Fan Campaigns, Again.

I'M QUOTED TODAY in an article Kate Taylor has written in the Globe and Mail about the Save JPOD campaign that's currently underway. It's mostly because of my canonical Guide to Save Our Show Campaigns, which seems to turn up on this or that fangroup every few days now.

With the advent of e-mail and now the rise of Facebook and on-line petitions, they have become deceptively easy to wage, lulling fans into false confidence about their numbers.

"Back in the days of Star Trek, people had to write letters. There were flyers, they went to conventions, they had phone trees," said Denis McGrath, a Canadian screenwriter who blogs about television. "Nowadays, it's easier, but it is also more myopic.... They are only talking to people who have drunk the Kool-Aid."

He advises outraged fans to reach out beyond their narrow on-line constituency and to write polite letters explaining why they liked the show, trying to highlight their demographic desirability as viewers. Better yet, they should write advertisers telling them they saw the ads and even tried the products. Angry letters insulting network programmers, deconstructing the ratings and criticizing replacement shows are less effective, and mountains of stuff only get the mailroom mad at you, he believes.

"I worked on a vampire show," he said, referring to Blood Ties, a Canadian series now in limbo with its American broadcaster after two seasons, "and all I could think was somebody is going to start sending blood through the mail and that will be the end of it."

The Blood Ties crack that I made was relying on an old joke I've made for months - and was in advance of me hearing about this campaign, via Tanya Huff's site.

BLOOD TIES FANS RECYCLE FOR SIGHT

As spring cleaning gets under way, Blood Ties Fans are asking people to look through dresser drawers and closets for used eyeglasses and donate them to the Lions Recycle For Sight program.

During the month of May, the Blood Ties Fans Give Back Lions Club Drive will be collecting used prescription eyeglasses and prescription and non-prescription sunglasses as part of a unique recycling program. The collected glasses will be cleaned and prepared for distribution in developing countries where eye care is often unaffordable and inaccessible.

“We need everyone to donate their used eyeglasses,” said Candy Burke, spokesperson for the Blood Ties Drive. “In most developing countries, an eye exam can cost as much as one month’s wages and a single eye doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people.”

The drive is an International effort with fans participating from all over the world. The donated glasses will be shipped to Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers where they will be cleaned, categorized by prescription and prepared for distribution by Lions and other groups.

To donate used glasses, including sunglasses and reading glasses, pledge online at http://www.youchoose.net/campaign/blood_

ties_fans_give_back_to_save_blood_ties or email SaveBT@gmail.com.For more information you can visit www.btfgb.wordpress.com.

Now THAT is smart, people. (The main character on BT, Vicki Nelson, wears glasses and suffers from a degenerative eye disease.) THAT is a wonderful campaign - tied into the show, progressive, and helpful to the larger community.

So kudos to the vampire fans!