One year ago, Kyle McDonald, a 26-year-old blogger from Montreal set out to barter one red paper clip for something and that thing for something else, over and over again until he had a house.
On Wednesday the quest is ending as envisioned: MacDonald is due to become the proud owner of a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot home provided by the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan.
It began when MacDonald, an aspiring writer, doer of odd jobs and apartment dweller, advertised in the barter section of the Craigslist Web site that he wanted something bigger or better for one red paper clip. He traded it for a fish-shaped pen, and posted on Craigslist again and again.
His adventure became an Internet blockbuster. He did Canadian and Japanese TV and "Good Morning America." He made dozens of local radio appearances — one of which, in Los Angeles, was heard by a man who ended up as a pivotal figure.
Hip to the publicity-generating machine that is Kyle MacDonald, Corbin Bernsen contacted him to say he was writing and directing a movie and would offer a paid speaking role as an item available for trade.
All this delighted the elders in Kipling, a town of 1,140 believed to have been named in honor of author Rudyard Kipling. Quickly the town purchased an unoccupied rental house on Main Street and offered it to MacDonald.
The town also pledged to put a giant red paper clip at a highway rest stop and hold an "American Idol"-style competition for the movie role.
Bernsen says that if the right person emerges in the talent show, he'd be willing to cast him or her as a lead. "Maybe a career is going to get started. Maybe it's going to be huge. Maybe that's the magic of Kyle."
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13804920/?GT1=8307
On Wednesday the quest is ending as envisioned: MacDonald is due to become the proud owner of a three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot home provided by the town of Kipling, Saskatchewan.
It began when MacDonald, an aspiring writer, doer of odd jobs and apartment dweller, advertised in the barter section of the Craigslist Web site that he wanted something bigger or better for one red paper clip. He traded it for a fish-shaped pen, and posted on Craigslist again and again.
His adventure became an Internet blockbuster. He did Canadian and Japanese TV and "Good Morning America." He made dozens of local radio appearances — one of which, in Los Angeles, was heard by a man who ended up as a pivotal figure.
Hip to the publicity-generating machine that is Kyle MacDonald, Corbin Bernsen contacted him to say he was writing and directing a movie and would offer a paid speaking role as an item available for trade.
All this delighted the elders in Kipling, a town of 1,140 believed to have been named in honor of author Rudyard Kipling. Quickly the town purchased an unoccupied rental house on Main Street and offered it to MacDonald.
The town also pledged to put a giant red paper clip at a highway rest stop and hold an "American Idol"-style competition for the movie role.
Bernsen says that if the right person emerges in the talent show, he'd be willing to cast him or her as a lead. "Maybe a career is going to get started. Maybe it's going to be huge. Maybe that's the magic of Kyle."
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13804920/?GT1=8307
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