Mass Commmunity Endurance Run Charity Streamathon?

I've been playing with streaming software for a few days now and finally ran my first live stream last night. It got me thinking about the recent fundraiser done by the speedrun community, and my own enjoyment of Giant Bomb's own Endurance Runs. So much awesome! Then this crazy scheme popped into my head, and I'll share it with you.

This community is full of tech-savvy, hilarious, talented people who love video games. Most of us also dig the ER collections here. Most of us are also capable of talking. And most of us would at least acknowledge that stuff likes the EFF and Child's Play are worthwhile causes. So why don't we combine these things, set some date, and take pledges/donations for what I'll label an Endurance Run Charity Stream-a-Thon?

Seriously, asking the Bomb Squad to ER *insert original PlayStation JRPG title here* is a waste of energy, but what's to stop us from doing it? We could run endurance streams of Final Fantasy IX, Suikoden II, Revelations: Persona, and Star Ocean II (because we're monsters) with a responsible adult manning a charity tip jar. Madness! Who'd ever consent to coordinate such a thing?

Well, I would. I'd be willing to help ringlead this madness, and keep things on the up and up. I'd need help at some points and it would be a learning experience, but I'm naive enough to volunteer.

Thoughts?

Phil Kollar from Polygon (link) did something similar for the Boston One fund. I watched a bit and donated some money, so its a good idea. People always seem to be begging for an endurance run so might as well put it to a good cause. They left the game choice up to the player which made for some entertaining antics. There was a block of Sailor Moon games that was crazy to watch. I don't do any streaming myself, but I would definitely tune in and be willing to donate to a good cause. I'm sure the folks in Oklahoma need help.

Might work? Not all of us are that good with speaking on camera and being entertaining, but I'm sure there are enough users here to make it work.

@djou said:

That's actually a really good starting point for a thing. I'm going to send a feeler out to the American Red Cross to see what they've got in terms of widgets and support for a donation drive.

@video_game_king Absolutely the case. While having some natural talent for entertaining people is a plus, I think a lot of what makes for good content is people sharing stuff they're excited or passionate about. I am not some expert streamer (I spent about ninety minutes shitting the bed before I got a good hour of content) but the games I plan on playing are games I enjoy, and Twitch makes it pretty easy for people to find streams of a given game. In theory, a community charity stream fest should have enough options to put people who like title X into a channel where title X is being played. Good vibes! Hippie crap! Yes!

That actually sounds AWESOME. I've got a bit of experience on camera and have done some radio stuff and such, and I spent a good week getting a good streaming set-up in place, but I've done nothing with it since. Having a GOOD reason in place to do a run-through of some random game I love sounds like both a fantastic motivator, and like a fun community thing as well. I for one would be all the way in if such a thing were organised.

@jukezypoo: Rad sauce! I've got a wildly limited amount of experience in front of cameras, but I've done a few hundred hours of college radio and ran a podcast for a while. What's your Twitch handle, and do you know anybody else who'd be interested in this?

@jeffrud: This is actually a really cool idea! I love the speedrun community stuff and the marathons are a blast to watch. I've been messing with streaming a lot too so this sounds like something I can get behind!

I asume you've seen events like AGDQ?

@jeffrud:Sounds cool, sign me up I like to stream stuff.

@chavtheworld: Sweetness! I've watched pieces of AGDQ, and am consistently blown away by the people on those streams. It's like wrestling or Buddhist monastic traditions, where there's a lineage of people who will have mastered Castlevania I and III. Being good at games is one thing, but that sort of focus? Balls.

I actually got into streaming/recording video recently for a series for the UC Davis newspaper's website, so I guess I'll throw my name in there as someone who's interested. I'm always in favor of cool community projects, especially if they benefit charities.

@jeffrud: Yeah I really love the thing they got going there. Maybe something similar with GiantBomb duders over a shorter (weekend) schedule could be really cool (and obviously less speed :P )!

Misread as "Buddhist wrestling traditions"

Made my day.