How did you come up with the idea?
Well, it all started on a Saturday night at a restaurant in Montreal called La Cage
aux Sports. David and I were supposed to be watching the NFL NFC semi finals. The
restaurant was pretty much empty. The staff was there and maybe one or two tables
were taken… The game didn’t seem to attract much of crowd that night, don’t ask
me why?! Anyhow, one thing led to another, and we started brainstorming about ideas
to start up a company. We knew that the Internet would be our playground and the
fastest way to reach the largest population possible. By that time, as you can imagine,
the NFC semifinals on Fox were not the center of attraction anymore! We had figured
out a solid business idea that centered on the reaching power of the Internet and
its innovative fundraising method. After about 3 hours, and a very bored restaurant
staff, OMU came to life! We enjoyed the moment for about 5 minutes and then a waitress
told us to leave (The game was still on??). We left and continued our conversation
in the car (I was to drive Dave back home) and during that time is when we chose
the name - One Million United.
The first thing I did when I got home was to purchase the domain name on Godaddy.com...
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Has this been done before?
Not that we know of. Fundraising is definitely a very well established activity
online, but the idea of OMU is to our knowledge unique. We certainly do hope that
this will entice companies and individuals world wide to use the internet's viral
marketing powers for good use.
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How will the charities/NPO’s be chosen?
The ‘Partnerships’ section on our site will allow the NPO's to submit their request
to qualify to be part of the voting poll. The OMU team will qualify the first 20
organizations that meet the established criteria. All registered users will be allowed
to vote for their preferred organization and the top voted candidate will benefit
from the initiative.
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Are you affiliated with these charities/NPO’s?
We are affiliated with these charities in the way that we are donating a large sum
of the money generated by the OMU initiative to one of them. However, we are not
tied to a long term contract of any sort.
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What’s the 1.00$ US for? Why isn’t this free?
There are a couple of explanations that answer this question. To start, upon the
creation of the OMU initiative, it was clear to us that the 1.00$ figure is key
to achieve our goal. It is a small amount, anyone can contribute and it is a round
number.
The second and equally important factor is our costs. This is a graphic representation
of where your 1.00$ goes.
As you can see, this can not be free because it would mean that OMU will have to
spend more then 750,000$ USD in capital to make this project happen… needless to
say, we don’t have that kind of money!
The third factor is that we wanted to prove to the world that people will invest
in order for the final picture to be completed, henceforth, the bidding will start
at $1 Million dollars. It is important to note that your $1.00 contribution will
not directly profit the charities. Instead, it is the contributions of 1 Million
individuals that will benefit the charities due to the bidding of the final picture
on eBay.
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Do you make money?
OMU will make some profit from the initial sum collected for investment in future
projects and growth of the OMU initiative. OMU will only make its profit should
the project be fulfilled (successful). In other words, when the picture is sold
on eBay, OMU will retain 10% of the highest bid as a licensing fee.
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How do I know if this is genuine?
OMU went through all necessary legal procedures to qualify the project and get a
fair and legal binding terms and conditions agreement.
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Why is the site only in English seeing as you are looking for global support?
Initially we thought of having the site in many languages and to have as many people
around the world understand our goal in their mother tongue. However, it would require
a lot of time and money and we are not currently in a situation to do so. Therefore,
we decided to publish the OMU site in the international language of the internet!
We will definitely try adding new languages along the way… even if our Webmasters
will hate us for it!
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Who can bid on the final picture?
Anyone! It can be a corporation, a government body, a museum, a wealthy individual(s),
etc… one of OMU’s main points was to prove to the world that a) people will show
support if given the right tools and a small amount to donate and b) OMU will find
an entity proud and caring enough to contribute a small amount to prove the same
point. ($1 Million dollars is a small amount to plenty of corporations)
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Why should I (we) bid?
You will be contributing to a noble cause that has a direct impact to make a significant
difference in the lives of individuals around the world. This will flag you as the
first entity to take initiative in what we believe will be the new way of fundraising
online and will undoubtedly be a historic landmark. By wining the auction, you will
have licensing rights on the use of a unique group effort that united the commitment
of 1 Million people. This will give you instantaneous and continuous worldwide recognition
from the press and the public, as well as any publicity relating to the OMU initiative.
Also, seeing as you would hold the licensing rights of the image, you will profit
from all future projects relating to the OMU project.
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Why is it in US funds?
We think the USD is amongst the top contenders for being the internet universal
currency. Not to mention that our project relies on the 1.00$ donation which would
be a bit hard to handle from an administration point of view… think of it, can you
imagine this:
1 USD or 0.95 Euro or 1.02 CAD or 1400 rupees, etc… with a foreign exchange currency
broker at our disposal 24/7 ;-)
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What payment methods do you accept?
We opted for Paypal as our payment method. After the acquisition of Verisign’s Credit
Card processing systems, Paypal now accepts both Paypal membership money processing
as well as Credit Card processing… We think that Paypal is one of the most respectable
and upright companies to process money online. They have army strength servers and
the experience of a dinosaur in this industry... we think everyone’s minds will
be at peace knowing that Paypal is watching over the transactions.
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Is your website secure?
The One Million United website uses 128 Bit SSL Certificates from Verisign. This
encryption technology secures all your information including your credit card and
other financial transactions. 128 Bit SSL encryption is used by Banks worldwide
for securing their sites and their clients’ information.
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How can I get my picture on OMU?
It’s very simple, quick and most of all cheap! Go to the main page of the site,
click on “Sign Up” and follow the 3 easy steps. You can choose to get a randomly
assigned quadrant (space), or you can choose a quadrant yourself by going on the
“viewport” section of the map and double clicking on an available quadrant.
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Can I send my picture by mail?
Unfortunately not. First off, it would probably cost you more money to send it by
mail then to simply upload it online. Second, it would be overloading for us to
handle all that material... In this day and age, let’s have computers do what they
do best.
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How big should my picture be?
Your picture should be no less then 800x600 pixels. We recommend you upload at least
a 1 Megapixel picture. Once you upload your picture, you will be able to use our
“Cropping Tool” during the sign up process which will allow you to select your face
and torso (upper body) and clear out the rest of the image.
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How many pictures can I upload?
You can only upload ONE picture per person. No more no less. We are very strict
about this rule. If you select a picture that has you and another person in it you
will have to crop out the other person from that picture and have yourself only
in the final picture. Please do not upload a picture of you and another person,
it will be deleted from our verification team and your quadrant will be available
for use by someone else. The point is to have one million people or individuals,
not more or less. If you would like to have your family and friends on the OMU site
and next to you on the map we suggest and encourage you to use the "bulk purchasing
option" (Please see Bulk purchasing FAQ below).
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Can there be more than one (1) person in the picture?
No. Please do not upload a picture of you and another person because it will be
deleted by our verification team and your quadrant will be made available for use
by someone else. The mission is to have one million individuals, no more…no less.
If you select a picture that has you and another person in it, you will have to
crop out the other person from that picture (using our cropping tool) and have only
yourself in the final picture.
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Can I choose the location of my picture?
Yes you can! Go to the “viewport” section of the drop down map and browse the OMU
picture until you find your preferred vacant location or quadrant! Once you are
happy with your spot, simply click on the empty quadrant and the 3 step Sign Up
process will begin.
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What is bulk purchasing?
An individual can purchase multiple quadrants at one time in order to distribute
them for free to friends and family. The maximum number of quadrants that someone
can pre purchase is 28. Any request over 28 quadrants should be sent to
bulk@onemillionunited.com. It is important to note that pre purchased quadrants
have a life span of 28 days from the moment the payment and order is confirmed.
Upon completion of the transaction, you will receive an email containing the Promotional
codes that you have pre purchased.
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Why is my picture not displayed yet?
We require a 72 hours delay for our verification team to qualify your picture and
publish it online. We will be filtering all pictures for profanity, nudity, racism,
etc… that are being uploaded and ban those users from publishing on OMU. If your
picture is not posted within 96 hours of your order, please contact us by sending
an email to picsupport@onemillionunited.com
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Will my personal information be displayed or accessible on your site?
You can choose to have your name made public or kept private, but your city and
country of residence are mandatory and can be viewed by visitors on our site. Only
when a visitor browsing the map and who double clicks on your picture, will have
a window open with your authorized information displayed.
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Do you collect my personal information?
The only information collected is for billing and security purposes only. OMU will
also request your email address during the sign up process to confirm the reservation
of a quadrant. Your information will not be used at any point in time for advertising
or marketing purposes. Also, OMU respects your privacy and will never sell, rent
or share your information with any other third party.
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Do I get a confirmation?
Yes! Upon payment, you will receive an email informing you of your order number.
You will also receive an email upon the publishing of your picture on OMU containing
your certificate of participation.
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Can I put a link relating to OMU on my site?
Of course you can! Please feel free to do so! We need all the help we can get to
give as much visibility as possible to OMU’s initiative. These are your options:
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