Sponsorships!

Well, as you well know, all non-profits exist on the generosity of others. Right now, Higher Orbits biggest project is Mission Discovery. I am very excited that we have so many Mission Discovery events scheduled for this summer.

As you may know, one of the very unique things about Mission Discovery is that out of each event/camp (call it whatever you prefer) we will pick the best experiment to be launched into space to the International Space Station! I certainly wish I could've done something like that when I was that age!

www.mission-discovery.info

Obviously you don't have to be a rocket scientist (sorry couldn't resist!) to recognize that launching something into space doesn't happen without cost.

So with that in mind...

Higher Orbits is working to find some sponsorships for our 2014 summer Mission Discovery programs. There are a variety of ways that this can be done and I'd be happy to discuss any and all options with anyone who is interested. Please don't think that any amount of sponsorship is too little from a company. Every dollar helps! Likewise, we are also looking for individual donations that we will pool to fund scholarships for deserving students to attend Mission Discovery at the various locations. Here's a blog that tells you more about how you can make a donation.
http://higherorbits.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-great-umbrella-not-quite-what-you.html

Corporate Sponsor? Here's a list of sponsorship opportunities and the benefits that go with them!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tfmqhhfonybmoed/AABLiZwVs2VnZ0gLXhrl9PMJa

Please consider helping in any way you can... our next generation of Scientists, Engineers, Mathematicians and Leaders are counting on you!

                                                        .....and please spread the word! :)

I Introduce To You....

Cue the trumpets..... Or maybe a drumroll... Confetti Cannons perhaps?

Anyway - give me some pomp and circumstance in your mind as you get ready to read this next bit because I am SUPER excited about it....

It's is my great honor to introduce you to a new Non-Profit Organization that will use space to get students of all ages interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math....
I give you.....

Higher Orbits

I had many many many great suggestions from folks about names and many that I liked but I chose Higher Orbits for a wide variety of reasons some of which include the fact that some names that were suggested or I liked were already taken or Trademarked, some of the names ended up being a great acronym but a mouthful to explain (Ken reminded me how much it drives me crazy to have to spell out ISSET all the time), some names appealed to some of the demographic I need to target but not others etc etc. Bottom line is I was lucky to have so many great suggestions from so many great folks so...

THANK YOU! GRACIAS! MERCI! DANKE! SPASIBO! ARRIGATO! MAHAL! XIE XIE!

Thank you all for being so wonderful and helping me with suggestions or taking my surveys to see what names you like or just being a sounding board when I started rambling about my ideas. Thank you so very much. I appreciate it more than words can express.

I would be remiss to not give an extra special Thank You shout-out to a very special gal who does marketing and branding for a living and was so enthusiastic in her help with finalizing the name. A HUGE Thank you to Lisa Witzig from Ideen LLC. I can whole heartedly endorse that if you need some help with marketing branding, naming etc. Lisa absolutely should be your go-to-gal! Check out her webpage at http://www.ideen-llc.com

I still have a lot of work to do.....

• Lots of paperwork to get my official IRS non-profit status (I won't bore you with the details but the basics is there's a general legal part to becoming a non-profit and then there's the IRS side... the IRS side apparently takes ages... but I'm ready to get to work on that!)
• Logo - Luckily I have some amazingly talents friends who have given me some great ideas and now I just have to decide what exactly I want to have represent Higher Orbits for all entirety (no pressure to make the "right" choice or anything!)
• Website! I've secured the domain and put a lame Coming Soon page but will be working on getting that really functional soon! Bookmark www.higherorbits.org to check back there periodically
• Fundraising! I have some amazing ideas of ways to fundraise to provide scholarships to individuals for events like Mission Discovery and I can't wait to get started on those. I know how life changing it was for me when I received a scholarship to go to Space Camp so I can't wait to return that "favor" to some students!
• And much much more but I'll stop rambling for now :)

I will still be doing all the same work with ISSET but now Higher Orbits will become a partner to ISSET and Higher Orbits will have additional things outside of ISSET as well. (Yeah I wasn't busy enough you know how all I do is sit around and watch TV and eat bon bons. LOL!)

For now you can start following Higher Orbits on Twitter if you want @HigherOrbits

And you may have noticed this is a separate blog than my personal blog - this will be a Higher Orbits official blog so perhaps sign-up to follow this blog too :)

And I promise to keep you all posted as things progress..... as you might be able to tell I am REALLY REALLY excited!!! 

Here's to Higher Orbits!!!