Team Photo |
Lead expedition vehicle preparing for departure in front of sponsor Mayday Brewery |
This was a groundbreaking venture for several reasons. Firstly, it was my largest research expedition to date from both a personnel and logistics standpoint and involved 6 vehicles and 17 total participants over the course of the weekend. Most importantly though was the significance of the unique model employed to fund the entire affair. First and foremost the expedition was backed by the Murfreesboro Pulse, a publication based in Middle Tennessee. With this platform it was then possible to attract additional financial and material support from local businesses interested in supporting the trip and benefiting from the attention from print advertisement and the social media campaign during the months leading up to the launch of our foray into the unknown. In this manner I've effectively discovered something nearly as exciting as Bigfoot himself. I've demonstrated that it's not only possible but advantageous to conduct research by leveraging the resources of business entities, even if your audience is relatively niche. The ability to fund one's own research in similar fashion in which a race car driver funds his or her racing team is relatively unique within the Paranormal, UFO and Bigfoot research communities. We all know that Television "research" in the form of TV programming is supported using a sponsorship model native to networks. We can also agree that these efforts are subject to the pressures of such entities to provide entertainment, sometimes resulting in compromises to research. I personally believe a better approach exists and intend to continue the development of a model for research funding that preserves the autonomy of the researcher and still brings value to sponsors through social media and other mediums.
Once the Pulse publishes the final coverage of the Expedition in the November issue of the Pulse I can post what we found while in the field including further details on methodologies and experiences of various team members. Until then, enjoy these pics!
SEMPER EXPLORANDUM
Better Days BBQ in Smyrna Provided Dinner the first night as well as bait or "gifts" for the Bigfoot |
Camp MOAB sign honoring our sponsors |
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