Organizers’ Checklist

Recommendation: Keep it as simple as possible. Less to go wrong.

Site Selection

• Scenic? Powerful? Does it represent your area? Would someone who’s never visited your area relate to an aerial photo of the site?
• Parking and/or public transportation?
• Toilet facilities?
• Food available? (not required – event very short)
• Permit needed? (preferable to not need a permit)?
• Does obtaining a permit hinge on obtaining insurance? (insurance can be a major hassle)
• Sand? Grass?
• Flat? (in some cases, a slope might work)

Photographs

• How can a photograph be obtained?
• Helicopters are optimal, but cost around $500/hr.
• Small airplane (cheaper, but less maneuverable).
• Tall building nearby? 200 feet? higher?
• Construction crane.
• Balloon
  

Crowd

• 1,000 people or more is optimal. 940 needed to fill lettering.
• Need to have an organizing tool? – Visit the websites of volunteerforchange, afterdowningstreet – to communicate with, manage volunteers
• Need a core of approx 20 volunteers to arrange.

Outlining lettering of “IMPEACH!”

• In San Francisco, we used graph paper and then tape measures and then we drew lines in the sand.
  

Media

• Media coverage is essential.
• In major markets, if a crowd is guaranteed (if 1,000 people have registered to participate), TV stations may well put up their own helicopters. (Nonetheless, you’re going to want professional still photos of the event – they make great postcards, and people love to say, “I was in the crossbar of the ‘H’.” Or: “I was in the exclamation mark.” Or: “I was in the ‘A…’” and they will want a keepsake.
  

Money

• Event may cost almost nothing, or it might cost $1,500 -$2,000, depending on circumstances. (If hats are passed to collect money, it comes to only $2 or so per person.) In any case, someone needs to be responsible for fronting and also collecting money. The event is NOT ABOUT money, and it’s probably a good idea to identify a worthy cause in case there is an excess of donations.

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