Pitching from McCovey Cove

I answered my phone this morning and the voice on the other end said, simply and directly:

“Tom says you can’t advertise your site in McCovey Cove without permission from the National Baseball League or whatever!”

It was my mom, and Tom is my cousin’s husband. They’re probably right, but I’m gonna try it anyway. As I explained to my mom, “It’s called ‘Guerrilla Marketing'.”

The following is how I ended up typing this on a flight from Minneapolis to San Francisco carrying a 96’ x 30’ vinyl banner that reads, simply and directly… well, here’s what it looks like…



Several weeks back during the early stages of FanChatter.com I was sitting in a planning meeting at Slantwise Design when one of the guys said:

“Where’s the All Star Game this year? San Francisco? We should rent a boat and wave a FanChatter banner in McCovey Cove during the Home Run Derby or something.”

I can’t remember who had the idea, all I know is that I instantly loved it. You see, the Slantwise guys are building the FanChatter site and my job is to promote it, and what better way to promote a mobile sports fan chat network than to get some “free” name exposure on ESPN... all while demonstrating the site's functionality by chattering live about one of the great sports fan experiences?

More than any other time in the seven-year history of that oft-renamed Ballpark by the Bay, the Home Run Derby is sure to induce a flurry of home run balls (and TV cameras following those home run balls) destined for drink beyond the right field bleachers.

A big enough sign on a boat would surely be visible each time a bomb landed among the ball chasers, right? All I needed was a sign, a boat, and a friend who could paddle.

For the sign, I went on the recommendation of my trusted graphic designer (and almost brother-in-law) Cody and hired the pros at FastSigns in downtown Minneapolis. Amy helped me troubleshoot the construction of it and we ended up with a two-sided, double-layered vinyl banner sewn together on the top and sides with the lower end open. Cost: $460

We sized it according to the length of a kayak paddle (230 cm, according to my sources) so that a paddle could be placed inside the sign’s pocket-like structure to act as a supporting spine. The other idea is to insert the flat end of a paddle into each corner of the sign, enabling the elevation of the sign as high as the length of the paddles (again, 230 cm). For this to work, I needed a two-man boat with two paddles…

A little online research easily led me to City Kayak, the only kayak rental place located within a 10-minute paddle from McCovey Cove. Dot-com bubble alum Ken Choi saw an opportunity when the ballpark opened (the only other rental places were miles away in Palo Alto and Berkeley) and as you can probably imagine, he’s completely booked out for Monday. Cost for a day’s rental of a two-man kayak plus two paddles plus two wetsuits/pairs of booties: approx $150-170

Note: Not wanting to be away from my wife and baby daughter more than two nights and knowing the lesser likelihood of one or more bombs into the Bay during Tuesday’s All Star Game, I decided to target the Home Run Derby only for my stunt. Had I gone for both, I probably would have bought an inflatable boat rather than rented for two nights, but there’s no guarantee I would have been let back into the Bay with my sign on the second night, either.

Lastly, I needed a partner in... um, crime (or was it marketing). My fraternity brother Damon, resident of San Francisco, not only answered the call (despite his fear of hypothermia), but he’s letting me stay at his place as well. Nice Bro. Cost: Priceless (plus beer and probably a sushi dinner)

Assorted other supplies like a dry bag ($17) for my digital camera (borrowed) and clear duct tape (around $4) for whatever and some beef jerky and energy bars for sustenance (about $25) rounded out my Minnesota prep. I’ll buy waters when I get there and I’m going to borrow Damon’s box cutter (couldn’t pack that in the carry-on).

A shout out goes to my dad for wisely suggesting that I bring our old collapsible/bendable tent poles, veterans of many a trip to the Boundary Waters (where I honed my paddling expertise… in canoes), as additional supports for the sign if needed. Thanks Dad.

And props to my mom for gifting me the miles I needed to secure my free flight. I hope I'll make her proud even though I didn't get permission from the league office.

The laptop battery is failing, and that’s the plan. We may get shut down. We may not appear on camera. We may very well freeze. But no matter what happens, whether we make it onto ESPN or not, and we will make it onto ESPN…

Like I told Damon, come what may, save the ($460) sign.