SaveTheHour's Second Twitter Flash Mob - Information Post!

CAN’T BE AT THE FLASH MOB THIS FRIDAY?  

JOIN US AT #SAVETHEHOUR’S VIRTUAL FLASH MOB ON TWITTER!

FRIDAY, JUNE 21st STARTING AT 12 PM GMT

This is a fandom online flash mob on Twitter with a three-fold purpose: 

• 1) To promote the flash mob to the BBC, news outlets, and Kudos TV that will be going on in London at the same time we are tweeting.
• 2) To get the #savethehour tag trending.
• 3) To allow us campaigners who can’t be at the flash mob meet-up to not only support those who will be going to the BBC and Kudos on that day, but to party together on Twitter!

The flash mob meet-up participants will be at BBC Broadcasting House on June 21st at 12 p.m. protesting 1950s style to raise awareness for #SaveTheHour. 

Just last month Peter Capaldi and Romola Garai made their interest in a one-off special to finish up the show known, so we need this campaign MORE THAN EVER. It’s the perfect timing to let the BBC know that neither the cast, nor the fans have given up on this show! While our fellow campaigners are at the BBC promoting #SaveTheHour, we will be on Twitter filling the tag we our love, dedication, and most importantly promotion for our cause.

Our main goal here is that while the flash mob participants are on location, we will simultaneously be tweeting the BBC, Kudos, and news outlets like mad about the flash mob, #SaveTheHour, and our wish for the one-off to become a viable possibility. #SaveTheHour will be a flash mob on all fronts as it were - in the physical and virtual worlds. That’s why it’s SO IMPORTANT that we’re tweeting as the physical flash mob is going on - if somebody sees our campaigners out and takes note of our hashtag, they will log on to find ongoing support happening on Twitter as well.

Just as before, this Twitter flash mob has a more specific purpose than our previous ones. Here’s what we need to do:

At 12 pm GMT we need all of our campaigners and any fan of the show to send out tweets to @bbcpress, @KudosTV, and news outlets (a list is following) about the flash mob and/or a wish to see a one-off episode. What you write in the body of the tweet is up to you, but remember to use these three tags in your tweets:

- #SaveTheHour
- #STHflashmob
- #TheHourOneOff 

It’s super important that all your tweets are addressed to these Twitter accounts with the accompanying hashtags. The point of this isn’t as much to trend (though it is of course a secondary thing we’re going for) as to show “The Powers That Be” that we’re a strong presence, and they won’t know that if we’re not directing our tweets to them. 

I know this gathering is earlier than our previous ones (for some it might be quite early), but it’s important that we’re tweeting at the same time the flash mob is going on at the physical locations. I’ll be awake with bells on! You can convert 12 pm GMT to your time zone here: TIME ZONE CONVERTER

Here is the list of people to Tweet:

• @bbcpress (This seems to be the only active BBC account?)
• @KudosTV
• @BBCAmerica
• @BBCEntsTeam (entertainment news for the BBC)

News Outlets:

• @DigitalSpy
• @RadioTimes
• @mediaguardian
• There are so many more, but these three are the ones who consistently run the stories on The Hour, and who ran the story for the last flash mob, so it might be best to focus our tweeting on these three specifically. That way more tweets will go to each one. 
  
  Sample Tweets:
• @_____________ #savethehour for the fans, the actors, and the story! #TheHouroneoff #STHflashmob
• @_____________ Romola and Peter want a one-off and so do we! #TheHouroneoff #savethehour #STHflashmob
• @_____________ Flash mob happening right now at BBC Broadcasting House and on Twitter to #saveTheHour #STHflashmob #TheHouroneoff
• These are very generic (and may be over 140 char., I didn’t check), but you get the general idea. You can obviously send separate tweets, all handles do not have to be in your tweet at once. (Also, your tweets can be much more creative than the samples. LOL). 
  
  Our virtual flash mob has no end time, so please send out tweets for as long as you can! It goes without saying that the more tweets we have the better (volume and awareness is the point of a flash mob after all ;) ) so everyone please consider sending out some tweets on Friday! 
  
  Even if you haven’t helped us campaign before, it’s never too late to start. We would LOVE to have you join us. If you don’t have a twitter it’s easy to sign up and easy to use, so please come and party with us (no chocolate cake though, Freddie’s rules) as we flood the internets with support for a show with the most supportive, wonderful, intelligent cast and fans. 
  
  If you WILL be in London on this Friday and would like to join the flash mob/meet-up at the BBC, please do! It’s going to be a wonderful time. You can find all the info (+ a link to the further details post) HERE. 

This was a great success at our first flash mob, bringing awareness to the flash mob going on, and it's always nice to support those "on the ground" by displaying our ongoing love and belief in The Hour. 

Whether in London or on Twitter, please join us this Friday!

Presenting: SaveTheHour's SECOND Flash Mob / Meet-Up Info Post

SAVETHEHOUR’S SECOND OFFICIAL LONDON FLASHMOB/MEET-UP INFO POST!

FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 - 12:00 p.m. - London

What: Since our first flash mob demonstration was such a resounding success we are going for a second round!  It will again be happening outside BBC Broadcasting House, showing our support for The Hour!

Where: BBC Broadcasting House, located at Portland Place, LONDON, W1A 1AA.

The Plan: Just exactly the same as the last time, we’ll be having a flash mob/meet-up with a special twist a la The Hour! Rather than a song or dance, we’re going to be re-creating the protest that Hector, Freddie, and Isaac cover for The Hour in the fifth episode of Series One. You can catch a sample of that protest by WATCHING THIS.

Here’s what you’ll need to bring with you if you can:

• A sign or sign(s) for the “protest”. This can be poster board or a sign like the ones in the show. Some possible phrases would be some of the campaign’s most popular, including (but not limited to):

• “You haven’t seen our best yet, BBC! #SAVETHEHOUR”
• “It’s The Hour you can’t miss, The Hour you have to see! #SAVETHEHOUR”
• “The Hour: The most important sixty minutes of television in your week. #SAVETHEHOUR!”

This obviously isn’t an exhaustive list. You can put any variation on these you want, or choose a different quote. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a quote. A “The Hour” variation on one of the signs they used in the Suez protest in the show would be great, or just a simple variation of: #Save The Hour, BBC. Making sure your sign is clear that it refers to The Hour, and putting some variation of #SaveTheHour on your sign large enough to see is VERY important.

• Your best 1950s period dress. If you cosplay that would be amazing as well. (If you feel you don’t have 1950s dress, don’t worry. Please, don’t let that make you feel that you cannot partcipate. Everyone is welcome!)

• Love for The Hour and a readiness for fun with fellow campaigners!

We will spend some time outside BBC Broadcasting House (probably across the street at the church just like last time, as the BBC do not allow protesters on their property).  We will be telling everyone where to meet up at so we can all stay together soon.  It will probably be just like last time or at the church steps, but keep an eye out for specific details on that.

Can’t make it to London?

No worries!  We will also be supporting our Londoners from Twitter just like before, sending out tweets to the likes of RadioTimes, The Guardian, the BBC, etc.  So mark down June 21st at 12:00 p.m.  GMT on your calendars as we support everyone protesting at the BBC!  There will be a post with relevant Twitter handles and more details soon, so watch out for that! 

If you are a fan of The Hour and can be at any of these locations, please join us!  It should be a great time with fellow fans supporting our show.  Thank you all so much who have already responded to tell me you’ll be there!  If you have any comments/questions feel free to let me know at savethehourofficial@gmail.com or at Tumblr/Facebook.

I’m super excited for this second go round.  Such extraordinary, helpful things happened the last time, with tons of promotion.  Let’s show them we’re serious about our cause and that we won’t give up.  Hope to see you guys there! - Ash

Here is a Facebook Event to share with friends!

Detailed Write-Up of SaveTheHour's Flash Mob Demonstration

As previously mentioned, the demonstration at BBC Broadcasting House this past Tuesday was a great success.  Maureen, (justacockeyedoptimist) who was our on-site leader, has written up all the details of the day for us (Thank you Maureen)!  It's a wonderful, encouraging read. I'd urge everyone to have a look! - Ash

Save the Hour Flash Mob, Tuesday May 28, 2013:

(photos courtesy of Maureen)

So if I’m being honest, when I woke up this morning I wasn’t hopeful…the weather was terrible, I was certain no one would turn up, and even if they did, no one would listen to us. How wrong I was! Goes to show that I should never stop believing what Freddie and Bel taught me: if you have a cause you believe in, never stop fighting for it and you can make a difference.

First of all, please enjoy the top photo!!! Anna Freakin’ Chancellor guys…Lix Storm…..was there.

So, I met up with the lovely bunch of girls who joined me outside the Oxford Circus tube station at half eleven, and from there, we walked down Regent’s Street to the BBC. Fairly shortly after getting there and taking some photos next to the BBC signs, we were told that we couldn’t hold demonstrations of any kind on their property, but we were welcome to stand just across the way on the church steps in plain view of everyone entering and exiting the building. The lady speaking to us was also very helpful. We asked if we could go in and speak to anyone, and she went in and tried several avenues/made inquiries for us, but no luck. She did get us another information phone number which we called and were also informed there was no one in the building we could get permission to see. 

So, we decided to start campaigning on the steps. From the get go, we generated a mild interest, with security guards approaching us and asking us about our cause and giving us a very positive response about what a potential difference even our small(ish) actions could make and that they’d be sure to pass on our presence/what we were all about to anyone they encountered inside. Another guy came out and quizzed us for awhile on how we thought BBC reacted to/addressed the needs of hardcore fans (of BBC programming in general) and whether we thought they did enough… 

From there, we got many smiles and shouts of encouragement from various people in BBC lanyards/credentials walking by (as well as many questions about what we were doing from confused tourists). Several people, including BBC employees, asked if they could take our photo to tweet, send to news outlets, etc. (and I guess it worked because check out the Guardian and Digital Spy articles!!). In general, we were met with positivity and well wishes of “good luck” or “love that programme” or “that was quality TV” from various passerby (BBC employees or not). One man asked about where he could sign the petition even! 

One lovely lady passed by and said “Go ladies! Bring back those lovely frocks to our screens.” Turned out that it was Helen Boaden (as another employee following behind her informed us) — the Director of BBC Radio. So, that’s huge that she knows we’re out there and exist. 

And in general, we did seem to get a lot of notice from all of the staff entering and exiting the building for lunch and leaving work (we were there from 12 until 4:30)…so even if we didn’t verbally interact with them, who knows what kind of word of mouth might be generated inside the offices?

And finally, the story of the day. We’re calmly standing around when we notice another lady approaching us (and I assumed it was someone else about to ask us why we were there), and then as she got closer, I did a double take and realized it was Anna Chancellor (we were pretty much bowled over in shock and surprise). She’d been driving past, seen our signs, and pulled her car off to the side of the road near us (which I seriously cannot believe she did…just stopped at the side of the road in the rain and London traffic. How can you not love her forever now?. She asked, “Is this our Hour these signs are about?” very cheerfully, and we were more than happy to assure her yes indeed it was. Then, she asked if she could take a photo of us with her phone so she could text it to the rest of the cast!!!! Obviously, we obliged! So theoretically, now Romola, Dominic, Peter, and the rest know about us now too (not just Ben, Lisa, and Oona). She was just beaming and lovely the whole time — it was clear she was very pleased to see us out there on behalf of this programme. We asked if we could take a picture with her to share with the online campaign, which we briefly explained to her (and she confirmed she’d heard rumors of its existence). Yeah, so basically Lix Storm helped out at our flash mob today for a brief second and that alone makes it so worth it.

But to top it off, we then got some great media coverage from Radio Times, The Guardian, and Digital Spy (which also linked the petition)! Check out the links Ash has already shared! So, this is the most media coverage we’ve gotten in one go to date! 

So, in summation, basically, today just reminded us that “it’s not impossible when it’s possible” and that just maybe BBC, The Hour is possible, it’s possible with you…

Articles about the SaveTheHour Flash Mob Today

As mentioned in the flash mob update, we made the Guardian and Digital Spy!

DigitalSpy:  'The Hour' fans protest series axe 

at BBC Broadcasting House

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

The Guardian:  BBC faces polite protests as The Hour's time runs out

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Great work, all!

SaveTheHour Flash Mob in London and on Twitter a Success!

Both in London and on Twitter the flash mob was a success!  Look out for full details on the BBC Broadcasting House flash mob later coming from our flash mob leader in London, Maureen, but for now we first have to say THANK YOU to these amazing ladies -

(edrear)

who braved the elements for #SaveTheHour today, because they are brilliant and wonderful and amazing supporters of this campaign and The Hour.

At the same time those of us who sadly couldn't be there took to Twitter to support them from abroad, tweeting the BBC and various news outlets such as RadioTimes and DigitalSpy to let them know what was going on.  Because of the support of everyone who took part we gained quite a bit of notice!  Highlights included:

• Encouragement from BBC employees & an Exec!
• Articles and Twitter promotion from the RadioTimes, the Guardian, and Digital Spy
• Encouragement from Lisa Greenwood (Sissy Cooper) & Kevin Sargent (Composer, Series Two)
• AN IN PERSON VISIT FROM ANNA CHANCELLOR (Lix Storm).  

Yes, that last one did happen!  As I mentioned, Maureen has more details to come on all the goings on in London, but for now I think it's safe to say once again that things have went AMAZING in London and on Twitter and it's all thanks to the support from all of you who took part (especially those who went to BBC Broadcasting House).  None of this could be done without each and every one of you.  You all were needed and everyone stepped up to the task (and had a wonderful time while doing so!).  Let's hope this is another reason for the BBC to consider finishing this engaging and intelligent series that has captured us all.

I say it a lot, but THANK YOU.  Thank you for taking part and being the best, most intelligent, passionate fans.  I'm proud to stand beside you in this campaign!   - Ash

Final Reminder: STH Flash Mob/Meet-Up and Twitter Flash Mob Tomorrow!

FINAL REMINDER: SAVE THE HOUR'S FLASH MOB IS HAPPENING TOMORROW, MAY 28TH AT 12 P.M. IN LONDON AND ON TWITTER (12 P.M. GMT)!  

You can find all the details in our previous posts here (twitter), here (London Flash Mob/Meet-Up), & here (further details for the London meet-up).  

If you're able to make it to one of these, please come on out and help us show we're not giving up on this brilliant piece of television and the conclusion it deserves!

SaveTheHour's Twitter Flash Mob to Support the Flash Mob in London on Tuesday

CAN'T BE AT THE FLASH MOB?  JOIN US AT #SAVETHEHOUR'S VIRTUAL FLASH MOB ON TWITTER!

TUESDAY, MAY 28TH STARTING AT 12 PM GMT

This is a fandom online flash mob on Twitter with a three-fold purpose: 

• 1) To promote the flash mob to the BBC, news outlets, and Kudos TV that will be going on in London at the same time we are tweeting.
• 2) To get the #savethehour tag trending.
• 3) To allow us campaigners who can't be at the flash mob meet-up to not only support those who will be going to the BBC and Kudos on that day, but to party together on Twitter!

The flash mob meet-up participants will be at BBC Broadcasting House on May 28th at 12 p.m. protesting 1950s style to raise awareness for #SaveTheHour.

Just this month Peter Capaldi and Romola Garai made their interest in a one-off special to finish up the show known, so we need this campaign MORE THAN EVER. It's the perfect timing to let the BBC know that neither the cast, nor the fans have given up on this show! While our fellow campaigners are at the BBC promoting #SaveTheHour, we will be on Twitter filling the tag we our love, dedication, and most importantly promotion for our cause.

Our main goal here is that while the flash mob participants are on location, we will simultaneously be tweeting the BBC, Kudos, and news outlets like mad about the flash mob, #SaveTheHour, and our wish for the one-off to become a viable possibility. #SaveTheHour will be a flash mob on all fronts as it were - in the physical and virtual worlds. That's why it's SO IMPORTANT that we're tweeting as the physical flash mob is going on - if somebody sees our campaigners out and takes note of our hashtag, they will log on to find ongoing support happening on Twitter as well.

Once the flash mobbers are done at the BBC (they might even go in and say 'Hi!'), they will be heading to Kudos if possible to tell them about the flash mob and to let them know we're still trying to get the show finished, for the fans, for the actors, and for the story.

This Twitter flash mob has a more specific purpose than our previous ones. Here's what we need to do:

At 12 pm GMT we need all of our campaigners and any fan of the show to send out tweets to @bbcpress, @KudosTV, and news outlets (a list is following) about the flash mob and/or a wish to see a one-off episode. What you write in the body of the tweet is up to you, but remember to use these three tags in your tweets:

- #SaveTheHour
- #STHflashmob
- #TheHourOneOff

It's super important that all your tweets are addressed to these Twitter accounts with the accompanying hashtags. The point of this isn't as much to trend (though it is of course a secondary thing we're going for) as to show "The Powers That Be" that we're a strong presence, and they won't know that if we're not directing our tweets to them.

I know this gathering is earlier than our previous ones (for some it might be quite early), but it's important that we're tweeting at the same time the flash mob is going on at the physical locations. I'll be awake with bells on! You can convert 12 pm GMT to your time zone here: TIME ZONE CONVERTER

Here is the list of people to Tweet:

• @bbcpress (This seems to be the only active BBC account?)
• @KudosTV
• @BBCAmerica
• @BBCEntsTeam

News Outlets:
• @DigitalSpy
• @RadioTimes
• There are so many more, but these two are the ones who consistently run the stories on The Hour, and it might be best to focus our tweeting on these four specifically. That way more tweets will go to each one.
  
  Sample Tweets:
• @_____________ #savethehour for the fans, the actors, and the story! #TheHouroneoff #STHflashmob
• @_____________ Romola and Peter want a one-off and so do we! #TheHouroneoff #savethehour #STHflashmob
• @_____________ Flash mob happening right now at BBC Broadcasting House and on Twitter to #saveTheHour #STHflashmob #TheHouroneoff
• These are very generic (and may be over 140 char., I didn't check), but you get the general idea. I put all the Twitter handles there as well, but you can obviously send separate ones, all four do not have to be in your tweet. (Also, your tweets can be much more creative than the samples. LOL).
  
  Our virtual flash mob has no end time, so please send out tweets for as long as you can! It goes without saying that the more tweets we have the better (volume and awareness is the point of a flash mob after all ;) ) so everyone please consider sending out some tweets on Tuesday!
  
  Even if you haven't helped us campaign before, it's never too late to start. We would LOVE to have you join us. If you don't have a twitter it's easy to sign up and easy to use, so please come and party with us (no chocolate cake though, Freddie's rules) as we flood the internets with support for a show with the most supportive, wonderful, intelligent cast and fans.
  
  If you WILL be in London on this Tuesday and would like to join the flash mob/meet-up at the BBC, please do! It's going to be a wonderful time. You can find all the info (+ a link to the further details post) HERE. Also, remember to send our organizer Maureen (justacockeyedoptimist) an ask to let her know you'll be there.