Update #11 On The Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

On December 10th MAKING HISTORY hit 91% of its funding goal. Nearly 10% of the campaign fundraising goal was contributed in 24 hours! It was incredible to witness as I was on Facebook and posting things on my social media channels. Needless to say, there were some extremely generous contributions that came through that day! 

FUNDING is now at

NINETY-TWO PERCENT!!!

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this campaign and contributed so far! 

If you haven't already contributed, this is your chance to help push this campaign to the finish line!

VISIT the Indiegogo campaign page here: http://igg.me/at/makinghistory/x/5122304

There are 14 days left for me to reach my goal!

Update #10: On the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

I just discovered that MAKING HISTORY has gone from 77% to over 80% funded!

The success of this campaign would not have been possible without the help of all the individuals and organizations who I'd like to call my "crowdfunding ambassadors." I have tried to thank people here along the way on this crowdfunding blog which is documenting all that's been happening with this campaign. But there are certainly many more to be thanked. 

To the people who I either 1) don't personally know or 2) are anonymously spreading the word about my campaign- you are my "crowdfunding ambassadors" too. And I THANK YOU for truly "Making History Happen." That is what you are doing by getting the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign funded. That is the amazing power of the Internet, social media and crowdfunding. 

I will try to do my best to publicly thank everyone here, but I can only list my known "crowdfunding ambassadors" here. I hope I haven't inadvertently left anyone out, if I did it was not intentional.

Thank You to my known crowdfunding ambassadors:

Formosan Association of Public Affairs (FAPA)

Formosan Association of Public Affairs- Young Professionals Group (FAPA-YPG)

Forumosa.com

North American Taiwanese Professors' Association

Overseas Taiwanese Pen Club- Greater New York Region

Taiwan Center- New York

Talking Taiwan Podcast

Ming-hong Chow, Taiwanese Association of America- National President

Tim Davis and Ben Halladay who have both shared the MAKING HISTORY campaign with their personal networks.

Jerome Keating for inviting me to speak at your Breakfast Club in Taipei about my work to document the life of Su Beng, years ago and for letting your Breakfast Club members know about my  crowdfunding campaign.

Anthony H. Su, President of Taiwanese Association of America- St. Louis

Ho Chie Tsai of TaiwaneseAmerican.org.

In August 2011 Ho Chie interviewed me when I was in LA with Su Beng about my work to document the life of Su Beng. Watch the interview here: 

Micheal Turton who posted about the MAKING HISTORY on his top Google-rated blog The View From Taiwan

Hanna at the North American Taiwan Women's Association, NATWA2.org for posting about MAKING HISTORY

Update #9 On the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to MAKING HISTORY on #GivingTuesday! 1% of what was raised will be donated to Pro Bono Speaks.

MAKING HISTORY reached 74% funding as s result of #GivingTuesday!

Funding is currently at 75%

In other news, I'm really excited about the first takers of my mini-ebook THE SECRETS TO THE SUCCESS OF MY CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN! For me as an author, it's always exciting to know that people are reading my work.

It has been quite a nonstop week! At the Taiwan Center's suggestion I arranged to have a translator with me at the talk that I was to give on December 4th. While I can speak Taiwanese and some Mandarin, it doesn't come naturally and it's easier for me to express myself in English. Kiki, who I met at the TAA-NY Dinner Discussion event where I spoke about the Story of Su Beng was kind enough to agree to translate for me. To prep her, I prepared some notes in advance for her. But I didn't get them to her until Monday because these days, I often find myself too distracted to sit down and focus on one thing as I try to keep up with all the social media that comes along with running this crowdfunding campaign, think about how to strategize my next steps, reach out to new contacts every day, answer inquiries, write thank you emails, and so on and so on.

Me with Patsy Chen and Kiki Lee (my friend and translator) at the New York Taiwan Center, December 4, 2013

On Tuesday I met with Sarah Williams, the Founder of Pro Bono Speaks to record a video about #GivingTuesday, then I stopped by the Taiwan Center to do a quick audio/visual equipment check for my presentation there on Wednesday, December 4. I had decided that I would show some raw video footage that I've shot of Su Beng during the talk, but I wanted to make sure that everything was in working order because the last time I gave a talk at the Taiwan Center, which was September last year, there were some technical problems and I wasn't able to show the video clips on the flat screen TV there. So I had to play the clips off of my little Macbook Air, and that really wasn't effective. It turns out that there had been a problem with the HDMI cable connection, and this time I found everything in working order.

So on Tuesday night  I sifted through all of my video footage of Su Beng deciding what clips to show. By the wee hours of Wednesday morning, I had managed to figure out to import video clips from my miniDVs into iMovie and I had a string of video clips to show, but it was really raw. I had no time to "make it look pretty" by adding in any transitions, titles or subtitles.

At the end of my talk about Su Beng, the Taiwan Center presented me this wonderful certificate of appreciation. When I read what it said, it really made me I feel like everything that I've been doing has all been worthwhile. It's such a simple thing, but so affirming and encouraging.

It's gestures like this that really matter and help me to keep going. Single handedly running this crowdfunding campaign has been quite a test of personal endurance. These last two weeks have been the toughest ones so far. I think I say that every week, but things did get really intense around Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, there has definitely been a lot of really good news in the last two weeks- namely that FAPA-YPG is going to be an Executive producer of the short documentary of Su Beng and that the two additional Co-Producer credits that were offered on November 25th got snapped up just days after I announced that they were available!

I want to thank my personal support team, who I know prefer to remain anonymous. They are the ones who have been supporting me, and behind the "behind the scenes" of this crowdfunding campaign. They are a small group of personal friends, each of whom I simply asked to be there for me, to help, advise and listen to me throughout this campaign. Each in his own way has given me advice on this campaign early on before this campaign even launched, and during the campaign by helping with some key translation and/or with some of the strategic announcements made halfway through the campaign. Beyond that they've also given me a tremendous amount personal support as there have been some trying personal circumstances along the way.

This campaign has been about so much more than just raising funds to reach my goal, it has garnered a great deal of support for my work to document the life of Su Beng and already I can see how it is creating awareness both about Taiwan and Su Beng. I have personally received so many words of encouragement and even a handwritten note- from complete strangers- people who I'd rather refer to as people who I have not met yet. Though I have not personally met many of the people who have contributed to the MAKING HISTORY campaign, but I do sincerely hope that one day I will. And as I've said before, I believe that this is just the beginning of my relationship with the people- who have funded MAKING HISTORY, are following this campaign, and now interested in reading the biography of Su Beng.

Update #8A on the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

This morning I met with Sarah Williams, the Founder of Pro Bono Speaks. We had a cup of coffee and chatted about our respective causes.

As part of #GivingTuesday, I've decided to give 1% of funds raised by Making History today to Pro Bono Speaks. Hear what Sarah had to say about the work of Pro Bono Speaks:

*Funds donated by MAKING HISTORY to Pro Bono Speaks will be used towards costs to bring an asylee to the US*

As a part of #GivingTuesday, Indiegogo will be giving Making History $1 for every $20 raised today!

Update #8 on the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

MAKING HISTORY is a participating in the Indiegogo #GivingTuesday Challenge which is today, Tuesday, December 3. This means that today,  Indiegogo will be contributing $1 for every $20 raised by MAKING HISTORY!

And in the spirit of #GivingTuesday, I've decided that 1% of all funds raised by MAKING HISTORY today will be donated to Pro Bono Speaks.

For every $1 of interpretation and translation services, Pro Bono Speaks donates 10 cents to raise funds to reunite asylees with their families.

*Funds donated by MAKING HISTORY will be used towards costs to bring an asylee to the US*

I can't think of a more fitting organization for MAKING HISTORY to support this #GivingTuesday. When Su Beng's involvement in a plot to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek was discovered, he had to flee from Taiwan. And when he ended up in Japan,  he was eventually granted political asylum in Japan, where he resided from 1952-1993.  Also, I have really come to appreciate the value of good translation, as translation is such a major part of my work on the biography of Su Beng.

Infographics have been added to the step by step instructions on how to donate online

Over the weekend I was finally able to add infographics to the step by step instructions on how to donate online with Chinese translation. In running this crowdfunding campaign, I've had so much help from people who have volunteered their assistance, but ultimately if someone doesn't follow through, it falls all on me to get it done. So when I realized that the infographics for the step by step instructions were not going get done anytime soon, I decided to figure it out for myself. I didn't think I could do it since I'm no graphic designer, but I managed to put something together from cutting and pasting screenshots from Indiegogo.  I think what I've come up with does the job just fine. Hopefully this is helpful for people who visit my campaign page on Indiegogo and need some assistance making an online contribution. It's not just for those in need of Chinese translation, in fact, I heard from someone in the U.S. who had a problem making a donation with her credit card online. if you go to the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign page and scroll down to the bottom of the page you'll see the step by step instructions:

In other news, Su Beng has been so supportive and closely watching the MAKING HISTORY campaign on Facebook. Yes, the 95-year-old Su Beng is on Facebook! So find him and friend him on Facebook! On Monday, Su Beng posted this on Facebook:

Thank you to Su Beng for all your support of MAKING HISTORY on Facebook!

Update #7 On The Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

I am excited to announce that the Formosan Association of Public Affairs Young Professional Group has contacted me about making a very generous private donation to the MAKING HISTORY: The Story of Su Beng crowdfunding campaign. 

FAPA-YPG is going to be one of the Executive Producers of the short documentary about Su Beng that Robin C. Adams and I will be producing! 

FAPA-YPG was instrumental during Su Beng's 2011 US visit. Many local chapters across the country organized receptions, gatherings and discussions with Su Beng. 

THANK YOU FAPA-YPG! Let's keep the momentum going for this campaign!

In other news, I have added Chinese translation to the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign page explaining: 

1) What is this project about? 

2) Why I need to raise $15,000? 

3) A list and description of perks available 

4) Step by step instructions on how to make a contribution online via this website

Scroll down to the very bottom of the campaign page to see the Chinese translation. I am still working on getting some buttons or infographics to make the instructions on how to make a contribution easier to follow.

Special thanks to Hsiao Wan Lin (林曉婉) and others for the translation. Thank you to Kristopher Wuollett for his special assistance on this.

Update #6 on the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

Happy Thanksgiving and #GivingTuesday!

Have a laugh on me! Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for all of the amazing support that Making History: The Story of Su Beng has been getting. 

I'm pleased to announce that MAKING HISTORY is a part of the Indiegogo #GivingTuesday Challenge. So if you're thinking of making a contribution, you may want to wait until Tuesday, December 3, 2013 because...

 Indiegogo will contribute $1 for every $20 raised by MAKING HISTORY on Tuesday, December 3, 2013!

What is #GivingTuesday?

#GivingTuesday was started by the UN foundation last year as day of global giving. It’s about working with friends, family, and colleagues to support larger community causes and charitable organizations, such as helping a family bring home their adopted son, teaching young girls how to design and build iPhone apps, or supporting recovery efforts for Typhoon Haiyan.

Who Can Participate:

• Campaigns that are cause-related -- which means that the campaign is meant to raise awareness and funds to support another person, organization, nonprofit or foundation that you’re passionate about.
• You don’t have to be a 501c3 non-profit to participate.
• Your campaign does not necessarily have to support a 501c3 non-profit.

Update #5 On the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

I have some really exciting announcements to make about the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign!

Funding is now at 63% and we are not even at the halfway point of this campaign!

In the first 30 days, MAKING HISTORY has made it to page one of the "Popular Now" campaigns in the writing category, reached over 40% funding in its third week, and now funding is at SIXTY-THREE percent!

But what I'm REALLY excited about is the new perk I've decided to offer:

THE SECRETS TO THE SUCCESS OF MY CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN mini-ebook.

Since there's been a lot of interest from people watching the progress of this campaign, and several people have approached me about tips on how to crowdfund successfully, I've decided to write a separate mini-ebook specifically about my personal crowdfunding experience.  And in the interest of timeliness I will make it available in January 2014 after my campaign has ended.

The saga of the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign will definitely be a chapter in THE ACCIDENTAL BIOGRAPHER mini-ebook, but that ebook will not be available until August 2014 since it will also chronicle my time in Taiwan to finish up research on the biography of Su Beng.

In addition to this new perk, I'm opening up:

ONE more Executive Producer credit on the short documentary about Su Beng

TWO more Co-Producer credits on the short documentary about Su Beng

ONE more Executive Producer credit on the short documentary about Su Beng

TWO more Co-Producer credits on the short documentary about Su Beng

One thing I am certain about when it comes to running a successful crowdfunding campaign is that knowing how to use social media is key. Crowdfunding and social media go hand in hand. If you don't already have a strong social media presence when you start your crowdfunding campaign, you'd better learn how to harness the power of social media fast. It might be a steep learning curve and a lot more work than if you already had a social media presence, but launching a crowdfunding campaign could actually be a great opportunity to build your social media presence.

I have always been curious about social media, how it works and figuring out the value in it.  To learn about it I'd go to any workshops, events or panel discussions about social media that I could. Somewhere down the line I found myself going to panels and workshops about crowdfunding, but I never thought I'd be crowdfunding for one of my writing projects. I didn't think it would be possible. But after hearing from a number of experts about the benefits of crowdfunding (besides the obvious, which is getting your project funded) and discovering what most successful crowdfunding campaigns have in common, I began to see how I might be able to make it work for me.

I have also had a lot of great personal, advice from crowdfunding experts along the way which has been so key to the development and strategy behind this campaign. In my case, launching the crowdfunding campaign has also opened so many doors and made so many more things possible!

Update #4A on the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

MAKING HISTORY is still going strong and on PAGE ONE of "Popular Now" campaigns on Indiegogo in the writing category. It's raised 5% in less than 24 hours. Funding has gone from 53% to 58%!

In other news, on Wednesday, December 4 from 7:00-9:00pm I will be speaking at the NY Taiwan Center (137-44 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354) about my project to document the life of Su Beng. Learn more about Su Beng's incredible life and the challenges I've faced along the way to complete his biography and now produce a short documentary of this life.

Admission is free.

To attend RSVP HERE or here: www.feliciatalksaboutsubeng.eventbrite.com 

Update #4 on the Making History Crowdfunding Campaign

I am ecstatic over the news that MAKING HISTORY has exceeded 50% of its funding goal! AND it's on PAGE ONE of the "Popular Now" campaigns on Indiegogo in the writing category! 

I can hardly keep up with the pace of things. Last night funding was at 51% and now it's at 56%.

It was the best news I'd had all day because yesterday was an exhausting day. At one point I thought that this website had crashed! Meanwhile I realized that I'd need to work with at least 5-6 different people to create step by step instructions in Chinese explaining how to contribute to the Indiegogo campaign online. This will involve not only some translation but the creation of infographics and buttons, and the finally the assembly of all these things together in an easy to follow format. I was hoping to get all this done by November 25 for the last month of the crowdfunding campaign. The hope is that this will make it easier for people in Taiwan to donate.

In other news, I created a Facebook page last night called The Story of Su Beng where I will share updates specifically related to the progress of my project to document the life of Su Beng. Now in less than 24 hours there have been over 500 LIKES of the page! 

As the crowdfunding campaign progresses, it's much like like watching a documentary unfold, you can't write or script this stuff, and you never know what is going to happen next. 

Every step of the way there's been a lot of work behind the scenes reaching out to key people and organizations and then there's been several enhancements to the crowdfunding campaign. First we added Chinese subtitles, and now infographics and Chinese instructions on how to donate are being created. 

I only know that we have gotten this far and I can and must do everything in my power to make my crowdfunding goal. 

It is incredible how the momentum has been building with the MAKING HISTORY crowdfunding campaign. This campaign has truly taken on a life of it's own. It's all being documented here and definitely going to be a chapter in THE ACCIDENTAL BIOGRAPHER, a book I'm going to be writing about my experience of being Su Beng's Biographer. The ebook version of the book is being offered as one of the perks for a contribution of $40 to the Making History: Story of Su Beng crowdfunding campaign.

What's next? I've been invited to speak about The Story of Su Beng at the New York Taiwan Center (137-44 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354) on Wednesday, December 4 from 7-9pm. More details to will be shared on this event soon!