Promoting the Djuma Safari Cam

[Wildearth]

 

Below is the same Note posted by Graham Wallington on Wildearth's Facebook Page. We invite those not on Facebook to share here as well with your suggestions and feedback.

 

All other Blogs can be found under: (all open in new windows)

Wildearth - http://www.wildearth.tv/wildearth-blog

Safari - http://www.wildearth.tv/safari-blog

Djuma Game Reserve - Saving the Safari Cam - http://www.djuma.com/2011/saving-the-safari-cam

 

Its so exciting and gratifying that the LIVE safari broadcasts are coming back. As you all know Safari Television had to close down due to the fact that they were making sustained losses. Djuma Game Reserve (Jurie and Pippa Moolman) have stepped in to keep the safaris going. Well, they have agreed to fund a 3 month trial to see if WE, and the viewers, can help them make it viable. Djuma are going to reduce the costs, and it's our job to increase the revenue. 

WE are going to ask for your help to save this important broadcast permanently. What do WE need to do to make it work? The answer is that WE need to increase the viewership by a factor of about 3x. Currently a safari peaks at about 800 viewers (on both Ustream and WildEarth.tv). WE need to get this up to around 2,500 or more.

The Safari TV safaris are going to stop on Sunday (the 31st July) and the Djuma Safari broadcast is going to start up in a few weeks and when they do WE all need to have a plan to make sure that the maximum number of viewers are watching.

WE are going to work with Ustream.tv to see how much promotion they can give the safari, but we are also going to need as much help as possible from all of you.

To begin with lets work out a bunch of ideas of how we can do this, and not start until we have a cohesive plan, to make sure that WE are all working together and don't work at cross purposes. Please can you comment below with any, and all, ideas of how WE can promote the Djuma Safari cam. Then lets discuss all the ideas and agree on a plan.

 

Here are some of my ideas so far:

Google Adwords - many of you offered to donate money to try and save the safari cam, but WE could not accept these donations as it would be unsustainable and really not appropriate for a for-profit company to accept donations. However, those viewers that did want to make donations could setup Google Adword accounts and buy advertising (banners) that could help drive traffic to the Djuma Safari. (To make this work, if you think that it is a worthwhile idea, WE should setup a seperate group and work together to maximise the efficacy of this plan.)

Embedding - a great way to increase traffic would be to reach out to as many sites as possible and ask them to embed the Djuma Safari cam in their sites. This would cost the embedding sites nothing, and could massivley increase our traffic. WE would need to provide the 'embedding team' with the embed code, as well as buttons and banners for the embedders to put on their homepages etc.

Press - one of the best ways to increase traffic would be to get newspapers, websites, magazines and TV channels to tell the story of Djuma and the LIVE safari. First we would need to write up some great press releases, and then send them out far and wide. The Djuma team would be available for interviews and even be willing to host TV film crews if necessary. Done right this could make the Djuma Safari a household name. 

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas. Please help Djuma make this a long term success. This needs to be a project by the viewers for the viewers to save the Djuma Safari and make it super popular.

 

With so much thanks for the years of support,

 

Graham

 

[Dalene Kolk]

Hi, My name is Dalene Kolk and I own a small business in Jackson, Michigan, U.S.A. I found the ustream website by accident, watching the falcon nest here in our town. Once I found Pete's Pond I was hooked, and so was my husband Tom. First let me say that we are grateful that you are trying the safaris for a trial period.

     We have many teachers and families as customers and as grandparents ourselves we know how important it is to keep children's minds busy during summer break. What we have done is print out "business" cards with the website addresses and give them to families and teachers that are interested. To date we have handed out over 200 since mid-June. We always have our personal laptops with us and when children come in if there are animals on the screen we show them the pictures and talk to them about the animal they are seeing. This is something that anyone could do, it doesn't have to be on a formal business card, just pint out 6 or 8 on a sheet of paper or card stock then ask local businesses to put them in their stores.

     Again thank you so much. GOD bless,

[Sal-Lee Holland]

KC, I remember when that happened with Lily, I was watching.  I think it's a great idea to invite Ann Curry to go on a live Safari, and just see what they do there, and how WE helps Dixie.  Ann loves to help in this kind of stuff, at least show what is going on there and how WE really does teach about wild life, but also cares for the people that live in the area.  Great idea!

K.C. said:

I am sure most know that when The Today Show aired Lily's bear cam on one of their shows, that cam went viral.  They had so many hits, that their equipment kept crashing.  50,000 viewers watched as Lily gave birth on cam.  I found the video when they aired it.  (Scroll down until you see the link video from the Today Show January 9, 2010.  http://www.hancockwildlife.org/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=765

 

I think you should contact NBC and The Today Show, and invite Anne Curry to Djuma to experience a live safari.  (What a blast it would be... Anne Curry riding shotgun with Marc.)  To throw some ideas out there, a video presentation could be put together, showing local culture, conservation, wildlife and technology in the bush.  Videos could include, the water supplied to Dixie, Tara's sports equipment to the school, the Ingwe Leopard Research project, the Gowrie Gang, some of the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to run a live Safari, and the technology and support to broadcast it, and of course, Safari Diaries. 

 

I know this idea has been brought up before, but maybe worth another look.

 

 

[Fireflyrocks]

Ruth Rogge said:

How about if everybody would contact their local zoo.  Maybe they could become "sister" zoos like sister cities around the planet.  They could post it and give all the details of the Cams/drives that way.

 

Excellent idea.

[Penny Hunter]

I have one concern. With only 3 crew members it'll only take one of them to fall ill so we need to look after them too. My suggestion is to change the drive lengths from 3 to 2 hours in the meantime - thereby putting less stress on the crew to get all the other jobs done and sorted before the next drive, so there is no backlog of work, adding even more stress to the crew.. It's going to be a huge undertaking for all concerned at Djuma though Marc and Tara pulled thmselves through their recent sickness to keep things going. Hats off to them.

3 months is not very long though I can understand some of the economics but that means - a break of 2 weeks now, 6 weeks of drives, 2 weeks rest and only 2 or 3 drives after that. Maybe 5 weeks drives and 10 days break? I dunno but pray that a miracle happens and some hugely rich sponsor steps forward.

[Dalene Kolk]

I meant print out, not pint out." typonese" spoken fluently here.

Dalene Kolk said:

Hi, My name is Dalene Kolk and I own a small business in Jackson, Michigan, U.S.A. I found the ustream website by accident, watching the falcon nest here in our town. Once I found Pete's Pond I was hooked, and so was my husband Tom. First let me say that we are grateful that you are trying the safaris for a trial period.

     We have many teachers and families as customers and as grandparents ourselves we know how important it is to keep children's minds busy during summer break. What we have done is print out "business" cards with the website addresses and give them to families and teachers that are interested. To date we have handed out over 200 since mid-June. We always have our personal laptops with us and when children come in if there are animals on the screen we show them the pictures and talk to them about the animal they are seeing. This is something that anyone could do, it doesn't have to be on a formal business card, just pint out 6 or 8 on a sheet of paper or card stock then ask local businesses to put them in their stores.

     Again thank you so much. GOD bless,

[Bobi Baha]

Dalene Kolk said:

I meant print out, not pint out." typonese" spoken fluently here.

Dalene Kolk said:

Hi, My name is Dalene Kolk and I own a small business in Jackson, Michigan, U.S.A. I found the ustream website by accident, watching the falcon nest here in our town. Once I found Pete's Pond I was hooked, and so was my husband Tom. First let me say that we are grateful that you are trying the safaris for a trial period.

     We have many teachers and families as customers and as grandparents ourselves we know how important it is to keep children's minds busy during summer break. What we have done is print out "business" cards with the website addresses and give them to families and teachers that are interested. To date we have handed out over 200 since mid-June. We always have our personal laptops with us and when children come in if there are animals on the screen we show them the pictures and talk to them about the animal they are seeing. This is something that anyone could do, it doesn't have to be on a formal business card, just pint out 6 or 8 on a sheet of paper or card stock then ask local businesses to put them in their stores.

     Again thank you so much. GOD bless,

[Bobi Baha]

Bobi Baha said:

Dalene Kolk said:

I meant print out, not pint out." typonese" spoken fluently here.

Dalene Kolk said:

Hi, My name is Dalene Kolk and I own a small business in Jackson, Michigan, U.S.A. I found the ustream website by accident, watching the falcon nest here in our town. Once I found Pete's Pond I was hooked, and so was my husband Tom. First let me say that we are grateful that you are trying the safaris for a trial period.

     We have many teachers and families as customers and as grandparents ourselves we know how important it is to keep children's minds busy during summer break. What we have done is print out "business" cards with the website addresses and give them to families and teachers that are interested. To date we have handed out over 200 since mid-June. We always have our personal laptops with us and when children come in if there are animals on the screen we show them the pictures and talk to them about the animal they are seeing. This is something that anyone could do, it doesn't have to be on a formal business card, just pint out 6 or 8 on a sheet of paper or card stock then ask local businesses to put them in their stores.

     Again thank you so much. GOD bless,

[mika]

Hello

 

Graham i have a good idea. Take a look at Checkitlive.com there they have many Animal webcams maybe you can make contact and Place the Gowrie dam to get more viewers. you can make also contact to get that viewers we need

[Christine Lofquist]

 

   Media blitzing is great.  If you can get the names of the editors, reporters and news directors, which most are listed right on their websites, then sell them a reason to report on the drives. ie;  It is free to watch, it's in real time, extremely educational, any age group appropriate, Tara and Marc actually communicate with watchers through e-mail questions, and all the beautiful animals that are usually only seen on documentaries.

 

   I'll use Facebook to reach my friends, especially ones with children will think this is super.  It's something that families can get excited about and watch together.

 

   Word of mouth, which I've already done with co-workers and people in passing.

 

   Another fun thing is Cafe Press, which alot of people know about for generating funds.  It is virtually free, and Marc and Tara could post their wildlife pictures there for people to order posters, mugs, towels etc. 

 

   I think with everyone brainstorming this is going to be great!

[joseph crisafi]

my idea is to contact npr national public radio.they have the perfect audiance for the safari drives.marc could be interviewed on the air.he could tell them all about the drives even supply audio from the drives.i have been listening to npr for years.this would be perfect way to get  audieance for the drives.npr has a program called the world,it has  perfect audiancefor the drives.tara could also be interviewed bring her perspective  to discusion..another idea  would to get in contact with national geographic this also would be good fit regarding drives

joseph crisafi

[Dalene Kolk]

which side of chat do you look at. the social stream is one, but the actual chatroom is filled with fine ppl.

gloria sapp said:

willing and able to participate in things to be done if we get together on one plan an we all follow.Yes I also think Ustream will be very good in this if the riffraff can be weeded out I watch in ustream also and have noticed the chat box and not liking what im seein.But ustream is good as they have done very well with the decorah eagle nest which had over 3thousand and was ablle to handle it without crashing,They also do other sites very well.Whenever a solid plan is put together im in I dont chat much anymore but i do watch both cams.

[Diane Phillips]

I had a thought.  In the past there was a "Safari Store"  where you could buy T-shirts, bags etc.  Wouldn't a lot of conversations be started by wearing a Djuma cap or a carry-all bag with the Djuma logo and Karula and the web site address on it?   Personally, I would not wear a T-shirt but I know a lot of kids and other guys would.  I would wear a camp shirt with the logo embroidered on it.  The profit from sales could go to Djuma and the advertising would be free and would go all around the world.  It would be a way to donate and advertise at the same time.