A good idea

[Edi]

You know, even though she didn't say it in exactly these words, Stephanie Steadfast made a really good point. Instead of all of us only pursuing our own channels (which we should continue doing, I think!), why not do a coordinated effort as well? I mean, it's easy to ignore one or two emails, but what if, say, Ellen DeGeneres or Oprah Winfrey or Perez Hilton or whoever got 50 or 100 or (dare we dream?!) even more emails about this? I'd think they'd almost have to pay attention to it.

(Just as an aside, of the three I mentioned, I personally think Ellen DeGeneres would be our best bet, but I'm not expert on talk shows. She just seems the most willing to do something goofy while also being open to requests from viewers. Everyone else I can think of seems (to me) to fit one of those criteria or the other, but not both. But that's just my perception and I'm totally open to other thoughts on it.)

In order to work properly, I think the effort would have to be a little bit organized. For example, it'd be more noticeable if all the emails used basically the same subject line but just a little different so they'd all be unique. Maybe something like "Helen Hunt question from xxx" where "xxx" is either your real name or your username here, whichever you prefer. On the other hand, it'd be more convincing if everyone writes the request in their own words inside the email because that makes it clear that it's definitely from a lot of different people, not just one or a few using different addresses. And I think the effect would be strongest if all the emails arrive within the same 24-48 hour period. There's probably other stuff to consider too, but this is what comes to mind immediately.

So could we (and, more importantly, should we) organize something like this? We could put out requests here, on YouTube, in blogs, to our friends and family that we think might cooperate, etc etc, giving instructions on what to do and when to send it, and then sit back and see what happens. What do you think?

[Frezarion]

I like good ideas, and this seems like a pretty good idea. We could even couple something like this with the charity idea and then it wouldn't be quite as oddball-ish. I'm fond of the charity idea because of the decreasing world suck factor, and I think it'd be a good way to get Helen to do it, but I don't know how we'd get word about it to her effectively. Something like this idea with a talk show would be a great way to get Helen's attention, and also a great way to provide proof that she's seen it.

But if we go with the talk show, do we even need the charity idea? Would we want to still do it just to do it, even if it wasn't necessary? I really don't know, but I think both of these are great ideas. What do you guys think?

[Edi]

I love the charity idea too, and integrating the two is even better. I know Oprah loves charities, and I'm sure just about any celebrity likes to be associated with that sort of thing, for public relations reasons if nothing else.

So... how about we choose a charity (or a few), figure out the details of how to integrate the two ideas, and then start a campaign for a whole bunch of people to contact one (or more) of the talk shows about it? Still sounding reasonable?

[Tenley Nadine (book ningmaster)]

I agree. Celebrities like to be able to say their associted with charities and talk show hosts like talking about them on their shows (expecially Oprah).

[GothhicGoddess]

We could also say in our emails to Ellen that we are raising money for this. The money would be divided in half for both Ellen's and Helen's favorite charities. That way, they both win.

[GothhicGoddess]

Also, we could make a youtube video, for the nerdfighters mainly, giving a date to send out/write these requests. Kind of like project for awesome, but instead Project Unite Hank & Helen On Ellen. Or something. :)

[Frezarion]

Youtube vids and split charities are both awesome ideas.

I'm in the middle of finals week right now and am feeling very un-motivated, otherwise I'd start trying to work out plans for this. Anybody else on here is welcome to take initiative on it, or I'll see what I can do once finals week is over x_X

[Tenley Nadine (book ningmaster)]

I don't know if this is true or not. But it just occured to me that if we say in our e-mails that we think Helen Hunt should see a song written by Hank, wouldn't the talk show hosts want Hank on the show too? Then I started thinking how awesome that would be. Not just to get Hank on a talk show, but to get him on a talk show with his favorite actress. Seriously, if we could this off too, I think Hank would be extatic (thats just a guess, I really don't know).

[Edi]

Yes, I'd thought about that too. I think our emails should (briefly!) describe the whole situation, explain why Hank is a notable person, and express why literally thousands of people would be thrilled if the two of them were brought together. We could even play the humiliation card that talk shows love so much by suggesting that he could sing it to her live. And of course the charity angle must be explained.

Speaking of which, we really should get something concrete going on this. In my opinion the first questions that need to be answered are these:

1a. Shall we focus on one talk show at a time, or blitz a bunch of them all at once?
1b. If just one, which one should it be?

2a. Should we choose a charity or let the talk show and/or Helen Hunt choose it? Or maybe split the money among our choice, the talk show's, and HH's?
2b. If we choose one, which one should it be?

3. How do we integrate the charity part with the Hank & Helen part? In other words, who donates and for what incentive?

Once these questions are answered we can begin to organize the email campaign; without the answers we don't know what to tell people. So please post below if you have thoughts about any part of it, ok?

[Frezarion]

Answers to the previous questions - in my opinion. Please agree or disagree with reasons and such in your own posts below:

1a: I think a blitz to a bunch of them would give us the best opportunity for a positive response. I also think that this would be an excellent utilization of the e-mail address I set up for this group - [e-mail] - we could recommend that replies be sent there, and then it would be much easier to know what kind of response we get and where our best bet for a real show would be.

2a: I think that letting Helen and/or the talk show choose the charity is the best option to gain interest from them. I don't think that we should select the charity, despite the fact that we'd be the ones donating.

3: Anyone who wished to donate could do so, as far as I'm concerned, and the criteria for the donations would be that the talk show with Hank and Helen actually occurs. We see a show with Hank and Helen and her hearing his song, X dollars get donated to selected charity.

I love the idea of getting Hank on the show too. I imagine that it would make his life almost as much as John's recent birthday gift to him.

[Edi]

1a. Good thinking, and excellent thinking on the email address! That's a fantastic way to organize things.

2a. I think you're absolutely right; I'm glad we agree about that. Do you think we should split the money between the host's charity and HH's? Or some other plan?

3. Again, good thinking. I was confused about that bit but it's crystal clear now. Thanks.

A new question:

1c. On a scale of 1 to 100 (yes, that's a hundred, not ten), my knowledge of talk shows is around 6 (yes, six). So do you have any ideas about which ones to we should contact? It occurs to me that we should have a very specific list of shows for people to contact in order to (1) provide email addresses of the shows so people don't have to look them up themselves, and (2) maximize the number of contacts to each show rather than just having a shotgun pattern of contacts all over the place, but (beyond Oprah and Ellen, who have already been mentioned) I don't have the faintest idea of who to put on that list.

[GothhicGoddess]

Places to contact:
Ellen
Oprah
Regis & Kelly
Rachel Ray
and maybe even a few late night shows. I don't watch many of those, so those of you that can think of some that may be down for this suggestions would be great.