Stretch not Cruise
Challenging times right now, as they often seem to be, and I'm going to break with a self-imposed rule I set a while ago and start talking (or indeed writing) a bit more openly about the ups and downs of getting an expedition like SOUTH off the ground. I've never seen anyone do this before, and probably for a good reason - the small clique of people like me who make a good living from expeditions tend to be pretty cagey about what they're doing next, and exactly how they're funding it. It's not the easiest time to be raising money right now, but I'm going to play my cards a little further from my chest, as it were.
I make no bones about the fact that my expeditions are paid for by corporate sponsorship. I started out with no money of my own, and my first North Pole expedition, in 2001, landed me in £35k ($69k) of personal debt that took years to pay off, so it's been a steep learning curve, and one I'm still grappling with. Last year was an interesting milestone - I did more speaking than ever before, and made more money than ever before. I felt secure and safe; grown-up. I started reading about investments and mortgages and bought a big flat shiny TV. Thought about getting a dog. Yet for the first time since 2001, there was no big expedition that year.
This year things feel different - edgy again. There's been one huge expedition already. Life is hurtling along, deadlines are towering over a horizon that races ever closer and debtors are looming large in the rear-view mirror. It all feels rather out of control, which I've come to learn is probably a good thing. A sign that I'm stretching and not cruising as Ridgway would put it.
There's a lot going on in the sponsorship department right now, and an important phone call with Ernst & Young's global head of marketing at 8am tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes…
Cinematic Orchestra 'To Build a Home' - Live At The Barbican
{ Filed under Inspiration and motivation, SOUTH on Monday, July 7th, 2008. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. }
Ben Saunders is the youngest person to ski solo to the North Pole and holds the record for the longest solo Arctic journey by a Briton.
Mark Kalch wrote:
Hi Ben,
It's a hell of a feeling isn't it? The uncertainty, the adrenalin, the edge. The exact same feelings encountered when you will be out on the ice. Nice to start early! Regards, Mark
July 8 2008 · 2:54 pm
Fearghal wrote:
Best of luck with your phone call.
We're also riding the sponsorship rollercoaster ourselves at the moment, though the amount that we're looking for would probably only pay for your sledge. Its still a new and challenging experience for us all the same. One that sometimes make me wish I was more of a salesman; words like synergy and branding aren't rolling off the tongue as freely as they probably should be. Words like economic downturn, contractionary budgeting etc, are also not our friends right now.
So, its good to get an insight into the workings of a pro, I look forward to reading more about the sponsorship process, and your expedition preparations.
July 10 2008 · 11:16 pm
Simon Jones wrote:
Hope the call went well mate.
July 11 2008 · 3:48 am
Edo wrote:
Greetings Ben,
It has been great to hear you and read about you today on TED.com and here. Loved hearing your wisper on the wind, sorry to hear about your grandmother.
You didn't mention how the nutrition packet you developed worked out on your north pole expidition. Are you tweaking it for the south pole? Have you tried pulsing different nurtirents and rewards to increase vitality and interest or are you sticking with a static formulae?
Just out of curiosity, how much does it cost to feed you for a day? It could be fun to have individuals web sponsor portions of your expidition for a day.
For example:
Wednesday November 5th,
food sponsored by Sara Jane,
Skis by Natique
etc.
Do you have a graphical map for you expition that shows your planned rout and your actual blogged in coordinates? It would be great to check in and see how your map is updated for that day in additon to how you are fareing.
Wishing you the best.
Edo
July 11 2008 · 2:16 pm
Sean Chapple wrote:
But that's part of why we usually out perform others when we get on the ice. After months of preparation when that aircraft leaves us and we stand on the edge of the ice in the some of the most isolated places on earth the feeling is amazing.
All the worries, setbacks and stress of fundraising (and it always is the fund raising!) are worth it. And when our journeys begin and the back breaking hauling starts and the cold penetrates through to our core we think 'I have worked bloody hard to get here and given so much of my own time to start this journey, I'm not gving up'.
I wonder, if the money came too easy would the passion and drive still burn as fierce inside.
You'll get there - you always do!
July 16 2008 · 11:32 pm