Kickstart my art: The A.V. Club’s guide to local Kickstarter campaigns
No one used to be able to get loans for art projects and Robocop statues. Now everyone who can pitch to a webcam can use Kickstarter, the crowd-powered venture capital site, to solicit the masses for the funding they need to back their latest project, whether it’s a musician trying to get a start without a label or a recently evicted improv theater company trying to buy a new rehearsal space. Still, Madison has a lot of would-be entrepreneurs competing for seed money, so The A.V. Club decided to look over some pitches to find out which projects might reach their goals.
Katie Powderly, Slips Of The Tongue recording sessions and tour
What is it? Local folk singer Katie Powderly needs help bankrolling the recording sessions for her album Slips Of The Tongue, which will free up her credit cards to pay for the costs of her upcoming nationwide RV tour.
What do you get? Early access to the album via digital download, CD, or vinyl at $12, $20, or $50 respectively. However, the more interesting incentives are in her “high roller” packages: $500 nets backers freshly baked cheddar-chive buttermilk biscuits; donating $2,500 means a hot air balloon ride with Katie, complete with champagne and olives; and $5,000 gets contributors a house show featuring Powderly and Murry Hammond of Old 97’s.
What’s the pitch? The general vibe is a gentle, friendly “Fuck you” to record labels, since Powderly spends much of the video explaining how projects like hers have upended the entire system of how music is produced.
Will it happen? Katie is a little more than halfway to her $12,000 goal with a month to go, which means, to reach the finish line, she needs either 10 people to decide they must know what cheddar-chive biscuits taste like, or two creepy dudes to fork over the cash for hot air balloon dates. The biscuits are probably the better deal for her.
New Season of Geekazine’s Special Media Feed
What is it? Madison tech podcaster Jeffrey Powers needs a boost in his traveling budget so he can film interviews at events like CES, SXSW, Blogworld, DragonCon, and anywhere else nerds may roam.
What do you get? A $25 contribution nets donators a mention on his podcast, plus a Geekazine sticker—but to be fair, $25 can’t even get Powers to Chicago. A $1,000 donation, which covers his costs for attending SXSW, gets a credit on his weekly podcast, The Geek Smack.
What’s the pitch? Lots and lots of interview clips about over-the-top TV and 4G doodads, broken up with Powers’ appeals from the Geekbar for the viewer to consider how expensive travel can be for nerds weighed down by video equipment.
Will it happen? Jeffrey doesn’t have a single backer for his $10,000 goal yet, possibly due to people realizing that even if they get a shout-out on Geekazine, the $1,000 it cost them could have been put to good use attending SXSW for themselves.
