« List of US Mobilization Organizations | Main | voter registration via SMS in Malaysia »
December 05, 2005
text messaging at concerts/events
Another article about texting at concerts. Bono is getting 10,000 people per concert to text in for his Unite campaign against poverty. Other concerts are starting to use text messaging to build revenue - by charging for Premium SMS during the concert - or by bringing vending (tshirts, etc) to cell phones. ie: buy a tshirt from your seat and it will be mailed to your house. Also, in-concert ring tones and coupons.
Once the carriers figure out that their 50% cut is too high to generate business, this type of SMSing is going to be really good for non-profit fundraising. Even at small events - non profits will be able to use phones as a mobile & personal credit-card reader or sorts - as a much more efficient way to gather donations. Rather than hit everyone on their way in to an event for a check - or follow up with them later - the speaker can fire up the crowd and then ask for phone-based donation. Of course, the Bono-style system can be very useful currently simply to gather constituent data.
re: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051203/en_nm/textmessaging_dc
Posted by ben at December 5, 2005 08:36 AM
Comments
I don't agree that carriers will "figure out that their 50% cut is too high to generate business"
Here is an idea. Why not not take pledges via sms at an event. The payment can still be through other means, say credit card payments taken by voice or IVR.
Posted by: Jonathan at January 4, 2006 02:06 PM
why would I EVER want to buy a tee shirt from my seat? Are we going to be so lazy we cant get up and walk over to the stand. Pluse who would buy a concert shirt without looking at it. You should go back and think about these things before making some idiotic statement.
Posted by: me at January 10, 2006 10:13 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)