ROCK THE VOTE ANNOUNCES ROAD TRIP 2012

Rock the Vote announced today that it will once again hit the road with ‘Road Trip 2012,’ a bus tour designed to fully maximize voter registration, education, and engagement efforts as young people face an onslaught of regressive voting restrictions in states across the country. Celebrated street artist Mr. Brainwash designed the inspired tour bus exterior (photo above). Each tour stop will feature exciting talent, speakers, and celebrity hosts—including Jack Johnson, Motion City Soundtrack, Tabi Bonney and Asher Roth just to name a few. The first leg will kicked off in Tampa, FL on August 28th around the Republican National Convention before the bus winds its way to Charlotte, NC for the Democratic National Convention, and then across the South and East Coast wrapping at Penn State on September 19th with a performance by Jack Johnson, who said, “By voting, the youth has the power to shape the world they want. If you like to rock and if you like having the right to vote, come out and help us Rock The Vote on September 19th”. Jack will be joined at this date with special performances by G. Love and ALO.

Since its founding 21 years ago, Rock the Vote has become the largest nonpartisan registration organization in the country, registering over 2.2 million individuals to vote in 2008 alone. Some of the incredible talent that performed during Road Trip ’08 included TV On The Radio, Beastie Boys, Santigold, Ben Harper, Jack Black, and Sheryl Crow. In 2012, Rock the Vote has teamed up with experiential marketing agency BMF Media Group for event production to bring this election to young people and find more ways for them to engage, get registered, and speak out about why they are participating in the election this year.

The Road Trip 2012 tour bus will be fully equipped with laptop kiosks to enable voter registration and educate users about the election process. The kiosks will provide information about voter ID requirements, polling locations, and much more. Each of the Road Trip 2012 bus stops will bring together Rock the Vote street teams, partner organizations, artists, and celebrities to raise the visibility of the upcoming election and get young people registered to vote and excited to participate.

At a time when new state voting restrictions threaten the ability of young and first-time voters to cast a ballot this November, Rock the Vote’s Road Trip 2012 will help the organization reach its ambitious goal of registering 1.5 million voters and fueling increased youth turnout.

“Politicians understand just how powerful the youth vote can be,” said Rock the Vote President Heather Smith. “Rock the Vote’s Road Trip 2012 is an integral part of our national campaign to register and fuel the engagement of millions of young voters this fall. By bringing together the latest technology and some of the best artists out there, this road trip will ensure that young people nationwide have the information they need to make their voices heard in this election.”

On site at each stop, the Road Trip 2012 will leverage popular culture – from new technologies to gaming, music, and film – to reach and engage potential new voters. Twonky’s activation will feature Beaming Stations where visitors will be able to interact with the innovative Twonky Beam app to wirelessly and immediately “Beam” content, as well as a video confessional booth where celebs and attendees will be recording one-minute videos sharing their thoughts on the upcoming election. The Assassin’s Creed III lounge will attract crowds with exclusive previews and exciting giveaways for the most anticipated video game of the year. Assassin’s Creed III will be in stores on October 30th. SOUL by Ludacris Headphones will host a “Silent Disco” tent with headphone listening stations— dancing encouraged! A stop by the Music Choice tent will give participants the chance to cast their vote on SWRV TV- the first and only 24/7 interactive music video network that users control via iPad stations. Students will also be able to catch a glimpse of its latest channel MCU via plasma TV’s and grab some swag— including free SWRV app download cards, election themed buttons and t-shirts. Participant Media’s tent will be an oasis where visitors can catch trailers from their upcoming film “Middle of Nowhere” and grab postcards with information on election protection efforts.

The upcoming dates and cities for The Road Trip ’12:

DATE EVENT LOCATION

9/10 University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA

9/13 TBD Washington, DC

9/14 Rutgers New Brunswick, NJ

9/18 Villanova Radnor Township, PA

9/19 Penn State University Park, PA