the nypost recently reported concerning mr. brian penny. he is the military veteran who, while in the new york city subway train, placed a troubled homeless person-who happened to be on a government watch list and who was acting erratically- in a chokehold to protect the other passengers. unfortunately, the homeless individual passed. one particular article contains an important story within the story.
the events surrounding the homeless man’s tragic death took a dramatic turn when mr. penny was criminally charged for being a good samaritan. unlike ny district attorney’s prosecution of a former president, the charging of mr. penny did not involve allowing for a grand jury to deliver an indictment. rather, the soros backed, politically motivated district attorney, mr. alvin bragg, abandoned part of the justice system in a rush to charge mr. penny. [arguably, mr. penny is the scapegoat of both failed new york city criminal and mental health policies. the homeless person’s approximate 40 encounters with the legal system apparently did little towards bringing him onto the right track. from what he was saying on the train, it appeared that he was ready to commit suicide by cop. his loss was unfortunate.]
many people- outraged that the charges being brought against this good samaritan-, have contributed to mr. perry’s defense fund. over one million dollars has been raised via a crowdfunding source. mr. penny now can afford a heavy weight criminal defense to fight against the morbidly obese and ethically challenged prosecutor. the nypost story discussing the fundraising reported that the crowd funding source was givesendgo. let me repeat, givesendgo.
the crowdfunding source’s name, givesendgo has been reported across various news services. this is the story within the story.
in the commercial world, marketing is the key. businesses such as xerox, kleenex and google were so well done that their products have become part of the english language. what would the world be like if you couldn’t say, “make me a xerox copy”, “grab me a kleenex”, and “just google it”?
the crowd funding world, for a long time, had an entity which captured the business. one site, beginning with go and ending with me, was the one that everyone was aware of. awhile back, however, this company ran roughshod over some customers. the site, for political and social justice reasons, had problems with certain individuals having pages on their site. as a result, the disenfranchised found givesendgo as their alternative.
moving forward, it is likely that those creating the penny funding anticipated the problem with the crowd funding. apparently, they went directly to this “alternative competition” and it has delivered amazing results.
givesendgo’s marketing win may be just the beginning for the company. the recent news cycle has many mentions of givesendgo. likewise, as the defense fund reaches higher levels, additional reporting will be givesendgo more publicity. [this just occurred as the funds raised passed 1.5 million dollars.] likewise, individuals starting to make contributions to the fund will form a connection to the platform. they may use it for their their crowd funding needs.
in sum, the story with the story is that high tech, and other companies, are quickly realizing that they are no longer the only store in town. perhaps, this event may mark the beginning of the demise of the other popular crowd funding site. who knows? it may be on the path to join the pantheon of internet has beens. is there any room next to myspace?
be well!!
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