this organization moving.


Dave


Dave Ellis
Co-President
Operation Photo Rescue"

Letter

The Secretary
Innisfail Photographic & Video Club
PO Box 160,
South  Johnstone, Qld, 4859


Dear Sir/Madam

I would like to bring to your notice and that of your members, Operation Photo Rescue, a volunteer organisation to which I belong

The organisation was started by freelance "Star of Fredericksburg", Virginia,  photographer Rebecca Sell and Dave Ellis, the newspaper's photo-assignment editor, to restore photos damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The organisation now has over a thousand volunteer members who carry out the restoration work, from over 86 countries around the world, including many  from Australia.

Operation Photo Rescue (OPR) is not restricted to work concerned with Hurricane Katrina and is available to carry out this work for disaster victims anywhere. OPR's motto is "Insurance Replaces Possessions, We Replace Memories".

In the wake of Cyclone Larry, I emailed a local Innisfail newspaper bringing OPR to their attention and suggesting they may be able to perform a similar service to the residents of Innisfail and surrounds, using the resources of OPR. On receiving no reply, I again emailed them asking if they could provide contacts for local Photographic Clubs who may be able to carry out the collection and Scanning/Photographing the damaged photos. Again my request went unanswered.

I am hoping for some support from local Photography Clubs/Societies to set up a fledgling organisation to respond should disaster strike again, as it no doubt will.

This would require people who could collect and catalogue damaged photos and then carry out high resolution scanning or digital photographing of the photos for uploading to OPR for restoration. It would also require getting on board, Photo Processors willing to donate the printing of the restored photos.

OPR have several processors in the US who donate their printing. However, it would be impractical to have them printed in the US and then posted out, should those processors be prepared to donate the work to another country.

Unfortunately, with the passage of time it is likely that most photos damaged by "Larry" would by now be trashed, although it may be worth checking out, as photos are still being gathered from the New Orleans area even after all this time.


This is something which would have to be set up by people in the local area to be workable with regard to collection of damaged photos. Whilst I can work on restorations, due to my location and limited resources, I am not in a position to physically carry out the ground work required to get this organisation started.

If you would follow the link I have provided to the OPR web-site you would be able to get an overview of how the organisation works and the type of work carried out by the many volunteer restorers, many of whom are professional Photo-restorers and others like myself, who are keen, dedicated amateurs. Should your members wish to become involved in this very worthwhile endeavour, I am sure OPR headquarters would be more than happy to provide you with the technical infomation required to set up and operate the process.

The response to the work carried out by OPR from "Katrina" victims has been overwhelming. Where they can in time replace the physical property they lost, the only way they can recover the memories of family and friends, some since passed away and the memories of their children growing up is through the work of OPR, for which they have expressed heartfelt gratitude.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. It is greatly appreciated and I am hopeful you may see the value that OPR - with your help, could provide to the residents of Cyclone prone NQ.

I will be contacting other clubs in your area to bring this to their attention, so perhaps it is something in which local organisations like yours could work together to spread the work load and with a little arm twisting, you may be able to garner the support and resources of local newspapers.


http://www.operationphotorescue.com/index.html

And the volunteer Forum where you can see work in progress.

http://www.oprworkshop.org/forum/index.php


Yours sincerely




Max Schaefer

Angela, Let me know if my doing this has caused any problems, I only wish to help, not rock any boats.

Max

[glennab]

Max, bless  you for all  your efforts.  As with most good causes, I suspect you've spurred a number of people to think that OPR and our efforts are a great idea, "somebody ought to do something like that here," and it'll go no further.  If we're lucky, some energetic soul will take a cue from Dave, Becky, Angela and the rest of our Admin angels and actually DO something.  Inertia and lack of interest seem to have hold of just about everyone.  Fortunately there are pockets of people who do care or we wouldn't have OPR at all.  I'm hoping if we keep at it we'll find additional participants, donors and more importantly get the word out to people who've gone through disasters that they don't have to lose their precious memories.

Glenna

[John]

Hey guys!  I'm writing to you from Scottsdale, Arizona this morning.  I just wanted to add that any time I've sent out emails detailing our cause, I include that link to the YouTube movie, that seems to really hit home and gets the message across better than any letter I write, personally. 

But anyway, I had a few minutes this morning before we hit the road and I thought I'd chime in. 

I'm a big proponent of viral marketing.  When I get back I'll work on getting together a little 'portfolio' of avatars, signature banners, etc. that we can all use in our profile pages in other forums that we frequent.  I think small things like that can be very effective ways to advertise OPR and continue to grow our ranks.  Just checking my email this morning there have been about 6 or 7 new members who have signed up this past week.  We're also still one of, if not the, first sites that comes up on Google if you type in 'volunteer photo restoration'... so that helps, too.

[OPRAng]

Max,

Everything you wrote is not only helpful, but quite kind as well. The letter is perfect. Regarding international work--I have to find and then hire an attorney to find out the full extent of the rules. That is until OPR goes international which is only a filing paperwork wise, but might cause my brain to ooze out of my ear with logistics. As it is, I am not the business mind I wish I were. I am actually a pediatric physical therapist by trade--I do scooter boards and jump ropes--business is like translating into a foreign language for me!

In all seriousness, this is something I really want to investigate so that all of our volunteers around the world can help out in their own backyard as well. I don't know how long it will take for me to wrap my brain around everything, but when I do--my overseas OPR buddies will be the first to know.

Thanks again for getting the word out.

See you all later,
Angela