Street Team!

Here's my Pinterest Street Team board: http://pinterest.com/violincatherine/nbc-community-street-team/
@SmoochyDaisy52, @Greendale_Love and @MsDaisySteiner (Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/msdaisysteiner/greendale-is-where-i-belong/) helped with all these ideas today.

@SmoochyDaisy52 says she is the Britta in the Street Team, and I am Jeff. Feel free to call yourself any other name at Greendale. Multiples are OK; no fighting, children!

The original impulse for a Street Team comes from Sherlock fans. They post chalk graffiti and flyers everywhere, then put an image of the post on a google map. (See #4 and #5 below, or just click on the top Pinterest link.)

Rock band street teams: distribute flyers/stickers, sell merch at shows, send emails out, call TV/radio stations.

Street marketing in Europe sometimes involves people in strange costumes, engaging passersby in social media buy-in to win contests. Now a bald cap and a gaga dress beckon me.

1. Any fan can join the Street Team. You don't have to do anything, OK? You can just say you're in it. It's Greendale!
2. If you want to throw some silly ideas, we need idea people. If you want to RT, we need retweeters. If you want to do more, then do more.
3. I guess I need to make some funny flyers for us, then. 
4. Vandal that I am, I bought some Easter-egg chalk at the dollar store tonight. (There were 2 other ladies in the dollar store, buying neon silly string to vandalize a friend's car. Rapscallions!) I'm planning on tagging various buildings with chalk graffiti, taking pictures, and posting it on the Interactive Street Team map.
5. And here's the map, which is also on the Pinterest board: http://bit.ly/xvEs8c 
6. I saw some cool street team and street marketing ideas on the Internet earlier today. 
7. @MsDaisySteiner on chalk graffiti tag and name of Street Team:  "My suggestions Graffiti- "NBC's Community is streets ahead". Team name - Streets Ahead team." Also,  "Greendale is where YOU belong" or "Greendale wants YOU" and maybe a hashtag so people can find more info."
8. I liked #MyHeartBelongsToGreendale, but Daisy's idea is better.
9. @SmoochyDaisy52 wants a puppy parade. YES. Maybe team up with local ASPCA/animal shelters?
10. @Balen13 conjured the actual Greendale amusement park. WIth a big paintball course. I see a permanent blanket fort in the adjoining hotel. Plus a campus, classes, lectures, assignments.
11. @SmoochyDaisy52 said we should have stickers. @TeamAsunder made some great round icons for Abed4President, so I'm going to find some sticky paper and print some out.
12. I think we should all write thank you notes to Uncle Bob Greenblatt, CEO of NBC, for putting the show back on the air. Thank you, Uncle Bob!
13. It would be funny to call all our local TV and radio stations and talk to them about NBC Community
14. I like the idea of sending a ton of emails/tweets to parallel fandoms. 
15. Going back to the straight rock band idea, we could rally around the merch and @nbcstore for something, too.
16. Well hey, I'm treating the show like a struggling rock band. Why not?
17. Let me know if you have any other ideas. The sillier, the better!

Love, 

Streets Ahead Street Team "Jeff"

Catherine

Communitown (joint Community and Cougar Town Subway sandwich fan action); Spreadsheet

Dear Fans,


3/30/12 update: Current Subway hashtags on twitter: #ILoveYouSubway and #EatFresh. @brittanymackk mentioned #sixinchesandamovie today. Ha ha!


It's always nice to thank people for airing your show on TV. Please send some nice hand-written letters to NBC Executives. We have a lot to celebrate. Tell them about the Subway campaign, and that we're here for them. Addresses: http://bit.ly/ADqYLw


Also, PLEASE send a nice letter to:

• MR. FRED DELUCA
• PRESIDENT 
• SUBWAY CORPORATION
• 325 BIC DRIVE 
• MILFORD, CT 06460

UPDATE: http://savecougartown.blogspot.com Cougar Town fans are gathering money for a massive wine cork purchase to send to ABC. Also, I'm personally going to their (early morning, like 6:15am, ouch) gathering at ABC's Good Morning America broadcast in Times Square on Friday, 4/6. Anyone want to join? I just bought a Penny Can t-shirt and Cougar Town baseball cap.

URGENT, Summary of fan action:

1) Buy a Subway sandwich on Mondays
2) Fill out an in-store comment card that says "#savecommunity and #savecougartown! #Communitown thanks you for your ad sponsor and product placement support of BOTH shows!"

3) Fill out an online comment card: http://www.subway.com/ContactUs/frmCustomerService.aspx

4) Tweet the living daylights out of @SubwayFreshBuzz with #Communitown hastag.

5) Follow Cougar Town fan leaders @CougarTownRally, @loulzb, @JeffRaissle, and @CougarTownFTW.
6) Facebook event post: http://www.facebook.com/events/314790685252350/
7) From @MsDaisySteiner: Deanway! SubDean? http://t.co/dCefyRET
8) Paste this Penny Can label on a paint/coffee can; bring it with you to Subway! http://bit.ly/AvpBUa
9) Goatee pattern; cut one out of felt or construction paper, wear to Subway! http://twitpic.com/7rr0fu

Please vote in TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorite poll (2 categories, Comedy and Ensemble. We're NBC shippers too, so Debra Messing in the Comeback category is nice): http://on.fb.me/xOVLpY

tl;dr, scroll down to the final paragraph of this post for the overall summary in bold text. Subway fan action reasoning: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/g8h800. Thank you!

The one good thing about the hive mind is flexibility of ideas. Bees butt each other in the heads to get a better idea across. The bee who brought me the #Communitown idea appears to be shy, but she is Batman.

Also, the Community Paley Fest gave me hope that a 4th season is possible. We need to stay loud. I'm not shelving the World Record blanket fort and International Paintball Month, but I'm going to chat with Chuck fan organizers and @lightening__bug for event planning ideas. If we have a party in LA, we can invite the cast. Also, Comic Con is in June. We can do paintball when it's warm outside.

OK, there's a Subway sandwich display in the Greendale cafeteria, right? (Season 3 Jim Rash Has An Oscar promo). And Subway was featured in Abed's scene on Cougar Town, and is a current Cougar Town ad sponsor?

If we form one gigantic Community plus Cougar Town super group, and all start buying sub sandwiches on Mondays, we may be able to save BOTH shows. I'm willing to eat Subway sandwiches for 2-3 years if it gains us 2-3 more years. Let's feel it out; try it for one month and see what the response is like. I predict the media attention on this is going to be HUGE. I want Cougar Town to succeed; they weren't prepared for this timeline and need our help. Please follow her fan leaders, @CougarTownRally and @Loulzb. Use the hashtag #Communitown on Mondays, fill out comment cards in the store that say #SaveCougarTown and #SaveCommunity, and fill out this online form: http://www.subway.com/ContactUs/frmCustomerService.aspx.

Benefits:
1) Chuck already set up this habit, so it will be easy for us to use the same trail.
2) As opposed to courting a random ad sponsor, Subway is using product placement in BOTH shows.
3) Have you ever seen a combined fan action before? People are usually so terrified that they get tunnel vision and can't band together. I predict that this is going to be BIG news. Both shows desperately need a WSJ/NYTimes/CNN news story to draw wealthy Nielsen viewers. Cougar Town is listed as an underdog in the news, so the story will shift to the fighting underdog. The Scrubs staff is on both shows, and Abed appears on Cougar Town in a cameo. Bill Lawrence worked very hard on the marketing, so there is an existing story there as well. I think we have an 85% chance of landing in the business sections of big media.
4) ABED WOULD WANT THIS. Also, @CougarTownRally and @loulzb are super nice. That is all.
5) I'm calling for this fan action one day from today. If you buy a sandwich THIS WEEK, that's fine. Cougar Town need immediate assistance. Can you imagine being in their shoes, off for all those months, and then having this kind of trouble after one month?
6) Anybody want to help me tweet out the Cougar Town ad sponsors for Tuesday at 8:30pm? I've got the East Coast covered. I could use help with the midwest and west coast. Also, I'll do next day Hulu ads. I want to see what they have, and if there's any other overlap with NBC Community (scroll back to posts from late November and early December for the old lists).

So that's the update there. The $74K TV Guide Magazine fan ad is still a good idea. When I find a graphic design intern, I'll let them loose on it.

FUN IDEA. If you are a #Community fan going to #SXSW for either the Film or the Music festivals, please let me know, OK? I'm planning on sending a T-shirt order down for 10 Napoleon Dynamite style shirts (aka Vote for Pedro, but with show details on it), and post it on Craigslist in Austin. I can also send flyers and stickers to a Staples store in Austin. Any ideas or revisions? Is NBC going to be there (I'm assuming yes)? Cougar Town, my lovely sister show, I'm not Miss Moneybags or I'd naturally do the same for you. We can run parallel actions if you want. You have my email address. Anything you need, just ask, OK?

Also, to get some serious water cooler buzz going, let's post some funny Craigslist stunts. Include both shows and our Subway initiative (NBC Community, Thurs 3/15, 8pm. ABC Cougar Town, Tues 8:30pm. We're all buying Subway sandwiches on Mondays to save both shows, so Eat Fresh with us and watch our funny shows too!). It's FREE, you can make it say whatever you want, it's in most cities and regions of the US (hello Nielsen), and everybody reads craigslist. If they don't, they have friends who do, and they'll hear about us soon. And yes, @MetropoLois, go CRAZY with Annie's Boobs if you want.

EXPERIMENT: I asked twitter if anyone was on Pinterest. The demographics of that site are CRAZY, like 85% ladies, age 25-54, am I right? @MsDaisySteiner has a board there, #GreendaleIsWhereIBelong: http://t.co/LPAxGByK. I'm afraid of Google+ too, but I'm going to do my best to post about our #Communitown efforts on both sites. As usual, I'm an awkward nerd anyway, so please forgive my N00b ways! Whee!

OK, last thing. Please pass this link around, and feel free to add to it: http://bit.ly/wYEhxe.
The upper two left squares are URGENT matters.
1) Map link: http://bit.ly/xvEs8c  NEW IDEA: Post your local Subway store on this map; Cougar Town, you are officially part of this map now, too. Cougar Town flyer: http://twitpic.com/8seygp. Quick reasoning: we have dropped in dratted Nielsen viewership over 2 years, which is why NBC Community is in a precarious position. If you could please post some flyers/graffiti chalk art/posters in your neighborhood, take a picture of where/what you posted (optional), and drag a blue pin onto your city (type your city in the top, a pin comes up, then drag the blue pin to it; use the rich text button to post a weblink), we could get some inroad on the Nielsen problem.

If Nielsen is truly a representative sample of the US, then maybe 45% have no computer. Flyers and street art are necessary to reach them. Also, my estimate is that 30-40% are religious, so go easy on Jim Rash in tights on the flyers, but go heavy on his Oscar win, particularly in the South and Midwest. Please mention Thurs, 3/15, 8pm, watch NBC Community. This lovely idea comes from @Mayh___, who found  Sherlock fans' street art. When the Harvard administration leaves Sherlock chalk graffiti from students on its brick walls and it's news, you know it's a good idea.

2) Please write some letters, as outlined in @supersarah33's lovely post (http://www.twitlonger.com/show/g34qol). If you buy one Subway sandwich this week, place one flyer with a corresponding blue pin on the map (OR link to your local Subway store), write a funny craigslist post, and write one letter to Bob Greenblatt, you are officially Batman to me.

Love,
Catherine
@violincatherine

(P.S. - The lovely genius who came up with the Subway idea is shy, but she is Batman. I have a deep gut feeling of joy about this idea. I really think it's going to take off. I'm not abandoning our other ideas, but we HAVE to save Cougar Town. Think of Abed! -CB)
(P.P.S. - Cougar Town, we are officially one team and one hive now. Don't feel shy or like you'll offend me if you use my ideas. You may need to act quickly on something right now, so do what you need to do, and we've got your back. As soon as you have a Facebook post, please let me know and I'll include it here. There are a million Cougar Town fans listed on Facebook. I'm cool posting in all the comments of all the posts on the main page. Let's go, OK? We've got this. We're officially in Mayday mode to defend and protect you. I'm here for you. xoxo -CB)

Bullet Points for 2/9/12 International NBC Community Flashmob Day; OLD SCHOOL marketing

Hello Community Fans!

UPDATE (1/28/12): here's your tl;dr summary

• We're buying NBC merchandise as a group on Thursday 2/2/12: The NEW Warhol-style Troy and Abed shirt has my name on it.
• A bunch of us are on Twitter, so please consider signing up for it. The reach is instant and international, much like a conference call, and Twitter makes it easy when you sign up. Follow me @violincatherine and @EvilTroyAndAbed; we'll get you connected and involved quickly, OK?
• Thursday 2/9/12 is International Save Community Day. As I told my cousins today, even if you make a video in your backyard and send it to that page, you are participating!
• Here's the lovely LA flashmob writeup from Danielle Turchiano at the Examiner.
• Current goal: 11 million Nielsen unicorns
• I don't give a rat's behind what the rumors say. We're still fighting until we're told to stop, OK? So NOW, please don't be shy about NBC Community. Tell everyone you know and meet. Buy a gabby friend some food and drinks and ask them to tell all their friends. If you have far-away friends in exotic places in the US (South Dakota, Hawaii, etc), call them NOW and tell them to tell all their friends. Nielsen is everywhere, but WE can reach them.
• I just emailed Zuckerberg for help with our MMORPG, and am reaching out to admen for help with a national fan-funded ad campaign. I could use the group's help on deciding what to do. So far, @supersarah33 has some slam dunk ideas, with biggest bang for the buck. (Print ads, billboards, and posters are up for discussion so far. We can raise money through www.kickstarter.com.)
• Send letters to Steve Burke also, but mainly to Robert Greenblatt, NBC CEO, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City CA 91608. Hand write your letters and make them nice, OK? Other NBC Executive snail mail addresses are here. 
• Our fellow fans for the Event put together an amazing blog with some things we should all read and consider, including Steve Burke's address: You guys rock, and I love you! I'll use your ideas too, OK? THANK YOU!
• Bill Murray meme
• Reaching all Nielsen households includes: some are of them have no computers. How do we reach ALL of them? I'm developing flyers and emails to post and share. Meme flyers in all grocery stores in the US would be amazing. Funny viral emails go far, and word of mouth would leak over off the computers. Dream: Bob Greenblatt and Steve Burke get viral emails (that have gone around the world twice already via the Internet) in their inbox.

The LA flashmob was a rousing success! I'm working out a wrap up now. Our future is more urgent; I heard the rumor that NBC Community returns to live broadcast in March. I have Old School marketing ideas to reach 11 Million Nielsen Unicorns (These go to ELEVEN!)

1) Thursday 2/9/12 (lovingly timed to coincide with Cougar Town's 2/14/12 return) is International NBC Community Flashmob Day! www.tinyurl.com/IntlSCD

a) All of you guys, POST THIS URL www.tinyurl.com/IntlSCD (Right click, Copy Link Location, then Right Click, Paste. Old School, click and drag to select select, Ctrl C, then Ctrl V elsewhere) on Facebook and Twitter NOW, OK? Say a line or two about your involvement in the mobs, and how everyone can watch on Hulu. If you have the resources to throw a DVD viewing party or build a blanket fort, do it! Make it potluck if you want!
b) All cities and all countries are invited to make their own mob. Don't worry about people coming. The Wall Street Journal may be more interested that it's international, OK? I'll be in the Philly mob. I made a darn fool of myself on a NYC street by myself. Your mob can be JUST YOU. Let the Disco Spider (Arana Discoteca) be a guide: NOT embarrassing AT ALL!
c) Make a flyer NOW. Take a funny picture from the show and make a graphic meme with funny show dialogue. Dream: Donde Esta La Biblioteca in Spanish neighborhoods. Big pictures of Donald Glover/Childish Gambino in EVERY neighborhood (Slogan: What would Childish Gambino do? Watch NBC Community on Hulu! Support two great black actors on NBC!) If there is a mob in your city (OK, please just say yes and do that), post about the mob. Put little tear off strips on the bottom with the mob details, and www.hulu.com/community, returning to NBC in March. If you're stuck for a tagline or meme, use the group NBC Community photo and say, "You want funny? WE'VE GOT THE FUNNY!"

POST SEVERAL flyers in every language, neighborhood, grocery store, YMCA, community center, liquor store, dentist's office, train station. Post as a jpeg on Facebook and Twitter. If you are in college, post in every college building. Make the funniest meme you can, that your local community will laugh at. Make some Korean ones for Ken, and some Polish ones for Danny. Send the flyers via Facebook and email to your friends in the next town over, and ask them to post them in the grocery store and elsewhere. I want this country flooded with NBC Community meme posters NOW to reach all the Nielsen unicorns, OK?

If you have a singing flashmob, you will need a track on an ipod, connected to the largest ipod docking station or amplifier you can find. I can help you with music and PR. You have a LOT of support from all of us, and the fastest way to reach us is on twitter: @violincatherine, @EvilTroyAndAbed, and @SuperSarah33.

2) My Professor Friend James Fowler (we were Harvard undergrads together) gave this advice: "you should emphasize that people have the biggest effect on their real world friends, so a few focused messages to them will be more effective than a lot of broadcasts to strangers." Quote that and attribute him; he is a fancy schmancy professor!

a) So the biggest push is to your family, friends, and colleagues.
b) There are 500 secret Nielsen boxes in every state in the US (25K total; may be fewer in less populous states). These are real people with families, friends, jobs, hobbies. Some do not have computers, which is the reason for the flyers. They are from all races, income levels, and job types. Dream: a Flashmob flyer in Alaska that gets the loggers laughing over a beer, one that gets surfers yelling Yo Bra Funny in Hawaii, one that makes farmers laugh in a general store in South Dakota, finally a WSJ business article about us that makes high level executives mumble and laugh over coffee. Big stunts will eventually reach the mainstream media, but I want you all to brainstorm with me on how to reach the families in question.
c)  ANY ideas you have, please send them to me at www.twitter.com/violincatherine or to Evil Troy and Abed. We're both on Twitter and Facebook and we're on your side! If you're shy, you can send me a personal message on Facebook or ask me to follow you on Twitter to send me a DM (direct message), OK?

3) There are people saying, be careful, don't flood Greenblatt's office with letters. When I hear that, you understand that I think they're from CBS, right? OK, maybe I'm paranoid, but we have a short window here to pull the tide in our favor (goal, 11 million Nielsen unicorns by March). I think they're actually from CBS, to be honest. @SuperSarah33 and I say, please send some nice, hand-written letters to Uncle Bob! Have you got this address memorized yet?

Robert Greenblatt, NBC CEO, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City CA 91608.

4) This one's from @NannySox. Everyone, buy some @YoplaitYogurt on Tuesday 1/24/12 and tweet/Facebook it! Evil Troy and Abed, do you have a page for this yet? If you want to run an impromptu MOB on this topic, goateed people (or just yourself) buying it at the store, fixing a nice meal, eating it, or juggling Yoplait containers in the backyard, videotape it and send it over! We love the parent company @GeneralMills too. You can buy a lot of Cheerios, Yoplait, Muir Glen pasta sauce, and use or donate it!

5) You've seen Dean Pelton on the Facebook and twitter Greendale Community College (@Greendale_CC) pages, right? There's an attempt at an Old School MMORPG paintball/blanket fort/message board style parkour/panty raid across Facebook and twitter. If anybody wants to set up these Facebook pages/twitter handles and start shooting me with paintballs, I would be happy: LEDGE, BIGTREE, City College cafeteria, Drainage Ditch, Garbage Dumpster, Study Room, Study Room Window, Hedges.
a) paintball: *shoots red paintball @violincatherine* #NBCpaintball #MorePig #SaveCommunity
b) blanketfort: *runs into (name silly wing of blanket fort), sees (youtube video of silly thing)*
c) parkour: *exits #StudyRoomWindow, runs along #Ledge, runs 1/2 mile, hides behind #GarbageDumpster*
d) panty raid: *runs (name wild type of panty or boxer design) of @DanHarmon up the flagpole*
e) I'm writing to Zuckerberg to see if anyone wants to develop this. Hi, Sony, I'll pay you money to enter this world online, OK? It's all yours! Any fans who want to change these rules, make them better, work with me on developing something funny, please be my guest! PLEASE heckle Dean Pelton and shoot him with paintballs, OK? Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but paintball makes the crown colorful!
f) Resurrect from paintball shot with one of five statements (honor system): #GreenblattLoveLetter, #MediaContact, #MediaResearch, #ILoveNBCCommunity, #NBCFlashmobPR

6) Let's all go on the NBC Store Facebook page and say hi to Glenn, OK? http://www.facebook.com/NBCUniversalStore They made a NEW SHIRT for us. Scroll down to see it. Can we pick a Thursday, as a group, to buy something? Ideas? http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/?v=nbc_community

7) @CommunityFolow had a really great idea, connecting with NBC local affililates. @jtabrys mentioned the NBC affiliate list, from their website: www.nbc.com/local-stations. How can we connect with them, show them our love and support, and see if there's anything we can do for them? We love you, NBC!

My money is on the NBC Community fan horse! We have all the smarts, love, talent, and numbers to make ANYTHING happen. I mean, hot tamales, we got an International Flashmob going in one day!

Love,
@violincatherine