Bring your rally signs, posters and a great big smile for our second Wave, Smile and Honk for Obama on April 21st! See the Honk for Obama group site for pictures and blog posts from our last event. We made the national campaign blog last time, and also our local news. What a great visibility event for recruiting new members! (Be sure to have your next meeting time and place planned in case a reporter stops to write a story.) The more cities that participate, the more likely we are to generate positive press for Obama, so be sure to blog your participation on the Honk for Obama site. If you have any questions, just ask, or email the Honk for Obama coordinator Valli Frausto to get directions for how to set up, create and advertise successful events. You only need 3-4 people, some homemade posters and possibly a couple of rally signs. This is a heap more fun than you'd imagine, I promise! (just look at our happy faces)
So get out there and make some waves (pun intended) for Barack Obama on April 21st!
We are one of the "most-advanced" and wealthiest nations in the world. We are also the world's biggest consumers. Despite our technology, wealth, and use of natural resources, we have done little to address the huge impact we're having on our environment. There is absolutely no excuse that in spite of our huge wealth, we spend only a tiny fraction of a percentage of our tax income dollars on science and research to safeguard our environment for the future of mankind. Our current situation is nothing compared to what our grandchildren will have to face if we don't take action now. We cannot assume that science and technology will save us, especially when we drastically underfund the research that would make possible our continued existence on this earth. We need to make changes in our culture and our lifestyles; as well as increase funding for all science, especially environmental research. It is our responsibility as good citizens of the world; as caring parents & grandparents, and as custodians of the earth.
We can address these issues by electing a leader who is aware of the absolute requirement for our country to invest in science and technology in order to remain competitive as well as to restore and live in harmony with our environment.
We could also address this issue by directly requesting that more of our tax dollars be allocated to scientific research, by being more active and vocal with our state and federal representatives and senators. We can donate our own money to many research foundations that focus on anything from Alzheimer's disease to Nuclear power.
We could petition to have a box added to our income tax return asking if we want to allocate money toward research (we have the option to donate to the presidential campaign fund - which is more important?).
Perhaps Americans should have more say overall in how our tax dollars are spent. While many are not educated enough to make those decisions, I'm rarely impressed (with one notable exception being Senator Obama) with the level of informed decision-making of our politicians overall. Having the ability to participate (at the level of voting on decisions rather than candidates) could inspire more Americans to become more informed.
Bring your rally signs, posters and a great big smile for our second Wave, Smile and Honk for Obama on April 21st! See the Honk for Obama site Link pictures and blog posts from our last event. We made the national campaign blog last time, and also our local news. What a great visibility event for recruiting new members! (Be sure to have your next meeting time and place planned in case a reporter stops to write a story.) The more cities that participate, the more likely we are to generate positive press for Obama, so be sure to blog your participation on the Honk for Obama site. If you have any questions, just ask, or email the Honk for Obama coordinator Valli Frausto to get directions for how to set up, create and advertise successful events. You only need 3-4 people, some homemade posters and possibly a couple of rally signs. This is a heap more fun than you'd imagine, I promise! (just look at our happy faces)
Just a little story from one of MY first experiences in hanging flyers and posters to advertise our community kickoff campaign. I was hitting all the barbershops and salons, daycares, laundromats, schools and the grocery stores that would let me (one put our poster right above their weekly sales flyers!) and I was walking in a pretty rough area. I had learned at a commissioner's meeting the evening prior that the residents had many concerns because the area has a reputation for some crime, a lot of truancy, prostitution and also happens to be a main thoroughfare. I was on my way back to my car, carrying the remaining posters draped over my arm, my purse over the other shoulder, and a older man who was sort of disheveled and missing most of his teeth, pulled his car over toward me and said something that I didn't hear very clearly. I was trying to sort out his words over the noise of the traffic, feeling some excitement that maybe he'd seen my posters and leaning over toward his car to hear him better. Then I looked into his eyes and the grin on his face and realized what he'd said was, "wanna ride?" I quickly straightened myself out, nodded an emphatic "no, thanks!" and hurried toward the safety of my truck. The next wave of thought that hit me was about the meeting the evening before, and the residents discussion about "hookers" hanging out at this particular intersection and on the steps of a church a few doors down. It was then I decided not to wear my leather coat with fur trim any more while hanging posters in the city.
Anyway, there's a point to my story..... We've come to the point in this campaign, where the fantastic staffers and those of us here online have probably exhausted the supply of contributors that can be recruited from online. It's time for ALL OF US to take our efforts out into our communities. I know I'm not the only one getting out there and talking with people, so for those of you who are, blog your stories and experiences of getting out in public, here and on your local pages, so we can spur some forward momentum!
Someone made a comment on a blog in the group administrator's group that this campaign has no room for doubts and concerns; and I wanted share with everyone what I have to say about that.
Quote: "We need to get our walking shoes on and get active within our communities. We can and should report back on our success but by no means should we be blogging about our doubt." You're wrong. I've had my walking shoes on; I've attended commissioner's meetings, spoken to high school classes, worked at community centers, hit the pavement, met business people and formed partnerships, and every day is NOT the perfect dream world you can maintain from behind a PC. Americans are thinking people, and if they haven't read the books (which the majority of the public haven't - believe it or not), they're going to have real questions. GET OUT THERE instead of lecturing me, and you'll know why Barack Obama has told us, "we will experience failure".
There are people who absolutely will not vote for anyone who would allow a woman the right to choose to have an abortion. There are armed forces, medics and support personnel who believe the civilians in Iraq are going to be devastated when we pull out, because they're the ones providing the only medical care. There are many who believe voting for Hillary means they're voting for Bill. There are MANY LOWER INCOME BLACK AMERICANS who cannot believe that an African American could be president, and many more who believe he'll be killed if he is elected. I for one, am getting just a little bit tired of bloggers, internet activists and sit-at-their desk editorialists or positive pundits preaching to the rest of the population on mybarackobama.com that we need to plan to do something, we need to get moving, we need to do this, and do that. Well, guess what? I have, and I want to hear from as many people who are actually GETTING OUT THERE INTO THE COMMUNITIES as possible, because its going to take more stories and real life experiences being told on the blogs to encourage more all of us to actually take that extra step..it can be scary to be the first one speaking or the first one doing what we'd like to see in our heads. And before you get up on a soap box, make sure you know what you're really saying and where you're really coming from or who you're talking to.One more thing, life is not fair. Its an irony that in all likelihood, it is the communities like the one in S. Chicago where Barack started as a community organizer that are probably going to have the most doubts about Barack Obama. They're going to require the most amount of outreach, voter education and just plain encouragement, hope and support to pull through a winning vote for Barack Obama. Here in Ohio (you've heard all the reports, and they're true), one of the biggest challenges will be just getting people to go to the polls after having stood in line for 3-4 hours in the last election and often THEN turned away because they were at the wrong precinct or had inadequate identification or registration. Without the efforts and communication between the people in these communities who do not have internet access, as well as all members of the mybarackobama.com, the campaign is like a blind puppy dog in those communities, wondering along completely lost, and no way to address the concerns, lifestyles and issues for these voters, because they wouldn't know what they are (except actually Barack Obama makes it a point to visit Title XX daycares and small community centers whenever possible). Don't even think that those people aren't important because they don't vote or contribute anyway, because guess what? Out of the residents who attended our community kickoff, 100% contributed to the campaign yesterday, 100% first time contributions, because we got out there and made it possible for another demographic of our society to "own" this campaign.What I'm saying is instead of preaching and editorializing, I'm challenging everyone to get out there and figure out what you can do to take this campaign beyond your computer screen.
Barack Obama and this campaign still need your help. We still need more local parties planned for the March 31st kickoff event. This can be a very simple thing. If you're already planning a small party at your home, please register it, and enter the location name but not address. Encourage your friends to register for your event but its not required. Actually registering your event and getting attendees registered will help the campaign with PR efforts. If you weren't planning a party, please consider doing so. Invite your neighbors and friends, even if they're not very politically active. It doesn't have to be a big to-do. 3-4 friends BBQing on the back porch is great! Party packets AND informational DVDs can still be mailed out in time, and I can make extra copies for anyone who needs one (I have mine already). Best wishes to everyone for a fun and fruitful effort!! Let's get ready to Barack the VOTE!!
To add my own bit to the posts I copied below, this was WAY MORE FUN than I thought it would be. I had serious apprehensions about standing out in public waving signs, but people in the cars driving by were enthusiastic!!! We got MANY toots, honks, waves, shouts, thumbs up, even doggy paws. It was so much fun to be part of the positive excitement about Barack Obama! We had about 10 people participating and covered one street corner where drivers could see us from all four directions. A journalist and press photographer showed up also for the local newspapers, interviewed us and took pictures! We didn't get to hand out too many flyers, although some, just because traffic was moving most of the time. It really was a whole lot of fun, and let's hope this inspires other supporters to join and really get the word about Barack Obama out there!
As we held our Barack Obama signs in the air and waved at people on the streets you could really feel a sense of support for a wonderful candidate. What a fun day it was! The sun even came out to shine on us. New people to meet and share with, and some new people stopped to ask how they could get involved. This was a wonderful experience with new friends. The response from those passing by was fantastic. I hope as time marches on more people will come and join in. My 9 year old had a blast doing this with me. I am so glad to have met all of you and I'm looking forward to seeing you at future events.
Barbara
We began under slightly cloudy skies, yet it seemed our small group of three simply waved the clouds back so the sun could shine! We stood on two corners of the very busy intersection of Brice and Tussing Roads in East Columbus near the Reynoldsburg border. As Tanya, Sheila and I proudly waved our signs and smiled, car passengers immediately took notice, many responding with thumbs up or repeated toots. I could tell by the way that some looked, they had never even seen the name “Obama,” and I was thrilled to be making the introduction! Standing out there was the most important thing I’ve done in this campaign so far -- my Obama bumper sticker never got such exposure!
I must say my only regret was not having more Obama supporters out there waving with us; yet, I also felt that this is the just the beginning of the most meaningful presidential campaign in decades, confident that the number of Obama supporters in East Columbus will grow.
Two cameramen from different media sources came and shot footage for tonight’s news. I was so busy waving, I hardly noticed them across the street. I must say I was impressed that the media took an interest in our small gathering -- like they, too, understand its significance.
What a fun event! We all had our Obama signs and stood on the corner of Morse & Hamilton from 11am to 1pm today! I would say that the response was very positive. We had lots of waves, thumbs up, honks, and a little bit of clapping. There were only a handful of minor negatives, but not enough to put a damper on the day. One man yelled "Vote for an American"; this is a prime example of the ignorance out there that we must overcome. I hope that we have many more of these events in many more areas of the city, and that more of you will join us. The event was sponsored by the Gahanna group, but I came from Galloway and Brian came from Dublin, so the west side was represented! It was great meeting other supporters, and while I was a bit tenative about standing on a corner waving, it REALLY was FUN!
Just a last minute shout out for all participants in Wave & Smile (honk) for Obama!!! Let's make a good showing today; we are expecting local press coverage here in Gahanna, Ohio. Let's make a great start on this visibility event. Everybody stay safe, have fun, and put your Obama t-shirts and posters ON!
Join Barrage, a group utilizing a great organizing tool! Read on for more info and check out the Barrage page for a quick 5-step how-to Barrage model.
Barrage: An Organizing Tool
Who?
Supporters of Senator Obama with the following skills:
What and How?
One-hour meetings at which supporters scour national and local online media sources, including:
Barrage has two essential components:
Join the “Barrage” group on My.BarackObama.com
When and Where?
Why?
To Everyone who is helping with the Linden Recreation Center Community Kickoff Event, Visibility Day or organizing and working in other ways to get this movement rolling here in the Columbus area, I need to relay a personal thank you from Barack Obama. He looks forward to visiting with us when he comes to Columbus.
However, the fact that our activities are getting attention and recognition means that we have to really show the staffers and Senator Obama what this campaign means to us by putting our best efforts forward.
Many of the people who are going to join this campaign via internet access are already here. Now it is up to us to go out into the community and represent the campaign in a positive and energetic manner, to educate people on their misconceptions (my own brother tonight told me he wasn't going to vote for any converted Muslim), and especially to listen and be open-minded. Some examples of representation that EVERYONE can do are: wearing buttons and having just one or two things to say on the issues for why you support Obama; hanging up some of the many flyers; bulletins and brochures that have been drawn up by supporters in the workplace, or your favorite coffee shop or other local meeting places (with permission, of course), attending local events and meetings, and starting new groups in the neighborhoods near you.
Building a vibrant and active group of people is no small task, it requires constant emotional investment, active recruiting (emails AND telephone calls), some financial investment to create the evidence that things can and will be done, and the ability to dive into unknown waters and make those first steps sometimes....a willingness to find out what can be done without always having a certain positive outcome. The thing about all of these, is that, they can be hard sometimes, and require a lot of time (and sometimes the risk of rebuttal or failure), but EVERYONE can do this!
What Barack Obama has to say on failure:
"Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere."
BARACK OBAMA, speech, Jul. 12, 2006
What isn't said here, is that as long as you're willing to try, to risk failure, and to work through it, you can make a difference. We all need to do OUR PERSONAL BEST to make this campaign work if we really want to see Barack Obama elected. So, please, lets all go out there, reach out to others in the community, at our workplaces and in our families and share the energy to care about the future of our country. Make the phone calls, make the connections, send the emails, volunteer your time, and follow thru on those committments.
There are plenty of terrific ideas, projects and events nationwide on how we can reach out to our community. If we EACH take the INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE to accomplish something real, then we can also work together to get things done. We can build this movement from the bottom up, as it was intended.
Jim Robbins sent me a request yesterday, to research issues and bills presented to Congress by Sen. Obama. He made a good case that we can increase Sen. Obama's record and efficiency in Congress by creating petitions to particular Representatives and Senators requesting support for bills that we'd truly like to see passed, and having them signed by constituents who also support the bills (educated approach here, I'm NOT suggesting we rampantly pass every single bill Sen. Obama's office brings forth without thinking).
I took interest in Jim's request and did some research on the current bills sponsored by Sen. Obama in the 110th Congress. I did find one bill I really liked (I only read through the ones on education), and I've summarized some of the details below. Jim wrote me back with a request to find help to get a petition created for this. I was sitting here trying to figure out how to do so (or how to do it myself), when it occurred to me, this is the perfect type of outreach for two groups, our local editorial and writing committees, as well as the media outreach group.
Several members of the Gahanna area group are supporting Linden area residents in planning the Linden Recreation Center Community Kickoff Event, at which we expect attendance of 400-800 people. It would be a perfect time, place, and opportunity to introduce this type of political activism by having a petition ready for signing at the event. Of course, the entire bill would need to be incorporated into the petition, as well as a summary.
I've written a very crude summary below, but it isn't usable for this purpose, as I haven't double-checked the precision. My point is, anyone who is interested in taking on the writing of this petition is welcome to do so. Just see what you think about the legislation itself. I think it would be a huge success.
The bill introduces the STEP UP program. I think is a FANTASTIC idea, and I am 100% behind it. It points out that many children lose skills during summer break, and that this loss is especially rife in low-income and low-performing school districts. Also that teachers on average spend the first two months each year reteaching what was lost over the summer. It further points out that those two months are 2/9 of the budget that is paid for out of our tax dollars. It then goes on to set up an exploratory grant program for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch programs to receive $1600 grants to paid directly to summer studies programs. The program would run through 2012 (the last year the grant amount increases to $1800). It defines summer learning programs and competitive awards and how the money would be distributed (to the most poorly performing districts) if there are more applicants than funds. I think it may also say where the money comes from. I also support this program because it should help decrease the number or at least time that these kids are home alone during the summer, which leads to its own host of ills.
Jim, thank you for focusing my attention to this vital mechanism of political action and responsibilty.
First, for everyone who has volunteered to help, THANK YOU! I'll be sending emails and making phone calls tonight. We can also talk about doing the Hilltop event.
Next, I'd like to hear from residents of the Linden community regarding size and plans for the event. How does everyone feel? Should we plan the biggest event possible in order to get lots of support and activity, and to make sure that everyone personally hears Sen. Obama's talk as well as drum up support for community cleanup and service planned for April 7th? OR, would it be better to plan a small event now and give the residents who attend a chance to sponsor a really big event later (not that another event won't happen anyway, especially closer to the election). Part of the objective of this event is an open discussion. Staffers from the Neighborhood Pride program the city office and the rec center have given lots of pointers on how to attract a big crowd, and we could probably do it, but would that facillitate an open discussion and forum for community activism? Some residents of Columbus neighborhoods have voiced their reservations regarding a large event, as well as enthusiasm for having 100s of people involved, and I really like those thoughts, which I've summarized above, since they lead to a strategy to accomplish the objectives. I'd like to hear from the residents of Linden if possible as well, since there are pros and cons to both sides, as well as suggestions for how to make either size event work well. I'm told there too much work for more than 100 people. What does everyone think?
Hopefully now everyone knows about the community kickoff event planned for March 31st. The theme of the event is HOPE, ACTION, CHANGE. Obviously, one way to contribute to the campaign in a great way for this event is by planning and hosting a party for friends driven by contributions to the campaign. Well, my friends are almost exclusively foreign scientists who don't even have green cards, let alone voter's registration. So in the spirit of HOPE, ACTION and CHANGE, I'd like to instead plan community kickoff events in low income/disadvantaged neigborhoods in the Columbus area. According to insiders in the community development offices, most of these homes do not have internet access. Barack Obama's message delivered directly will hopefully spur new groups popping up in these neighborhoods to support Barack Obama's campaign with the spirit of community service and involvement, especially with continued support. To that effect, I've scheduled a community kickoff event at the Linden Recreation Center on Briarwood Avenue. Dianne Durham is currently working on scheduling a similar event in the southeast quadrant of Columbus proper, and I'd like to work on scheduling one more event in the area of Hilltop or East Broad.
These events, if planned properly and with the right publicity, have the potential to skyrocket; the event at Linden can easily draw 400-700 people.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman is attending a neighborhood cleanup event in the Hilltop area that day. It would be a great way to publicize throughout the city, by inviting Mayor Coleman to speak at one of the locations. He would speak of course to the effect of endorsing a committment to the development of community service initiatives during this campaign rather than endorsing Barack Obama as a political candidate. I've already put in a request for Mayor Coleman to speak per the suggestions of community leaders, and I'm waiting to hear back. Its very good for his image also, so I would expect he will be interested if his schedule permits.
We do not have another Gahanna meeting scheduled prior to this event, and I don't believe Hilliard or the Buckeyes do either. I was just wondering if people are interested in working on this, and forming committees to get it done.
What we need are:
1. A location in the Hilltop/W. Broad area suitable for an event - FREE
2. Someone(or someones) willing to contact all the local neigborhood organizations in that area & business commissions to help publicize and possibly donate printing, snacks, services, etc. In kind donations toward this event would need to be recorded.
3. A press release committee to generate a well-thought out story - Valli has EXCELLENT ideas in this arena and is willing to participate on the committee, but has also taken on responsibility for the Honk for Obama event and wants to focus her efforts there in order to put her absolute best into it. Glennon, would you consider gathering a committee together to craft a release for this?
4. Someone(or someones) willing to get the local schools and youth groups involved. For instance, at the Linden event, we will invite the Linden McKinley Marching Band to perform at 2pm. This is both to attract parents, and to provide community continuity.
5. Organization of all the fine details: printing extra information; registering the event, making sure the proper sound and video equipment are available, setting up and taking down, clean up, finding qualified volunteers to work security detail (depending on crowd size expectations), etc. etc.
The list goes on and on, and this is a huge undertaking. Since this is so much work, I would like to make sure the interest is there to justify starting an undertaking of this magnitude before getting started, meaning we need two or three committed volunteers (in my opinion) for each of the tasks above. I would love to see the Buckeyes or Hilliard group take over this project completely, but realize that people may have already committed to their own parties, which are also just as important, especially since these events stand little chance of actually generating income for the campaign. We would also need to make a committment to continued support and community service. All of these things will need to be done at Linden as well, but I've already gotten a lot of support from that community, and will hope to let them take over as much as possible since the goal is to stimulate interest and the formation of their own Barack Obama group. Volunteers to help both myself and Dianne with her location will also be needed in a big way.
I have no doubt we can all do this together if we put our minds to it. What does everyone think?
A LOT of groups throughout the U.S. have great ideas for things to do, from service days, to marches, to live radio talk shows and more. So now I guess each group needs to kind of assemble a montage of these ideas, and decide which ones they want to jump on board with. I'm going to post a blog within the next few days that contains most of these ideas, and hope we can see each other's feedback on which ones people are most enthused about doing here in the Columbus area.
I think we need to work on getting more groups started up in Columbus. We need groups in Westerville, Bexley, Grove City, New Albany, Worthington, Dublin, Powell, Reynoldsburg (I think Dianne will start this one), and Pickerington. We also need to get Columbus neighborhoods active. These groups need to be started and led by people with great energy and enthusiasm. It would damper everyone else's spirit if someone gets started but drops out after a while. This doesn't have to happen overnight, but by the time the primaries get here, it would be nice if we could count on being active in every neighborhood.
In the meanwhile, we need to work on the Honk for Obama event. If we're to make this a big event, we need to create events at new locations and get people signed up for them. We also need to work on doing media releases, on getting the absolute best wording for these ads and announcements . We need an energetic, action word type description. I think the more we pass it along to everyone, the more we can tweak it to perfection.
We also need to all be thinking about major planning for March 31st. A few of us are already started on planning events in some of the low income neighborhoods within Columbus. The hope is that as a result of these events, and hearing the message directly from Barack Obama, we can help get strong movements started in these neighborhoods. Having met with some of the community representatives in this area, this doesn't look to be a small task. I see us having our members who are already enthusiastic about this type of work to get in there and stand with them and help drive things with the residents leading. Hopefully we can then get participation in community clean up type events, and their own objectives, as well as discussions on what they would like to see changed in government.
We do have a lot of pamplets and flyers available now, and should soon have several DVDs available with the DNC speech, Meet the Press interview, 60 Minutes Interview, Feb 10th announcement, Biography Channel show and possibly other bits and pieces. These should be obtained for a donation - the donation will go to cover costs of printing and advertising for events like the one described above. The campaign will also release an official DVD for this event, however, it may be nice to have extra to fill space while people are arriving, or you're running around setting up your party. Official printed brochures will also be available very soon. There is a Franklin County Obama Materials Sharing Group set up at:Link Here anyone can download most of the brochures and pamplets that have been created and distributed at local meetings. Some of these would be great to post on bulletin boards at work.
We're off to a running start here in Columbus. Let's keep moving to Barack the Vote!
Our group members came up with this idea, and enthusiastically jumped on board to stand on a Saturday together, March 24th for two hours, to wave rally signs and posters, as well as pass out handouts (if requested) and possibly some bumper stickers and buttons at one of our busiest intersections (plus a few additional if enough sign up). Keep in mind our selected intersection is unfailingly backed up a good half mile in all four directions every single Saturday.
The objectives are: 1. Name recognition 2. Stimulate Interest (what on earth are we doing out this early?) 3. Education (flyers and information available UPON REQUEST). 4. Getting this done before the March 31st Fundraising Primary.
Please let me know if your group will set this up as an event in your city and send me the link. If enough groups and people participate, we'd like to do a nationwide press release.
THIS IS SO EASY!! And our supporters jumped on this one as a LOT OF FUN!!
