8 wishes

2008-06-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

Finally have the link up on the Darc site:
DARC

Thanks for your help! I'm so happy that we were all able to help children that are struggling with learning differences!!!!

8 wishes is still running until 08/08/08 and then i have other plans to make a documentary of the ride.

Also I'm also on my next adventure:
SocialMonks.com

Love you all and please email with any questions :)

Paul

2008-06-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

<

Here is the video of one of my wishes being granted:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/381721/1st_wish_granted_paul_orfalea

Please feel free to email me soloride@gmail.com

dyslexiacenter.org

DARC is working on doing a write that I can link to. For now if you have any questions please email info@dyslexiacenter.org

Thanks for all your support!

Paul Sanchez

2007-03-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

*****UPDATE****** 2/11/08

I'm going to be ending 8 wishes in a few weeks. I'm also donating the funds to DARC and working on getting a page on their site so that you can see the funds went to them. We almost had something workout with Oprah and I will try to explain what happened in the next post.

I will be posting a new "viral" video and new site to raise more funds.

Thanks for being patient and I look forward to updating you all.

Paul
****UPDATE****** 2/11/08

We're getting a new look...

I'm really excited to announce that I will be putting together a new website for 8 Wishes. I'm going to be moving the site from Blogger and I will be hosting the site myself. Blogger has been great but I will be moving the blog to a new platform that will add a bunch of features are give us more control of the design to help deliver all the news in a more developed way.

Also since the main video hit YouTube's front page I got a ton of emails -- at least 1000-- from people around the world. I also have around another 1000 emails from other avenues of media that 8 wishes got coverage for. It my top priority to respond to all the emails.

I'm going to be saving up funds to launch my new site. I also want to take a few weeks off to recharge my batteries (the 88 days took a lot out of me). My hope is to have the new site up in a month but it may take up to 3 months. Rest assured that I'll be working extremely hard to get everything up and running for 8 Wishes 2.0.

In June, we will be accepting applications for the donations we received. We will be giving away the $8,297 to one individual. The funds will be sitting in the ChipIn account and DARC will also be overseeing the whole process. You will notice that the donations are redirected to my PayPal account. This was the only way I was able to extend the deadline with the ChipIn widget. I will be changing it back to the ChipIn account as soon as I can. If you don't feel comfortable donating via PayPal, please just mail the check to DARC and make sure to write 8 Wishes in the memo.

I can wait to get back to work and grant all the wishes by 08/08/08

Take care,
Paul

PS. Current YouTube video views: 558,682!

2007-03-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

NEW DEADLINE

I have decided to make a new deadline. The new deadline is 08/08/08. Tell me if you think this is a good idea. I'm on the road right now so I don't have much time to write. My new sponsor Divx is going to make this possible. I'm thinking about getting Verizon wireless or T Mobil wireless so that I can have better access to the Internet when I'm on the road.

You maybe asking yourself why do I need to be on the road so much. Well I'm going to film festivals trying to network and get leads for my documentary. I believe that the film is going to raise a lot of funds for the 8 wishes project.

Please tell me what you think of the new deadline.

Take care,

Paul

2007-03-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

The power of video views.

UPDATE! YOUTUBE FEATURED THE 8 WISHES VIDEO!
So now the video count is at 212,615 views!

Also Remember that for every view I get at Stage6.com a penny will be donated to the 8 wishes cause:
DivX Stage6
I also have new stats on the stage6.com video. It has around 9000 views.

Today I went around and counted up all our video views. The view count is very important because it' s what spreads the word about 8 Wishes. With about 65,000 views I was able to get over $5,000, plus tons of emails from kids around the world, and two wishes granted! (A wish for every 32,500 views... we only need 195,000 more to make them all come true!)

The views...
The original YouTube video 29,725
The updated YouTube video 1,673
Metacafe 16,307
Sevenload 405
Dave TV 103 views
LiveLeak 1236views
Spiked Humor views4840
Videolog.tv 53views
Meravideo 325views
Caught on Video 505views
Glumbert 8500 views
DivX Stage6 145 votes (votes count as views but the view count would be higher)
MySpace Plays: 1514

So what else did I get with all these video views? Well, I was able to get on national TV (Fox News), meet Paul Orfalea, connect with a ton of bloggers, go to Sundance and meet people that are going to help me finish the film solo ride (100% funds go to Charity) -- thank you to DivX for sending me!

Those are just the highlights but, basically, 8 Wishes has made a huge impact on bringing awareness to dyslexia and learning disabilities! The last 80 days have changed my life to say the least.

Our main goal for the last 6 days is to get YouTube to feature the 8 Wishes video in the next few days. At the end of the day, YouTube is the best bet to reach people because of their huge user base. I'm also going to be contacting StumbleUpon to see if they will give me a sponsor if they do that then that could also bring 1000's of views too.

Lets make a hard push for more views these last few days! Thanks for all your support guys!

2007-02-18T15:07:00.001-08:00

OK. I'm in a hurry but I wanted to give you guys an update. I just left Pittsburgh and now I'm in Philly and I'm about to leave for NYC (by car and bus not plane)! I made a lot of great contacts in Pittsburgh. I went there because the LDA was having a national conference. I maybe even interviewing Kevin S. McClatchy the Chief Executive Officer of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has dyslexia like me (I was so honored to meet him). I'm just about to head out to NYC! I will be trying to get on the Today Show and FOX NEWS. I will also be meeting with Simeon! One of the kids that I meet with on the bicycle tour. I really feel like something big is going to happen next week.

Wish me luck.

Paul

Tell Meredith that I'm trying to get on the show. Just leave a comment on her blog.

Oh remember two wishes have been granted:
2 wishes granted

2007-02-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

$8.88 Campaign for 8 Wishes

Thanks to Doug Karr at On Influence and Automation for his great idea, the $8.88 Campaign. I'm so excited about this idea that I asked Doug to be on the 8 Wishes team. He accepted. With Doug's extensive background in marketing, I think that he is going to be a great asset to 8 Wishes. He even serves on the Marketing Advisory Board for the member of the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts. It's great to have Doug on the team for the last 23 days (Thank you, Reasonable Minds for that great post!).

Also, a great thing for bloggers to remember: If you link to my Divx video, you will get a free Divx software worth $19.99. So think of it this way: You get to give to a good cause and by giving $8.88 you get a $19.99 piece of awesome software in return.

Giant Bicycles just linked to me!
Click to see the link.

Once you give, be sure to put a badge on your site!

Also so I had a video I was going to post but I ran into some problems on my laptop. I'm going to try my best to post the video tonight.

I'm in Pittsburg right now for the LDA conferance and I will be going to New York City to drum up some media.

If you have any ideas on how to get the word out about 8 wishes shoot me an email.

Paul

2007-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

2nd WISH GRANTED

#7- Be featured on 88 websites... thank you to all of these bloggers and sites for your support! We're also tagging in del.icio.us and adding to our blogroll. You all have the support of 8 Wishes!

Absent Canadian
Akira Media
All My Causes
AllBusiness.com
Beertjes
Beth's Blog
Bike Liker
Bike Tourist Podcast
BizSolutionsPlus
Bonez
Brain Based Biz
Business Blogging Excellence
Carl Grint
Chaotica
Charitable Living
Charity News
ChipIn
Copy Blogger
Crash and Burn
Design Singularity
Dmitry Linkov
Douglas Karr
Fiendish Glee Club
FredCast
FrogWitch
Golden Practices
Grasping for the Wind
Highlight This
Hitchiker's Guide
Hola! Oi Hi!
Home is where the heart is
I Speak of Dreams
I think I'm going for a walk now.
Influential Foofaraw
Jeremy Latham
Jules.ca
Julia Rosien
KnowHR Blog
LDBlog
Liza's eye view
Lonely Marketer
Make it Great
Matt Wiggins
Michael.net
Miss 604
Mode Mag
MyBlogLog front page
Neowin.net
Nettie Hartsock
NewsAssigment
NextUp
Nomadik
Note to CMO
Odd Time Signature
Pentimento
Perkonis
Power of Trinity
Project Pedal
Quarter Life Crisis
Radical Trust
Raul Valdez
rkgblog
Ruminate this site
Ryan's Life
Schwab Learning
Scot Richardson
Seth's Blog
Seven Load
Sirberus
Socially Given
Spiked Humor
Stage6 front page
Stumble Upon
Successful Blog
Tammy Allen
Technically Speaking
Techzones
The Digital Perm
Throw Away your TV
Today Top Videos
Two Hat Marketing
Uniquely The Epitome
veritas/tic
Front page of Metacafe
Web Impact
Word Sell
Yeah Right
Yoga Coffee Outlook

Video of First Wish Granted:

1st Wish Granted! Paul Orfalea - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-25T02:32:00.000-08:00

Things are going so well. We have another wish granted (more details coming)! I'm at Sundance right now and will be posting a video of some stuff we are doing here. So much to tell you all. When I catch my breath I will update you all.

Paul

UPDATE:
I will be putting up a new post today! Sorry for the delay. My back was out and I was in bed for three days straight. My back hurt so bad that I could barely move. I'm also going to move to just updating with Youtube quick capture, so it will cut down on my editing time. I will also be uploading all my video episodes to stage6.com. After March 8th I will have time to put up more footage of the 8 wishes project. This new approach should take some pressure off of me and allow me to update my blog more often. Thanks for hanging in with me. Please give me some feedback, and ideas on how to spread 8 wishes.

Paul

2007-01-11T23:59:00.000-08:00

First Wish Granted - Interview with Paul Orfalea!

1st Wish Granted! Paul Orfalea - video powered by Metacafe

This video should give encouragement to children with dyslexia. Paul Orfalea is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country, and he achieved all of this despite (or because of) his dyslexia. His story has given me a lot of inspiration for my 8 Wishes, and it was amazing to meet someone who is so much like me. Knowing all this gives me hope.

8 things you can do to help me get my wishes:

***Make sure to watch the revised version of the video that started it all***
All funds made from this video will also be donated to DARC: $5 for every 1,000 views!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-11T03:50:00.000-08:00

HELP US MAKE THE FRONT PAGE!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-10T00:02:00.000-08:00

Since we started this project 30 days ago, I've learned a lot, met some amazing people, and realized a lot of things:

1. The power of relationships: Paul Orfalea taught me how to put faith and trust in the people I choose to join me in this. I don't have time to evaluate or test my teammates; I work on gut alone.

2. The power of the internet: There are more avenues than I ever imagined, and people have real influence on the world outside our computers.

3. The competitiveness: The abundance of great content was far beyond what I thought, and we are competing against some smart, creative people.

4. FUNdraisers can be fun: We know we can make an impact and we can have fun doing it, so its important to me that we keep this fun and exciting.

The past few days have been a whirlwind for our team, and it's led me to make some big changes in our plan. Honestly, I'm just not ready for this to end yet. I want to get all of these wishes granted, and I believe we can do it. In fact, I truly believe it would already be done if the right things had serendipitously or rightfully happened. Unfortunately, I made a couple errors in judgements, caught a few bad breaks, and set the bar much higher than a team of hundreds could really reach. However, as Maria Shiver wrote to me before my trip, "shoot or the moon if you miss, at least you'll be amongst the stars," so we might not have hit the moon, but now we have a chance to join the stars.

The changes:

First, wish #7 (previously, to be on 21 talk shows) is now "To be Featured on 88 Websites/Blogs." See lesson #2 above. This project is also about proving the power of social media. I believe that if we achieve this goal, the talk shows and mainstream media will naturally follow.

Second, we have extended the deadline for 58 more days to a total of 88 days. The new deadline is coincidentally March 8. I had originally set the false deadline to keep it exciting and so I could join The World By Road (TWBR) in February. I decided that I can serve TWBR better from behind my computer, helping to promote their trip. Now, I can extend the 'deadline' as long as I need to in order to get the funds needed to help these kids.

As we take on this journey, I want to thank all our supporters and doubters for keeping this going. Your support makes me feel really good about what we're doing, but doubt really fuel my fire. If it wasn't for the criticism and naysayers, I wouldn't have the energy to devote so much of myself to granting these wishes. I hope everyone sticks around to see the result.

Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes:

Make sure to watch the revised version of the video that started it all. All funds made from this video will also be donated to DARC: $5 for every 1,000 views!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well I can't wait anymore. I have to tell you what wish came true yesterday! I meet with Paul Orfalea for 3 hours! It was like talking to myself. He is a hero of mine. He started Kinko's and has dyslexia. His interview will inspire so many kids that have dyslexia! If I had to explain Paul in a video this would be him:
VIDEO LINK
Of course more details and video footage will becoming about the meeting we had. The interview blew me away.

Paul

Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes!:

Make sure to watch the video that started it all. All funds made from the video below will also be donated to DARC!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

1st wish today! Will tell you about it soon!!!! Watch our new trailer below:

Love you guys! Thanks for all the emails and comments.

Paul

2007-01-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

Is YouTube becoming MaybeTube?

Attribute it to the Google deal or not , truth is that things have changed at YouTube. On New Year's Eve, YouTube featured its own celebrities, real world celebs, and then was kind enough to offer a spot to "maybe you!" Maybe? MAYBE YOU, DID I READ THAT RIGHT? (screenshot )

Funny thing is, I was really excited to see what they were cooking up for New Years... But to my disappointment they choose "A listers and Youtube Celebrities." Why would they give another platform to people that already have a huge platform? To be the best it can be, YouTube should continue to give a chance to the unsigned artists , the diamonds in the rough ! Youtube should focus all their enegy on unsigned artists and the diamonds in the rough !

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of lot of these A-listers and youtube "celebs," but why do they need another chance to get even more exposure? I don't go on YouTube to see the rich and famous. I want to see the undiscovered become discovered on an equal playing field, which YouTube has become famous for. But, my dear, longtime friends, have You forgotten what got You to where You are today? I love YouTube as much as the next starving new media artist, and that's why I figured I owe honest feedback.

Why am I so enraged? Featured videos have a sharp advantage over the rest-- careers have been launched, a lot of money has been made, CAUSES HAVE BEEN STARTED, and lives have been changed, usually because something gives the "Feature Editor" a nice laugh. I'm not sure what the motivation is now, but it doesn't ring true to what YouTube strives to be: "a consumer media company"

Why? To use Seth Godin's words : It’s Broken. (As we shared last week, he has some theories on the broken user experience, shared in a pretty funny video). Aside from their NYE decision, here's why YouTube needs fixing:

Firefox Reload. As we all know, video views are an important metric, but now users are able to abuse the system with automatic page views through Firefox Reload . Why hasn't this been fixed ? As one Digg user points out, "It was to youTubes advantage to play dumb on page view fraud, it bosted their numbers too."

Share the wealth I regret not focusing all my attention on promoting my Metacafe video. At least we could have recieved extra funds for our cause through their Producer Awards.

Putting more $$ in Big Pockets. Due to some deal, some major media players get the Director Videos slot on the top of the home page to promote material. According to MediaShift, the Vice President of Communication for CBS would "like to attribute [the big video-view numbers for CBS clips] to the fact that it’s good content." Right, its definitely not attributed to the prime real estate you're given. Without this advantage, our video has 25,000 views, led to a spot on Fox News, and granted one of my wishes (to be announced shortly). Maybe we can attribute it to good content?

They should be more transparent about the process. Or content providers will go else where. Of course, if it's too clear to users what makes a 'good video' then You run the risk of videos catered to those criteria. In my opinion, the community should decide what's best and deserves a spot on the front page, much like a Digg system or Metacafes videorank system.

Higher quality resolution! For example, check out what Stage6 is doing (By the way, a penny is donated for every view of our vidoe on at Stage6). For many content providers, it breaks our hearts to see our video squished down to a blurred video.

I hate when people just complain, so I have solutions and, believe me, they will be posted here at my blog. Here is just one: to make money just put 15 to 30 commercails at the end of the videos. It will be up to the corporations and their creative marketers to make it entertaining enough for the viewer to stick around. I know I wouldn't mind if an ad popped up at the end of a video, and if it was as entertaining as another user video, I would watch it.

In the end, its all about You, and a level playing field. Mark my words now, if I ever have the honor of becoming a YouTube "celeb" (which is the dumbest term I ever heard of because I believe everybody is a celeb on youtube), I don't want to be given special treatment and an unfair advantages over other up and coming stars. I also sincerely hope my MaybeTube theory is disproven, because the online video world will leave them spinning and we'll be left with "WhoTube?"

As Steve Garfield said in 2004, this will be the year of the video bloggers. I'm saying it now: 2007 will be the year video bloggers take over the world. Not convinced? Just check out what my friends are doing my friends.

(And a note to those of you think I'm just bitter: I love YouTube, and that's why I had to make my case on this. Our 8 Wishes video has 27,000 views, and that equates to thousands of people who are helping us make a difference, so thank YouTube! And I'll always love to watch Your videos.)

Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes!:

Make sure to watch the video that started it all. All funds made from the video below will also be donated to DARC!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2007-01-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

TAG! I want your 8 Wishes, so we're starting a chain. I'm first on the meme (you know my wishes) and I'm tagging 8 bloggers:

ShoeMoney
Viral Garden
FredCast
Will Video for Food
Beth's Blog
Technically Speaking
Widgets Lab
Kristen (AllMyCauses)

Please post your 8 Wishes and TAG 8 more bloggers!

Watch my 8Wishes video on the top of right side bar.

2006-12-31T18:47:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS! First time here? Make sure to watch the video to the right of this post. The small one right to the right. I'm going to pull myself away from the PC and go out and ring the New Year in. Enjoy my friends performance below:

Here is 8 things you can do below to help me get my wishes!:

Make sure to watch the video that started it all. All funds made from the video below will also be donated to DARC!

10,000 Miles And 8 Wishes - video powered by Metacafe

2006-12-30T22:57:00.000-08:00

things are coming very fast i can almost not keep up... i made a video at youtube but it is stuck in the processing cue. things are going to take off like a rocket the next few days! just hold on and please be patient. my first wish will be granted on 1/3/07 !!!! I can not announce what it is but I will as soon as I get the green light! you guys are going to love what we are cooking up here. take care.

Paul

2006-12-29T16:24:00.001-08:00

We will have some big announcements and a new episode coming in the next few hours, but for now you can watch Seth's Godin's Google video below. I have been reading your feed back and thanks for telling me what is broken on my website. We will be making the updates very soon. Seth video is very appropriate for the things we need to fix around here. I know its hard to navigate my site and it should all work better by tomorrow. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Another cool site that has to do with this video:
itisbroken.com

2006-12-28T20:38:00.001-08:00

Make your 8 wishes for next year and Submit them here!
Be funny, serious, boring, passionate. I just want to see your wishes.
We will post some of the videos here at 8wishes too!

Thank You to our first 3 Video Responses:

2006-12-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

8 Wishes Episodes

Episode 9: Message to my Blog

Episode 8: Incredible guy plays jingle bells on his guitar

Episode 7: Patagonia

Episode 6: Nate, Family, Cell Phone

Episode 5: nerdhelp.com, digg and the broken down cars

Episode 4: YouTube Got Me on Fox News

Episode 3: Phone Calls

Episode 2: PUSHING THE "WEDGE" FOX NEWS new site

Episode 1: Day 1 DIGG AND 99.9 (8 wishes in 30 days)

2006-12-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

guys i might lose power here at new location tooo....oh no...post video before power goes out...

vote for me here:
http://www.squidoo.com/zlist/

update:
k got it up...i lost power at my place and now i'm at a new location and it looks like we are going to lose power here too...no no no! :(.....

if anybody is near by me leave me a message at 805 456 2130 i might need a emergancy place to do work if the lights go out here too.

paul

2006-12-27T04:14:00.000-08:00

LINK to 8 wishes and we will link to you:
MAKE IT GREAT

2006-12-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Mack Collier for adding us to his z-list meme! I've added 10 more to the list:

Successful Blog
Will Video for Food
Caffeine Marketing
All My Causes
Widgets Lab
Guerrilla Innovation.com
No Mans Blog
Viral Garden
MicroPersuasion
Viralmeister
Social Media Optimization
Coolz0r
SEO Black Hat
Creative Think
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
Troy Worman's Blog
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That's Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
darrenbarefoot.com
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew's Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett's Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com

From Mack: Ok if you are new to the game here's the deal: Simply cut and paste the ENTIRE list above to a post on your blog. That's it. You'll get a ton of happy bloggers suddenly coming to YOUR blog to thank you, you'll get a ton of great new blogs to read, you'll likely get a ton of links yourself, but most of all, you'll feel good about making a whole lot of other bloggers feel good about themselves.

2006-12-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks Seth Godin! Check out the link on Seth Godin's Blog. Its a honor to be mentioned by Seth because he has one of the top marketing blogs on the net!

Message to Seth Godin below:

I was planning on leaving William's jingle bells post on for a few days but this is such an honor for me to be mentioned by Seth Godin that I had to make a post.

I hope you are all doing well.

Paul

2006-12-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the 8 Wishes Show! I'm trying to get 8 wishes granted in thirty days. Its all for a good cause.

Incredible African American video below:

PAST EPISODES BELOW:
Patagonia
Nate, Family, Cell phone
nerdhelp.com, digg and the broken down cars
YOUTUBE GOT ME ON FOX NEWS
Fox News long version

phone calls
PUSHING THE "WEDGE" FOX NEWS new site
Day 1 DIGG AND 99.9 (8 wishes in 30 days)

DONATE HERE

THIS MAY BE MY NEXT PROJECT

2006-12-24T07:21:00.000-08:00

Patagonia

PAST EPISODES BELOW:
Incredible African AMerican plays jingle bells on his guitar
Nate, Family, Cell phone
nerdhelp.com, digg and the broken down cars
YOUTUBE GOT ME ON FOX NEWS
Fox News long version

phone calls
PUSHING THE "WEDGE" FOX NEWS new site
Day 1 DIGG AND 99.9 (8 wishes in 30 days)

Chipper Bro:
BRO
Great Story about Chipper

DONATE HERE

THIS MAY BE MY NEXT PROJECT

2006-12-24T06:41:00.000-08:00

Nate, Family, Cell phone

PAST EPISODES BELOW:
Incredible African AMerican plays jingle bells on his guitar
Patagonia
nerdhelp.com, digg and the broken down cars
YOUTUBE GOT ME ON FOX NEWS
Fox News long version

phone calls
PUSHING THE "WEDGE" FOX NEWS new site
Day 1 DIGG AND 99.9 (8 wishes in 30 days)

DONATE HERE

THIS MAY BE MY NEXT PROJECT

2006-12-24T02:32:00.000-08:00

we just created some MAGIC! I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU GUYS!!!!

Paul

2006-12-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Nate has caught us up with the episodes! We should get 3 more out in the next 20 hours or so. This episode is when I met Shaun our web designer. Shaun has dyslexia himself.

Here are more episodes (remember these are pre Nate so they will get better):
Phone Calls Episode 1
Updates Episode 2
Digg and 99.9 Episode 3
Fox Interview

Digg
Here is Shaun's websites:
Nerd Help
Sirberus

My Myspace

2006-12-22T13:18:00.001-08:00

going to shoot some crazy footage! stay tuned!!! :)

2006-12-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION BLOGGERS!
Get Divx Pro software for FREE ($19.99 value) just for posting this 8 wishes video link. Simply email the URL of your blog posting to: Windows, or Mac and you will receive a free copy of DivX Pro software shortly thereafter.”

For each view this video gets Divx will donate a penny to 8 wishes!
Watch it here and a penny will be donated to 8 wishes!

2006-12-21T12:39:00.000-08:00

Ok today Nate is here and working on our footage. Also with Nate's magic touch on the episodes you will notice a huge difference in production. This will give me time to do what I do best, which is marketing. We have two posts coming and a few other things that we will be doing that should get us more views then the two digg links and the Fox News interview. For now enjoy the live feed and watch us unleash what the power of the Internet (that monitor you see in the live feed is a free monitor I picked up)!

removed live feed because it's in the post above :)

Also check out were the donations are coming from:

See a live updated version of this map below:
MAP

2006-12-19T18:55:00.000-08:00

This is awesome-- watch our video here and DivX will donate a penny for every view (you do have to download the software, but it takes less than a minute)!!!

PLEASE send this link to everyone you know. Pennies add up quicker than you think, and this could be a big donation for us.

Speaking of donations, check out this sweet map that ChipIn created to show where our donations are coming from. I think we expected a little more from the West Coast, but it's still early...

2006-12-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

I'm making a DVD today for Paul Orfela and it is going to be delivered to him this week! Remember he is the 4th wish!

I will be heading up to meet Nate in San Jose today! I'm glad we're meeting there because I have a lot of family in the area, and I really want to see my cousin Serina because she just went through a tough experience, and one that no mom should have to go through. I'm also going to try to see some other family, and I will make sure to post some video of our visit-- I can't believe I'm actually going to be able to make time for family! Since I've only been sleeping for a few hours a day, I didn't think it would be possible to see them during these 30 days.

Here is an episode of behind-the-scenes with Fox News (long version). From now on, I will have a long version and a short version of the daily updates, but right now I only have time to edit and post the long version:

In the next couple days, we'll have a lot more annouments to make, too!

If you missed them:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3

2006-12-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

Don't have much time to write, but I want to thank Liz for her nice post on The Successful Blog. We now have the offical 'successful and outstanding' seal of approval.

Also, Nate (from SpinningSouthward) will be coming up on Wednesday to shoot footage and edit video. I hope this will free me up to post and get you updates on what's going on this week. We'll definitely have more to share tomorrow...

2006-12-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

As a dyslexic, writing is not my favorite, so I have to put together messages that are visual. We have a ton of great footage but can't edit it because we don't have enough room on the hard drive! We don't want to erase any of the footage either, so Chase Kidd bought us a new hard drive! Thanks Chase! We are installing that right now.

Updates

It looks like we will be on our first show on Thursday! We can get bumped so don't get too excited. Also, our first wish should be getting answered by mid week. Stay tuned for more.
My furniture did not sell on craigslist, but Nick Drummond let me borrow money to pay rent! Thanks Nick
Nate might be joining our team and I will hear back from him later tonight! Nate would be filming and editing the 8 Wishes show.
We will be laying out a new look for the blog and we want to know what you think of it. The main changes will be in the way we post. (Check out my new myspace layout by Siberus)
We're featured on Chipin! Remember, that's how you donate to D.A.R.C.
Ceasar, one of the children I met with will be hanging with us once in a while, too. We might end up putting him to work. No Ceasar, I'm kidding, but we won't say no if you want to help out.

Our next initiative (we need help getting it off the ground):

We would love to work with Webex to stream our live interviews from my apartment. Our idea is to never have to leave the computer because that's how we stay connected around the clock. I want to be blogging during the live interview, so people can see how we're using social media to accomplish 'the impossible' (as many have called our wishes). If you know anybody at Webex please have them give us a call.

Truth is, we were definitely not expecting to get national coverage so fast. In fact, we thought it wouldn't happen until next week. When Fox News hit we got overlaoded and blind sided. So I only slept a few hours a day, if any, but it was great. It was a lot of fun getting all the email from it.

My whole job on the team is to respond to emails and phone calls. So please feel free to call or email us. Steve will be filtering spam and then give me the real stuff. I would rather respond by phone so please leave your number when you email me.

A little video tribute to some of the people that are making this all possible.

Ok, I need to try to catch a couple hours of sleep since I pulled another all nighter. I'll be posting another epidose after I get a little rest. In the meantime, here are our first 2 episodes, and check out The World By Road to learn about our next adventure...

2006-12-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

WE GOT SOME GREAT NEWS.

I am happy to announce that Kristen will be helping us with our PR needs. She's very passionate about making a difference and I am glad to have her helping us out. You can find out more about her at her blog All My Causes

DivX
DivX is also offering thier services. Starting Monday they will be providing us with free banwidth and highdef video streams. DivX is a digital media format that puts the tools of digital expression directly into the hands of the people.

DivX will allow us to post our videos more consistantly and with better picture quality.

Until then we hope you enjoy are next vid post coming shortly.
Paul

2006-12-15T03:30:00.000-08:00

so much has happend in the last 12 hours. i will be posting soooon. its 3:31am and i have to hit the sack. i have been only getting around 3 hours of sleep a day. i can't wait to tell you guys what is going on. i can show you this...my new myspace is beyond what i could of dreamed of! look at it and thanks to Sirberus for doing such an awesome job. Shaun got both sites up in two days. i don't even know how he did it. he just went to bed a few mintues ago. Shaun is a very busy man too so please give him a thanks if you have time. i fell behind in the episodes. this won't happen again because i believe we are bring on a new full time editor. chase will still be with us but he has two jobs so a full time person will have more freedom to work on the episodes. talk to you soon

my myspace

time to go to bed. the wishes will happen. tell everybody you can about 8 wishes.

paul

2006-12-14T06:46:00.000-08:00

if i happen to make it to digg i just want to say welcome diggers. thanks for getting me on the fox news show! the digg effect! I have almost been up 24 hours so i'm going to finish the next episode of 8 wishes in a few hours. i have to go take a power nap. there is some episodes down below of the progress of 8 wishes so check them out. new episode coming...your going to like it trust me....lots of good stuff..

i had to shut down the live feed.

Click on Picture below to see the fox interview:

2006-12-14T05:18:00.000-08:00

Have not slept because I'm trying to finish the episode about the FOX interview. Chase helped me until 4:00am but he has to work today so i will be editing it. I'm not as good as chase but he did most of the work so I should'nt miss it up that bad. For now you can watch the live feed. Thanks for all your support! WE GOT THIS please help me keep it hot. Call everybody you know and tell them to go to 8wishes.com tell them the story!

Broadcast Yourself LIVE

2006-12-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

Click on Picture below to see the fox interview:

We have a good episode coming soon. The satilite feed went out at the end so I could not hear the last question. I just want to thank Shepard Smith for having me on! Sorry about not being able to hear you on the last question.

Paul

2006-12-13T04:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone here is the post for Tue. 12/12/06. This will bring you up to date and what's planned for Wed. 12/13/06 (Fox Report with Shepard Smith @ 12:45pm pacific coast). Just in case the video's not clear, we call it the car shuffle. My car (a.k.a wedge) broke down a couple weeks ago and to avoid a ticket we move it from side to side until we can get it fixed.
Your emails, comments and support for the donations are great!

I also did an interview at Bike Tourist Podcast.

I am in the process of fixing some errors on my blog too. How do you like the new site design?

WOW it is 4:24 AM as I write this. Need to get some sleep so I can string some sentences together for tomorrow. Hey, you know whats really cool? FOX is sending a car to come get us for the interview. If they didn't send the car we would have had to jump on bicycle and ride 55 miles to the Fox station. Check out the video Chase cut tonight, he really knows how to make me laugh...

I have been getting alot of emails asking how to donate. Please make donations using the "ChipIn" button to the right. Every amount helps. Thanks for tunning in to the 8 Wishes Channel!

Here is the new update video:

Please visit Nerdhelp.com
they donated the new website!

Also if you're a blogger and you want to do an interview email me at soloride@gmail.com.
I don't care if you only have 5 people following your blog or podcast. Email me. I don't bite unless no... I don't bite! Make the subject "MEDIA".

Paul

2006-12-11T22:35:00.000-08:00

1st day Front Page of Digg and interview on 99.9

2006-12-11T04:24:00.000-08:00

The 10,000 miles and 8 Wishes video is below!

Please rate and comment on this video at youtube:
VOTE FOR VIDEO HERE

We will upload video clips of our progress of our 8 Wishes in 30 days daily. Click here to see more details of the 8 Wishes.

2006-12-10T14:58:00.001-08:00

If you email me please leave your phone number for me to call you back. I would rather respond by phone. Talk to you soon.

email me:
soloride@gmail.com
phone number:
805.456.2130

2006-12-10T14:57:00.001-08:00

Ask a question and get an answer back. You can check to see if the question was answered already. If not I will try to answer it. I look forward to your questions. I will also try to post video responses here.

I only got 3 hours sleep so I hope I can write:
MY ANSWERS IN CAPS
#

t 4:57 PM, Anonymous said…

Here's a question,
How can we help if we can't donate money?
GO TO THE CHIPIN DONATE BUTTON ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY SITE :)

#

At 12:28 PM, Feras said…

I support everything that you are doing and think that this is simply amazing. Im a highschool student and I want to get involved. Is there anyway I can help? I have already spread the word about the video to all my friends.
GO TO THE "10,000 MILES AND 8 WISHES" VIDEO ON YOUTUBE RATE, COMMENT AND MAKE IT YOUR FAV THAT WILL HELP OUT A LOT. TELL EVERY ONE TO GO SEE 8WISHES.COM TELL THEM ITS A COOL SHOW AND ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS WATCH IT TO HELP. THANKS FERAS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO HELP ME OUT. IF YOU HAVE A MYSPACE ADD ME AND MY VIDEO TO YOUR MYSPACE. GET THE VIDEO FROM MY MYSPACE PROFILE. THANKS AGAIN.

2006-12-10T14:56:00.002-08:00

The Ride
After getting the much needed help (twelve years later) at Santa Barbara City College, I decided to do this ride to make sure kids would not have to struggle like I did. So with $750 in my pocket, my gear, my bike and a letter of support from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger The Governor's letter wasI started my trek. The letter helped me raise crucial support during my journey. I was able to procure lodging and meals by showing the letter and explaining my cause. It took me 7 months to ride a little over 10,000 miles, which took me through 34 different states. As I rode around the perimeter of the United States, I met with thirteen different kids with learning disabilities. After three days trying to get on the Today Show in New York, I finally got on. There was such a huge fan base on the spot they aired I was able to acquire enough funds to support my cause for the last leg of the trip (half way point). After the spot the donations totaled about $850 which was more than what I started with and much needed. I was ready to give up but was rejuvenated when the pledges started rolling in Thanks to “The Today Show”. I met Katie Couric who basically got me on the show. Matt Lauer helped video my interview with Al Roker, and Ann Curry was also very helpful. I started with this project because I suffer with dyslexia and want to help as many kids with learning disabilities as possible.

2006-12-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 8 Wishes

…a project raising awareness and funds for children with dyslexia and learning differences.

By Paul Sanchez

In 2004, I set out on a 10,000 mile bike ride around the perimeter of the United States to make a difference in the lives of children with dyslexia and learning differences. During my trip, I met 13 children around the country who are chasing their dreams despite their learning differences, and I want every child to have the same opportunity. I have suffered from dyslexia and ADD my entire life, and it held me back for too many years.

Now, with the ride and these children as my impetus, I made 8 Wishes to raise awareness and funds trough social media and the internet, as a prologue to my documentary, Solo Ride. Each wish serves a specific purpose toward creating this documentary and reaching my goal of giving hope and support to these children.

My 8 Wishes:

1) Raise $1 million dollars. All proceeds will be donated to the Dyslexia Awareness Resource Center (DARC) and the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA).

2) 100 million views of the 10,000 Miles and 8 Wishes video. Generate the greatest amount of visibility with minimal funding.

3) Be interviewed by Oprah. She has the power and the audience to make a real difference.

4) Interview Paul Orfelea, founder of Kinkos with dyslexia (GRANTED)

5) Interview Sir. Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin with dyslexia

6) Interview Charles Schwab, who also has dyslexia

7) Be on 88 blogs and websites. Together, we can prove the power of the internet and social media.

8) All in 88 days! I want to keep this fun and exciting, while creating a sense of urgency surrounding this issue.

In the spirit of this project and the internet, you will see us make changes quickly and move with the response of our readers. Our greatest advantage is our ability to be flexible and nimble. Aside from our mission, nothing is set in stone. If at times we appear unorganized or directionless, it’s because I’m letting you determine our direction— I want to create a fundraiser that’s fun for our supporters. Our promise is to always be transparent and keep our supporters engaged in granting my 8 Wishes.

About Paul Sanchez

Paul Sanchez, age 30, has suffered from dyslexia and ADD his entire life. In second grade, he tested positively for a learning disability but results were not strong enough to be placed in a special learning faciltity. Therefore, he was put in a regular schooling, where he “suffered through nearly 18 years at California public schools.

After attending numerous city colleges, Paul finally tested positive for dyslexia and ADD at Santa Barbara City College. Under a program that provided much needed assistance, Paul was able to earn his Associates Degree from the College in 2004 at age 28.

Following graduation, he set out on his mission to create a documentary about dyslexia and learning differences and the struggles of children around the country. From July 7, 2004 to February 2, 2005, Paul completed a 10,000 mile bike ride around the perimeter of the country. During this trip, he met 13 children with dyslexia or learning differences in 13 different major cities. He is now living in Santa Barbara, CA working to promote and raise funding for his documentary, Soloride, through the 8 Wishes initiative.

2006-12-10T14:50:00.000-08:00

We would love to see your 8 wishes video. Submit them and we will post our favorites. Try to be as creative as possible. Let us know when one or all wishes have been granted or completed. They could be personal wishes, to help an individual, to help others, or for a cause of some sort. Please be respectful and tasteful in content when making submissions. SUBMIT TO THE LINK BELOW:

ITS EASY SUBMIT IT JUST CLICK HERE

2006-12-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

8 Wishes

1) Raise $1 million dollars
I want to raise $1 million dollars for children with learning disabilities and dyslexia. $10,000 scholarships will go to 100 kids to use at a college of their choice. $3000 will go towards testing if they choose or they could use the whole amount at the college of their choice.

2) 100 million views
I want to get 100 million views of my 10,000 mile video! This should be a big enough crowd to reach our goal of raising 1 million dollars for kids with learning differences. Also, more people will know about SoloRide and hopefully sell at least 1% of those views, or 1,000,000 will buy the documentary.

3) Be interviewed by Oprah
Through the power of media, Oprah Winfrey has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world. The Oprah Winfrey Show has entertained, enlightened and uplifted millions of viewers for the past two decades. Her accomplishments as a television pioneer, producer, magazine founder, educator and philanthropist have established her as one of the most respected and admired public figures today. With her captive audience I could further accomplish my goals to help children with learning differences. Our dream would be to have one show dedicated to raising awareness of dyslexia and what these children can accomplish. Imagine a show that includes Paul Orfelea, Richard Branson, Charles Schawb, and the 13 children.

4) Interview Paul Orfelea (GRANTED!!!)
Because he is a “hyperactive dyslexic." Ofrelea has a freethinking and creative style, he was able to start and build a very successful company, Kinko's, that was based on providing college students with products and services they need at a competitive price.

5) Interview Sir. Richard Branson
Because of his “rebel” entrepreneur approach to his very flourishing company Virgin. He, like myself has dyslexia and with his fluid management style was able to build an empire of multiple products and services.

6) Interview Charles Schwab
Schwab is well respected around the world because he started Charles Schwab & Corporation and has a brilliant finance mind. He also struggles with dyslexia and is an advocate of learning differences.

7) 88 websites
This project is also meant to leverage and prove the power of social media and the internet. We believe that a viral and networking approach will be the surest way to create awareness of our cause.

8) All in 88 days (DEADLINE 3/08/07)
The extended deadline (previously 30 days) still keeps the challenge exciting and stress the importance and urgency of learning differences, but gives us the time we need to achieve more of our goals.

2006-12-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

Fund Allocation

100% of the proceeds from 8 Wishes will go to Dyslexia Awareness Resource Center (D.A.R.C). The funds from SoloRide the documentary will be split 50-50 between DARC and the Learning Disability Association of America (LDA).

Over a 5-year period of time, DARC will award $10,000 scholarships to 100 kids across the United States. Should less than $1Million be achieved, fewer kids will be chosen. $3000 will go towards testing or college funding, as chosen by individual winners. The remaining $7000 will go towards college funding and educational needs.

The application process will not open until the goal of $1 million dollars has been achieved or the program closes. (no later than January 1, 2008). At that time, links to the appropriate documents for application will be available at this site. Nominations for applicants will be accepted for a limited time. Applications will be reviewed. Finalists will be selected. Selections will be made based on need, interviews, and recommendations. No candidate information will be considered before the process opens or without a formal application.

For more information about the resource allocation of LDA, please visit www.ldaamerica.org.

2006-12-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Desperate measures for desperate times! Selling furniture to make rent:

I have to sell my stuff because Im running out of money. I thought the project would be done a month ago. Rent was due last week and I don't have enough to cover it. You can help me out and get some great stuff. Check out the video.

2006-12-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

testing blogger beta

2006-12-08T00:02:00.000-08:00

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2006-12-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

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2006-12-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

About Paul Sanchez

Paul Sanchez, age 30, has suffered from dyslexia and ADD his entire life. In second grade, he tested positively for a learning disability but results were not strong enough to be placed in a special learning faciltity. Therefore, he was put in a regular schooling, where he “suffered through nearly 18 years at California public schools.

After attending numerous city colleges, Paul finally tested positive for dyslexia and ADD at Santa Barbara City College. Under a program that provided much needed assistance, Paul was able to earn his Associates Degree from the College in 2004 at age 28.

Following graduation, he set out on his mission to create a documentary about dyslexia and learning differences and the struggles of children around the country. From July 7, 2004 to February 2, 2005, Paul completed a 10,000 mile bike ride around the perimeter of the country. During this trip, he met 13 children with dyslexia or learning differences in 13 different major cities. He is now living in Santa Barbara, CA working to promote and raise funding for his documentary, Soloride, through the 8 Wishes initiative.

The Team
Steve Noh, Paul's right hand man
Chase Kidd, we'll call him the creative inspiration
Kristen Forbriger, PR and editor
Shaun Sanders, Design, Marketing, Creative Director, Guru King Nerd of the Universe
Nate Ajello, Partner and fellow 10,000-miler