Organizing for America | Cheltenham for Obama: Be the Change Baederwood Meeting 121008

Be the Change Baederwood Meeting 121008

By Katie - Dec 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm EST

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Be the Change Baederwood Hello Baederwood! Thank you all for your enthusiasm and interest in continuing working together for change. Attached and below please find the notes from our December 10, 2008 meeting. Key things to note:

INAUGURATION DAY PROJECTS:The “Change is Coming” team requested groups find a project to complete before Inauguration Day. We came up with three. Contact the Project Managers if you want to help plan the event. More information will follow to all on how we can participate.

Help stock local food banks. Project Managers: Kathleen Joyce Kjoyce_ward9@comcast.net 215-738-6025 & John Spiegelman Spiegs@speigs.net 215-740-4306

O+ Blood Drive to collect 500 units. Project Managers: John Duesler jgd@greendiscgolf.com 215-913-0569, Julie Haywood woalex@aol.com 215-715-6852 & Janice Winston janicewinston@yahoo.com 215-806-0300

Eliminating the use of plastic bags in Cheltenham. Project Managers: Karen Synnestvedt Karin-sunshine@comcast.net 267-994-3161 & Ilene Rush Mice30@comcast.net 215-470-2998

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, January 14th at 7PM at Jay Cooke Hall, Elkins Park PA. Come prepared to make a 60 second presentation of your ideas about what our organization should be and do.

JOIN BE THE CHANGE BAEDERWOOD: (Temporary Working Title)You must REQUEST TO BE ADDED TO OUR EMAIL LIST.Please send an email with your name, email address, telephone number and township to dbernstein218@gmail.com. Spread the word because we won’t have access to the campaign lists much longer.

Katie Maher

katiemaher@comcast.net

215-782-8889

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mohandas Gandhi

MEETING MINUTES 12/10/08 – Following is a high-level recap of the meeting.

Participation

Approximately 75 present; 41 sent regrets.
Attendees came from Cheltenham, Jenkintown, Springfield, Ambler Horsham, Hatboro, Philadelphia, Upper and Lower Moreland, Bryn Athyn
PA Legislative District 154 Representative Larry Curry also attended the meeting and has offered to provide a summary of the legislation & projects currently under consideration here in PA.
Katie Maher, Primary Team Leader of Cheltenham for Obama and General Election Director for Montgomery County Democratic Committee, chaired the meeting.
Tricia Shore was recording secretary and provided us the minutes within 24 hours of the meeting.
Lorraine Marino facilitated our brainstorming session and outlined the January meeting so that we can come prepared to discuss the future of our group. She also provided assistance in finalizing our meeting notes.

Meeting Goals

To reconnect and re-engage the Obama volunteers and welcome new ones; to recap where we are since the election and begin to talk about ways to leverage ourselves going forward.
To identify a unifying short-term project(s) we could do as a community – before the Jan 20th inauguration, as requested by the Obama team.
To prepare for a January meeting where we begin to identify longer-term ways to leverage ourselves as change agents.
To set up an interim governance structure for the next 4-6 months until we are clear on what direction the group wants to take – and the Obama administration requests.

1. Reconnect and Reengage our team

Katie reviewed the goals we outlined back before the primary:
- Obama winning the Presidency -- CHECK!
- Engage the Democratic Party-- CHECK!
- Evolve as an organization after the election
Currently, Obama has a list of 13 million email addresses and 3 million volunteers. Locally we have about 2500 volunteers in Cheltenham, Jenkintown, and Springfield alone.
The Obama Transition Team is asking us to reach into our communities of volunteers – through house parties and informal meetings – to identify ways to make use of these volunteer networks. Nate relayed that there is some talk of the Obama administration establishing field organizers and offices in some new form.

2. Select short-term project(s) we can complete by Jan 20th (Inauguration Day) ·

Lorraine Marino facilitated the group through a process in which we identified 3 projects. First she provided criteria for the project(s): Any project would have to…

o Be simple enough to be doable by January

o Have a positive impact on the community – address a real need

o Be of interest and accessible to a majority of us

o Not duplicate or interfere with an existing organization’s mission ·

The process

o The group first tossed out some potential ideas so we could get a feel for people’s interest and ideas.

o We then broke into smaller groups to discuss ideas.

o Then, in the large group, people identified suggestions from their group, which were charted for everyone to see.

o The group then boiled this list of potential projects down to the Top 3 Projects for completion before Inauguration Day through a voting process. These include:

Organizing to help stock local food banks which are in direct need of help in our area. Project Managers: Kathleen Joyce and John Spiegelman
Support the O+ Blood Drive (affectionately referred to as Bleed for Obama!) with a goal of trying to get 500 units before the election. Project Managers: John Duesler, Julie Haywood, Janice Winston
Take a step toward eliminating the use of plastic bags in Cheltenham. Project Managers: Karen Synnestvedt & Ilene Rush

o We had team lead(s) volunteer for each project. The role of these team leads includes: Calling the first meeting, at which time team members would think through what’s achievable in the time given; and to organize how to manage the project and involve others.

o Everyone signed up for the projects they wanted to be part of. Key points that came from the group’s discussion

We don’t want to do something that duplicates an existing organization, which has the expertise and leadership already. We also need to respect that there are many organizations in need of support – of volunteers or supplies. We could provide a strong volunteer base for such organizations.
We should, for the longer term, research what organizations there are in our area and find out from them what is needed. We could then help organize to serve those needs.
We also need to respect the existing leadership in organizations, so we don’t undermine what they are doing.
We should look for ways to take this short-term action but also do so in a way that we could make a sustainable difference. Many shared the view of wanting to effect meaningful social change – not just a one-time event.

(A list of the team leaders as well as the additional project ideas is provided at the end of these notes.)

3. Preparing for the January Meeting Though specific plans for the January meeting may be refined by the interim leadership team, the main goal is to share and consider ideas for how we might continue to leverage ourselves as a group longer term. At the January meeting, anyone who has an idea should get their thoughts together and come prepared to give a 30-60 second pitch for that idea. We’ll have a process to follow, so that others who are interested in one or more of those ideas can gather to talk more about them. We don’t need to come to any final decisions in January. But we want to begin the process. Lorraine presented some categories based on input from Art Haywood -- to help us think broadly, not just about service-oriented projects:

Political - Related to the political process – identifying and influencing elected officials; party infrastructure, making or changing legislation or public policy. etc.

Civic - Related to local/township or regional citizen committees; these are not related to a political party. (For example, there are many openings on Cheltenham’s Citizen’s committees, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Committee, Economic Development Task Force, Environmental Advisory Council, Historical Commission, Human Relations, Library Board and many others.)

Service/charitable - Community service projects, support of non-profit activities, works of charity, etc.

Issue-based - Focused on a specific issue, such as health care, education, energy, environment, etc – at a local, state, of national level.

Other - An initiative or idea that does not fit in the previous categories. If there is something you are eager to work on – or an idea you’d like to put forward -- come to the January meeting prepared to give a 60-second description of your idea at the meeting. Then, people interested in working on that idea with you will have a chance to meet with you in a break-out group to talk further.

4. Identify Interim leadership

· Katie proposed that we identify an interim governance structure so we can work for the next 4-6 months – until we have more clarity about our direction.

· The group discussed this and we proposed an interim steering committee format, of 6 to 10. People were then invited to sign up for this committee.

· Katie explained that she is committed to launching the organization but needs others to provide leadership and administrative support. Once the group defines the organization over the next few meetings, an appropriate leadership group can be created.

· Deb Bernstein has volunteered to manage our membership list.

· Mike Lazrus has volunteered to address our technology needs.

Next steps

Team leads for each project are to call the first meeting and bring together team members who can help think through the project goal more thoroughly – and begin organizing it and how to include others.
We will meet January 14, 7pm-9pm at Jay Cooke Hall. We thank Marissa and the St. Paul Community for their hospitality and support.
Anyone who has suggestions for other meeting spaces for our use beyond January should provide these to Katie. We would want space that could accommodate up to 100 people. (e.g., Abington Friends was suggested, as they have space for bigger meetings.)
The Obama organization has been having meetings with field organizers to plan next steps. They might open field offices across the country; no definite plans are in the works yet.
We should seek ways to become engaged with our local organizations and other ways to become involved in our communities. We will become familiar with the issues and learn about politics. We may be needed to support the legislative initiatives so we ought to be educated citizens on our very local politics.

Other current and upcoming events

Moveon.org is collecting photographs of Obama supporters holding a sign that says, “I stand with President Obama on …”, the individual’s name and city. After the meeting, many participants had their pictures taken for this project.
Inauguration parties include the Living Word Church in Roslyn. Price of admission is an item for the food pantry; also, this is planning underway to use the Ambler Theater; Please call them for details.
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-2228, http://inaugural.senate.gov
Creek side Co-op will have a meeting to announce its location December 18 at Curtis Hall at 7:30.
Dean For America became Democracy for America, which grew out of Dean for American, is asking for anyone interested in a training they will be offering for organizers. If interested call Kevin Shaw 215 328 9104 paul4horsham@huges.net
rootscampPhilly are participant driven events or forums, using the "unconference" or "open space" format that is born from the desire for activists, organizers, leaders and politicians in the progressive sphere to share and learn in a productive, fast-paced, open environment. Initiated by the New Organizing Institute and based on the phenomenally successful BarCamp model, RootsCamps are self-organized with no pre-set agenda. This open format never fails to yield an astounding exchange of information, spin-off projects, and cross-pollination among unexpected partners. Sign Up Now RootsCamp costs $10.00. http://rootscampphilly2009.pbwiki.com/

Additional project ideas from our brainstorm session:

Start a soup kitchen to serve those in need in our area, which is currently underserved and/or find ways to support Meals on Wheels
Research existing non-profits in our area to see where they need help, so we can support existing organizations in need, rather than start something new where expertise already exists.
A day of service on Martin Luther King Day. Ideas included providing food, involving other key groups, such as schools, etc in various projects, such as clean ups. green computer recycling, a “Volunteerism” Fair highlighting the many places where citizens can contribute their time, etc.
A clothing drive to support Dress for Success, an organization that supports women in need who are returning or entering the workforce; The Whosoever Gospel Mission, who supports homeless families.
Have a “Lights Out” hour in the community to demonstrate our commitment to energy conservation.
Tutors and after-school program volunteers.
Web Information Retrieval Service providing individuals with no internet access and/or familiarity with the web ‘information search’ services.

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