[aha] Fw: Yes Men 2.0: The Next Generation

[T_Bazz]

<http://www.theyesmen.org/lab/>

Dear Friend,

For years now, and especially since releasing our film
<http://www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com/screenings.htm>, we've been been 
flooded
with emails saying we should go after evil company A, or evil politician 
B, or
military-industrial complex C.

Naturally, we can't. There are too many evildoers, and far too few of 
us. But
the good news is, there are lots of groups and individuals who can 
surely do
better than us, perhaps with a little coaching and guidance.

That's why we're launching the Yes Lab <http://www.theyesmen.org/lab/>**, a
series of brainstorms and trainings to help activist groups carry out
Yes-Men-style activist projects on their own. We'll give advice and 
facilitate,
but participants will carry out actions themselves, without us.

We've already started working with three different groups—stay tuned this
fall—but to really ramp up, and be annoying to as many big-time 
criminals as
possible, we'll need to hire someone to organize things, and someone 
else to
rally our tens of thousands of subscribers into ongoing projects. (Then, 
soon,
instead of emails like this, you'll be getting emails asking you to 
participate
in actions near you!)

We're aiming to raise $50,000 for an initial 6 months while we build 
momentum
and find other sources of funding. If you can chip in something to help
<http://theyesmen.org/lab/donate>, we'll retaliate by sending you some
priceless, wacky or idiotic stuff <http://theyesmen.org/lab/goodies> 
from the
archive of weirdness we've collected over the past 12 years. (Trying to 
find
cola-flavored condoms or a nice human-flesh candle? Yup, we got 'em, and 
more.)

Also, the first $10,000 in donations will be matched by a very generous 
donor
who really wants to see the Yes Lab get going full steam. So if you 
decide you
can spare some money to spread havoc among those who need it, not only 
will you
receive a unique grab-bag <http://theyesmen.org/lab/grab-bag> of 
goodies, or a
totally weird and unique service <http://theyesmen.org/lab/grab-bag>... 
but your
donation will be worth twice as much!

If our outlandish wares don't tempt you enough to forego the June rent, 
you can
still help us out by sharing this with everyone you think might help out
<http://www.theyesmen.org/lab/share>.

And most importantly: if you're with an activist organization, and would 
like to
work with the Yes Lab to develop some projects around an issue you're 
working
on, please drop us a line at YesLab at theyesmen dot org, or via our 
contact
form <http://theyesmen.org/contact>. We'd love to hear from you, even if it
could be a while before we have the capacity to really move forward with 
projects!

Yours in productive bedlam,
The Yes Men

p.s. To make sure you keep getting our emails, or to unsubscribe, please 
visit
your profile 
<http://theyesmen.org/dblist/prof.php?e=t_bazz@ecn.org&x=939331223>.