A just plane silly idea

[Quinch]

I don't know if it's possible, or if air traffic laws would prohibit it but;

Do you know those banner planes used for advertising stuff or events? Would it be possible to hire one with a "#savecoh", "Save City of Heroes" or a similar banner to make a few passes above the NCsoft West {or heck, NCsoft HQ} building?

[Victoria Victrix]

I checked Seoul.  There is no company doing airplane advertising in Seoul or the vicinity.  Given their proximity to North Korea I expect they are at tad touchy about things in their airspace.

Could certainly fund one for NCSoft West but I am not sure what good it would do unless you knew for certain there were important people there at the time.  Min Kim of Nexon, for instance.

[Atlantea]

Yeah - agreed with VV.

Also, take this from someone who understands light aircraft and has worked in and around them to some degree. The weather has more effect than you might think, especially when you're towing something behind the plane. And consider that the NCSoft West corporate offices are in Seattle.

Where it rains.

A LOT.

Good luck getting an open window of time where the Important personages are there - looking out of the building - on a sunny day - in Seattle...

Ah... NO. Likely not worth it.

[emu265]

I like the idea, but Atlantea's right when it comes to Seattle.  A sunny day in Seattle... in November...  that alone probably wouldn't even happen.

[dwturducken]

Ok. "Plane." I just got that. 

[Quinch]

Gotcha. It was worth a shot.

[Quinch]

By the way, although the weather issue probably sinks the original idea anyway, I should probably explain what the goal was in the first place, in case there's anything that can be salvaged from it.

The first thing to point out is that the message isn't for NCsoft itself - or rather, the message being delivered is not the same as the one on the banner. We don't need to tell NCsoft how we feel - by this point, they're very well aware. The banner itself would be for the surrounding onlookers - and because it's flashy, it would have that much better chance of being picked up by the news, in addition to people looking up "savecoh" hashtag on Twitter or googling it. The location is important as well, with a symbolic value - the fact that someone came to your proverbial doorstep to deliver a message of displeasure, yet being completely out of your reach or influence, is going to carry a much greater impact than simply reading about it on the internet.

[omegaultima]

Honestly, I'd be all for it, if all the kinks and issues could be resolved.

[marquandDance]

Maybe we could launch 1000s of branded balloons or paper planes instead.  It would look neat, is newsworthy and captures the attention of the general public.

[omegaultima]

Maybe we could launch 1000s of branded balloons or paper planes instead.  It would look neat, is newsworthy and captures the attention of the general public.

paper airplanes wouldn't really have as much range as we might prefer; balloons, however, would hold some promise.  it would depend on what kind of release method you're talking about though.  Do you mean just releasing normal air-filled balloons from the air, or releasing helium balloons from the ground?  Also, would they have relevant info included somehow, like on a string?

[marquandDance]

paper airplanes wouldn't really have as much range as we might prefer; balloons, however, would hold some promise.  it would depend on what kind of release method you're talking about though.  Do you mean just releasing normal air-filled balloons from the air, or releasing helium balloons from the ground?  Also, would they have relevant info included somehow, like on a string?

Bear in mind I'm just fleshing the idea out and don't have any experience releasing balloons or planes beyond a Primary school project almost 30 years ago.  If anyone has any experience with this sort of thing, hopefully they can provide some useful advice.

I think balloons would work best but for different reasons.  They are more durable, spend more time in the air, have greater visibility, and can be more easily purchased with a message of our choosing on them (that's where the relevant info could go).  As for releasing them, my gut says a mid air release would have more impact, but a ground release of helium balloons might be more practical.  So ideally, a ground release of branded helium balloons near-ish the NCHQ, or at least from a single location is what I would suggest if the idea were to go further.

[JWBullfrog]

And we don't dare try the baloon idea in Seoul. The North Koreans recently threatened war over a democracy group doing something similar with propaganda.
 
We might dislike NC Soft, but the other 99.99999999% of South Korea has never done me any harm.

[omegaultima]

And we don't dare try the baloon idea in Seoul. The North Koreans recently threatened war over a democracy group doing something similar with propaganda.
 
We might dislike NC Soft, but the other 99.99999999% of South Korea has never done me any harm.

well, yeah, but to do that we'd have to go to Seoul first, which may not be possible for a lot of people.  But what about near the more accessible NCSoft offices in the west?

[Kheprera]

And releasing a bunch of anything is trashy.  Balloons don't degrade well and harm the environnent, and paper... :/

Skywriting may be an option?  No banner to make/buy, and might be easier.

[Victoria Victrix]

And releasing a bunch of anything is trashy.  Balloons don't degrade well and harm the environnent, and paper... :/

Skywriting may be an option?  No banner to make/buy, and might be easier.

The airplane banner companies generally make their own banners; you just rent them, like you would rent a billboard.  That's why the banners generally all like pretty much the same; letters on a mesh background.