About The Project
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The Problem In 2006, over 800,000 reports of missing persons were filed with the FBI's National Crime Information Center. Most missing persons cases are closed when the missing person is located or identified, however there were over 110,000 cases still active in 2006. About half were children. 10% were 18-20 years old, and the rest were adults. source: FBI NCIC Missing Person File, 2006 A Solution Music has always been a potent force for bringing attention to social issues and telling stories. The emergence of the Internet presents totally new possibilities for reaching people, delivering a unique experience and calling them to action. The project is based on an online music video player that has been customized to detect the user's location and shows information and images of missing persons from or presumed to be near the viewer. For example, a viewer in California will see missing persons from California. Someone in Florida (or India or Ireland), though, would see a completely different set of images. The project is planned to initially launch in the United States, but will be developed with international expansion in mind. Objectives Find the Missing The player will dynamically tailor a slideshow of missing persons from or presumed to be near the viewer. We'll make it easy for viewers to report a sighting by presenting contact information for the relevant investigative agency. Sign people up for Wireless Amber Alerts Additionally, we'll make it easy for people to sign up for Wireless Amber Alerts from both the MissingSong.com website as well as the player itself. During live performances, we'll give instructions how people can sign up right then, on their cell phones. Make it easy to share The player will be embeddable, meaning people will be able to add it to their websites, blogs, social network profiles (like Myspace, Facebook, etc.). We'll also give the viewer a list of local radio stations to request the song and encourage bookmarking on sites like Digg, Reddit, blogs and other web-centric aggregators. Benefit families of the missing 100% of the profits from the sale of the song will be donated to organizations supporting families of the missing. |