transferred to checking account to write a check to US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. They produce stuff like this. https://publicinterestnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Deere-In-The-Headlights-II.pdf A lot of their educational materials come in very handy when people ask why Right to Repair is a problem. I talk a lot about these issues on my youtube channel in a way that many people find engaging - but there are many people who would prefer to read this type of cited report with pictures/lists of issues. I work closely with Nathan Proctor at USPIRG - he was one of the few who was consistently showing up at hearings and providing fact based, convincing testimony as someone who understood the issues that ail people working in repair.

This was a transfer to the checking account to be able to pay a bill to beacon research. ONLINE DOMESTIC WIRE TRANSFER VIA: ROCKLAND TRUST/011304478 A/C: BEACON RESEARCH BOSTON MA 02108 US REF: FROM REPAIR PRESERVATION GROUP/BNF/FOR BEACON RESEARCH IMAD: 0823B1QGC06C002458 TRN: 3033441235ES 08/23 is how this shows up in the checking account spreadsheet.

This one was admittedly a fail. so tl;dr - initially, I wanted to do a ballot initiative because this won in Massachusetts without having to go through the aggravation of dealing with corrupt politicians. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umqM01cMWZg&pp=ygUUcm9zc21hbm5ncm91cCBoZXJvZXM%3D

I found the people who did it and spoke with them - Brian Hickey Associates. They ran the ballot initiative that won 74/25 for question 1 in MA in 2020. They had said doing a ballot initiative would cost about 20-25 million, but a scrappy run could be done for $6,000,000. This is when I started the gofundme to try to get 6 million. At this point, I wasn't sure if I would raise it, but I decided to do what was suggested along the way under the assumption that I was going to succeed.

One of the things suggested was to get a lay of the land by figuring out what average people think when they hear the propaganda by manufacturers, and us refuting the propaganda. How did people of different backgrounds, economic standing, race, gender, political views, etc, react to the arguments from each side? What did they know about independent repair vs. authorized repair? What were their preconceived notions? This was something we paid about 80k for in total, a very detailed poll & focus group. I was somewhat skeptical of doing this but figured since they won 74/25 might as well listen to them and go for it; they pushed for me to use this firm, and to do it their way.

Well, here's where it gets fun - I learned AFTERWARDS that you cannot do a ballot initiative without starting a ballot committee first - meaning that all the money the 501c4 rose(separate org) could not be used for a ballot initiative in MA. I would've never done a ballot initiative since I didn't raise even 1/6 of my stated goal, but... at this point, I went back and called brian hickey associates and asked, if I can't use any of the money I am fundraising for a ballot initiative, and you knew I was doing this fundraising, why didn't you tell me, knowing that I was doing this with the intention of hiring you guys to do a ballot initiative? What I heard, to paraphrase, was, "we didn't think you'd raise much anyway, what you raised would just cover basic costs to get started"

.......

I’m speechless at this point. I felt like throwing up and dying. Forget about the focus group for a sec – what if I actually DID raise the 6 million? I wouldn’t be able to use it for its stated purpose?

That focus group and poll didn’t go to waste – it was able to be used when crafting educational documents into the future, and when addressing the general public. It was helpful to know what we should be saying to get our message across, vs. what we were saying that was falling on deaf ears, and they did do a very good job of this spanning a wide group of people, on a wide degree of arguments & counter arguments, and produced amazing reports.

But yeah this was worth maybe $10k max, paying $80k for it was absolute dumbassery and only a path I was open to going down because this came out of a billionaire’s $1,000,000 donation & it was done under the advice of a firm that already won right to repair for another industry. https://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Question_1,_%22Right_to_Repair_Law%22_Vehicle_Data_Access_Requirement_Initiative_(2020) I was doing what I was advised to do by people with far more experience, but when they turned out to not even be able to advise me on proper fundraising methods I realized this was not the path to go down.

Looking back on the past 3 years of expenditures, I would put spending $80k on a poll & focus group as prep for an educational campaign at the top of the list of things I should be tarred & feathered for.