• When we first started this project, our goal was simply to see just how far we could take this incredible picture.
• Next, was the desire to set a New World Record. How cool would that be? To do something that no one else IN THE ENTIRE WORLD had ever done before.
• Our children: Time goes so fast and I found myself missing out because I was always working. Although this project is very time intensive, the entire family is very excited about it and it has drawn us even closer together because it is something that we are doing together.
• As we began developing this project, almost everyone that looked at it became excited and anxious to get involved. There were, however, those select few that laughed at us and told us it couldn't be done. As usual, if you tell me I can't do something, it makes me want to do it even more. In all honesty, it was probably the initial few negative people that gave me the most drive. Now, most of those negative people have changed their minds and started to support us as we continued to develop this project. At this point, it is the overwhelming excitement all across the United States that continues to motivate us.
• Finally, this project turned from being just a World Record Attempt into a project that will have a positive, unifying impact all across the nation. We want people to understand that you don't have to be in a "position of power" to start making changes in your community. All it takes is the courage to stand for something, no matter what other people say, and the determination to see it through.

• You can be part of something bigger than yourself and have a chance at becoming a World Record Holder just by sponsoring a pixel. Our record will be over 43 times the current record and will likely last a very long time. Once we have reached our goal, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you have done something that 6.7 billion other people on the earth haven't done.
  
• You can publically honor someone for something they have done or remember a loved one who has passed away just by sponsoring a pixel in their name.
• If you let your child's school know about our fundraising program, their school can get a share of up to $3.8 million just for helping to promote our project.
• You can earn great rewards for yourself including mp3 players, digital cameras, trips for you and your family to Florida to participate in the official unveiling of the completed project, and even tickets on G Force One, which is an airplane owned by Zero G, where you can experience weightless flight like the astronauts on the space shuttle.
• Our project will use over 6,650 pieces of 4' x 8' plywood during its construction. Once we have reached our goal and our project has been certified as a new world record, all 6,650 pieces of plywood will then be used by various organizations to build houses for fellow Americans.
  
• Finally, we have the "you did what?" challenge which is intended to have an impact on people all across the nation.

When we initially planned this project, we weren’t sure of the current world record, but knew we wanted to make it big for the “wow factor”.  We did some calculations and research and determined that the current size, which would be almost 5 full acres in size, was enormous, but still manageable in terms of building and displaying.

A few weeks after we sent in an application for a world record attempt, we were notified that the current record was created by Institut Municipal of Cultura & Elche Council in Elche, Spain on October 31, 2006 and measured 4,878.62 ft².  When our project has been completed, it will be 213,333 ft² and beat the current record by over 43 times.

So why keep it so big now that we know?  When I was in high school over 22 years ago, I was part of a relay team that set a school record back in Michigan.  As of my 20 year class reunion a couple years ago, that record still stands and whenever I see my name on that board, it brings back a lot of great memories.

If you have ever been acknowledged for an achievement or a record, you know what I mean.  If you never have, here’s your chance to become a record holder too.  Why so big?  Because in 20 years, I want to be able to tell my grandchildren that I was part of a great team that set a new world record and no one has been able to beat us yet!!  In baseball, everyone gets all crazy and excited about a home run record being beaten by one or two home runs.  How excited would people be if someone beat it by over 43 times like we are???

No one has ever even attempted what we are doing.  It’s like starting down a path that has never been traveled before.  You know the general direction and maybe even where that path ends, but you don’t know how long it will take you to get there.
Here’s what we do know: 

• We have already done a significant amount of the preparation for the project.  We have the original picture digitally divided up into its individual 4 inch pixels… all 1.92 million of them. This information is stored in 320,000 individual images just waiting to be printed out on photographic paper.
• Once about 50% of the pixels have been sponsored, we will begin the actual construction process which basically entails printing out 320,000 individual “pictures” while still keeping them in the correct order.  Then we must affix each of those pictures to over 6,650 individual pieces of 4’ x 8’ plywood.
• “Construction” will be performed in a warehouse one piece of plywood at a time and 48 large pictures will be placed on each piece of plywood in the appropriate order. Next, the plywood will be placed into 50 stacks with each stack containing roughly 133 pieces of plywood.
• If you estimate 15 minutes to arrange, align, and affix all 48 pictures to a single piece of plywood, it will take about 1662 hours to complete the work.  To put that into perspective, that is 41.5 forty hour work weeks!!!!  I estimate we currently have the capacity to construct the project in a 6 month period, but if sponsorship is very fast, we can increase the work force and will be limited only by how fast we can get the building supplies.
• When we hit about 75% sponsorship, we will begin selecting a date for the actual display of the completed project.  Our display date will be restricted to the calmer parts of the year with the least chance of rain here in Florida, which is typically somewhere between October and May.

Here’s the only variable we really can’t estimate:

• How long will it take us to get the pixel sponsors we need?  This is where the team and the power of the internet come in.  When we first began talking to other people about our project, they began visiting our temporary web site.  They thought it was interesting, so they told their friends, and so on.  Within the first couple months, our temporary site was visited by people from 21 states and 6 different countries without any formal advertising. If our early success is any indication, this project has the potential to “take the nation by storm”. 
• In theory, if 10 people show up and sponsor only 1 pixel each and then let 10 other people know about our site who all do the same thing the following day, and then the process repeats every day, all of the available pixels would be sponsored in less than 7 days.  Only time will tell what reality has in store for this project.

The display location hasn’t actually been finalized yet since we don’t know exactly when the project will be completed, but it will be in Florida.  I have already been in contact with some potential sites, including one of the world’s leading technology institutions here in Florida, but we really need to have more of an idea about actual display date before we can begin any formal arrangements.

We will require a minimum of 5 flat acres without any obstacles, and would prefer pavement as it would make the plywood alignment much easier.  If you or your organization has a suitable piece of property in south or central Florida and would like to be considered for the display site of the World Record Breaking Photo Mosaic, please e-mail us at display_site@powerfulpixel.com.

In the unlikely event that we are unable to find a suitable 5 acre location, we will decrease the size of our project by ½.  We will simply make our pixels 2 inches instead of 4 inches.  We will still have the same total number of pixels, but they will be smaller.  We will still break the record, but not by as much as initially intended.  A project this size will fit into any baseball stadium or even on my son’s soccer field, so it gives us many more options.

For all you “technical people”, here’s how all the math works.

• The original digital picture was cropped to an image that was 1200 pixels across by 1600 pixels down for a total of 1,920,000 individual pixels. (1200 x 1600)
• For our project, each pixel will be a 4 inch square of color.  The final project  will have the following dimensions:
• Width:  4 inch/pixel x 1200 pixels = 4800 inches
• 4800 inches x 1 foot/12 inches = 400 feet
• Length: 4 inch/pixel x 1600 pixels = 6400 inches
  • 6400 inches x 1 foot/12 inches = 533.33 feet
• Total Area: 400 ft x 533.33 ft = 213,332 square feet
• Current World Record is 4,878 square feet.
• Our project will be (213,332/4,878) 43.73 times larger
• Pieces of plywood needed.  We will be laying out the plywood length wise on the ground (i.e., 8 feet across by 4 feet down).
• 400 ft across@ 8ft/plywood  = 50 pieces across
• 533ft down @ 4 ft/plywood = 133.25 pieces down
• 50 across x 133 down = 6,650 full 4’ x 8’ pieces
• Number of Pixels per sheet of plywood.
• Plywood is 96” across/4” pixels = 24 pixels across
• Plywood is 48” down/4” pixels = 12 pixels down
• Total Pixels/Plywood: 24 across x 12 down = 288
• Number of Pixels per Photographic 8” x 12”print:
• 8” across/4” pixels = 2 pixels across
• 12” down/4” pixels = 3 pixels across
• Total Pixels/Photo Print: 2 across x 3 down = 6
• Number of Photo Prints per sheet of Plywood:
• 288 pixels/Plywood x 1 photo/6 pixels = 48 photos
• Total Photos required to complete project:
• 1,920,000 total pixels  x 1 photo/6 pixels = 320,000
• Current World Record contains 60,828 individual pictures
• Our project will have (320,000/60,828) 5.26 times more

This isn’t really an option for us.  If you’ve looked around the site at all, you may have noticed we have put a considerable amount of thought, planning, preparation, and time into this project.  We have not entered into this lightly and take our commitment to this project, as well as those who are joining us on this journey, very seriously.  We will continue to press on until we reach our final goal.

Having said that… what if?  As we all know, there are things that are beyond our control, so we will address those here:

• What if we become incapacitated, develop a health issue, or a family emergency?  A considerable amount of time has been spent developing a web site that is automated and self sufficient with regard to sponsoring pixels, so that continues with or without us.  The only real issue is the actual construction of the project.  Almost all the details have been worked out prior to launch, so the only real thing to do is follow the specific plan we have laid out and completely documented for the actual construction.  If we are unable to carry on, the corporation would hire someone to complete the task.
• What if we don’t sponsor all the pixels?  With all the attention and excitement this project has generated already, we don’t think that will be an issue, but only time will tell.  If sponsorship slows down, we will use every means possible to try generating additional activity.  If we are unable to generate additional interest in sponsorship, one of two things will happen depending on how many pixels have been sponsored.
  • If we have reached at least 50% sponsorship, we will begin construction and make arrangements to display the project.  The 50% level will still break the world record, it just won’t be as large as we had planned.
  • If we are less than 50% sponsorship and unable to generate additional interest in sponsorship, we will freeze the web site so no further pixel sponsorships are allowed.  Next we will determine what reward levels the individuals and schools have attained at the time the project was place on hold and settle all those accounts. We will continue to maintain the website for at least 5 years with all pixel sponsors names still viewable.  If there becomes overwhelming, national interest in this project again, we may, at our option, consider restarting the project where it was stopped and completing the project.

As with almost everything in this project, getting your school involved is actually very simple and can be done in just a few steps.

• First, go to the schools page by clicking on the “schools” tab to the right.  Next do a search to see if your school is already listed.
• If it is, contact your school administrator.
• If it isn’t, you can print out a flyer that explains the project from the schools page; Now just give that flyer to your school teachers, principal, or administrator.
• If your administrator wants to use our project as a unique fundraiser, they can simply click on the “school's contact information” tab to send us an e-mail.
• Once we receive that e-mail, we will personally call the school’s contact person to verify all information.  Once we have the information verified, we will e-mail a private link so the school can register and create an account.
• From this single account, the school will be able to track the activity of their students, see how many pixels have been sponsored, how much money has been earned, what bonus level has been achieved already, and how many more pixel sponsors are needed for the next bonus level.
• The last thing the school needs to do is print out a flyer from their account and send it home with the kids in the school.  This flyer explains the fundraising project to the parents and also contains the school's unique referral code so their activity can be tracked.
• The rest is up to the students.  A parent helps to set up a free account for their child and includes the school’s referral code during the account creation.
• That action does several things:
• It creates a new unique referral code for the student which tracks not only the student's activity (for individual rewards), but also links that activity to the school's account so the school also gets credit for any activity generated by the student.
• It creates a unique fundraising flyer with the student and school name printed on it, along with the student's referral code.  This flyer is in the student's account so they can print off the flier whenever they want.
• Now, the student and/or parents just hand out the fliers to people they know.  If someone sponsors a pixel and includes your referral code, both the student and the school get credit for the referral.

Besides the obvious funds that can be generated as part of the fund raising program, what else can schools get out of this project?

Be creative.  There is a lot of “real life” stuff going on here and a number of things can be used in the classroom.  For example:

• One of the most fundamental parts of this project is simply the math and calculations.  Kids always ask, “Why do I need to learn this stuff?  When am I ever going to use this again?”  If we didn’t learn the basic math and reasoning skills we learned in elementary and Jr. High, we would not have been able to calculate where the space shuttle would show up in the sky so we could get the picture in the first place.  Without the basic math skills, you could just forget about trying to organize the rest of this project.
• Photography.  Although we have never personally had any instruction in photography, there are obviously things that could be taught about time exposure photos, arrangement, and composition.  Due to the limited resolution available on computer screens, the photo is not as impressive as the real picture on glossy photo paper, but never the less, it still looks pretty good.  To see the real thing, you can always get a photo at a discount if you buy one at the same time you sponsor a pixel.
• Computer/World Wide Web.  This is so much a part of life now that this project just demonstrates real life application.
• Business.  Good business doesn’t just happen (usually).  You must have an idea, and then take the time to develop a plan that ensures success.
• Personal and community responsibility.  How does this project teach responsibility?  Take a look at our “you did what?” challenge, and then put it into action in your community.
• History.  Join us on this quest and you can become a part of history.

Simply click on the “log in” at the right on the top menu.  On the next page, click on “register” to create a free account.  During this step, be sure to enter the referral code if you were referred by someone.  If you came to the site without a specific referral, just leave the referral box blank.

Now, if you want to be part of the World Record Attempt, sponsor a pixel and that’s it.  You can sponsor more than 1 pixel and give some away as unique gifts, or you could give some away to honor or memorialize someone.

If you want to see the incredible photo in person, you can get a discount on your photo if you buy it at the same time you sponsor a pixel.

Now, just tell other people about the project and you can begin earning credits and rewards when the people you refer begin sponsoring pixels.

No you don’t.  With 1.92 million pixels, it would be almost impossible to get the correct pixels to the correct sponsors.  What you are actually doing is sponsoring a pixel and not actually buying it. 

In return for sponsoring a pixel, you will get a certificate of authenticity which lists the sponsor’s name (your name unless you give it to someone else), a small image of the original picture, as well as the specific pixel number you have sponsored.

If you have ever seen a walkway at a school or church with people’s names on the brick, our project is somewhat similar.  Those people sponsored a brick in the walkway, but they don’t actually get the brick.  They just helped to build the walkway. 

There are no refunds.  Once you sponsor and pay for a pixel, that specific pixel is no longer available to anyone else for sponsorship and will be used in the final construction.

Referrals are defined as “the directing of one person (B)  to our project by another person (A) which then results in the sponsorship of at least one pixel by the newly directed person (B).”

In order to sponsor a pixel, each sponsor must first create an account which generates a unique referral code for that sponsor and that is how we track referrals.  Now if that person “refers” another person to our site, the first person gets credit for the referral and the total pixels sponsored by the newly referred person.

Some important points to remember:

• Self referrals are not permitted.  You do not get credit for the pixels that you personally sponsor since that is not a true referral.  By doing this, we hope to prevent people from “buying” the next higher reward level.  For example, if you are only 8 pixels away from the next reward level, you can’t just sponsor 8 more pixels yourself.  You must continue to promote the project and find other people willing to sponsor a total of 8 more pixels.  This is the purpose of the Referral Reward program… to get as many people across the United States involved as possible, not just to sponsor all the pixels.
• You only get credit for the referrals that you are directly responsible for.  The Reward Program was set up to give the biggest rewards to those that put forth the most effort and are the most successful at helping to personally promote this project.
  • For example, if Jack refer Sally to the project and Sally personally sponsors a total of 10 pixels, Jack get credit for those 10 pixels because of his direct referral.
  • Now if Sally refers Kim to our project and Kim now personally sponsors 25 pixels, Jack DOES NOT get credit for those pixels because he wasn’t directly responsible for the referral.  Sally gets credit for the 25 pixels because she personally made the referral to Kim and was responsible for us getting closer to our ultimate goal.
  • To simplify things, if you want to earn referral credits and rewards, you should refer everyone you know as soon as possible before someone else gets to them first.

No.  This is not an advertisement site.  There are plenty of other web sites out there that let you buy pixels on their web sites to advertise, but we aren’t one of them.  Our goal isn’t to generate advertising money; it is focused more on the accomplishment of creating a world record while at the same time invoking positive change in our communities and country.

Your company may still be able to be listed on our web site though, but there’s a catch.  Our “you did what?” challenge is open to everyone, including companies.  All you need to do is have your company organize and/or participate in an activity that reaches out to other people.  If you do this and send us any press releases to verify your involvement, we would consider including you on the forum.

Rewards will be determined based on your current reward level when the final available pixel has been sponsored.  At that time, all the participants that have earned rewards will be notified via e-mail of their status and will receive instruction on how to redeem their reward.

Some of the larger rewards will have paperwork that must be completed prior to disbursement of the reward.  Those individuals that have earned a reward that includes travel will be required to sign release forms prior to travel.

Very Important: It is very important to keep the e-mail address in your account up to date because if we are unable to reach you and you do not respond to your e-mail notifications of reward qualification within 30 days after the final pixel has been sponsored, your reward will be forfeited.