Sharpie Face and Little Hank: The Project for Awesome's Aftermath

2011-12-19 · letter vlog · John · 3:01 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Nerdfighteria) · mode: Announcements · tags: calendar ritual, fundraising ask, self promotion, community lore, punishment or challenge

John reports the results of the 2011 Project for Awesome: $75,000 raised for the Foundation to Decrease World Suck in 48 hours and over $100,000 with other projects, plus its challenges (Hank's childhood photo, John's Sharpie face); he adds Tour de Nerdfighting and TFIOS updates.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:03 — Tired after P4A; the numbers: $75,000 for the Foundation to Decrease World Suck via direct donations and DFTBA.com sales (Hanklerfishes, zombie story); Alex Day's Forever Yours remixes

★★★ In the last 48 hours the Foundation to Decrease World Suck raised $75,000. — 00:00:03 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Project for Awesome, world suck
★★ The money came from direct donations at ProjectForAwesome.com and from DFTBA.com purchases such as Hank's Hanklerfishes and John's new zombie apocalypse story, a sequel to Zombicorns. — 00:00:03 · Project for Awesome, DFTBA Records, Hanklerfish
★★ Alex Day is donating the proceeds from remixes of his song Forever Yours to charity, which John says will come to $15,000. — 00:00:03

00:00:43 — $15,000 from the remixes; other projects (iJustine's wells, Rosie for the Stroke Association); over $100,000 in all; still donate; P4A's reach in videos, views, tweets and comments

★★ John tells viewers to get Forever Yours and its remixes, with links in the doobly-doo. — 00:00:43
★★ Other P4A projects also succeeded, such as iJustine's project to get wells built in the developing world and Rosie raising money for the Stroke Association. — 00:00:43 · Project for Awesome
★★★ Added up, the Project for Awesome raised more than $100,000. — 00:00:43 · Project for Awesome
★★★ Viewers can still donate at projectforawesome.com, or by buying John's new zombie apocalypse story, for the next two days. — 00:00:43 · Project for Awesome
★★ The Project for Awesome generated thousands of videos about charities, millions of views, tens of thousands of tweets and hundreds of thousands of comments. — 00:00:43 · Project for Awesome

00:01:13 — P4A challenges: remixes of Hank's eight-year-old photo; John's Sharpie face and the doorbell; most fun since 2007; the community decides the fund's distribution

★★ To fulfil a P4A challenge Hank released a picture of himself as an eight-year-old, which Nerdfighteria began to remix; John shows and loves the remixes. (playful) — 00:01:13 · Nerdfighteria, Project for Awesome
★★ John's P4A highlight: he covered his face in Sharpie when donations reached $50,000, then someone rang his doorbell and he panicked and hid. (playful) — 00:01:13 · Sharpie Face, Project for Awesome
★★ John says this was the most fun he has had at the Project for Awesome since 2007. — 00:01:13 · Project for Awesome
★★ The foundation will distribute the money according to how the community decided it should be distributed; more in the coming weeks. — 00:01:13 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Nerdfighteria

00:01:56 — Tour de Nerdfighting updates: five cities sold out, tickets elsewhere; the tour van and Hank's small billing

★★★ Tour de Nerdfighting updates are in the doobly-doo: shows in Vancouver, Boston, New York, Portland and Raleigh are sold out, but tickets remain in many cities. — 00:01:56 · Tour de Nerdfighting, New York City
★ John shows the tour van and thanks his publisher Penguin for giving Hank hilariously small billing on it. (playful) — 00:01:56 · Penguin Books, Tour de Nerdfighting

00:02:25 — TFIOS out in three weeks; crossword clues for the tour program; playlist of ten favourite P4A videos; praise for Hank's Haiti well video; sign-off

★★★ The Fault in Our Stars comes out in three weeks; John is trying not to freak out and not succeeding. — 00:02:25 · The Fault in Our Stars
★ John has to go write crossword clues for a puzzle in the Tour de Nerdfighting program, to give people something to do in line. — 00:02:25 · Tour de Nerdfighting
★★ John made a playlist of ten of his favourite Project for Awesome videos, watchable by clicking on his head. — 00:02:25 · Project for Awesome
★★ John calls Hank's P4A video about the well Nerdfighteria built in Haiti amazing; it reminded him how lucky they are to be in the Nerdfighter community and he is to be Hank's brother. — 00:02:25 · Savann Tabak well, Nerdfighteria, Project for Awesome

In the description and comments

★★ John's new zombie apocalypse story is called The War for Banks Island; it is unfinished and, unlike Zombicorns, will not be released under a Creative Commons licence, so only people who buy it will get to read it. — video description
★★ John hopes to finish The War for Banks Island around January 20th. (hedged) — video description

Humor (significant)

John opens the post-P4A Monday video exhausted. — 00:00:03

“I was using Singamajigs as a pillow.”
John covered his face in Sharpie for P4A; right after, someone rang his doorbell and he panicked. — 00:01:13

“I'm not trying to be the guy in the neighborhood with the Sharpie face, so I just hid.”
John shows the Tour de Nerdfighting van, where Hank's name is printed much smaller. — 00:01:56

“Hank, I'd like to thank my publisher, Penguin, for giving you such a hilariously small billing.”

Threads in this video

outcome · P4A 2011 edition — John reports P4A 2011 results: $75,000 for the Foundation to Decrease World Suck in 48 hours, over $100,000 with other projects, thousands of videos and millions of views. (00:00:03)
result reported · Hank asks viewers to donate to the P4A 2011 Fund at projectforawesome.com or fightworldsuck.org (2011) — John reports people donated directly at ProjectForAwesome.com and through DFTBA.com purchases. (00:00:03)
asked · John asks viewers to buy Alex Day's Forever Yours remixes for charity (P4A 2011) — John tells viewers to get Forever Yours and the remixes, whose proceeds Alex Day donates to charity. (00:00:43)
reminder · Hank asks viewers to donate to the P4A 2011 Fund at projectforawesome.com or fightworldsuck.org (2011) — John says viewers can still donate at projectforawesome.com, or by buying his new zombie apocalypse story, for two more days. (00:00:43)
result reported · Hank asks viewers to make, curate and promote P4A 2011 videos on December 17-18 (2011) — John reports the Project for Awesome generated thousands of videos about charities, millions of views, tens of thousands of tweets and hundreds of thousands of comments. (00:00:43)
performed · Hank: release a picture of himself as an eight-year-old, a P4A 2011 challenge — John reports Hank released a picture of himself aged eight to fulfil a P4A challenge; Nerdfighters remixed it. (00:01:13)
performed · John: cover his face in Sharpie when P4A 2011 donations reach $50,000 — John covered his face in Sharpie when P4A donations reached $50,000. (00:01:13)
first use · John's Sharpie Face: answering questions with Sharpie drawn on his face (2012) — John's P4A highlight: covering his face in Sharpie at $50,000, then hiding when someone rang his doorbell; 'Sharpie Face' is the title bit. (00:01:13)
result reported · Hank asks viewers to vote at projectforawesome.com for the charities of P4A 2011 videos they like (2011) — John says the foundation will distribute the money according to how the community decided it should be distributed, with more in the coming weeks. (00:01:13)
milestone · Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 edition — John reports the Tour de Nerdfighting shows in Vancouver, Boston, New York, Portland and Raleigh are sold out. (00:01:56)
reminder · John points viewers to the doobly-doo for Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 tickets (2011) — John points viewers to tour updates in the doobly-doo; tickets remain in lots of cities. (00:01:56)
asked · John points viewers to his playlist of ten favourite P4A 2011 videos (2011) — John points viewers to his playlist of ten favourite P4A videos by clicking on his head. (00:02:25)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Hank asks viewers to make, curate and promote P4A 2011 videos on December 17-18 (2011) — reported back; last: thanks, 2012-03-13
Hank asks viewers to donate to the P4A 2011 Fund at projectforawesome.com or fightworldsuck.org (2011) — reported back; last: reminder, 2011-12-21
Hank asks viewers to vote at projectforawesome.com for the charities of P4A 2011 videos they like (2011) — reported back; last: result reported, 2012-03-13
John's Sharpie Face: answering questions with Sharpie drawn on his face (2012) — running joke (last seen 2026); last: variation, 2026-02-14
P4A 2011 edition — completed; last: looked back, 2012-12-11
Tour de Nerdfighting 2012 edition — completed; last: looked back, 2024-11-13

Mentioned

Central: Foundation to Decrease World Suck · Project for Awesome · Tour de Nerdfighting

Also: People: iJustine · Rosie

Projects: DFTBA Records · Savann Tabak well

Works: Forever Yours · Hanklerfish · John's new zombie apocalypse story · The Fault in Our Stars · Zombicorns

Organizations: Penguin Books · Stroke Association

Rituals: P4A challenges

Terms: Sharpie Face

Places: Boston · New York City · Portland, Oregon · Raleigh, North Carolina · Vancouver

Products: Singamajigs

Only in the description or credits: Alex Day · Creative Commons · Eff Yeah Nerdfighters · Karen Kavett · Sam Rudge · The War for Banks Island

Replies to

answers · We Built a Well in Haiti — “your Project for Awesome video about the well that Nerdfighteria built in Haiti was pretty... amazing”

← Previous: We Built a Well in Haiti · Next → 2011 Presidential Anagrams!!