Our Kickstarter campaign is rapidly coming to a close. With just three days left, we’ve got some exciting news to tell you about. Well, here it is: Continue reading “Almost there, and closer than ever!”
Almost there, and closer than ever!
Tag: Frank
It’s ALIVE!
Tonight, in a flurry of activity, we have reached our Kickstarter goal to Bring Frank N. Foode™ to Life! After 14 days, $10,050 was pledged by 158 backers, which means that we will now have enough funds to put a Frank in everyone’s hands.
Cue the maniacal laughter!
Continue reading “It’s ALIVE!”
The First Week of our Kickstarter
One week ago, we launched our Kickstarter campaign, Bring Frank N. Foode™ to Life! The outpouring of support has surprised and delighted us, and we can tell that our readers and supporters are excited, too. Indeed, some of you have been waiting for a long time, and the obvious evidence for this was the instant and rapid influx of pledges on the first day of the campaign. We raised $4,631 from noon to midnight, and the enthusiasm we saw on twitter, facebook, and on the blog was phenomenal! In the six days since the first, we’ve almost doubled it to $8,535! (Now $8,670 at time of publishing)
You know what this means? We’re running a 30-day campaign, and after just 7 days, we’re within reach of our goal of raising $10,000. When we reach this total, then that will guarantee that we will have enough funds to make 500 Frank N. Foode™ plushes, and Kickstarter will enable this project to be funded. When that happens, everyone who has backed us will assuredly get their chosen reward, and anyone who contributes to this campaign after we reach our primary goal will know that they will get their rewards before they donate. Will that be the end of it? No!
Reaching the funding goal is just the beginning. Continue reading “The First Week of our Kickstarter”
Bring Frank N. Foode to Life!
Update: Our Kickstarter campaign has Launched!
Young scientists need your help to fund one-of-a-kind plush toy to further science communication about GMOs. Their Kickstarter campaign launches on Wednesday, February 5th, 2014 at noon Central Time.
(A PDF of the press release is available below the post)
Biology Fortified, Inc. (BFI) is an independent, non-profit organization devoted to fostering science-based discussion about issues in biology, plant genetics, and agriculture. BFI’s mascot is Frank N. Foode™, your friendly neighborhood genetically modified organism (GMO). This cute corn plush has gotten his photo taken with people, plants, and in exotic places, all to help make the science of biotechnology fun and approachable. Over the years, many people have said that they want a Frank of their own! Now BFI has a chance to make this happen.
Karl Haro von Mogel handcrafted the first Frank N. Foode™ plush in 2009. The goal of the “Bring Frank N. Foode™ to Life” Kickstarter campaign is to fund the design and creation of 500 Frank N. Foode™ plushes so everyone can have a Frank plush of their own. BFI is working with Gann Memorials to rework Karl’s original design to make it durable, safe for kids, and cuter than ever. “One day, I had an idea to make a plush corn with glasses to help people understand the science,” said Karl Haro von Mogel. “It’s amazing to see the enthusiasm that people have toward him, and how much people want this to happen. We’re actually doing it!”
Rewards for donating to this campaign include the Frank N. Foode™ plush, autographed books, dinners with bloggers, and much more. Anastasia Bodnar, Board Member of BFI, says “these rewards were selected with three goals in mind – rewarding backers of the campaign, and furthering our mission to promote science and critical thinking while having fun at the same time.”
Biology Fortified, Inc. started as a science blog that launched on Halloween in 2008. BFI incorporated in 2012 and gained 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS in 2013. The Biofortified Blog and Forum create a civil and respectful environment where people can ask questions, give opinions, and even start up their own discussions. The blog includes interviews with and posts from scientists and other experts, recently passing 1 million views and 10,000 comments.
Kickstarter is a website that allows organizations and individuals who want to create new works of art and products raise money from donors through a process called crowdfunding. Backers can pledge any amount of money to a project, and receive unique rewards for contributing to the project. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, so no one is charged and a project does not get funded unless there are enough backers to reach the fundraising goal. In 2013, more than 3 million people pledged $480 million on Kickstarter to successfully fund more than $19,000 projects.
The Frank N. Foode Kickstarter campaign must raise $10,000 in just 30 days. If the goal is not achieved, they go home empty handed. If more than $10,000 is raised, stretch goals include an exclusive t-shirt, and a plush Hawaiian Papaya, Indian Eggplant, or Florida Orange. The campaign ends on March 7, 2014.
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Media Contact:
Karl Haro von Mogel
karl@biofortified.org
608-284-8842
Please let us know if you write about our Kickstarter so we can link back to you!
Kickstarter Profile Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/biofortified
Biology Fortified, Inc. Homepage: https://atomic-temporary-156907985.wpcomstaging.com/
Frank N. Foode™ Photo album: https://atomic-temporary-156907985.wpcomstaging.com/community/photos/
Frank N. Foode™ on Twitter (with daily updates on campaign): https://twitter.com/franknfoode/
Press Release (PDF)
Help us promote our Kickstarter with these images:
Contest winner is ghoulish!
Howdy everyone, Frank N. Foode™ here to announce the winner of this year’s Frankenfood Carving Contest!
It was a late-announced contest, but with the new forum and its image-upload features it was so much easier to enter, and we definitely got some entries this year. Photos of both costumes and carved produce rolled in, from human-sized sushi and an accompanying sushi chef, to a vampire pumpkin and a kiwan-o-lantern! I even got in on the action and carved my very own Schmeiser Apparition! It’s on the side opposite me from hurricane Sandy.
Everyone’s creativity was awesome, and we’re grateful for all the entries we received. But one entry rose above the rest, both with its original use of genetically engineered food, and its downright cuteness! So without any further ado, I give you the winner of our 7th Community Contest Continue reading “Contest winner is ghoulish!”
Great Darwin’s Galapagos!
Hi everyone, Frank N. Foode™ here.
I’m here to answer the call for a de-lurking post, so I thought I would break the ice and show a couple pictures from my recent trip to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend the March Procession of the Species. Humans of all shapes and stripes were dressing up as their favorite species to celebrate the work of Charles Darwin. And here he is – the years have been very kind to Chuck, but I didn’t realize he was so big!
Community Contest #1 and more!
Hi everybody! Frank N. Foode™ here. Biofortified is workin’ on building its community of editors, contributors, and readers with the new profile system. We’re also coming up on our first Biennial celebration on the 31st of the month, making this an exciting month for talking about plant genetics. Plus we’ll have more to say about our own Rally to Restore Sanity in the debate over genetic engineering, and if that was not enough, there will be opportunities for everyone to be able to win fabulous prizes – and I’m going to tell you about your first chance!
The first Biofortified Community Contest is on, and it will be a contest for the best comment or comments. That’s right, just by writing just one awesome comment that contributes to the discussion here, you can win a prize! It could be about some of the many things we talk about on the blog such as the science, politics, social and philosophical issues, personal beliefs, or a collection of helpful links that you have scoured the internet for.
Here are the rules:
- Anyone can nominate someone for this contest, but must link to at least one comment (can be several) by that author.
- You may nominate yourself!
- Editors (and me) are ineligible for the contest – but contributing authors can get in on the action.
- Comments can be from any date in the past, present, or future. They can be comments on posts or in the forum.
- In order to accept the award, comment author must be registered, fill out at least some of their profile, and have a picture uploaded for their avatar. (Profile can be done after the winner is announced. Picture need not be a human photo – how about a cool plant?)
- The winner(s) will be judged on how awesomely smart, cool, funny, and productive their comments are. We want to reward people that help elevate the discussion and give them a special status in the community.
- Nominations will close on Friday October 15th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. (End of the day, not the beginning!)
- Winner(s) will be decided by Biofortified’s editors, and will be announced on the 17th of October.
What do you win, aside from eternal glory? Why, some genetically engineered blog schwag. Continue reading “Community Contest #1 and more!”
Open House!
Hi all, Frank N. Foode™ here. Well while Anastasia and Karl are out pollinating corn each day, I thought I would take the reins of the blog a little bit and tell you about some of my recent adventures. Just a couple weeks ago I went to an open house for the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). So the ASA/CSSA/SSSA open house, where they showed off their new building in Madison, Wisconsin. But all those S’s are a Stomata-full for a C4 plant like myself, so I’ll stick with calling them the Science Societies.
Here’s the outside of the building, so why don’t you head on inside to the whole photo album to see what I saw and meet who I met!
Frank at MOSES
Hi everyone, Frank N. Foode™ here. Over the weekend, I went to the MOSES organic farming conference in La Crosse Wisconsin. It was right on my way across the country so it wasn’t much of a detour for me. This conference brought farmers, consumers, and seeds from all over the Midwest to attend some workshops about everything from producing seed, to building healthy soils, to market farming and even some were about genetic engineering. Karl was also there and he reminded me that I still have a lot of pictures from my travels last year that I haven’t put up on the blog. So now that I’m back in Berkeley (there’s a story about that which I will tell), I am not wasting any time showing you how much fun I had!
Anastasia has set up a Flickr account for the blog, which you can see on the Photos page! This has made it so much easier for me. I may be smarter than the average corn but all this web stuff is confusing.
You can see the pictures from my whole trip in the Flickr photo album hosted on Biofortified here, on the Flickr site, or read more below.
Seed Swap! I can’t wait! Continue reading “Frank at MOSES”
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