Re: Administration Response Re: Online petition Re: "Museum comments sidestepped"

[frank bliss <frank@blissnet.com>]

The most I have ever raised (organized and did the MC work of the  
crowd) for a non-profit org. was over 4 years as the chairman of the  
"Friends of the NRA" annual dinner in Jackson Hole.  We raised about  
200K in those 4 years that was giving to promote safe shooting sports,  
education and improvement of the range facilities in the state. The  
gun culture is alive and well in Wyoming.  I also spent 6 years on the  
board of the Wyoming American Red Cross in all positions expect the  
chairman. Fund raising isn't my favorite activity when we just got  
heavy spring rains all week and those golden sands are calling me out.  
It is going to be a very good year in the field.

BTW, who said there wasn't an active railroad system in wyoming.  I  
must respectfully decline due to a full schedule obfuscated by a  
recent, quit painful back injury and I have to get things done  
regardless of having a few fractured vertebra.  There is only one  
comfortable chair in the house and it isn't the one in front of my  
computer.  In reality, I am very disconnected from Cheyenne these days  
as I live 6 hours north and with my nearest town being Gillette at 65  
miles makes me a poor choice since I already am a member of the Local  
Emergency Planning Commission, and active Ham radio operator, an  
active EMT (plus yearly training) and have a few things to do out here  
on my little 5 square mile ranch with dinosaurs waiting for my summer  
guests to help me with.  Summer this year is already fully booked with  
me hosting three days of the International Tactical Rifle  
Championships with the two long range rifle/carbine competition being  
here on the ranch.  40 pairs of the top shooters from around the world  
come to compete for big money.  When the summer is over, I plan to  
have back surgery to fix those crushed verts (T-11/T-12).

Reality check: there is going to be big cutbacks at other  
paleontological institutions too with the big donors loosing the tax  
write off incentive as well as the ongoing demonization of wealthy  
capitalists leading many to a more camouflaged existence than before.   
Fund raising in this politically charged atmosphere may well be  
virtually impossible.   I suggest someone contacting Wallace Ulrich at fossil@wyoming.com 
 as he is much better connected than I being on the board of the  
wyoming geological survey and is still very active in the Geologist of  
Jackson Hole (I was secretary of that board for 7 years).  I retired  
to my ranch 10 years ago and have lost all my higher up contacts (by  
design).  Wallace may have an idea (he is pretty busy too).  If it is  
contacts you need, he is the man to point you in the right direction.  
Wallace is top notch.  It won't hurt to ask.

Another suggestion is Jerry Spence.  He loves lost causes and I  
watched him raise 2 million bucks in one 2 hour meeting in Jackson.   
Style and presentation is everything with the make up of the audience  
being somewhat of a significant requirement.

Someone also needs to hook into the stimulus action going on in  
Washington.  I understand Jackson Hole got something like 20 million+  
for preservation of the Spring Creek area.  That was a connection  
thing.  There is a lot of power in that little town. (Which is exactly  
why I moved away).

I understand that at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology  
(where my son is on the third year of a 5 year mining engineering  
degree), just received around 20 million in grants to build a new  
paleo-museum.  It is currently being built. You need to hunt down who  
organized that and hope they don't have a ranch to run along with a  
dinosaur based bed and breakfast operation 14 miles from the nearest  
asphalt road.

Frank (Rooster) Bliss
Weston, Wyoming
www.wyomingdinosaurs.com



On Jun 17, 2009, at 10:35 PM, Richard W. Travsky wrote:

> http://www.uwyo.edu/presidentsupport/outbox/2009/geology_museum_15_jun_09.pdf
>
>
> On Wed, 17 Jun 2009, MKIRKALDY@aol.com wrote:
> > In an editorial  at
> > http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/06/17/editorial/editorial/e084fe01c2e5e7cd
> > 872575d7007c999f.txt
> > the Casper Star-Tribune suggests that:
> > "Now that so many supporters have  been identified, the university  
> > -- and
> > the UW Foundation -- should turn their  attention to exploring ways  
> > to
> > generate the $80,000 annually that the museum  needs to keep its  
> > doors open. Are
> > any of the people who signed the petition  willing to donate money  
> > to the
> > cause? What about holding fundraising  events?"
> >
> > Okay, if everyone who signed the petition donated $53.33 a year,  the
> > museum could stay open!  I nominate Frank Bliss to spearhead this   
> > collection!
> >
> > Actually, considering the troubles Frank had in  collecting money  
> > for the
> > Antonio  grant
> > (http://dml.cmnh.org/2005Jun/msg00160.html), keeping a museum afloat
> > through donations is naive. I don't know what kind of fundraising  
> > events could
> > raise $80,000 a year either.  Cookies and cupcakes?  Hannah  
> > Montana  concert!
>
> Wally Wyoming.
>
> > In a message dated 6/17/2009 2:08:41 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> > rtravsky@uwyo.edu writes:
> >
> >
> > For what its  worth:
> >
> > http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/geomuseum/index.html
> >
> > This  page also lists the names and email of the board of trustees.