There has been some confusion about the various organizations and how we all tie into them so I wanted to take a minute to share my understanding of how things are developing. This is not an official explanation but what I believe to be the case based on the bits and pieces I’ve learned.
USA Service is the launching point for Obama's new national service initiative. Our national service efforts started through the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) and its website but they are ephemeral entities -- they will cease to exist once the inauguration is complete. So, USA Service was created to realize the vision of a new national service effort.
The community service events that we created on the PIC website have been moved to the USA Service website. Going forward, I envision USA Service as the national umbrella under which we will be developing and promoting many of our community service projects. If we are tied into USA Service, we will be notified when new efforts are initiated and we can provide input into what our community needs are.
I see Community Organize is the custodial organization for the Obama grassroots organization in California and through which our local teams are linked to each other as well as our state and national leadership. It may be that Community Organize will become a model for the rest of the nation, an adjunct entity, or it could get folded into a new national site. It’s too early to tell but the important thing is it is serving the purpose of keeping our network of community organizers connected to one another in California.
As I’m sure you know by now, US election law does not allow the new administration to use the campaign database. So, we need to build a new national database of community organizers and volunteers. It is my understanding that the USA Service site feeds into a VAN (Voter Activation Network) database to which I have been given access to help organize and recruit volunteers for our service projects MLK weekend and beyond. Please encourage everyone you know to go to http://USAService.org and signup so we get they can become part of this next phase in the movement.
Please remember that we are very much in a time of transition and it will take weeks, if not months, to reconstitute this organization completely.
I’ll leave you with an analogy I heard this morning regarding the political process which I will reapply to our efforts. Right now our efforts are less like performing a precisely-composed symphony and more like improvising a piece of modern Jazz built upon a general theme.
If we are patient and continue to do our individual parts while everyone else does theirs, it will come together.
Yes we can!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
National Service Website is live
The Obama-Biden Administration has just launched the USA Service website. This is a new component to his strategy for renewing America and keeping our volunteers engaged in the change process.
I recommend that you read this page and the message from Jill Biden to get started! Then take a few minutes to register for an account. This effort will only succeed if we can rebuild our database of committed volunteers and supporters.
Once again, it’s time to answer the call.
I recommend that you read this page and the message from Jill Biden to get started! Then take a few minutes to register for an account. This effort will only succeed if we can rebuild our database of committed volunteers and supporters.
Once again, it’s time to answer the call.
Monday, December 22, 2008
More on National Days of Service - Jan 17-19, 2009
Hello Community Organizers!
As I posted earlier in this blog, we are being asked to hold community service events the weekend before the Presidential Inauguration. Serendipitously, this is also the weekend of Martin Luther King Day.
Here's more about the National Day of Service, from the description by the Inaugural Committee:
So, this will be a nationwide effort that will be well publicized and posted on the PIC website. It is important to note since this is an official Presidential Inaugural Committee event, we will not be using any of MyBO's resources for this event. OK, here are the latest details:
Phase 1 (Dec 17 - Jan 2)
You can propose a project by filling out this form.
Thanks!
Chip
As I posted earlier in this blog, we are being asked to hold community service events the weekend before the Presidential Inauguration. Serendipitously, this is also the weekend of Martin Luther King Day.
Here's more about the National Day of Service, from the description by the Inaugural Committee:
In 1994, Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday into a national day of community service to further commemorate a man who lived his life in service to others. As a tribute to that legacy and the very real needs of our nation, the President-elect and Vice President-elect will launch a national organizing effort on the eve of their Inauguration to engage Americans in service. This national day of service will fall on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19, 2009 and, unlike past calls to service, President-elect Obama will ask Americans to do more than just offer a single day of service to their cities, towns and neighborhoods. He will ask all of us to make an ongoing commitment to our communities. Never has it been more important to come together in shared purpose to tackle the common challenges we face.
The call will go to all Americans to organize service projects and join others at events in their communities. As the Co-chairs of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, we invite you and your organization to join other Americans to organize service projects in your communities. The Presidential Inaugural Committee will offer Americans a new website to help promote your events and for Americans to make their commitments, build communities, find opportunities to serve and share their results. These can be events that orient people to your organization's work, engage people in direct service, or bring people together to reflect on Dr. King's legacy and how they can commit to becoming more engaged citizens.
So, this will be a nationwide effort that will be well publicized and posted on the PIC website. It is important to note since this is an official Presidential Inaugural Committee event, we will not be using any of MyBO's resources for this event. OK, here are the latest details:
Phase 1 (Dec 17 - Jan 2)
- They are asking people to step forward and volunteer to take ownership of a service project.
- Anybody can be an event lead.
- The project can be any non-partisan event that serves the community interest.
- Volunteer organizers can pick a local nonprofit organization or school to support.
- We are encouraged to work across party lines with these projects.
- They are asking us to host several events in each CD.
- Events can be large or small and we are encouraged to have both.
- Events can be held anytime during the 3-day weekend of Sat-Mon, Jan 17-19.
- On Jan 2, a searchable website for all America is scheduled to go live.
- Emails will be blasted out and there we expect a high level of interest.
- Event leads will recruit through their own social networks.
- We will hold phone banks to help recruit people to attend these events.
- Logistics will be worked out for the event just like any other event we have held.
You can propose a project by filling out this form.
Thanks!
Chip
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Sign up to lead a health care discussion over the holidays
Health care is a top priority for President-elect Obama and for Senator Tom Daschle, Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services (HHS). They both are committed to health care reform that comes from the ground up -- that's why this holiday season, we're asking you to give us the gift of your ideas and input.
Sign up to lead a Health Care Community Discussion in your home, community center, or even a local coffee shop, anytime until December 31st.
The Obama-Biden team will provide you with a special Moderator's Guide that will give you everything you need to get the discussion going. Secretary-designate Tom Daschle will even choose some discussions to attend in person.
He recorded a short message to talk a bit about why these discussions are so important. Watch the video and sign up to lead your own Health Care Discussion in your community.
Sign up to lead a Health Care Community Discussion in your home, community center, or even a local coffee shop, anytime until December 31st.
The Obama-Biden team will provide you with a special Moderator's Guide that will give you everything you need to get the discussion going. Secretary-designate Tom Daschle will even choose some discussions to attend in person.
He recorded a short message to talk a bit about why these discussions are so important. Watch the video and sign up to lead your own Health Care Discussion in your community.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Our Local Survey Results
My survey of organizers, volunteers and supporters in California Congressional Districts 1 (D- Mike Thompson) and 6 (D- Lynn Woolsey) is now complete. We had 180 respondents, of which 91% were directly involved in the campaign in some capacity and 32% attended Camp Obama. Here are the main highlights that I took away from the survey.
Almost 90% of respondents found the experience either "Very Rewarding" or "Rewarding".
65% became involved in the campaign because of "the person -- to elect "Barack Obama president". The next highest response, at 17.7% was "the cause -- to bring about change". "Other" received 9.4% and "Pro-party" got 5.5%.
Almost 80% want "to keep the movement going" or are "willing to work depending on the issue or goal".
Respondents were evenly split on whether they wanted "to help the Obama Administration pass its agenda" or "to work on specific issues or causes". "Improving one's local community" was not far behind but definitely came in third.
Across the board, the campaign had a very positive impact on the people who were involved with it and people were happy with the organization, staff, message, training and tools. There were individual gripes but the general response was strongly positive -- 3.9 to 4.7 on a scale of 0 to 5.
As a result of respondent's experiences with the campaign many are significantly more likely to volunteer time in their local community, to a regional or national cause, a state or local campaign and to participate in a social network. They were only slightly more likely to run for office or maintain a blog.
Regarding future of use of MyBO, respondents are ambivalent about visiting MyBO or using its groups. Those who responded are somewhat less likely to post events and not very likely to continue blogging on MyBO.
Regarding future ownership of MyBO, there was no clear winner with 32% wanting it kept in place for the 2012 election, 29% using it as the basis for a new organization and just under 9% wanting to give it to the Democratic Party.
Regarding ownership/use of the database of volunteers and supporters, 31% of respondents want it to be the basis of a new and independent organization, 24% want it to be kept in place for 2012 and 17% want to share it with the Democratic Party.
85% of respondents are currently "Very Likely" to volunteer to work on President Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 with and 10% "Somewhat Likely".
So, where does this leave us? Attitudes are positive and there is plenty of willingness to apply our talents and resources toward continuing what we began during the campaign. However, it is going to take some work to transform what we created into a flexible, viable and effective movement that is part of a broader engine for change.
We have the talent; we have the will; we just need to make it happen!
Yes we can!
Almost 90% of respondents found the experience either "Very Rewarding" or "Rewarding".
65% became involved in the campaign because of "the person -- to elect "Barack Obama president". The next highest response, at 17.7% was "the cause -- to bring about change". "Other" received 9.4% and "Pro-party" got 5.5%.
Almost 80% want "to keep the movement going" or are "willing to work depending on the issue or goal".
Respondents were evenly split on whether they wanted "to help the Obama Administration pass its agenda" or "to work on specific issues or causes". "Improving one's local community" was not far behind but definitely came in third.
Across the board, the campaign had a very positive impact on the people who were involved with it and people were happy with the organization, staff, message, training and tools. There were individual gripes but the general response was strongly positive -- 3.9 to 4.7 on a scale of 0 to 5.
As a result of respondent's experiences with the campaign many are significantly more likely to volunteer time in their local community, to a regional or national cause, a state or local campaign and to participate in a social network. They were only slightly more likely to run for office or maintain a blog.
Regarding future of use of MyBO, respondents are ambivalent about visiting MyBO or using its groups. Those who responded are somewhat less likely to post events and not very likely to continue blogging on MyBO.
Regarding future ownership of MyBO, there was no clear winner with 32% wanting it kept in place for the 2012 election, 29% using it as the basis for a new organization and just under 9% wanting to give it to the Democratic Party.
Regarding ownership/use of the database of volunteers and supporters, 31% of respondents want it to be the basis of a new and independent organization, 24% want it to be kept in place for 2012 and 17% want to share it with the Democratic Party.
85% of respondents are currently "Very Likely" to volunteer to work on President Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 with and 10% "Somewhat Likely".
So, where does this leave us? Attitudes are positive and there is plenty of willingness to apply our talents and resources toward continuing what we began during the campaign. However, it is going to take some work to transform what we created into a flexible, viable and effective movement that is part of a broader engine for change.
We have the talent; we have the will; we just need to make it happen!
Yes we can!
SVCAN - A model for other communities?
In Sonoma Valley we have begun the transformation of our Obama for America campaign team into a new group focused on “civic engagement and political participation”. This group is called Sonoma Valley CAN (Community Action Network) and you can find our website at: SonomaValleyCAN.org.
I would encourage each of you to look at we are doing in Sonoma Valley and see if it might work for your local community. With minimal effort and minimal resources we have set up the following:
A Website
We used Google Sites to create a free website that can have multiple collaborators maintaining it.
A Calendar
We used Google Calendar to create a free group calendar that can have multiple collaborators maintaining it. Individual users can then subscribe to this calendar or visit it online. It is also placed on our site as it’s own page.
A Blog
We used Blogger to create a free blog where we can post news items for people to follow. As with the website and the calendar, the blog can have multiple collaborators maintaining it.
An Email Discussion Group
We used Google Groups to create a free email list (or “mail exploder”) to allow our members to have a public forum where they can easily communicate with each other. Anytime someone posts a message to our Google Group, it gets sent to all members who have subscribed to the group.
A Group Page a CommunityOrganize.com
Since Community Organize is an evolutionary step in the process of transforming the campaign into a new social movement for “civic engagement and political action”, we created a free group page on Community Organize so are we are tied into the larger network of community teams.
A Domain Name
The only thing that cost us any money was creating a domain name with a domain registrar -- I used GoDaddy -- for about $15 a year. We chose the domain name SonomaValleyCAN.org.
We’ve already held one general meeting (as part of the “Change is Coming” weekend) and two planning meetings which have resulted is us launching the following efforts:
Yes we CAN!
I would encourage each of you to look at we are doing in Sonoma Valley and see if it might work for your local community. With minimal effort and minimal resources we have set up the following:
A Website
We used Google Sites to create a free website that can have multiple collaborators maintaining it.
A Calendar
We used Google Calendar to create a free group calendar that can have multiple collaborators maintaining it. Individual users can then subscribe to this calendar or visit it online. It is also placed on our site as it’s own page.
A Blog
We used Blogger to create a free blog where we can post news items for people to follow. As with the website and the calendar, the blog can have multiple collaborators maintaining it.
An Email Discussion Group
We used Google Groups to create a free email list (or “mail exploder”) to allow our members to have a public forum where they can easily communicate with each other. Anytime someone posts a message to our Google Group, it gets sent to all members who have subscribed to the group.
A Group Page a CommunityOrganize.com
Since Community Organize is an evolutionary step in the process of transforming the campaign into a new social movement for “civic engagement and political action”, we created a free group page on Community Organize so are we are tied into the larger network of community teams.
A Domain Name
The only thing that cost us any money was creating a domain name with a domain registrar -- I used GoDaddy -- for about $15 a year. We chose the domain name SonomaValleyCAN.org.
We’ve already held one general meeting (as part of the “Change is Coming” weekend) and two planning meetings which have resulted is us launching the following efforts:
- Adopting a local food bank
- Planning a project for the National Day of Service
- Holding a larger “Valley Forum” to inform and include more people
Yes we CAN!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Day of Service - Jan 19, 2009
We are at a “defining moment” in our movement. Andy Grove, in his book, Only the Paranoid Survive, describes it as an inflection point:
We have traveled a successful arc that took us to this point but “now what?” Do we ride the curve back down as we let what we built disassemble or do we take this opportunity to redefine ourselves and begin a new trajectory upward? The choice is ours but the time is now.
President Obama is calling on us -- his grassroots supporters -- to participate in a national day of service on January 19th, 2009. The California team is asking that we keep our geographical organization in place and get these community service projects pulled together at the neighborhood level.
I am asking each of you to challenge your team to develop (or participate in) a community service project for January 19th.
The Obama team wants to vet the project ideas by January 2nd; so, please reach out as soon as possible (I understand that it is the holidays and it may make things a little more difficult) and let me know, by team, and area what your plan is.
It doesn’t have to be a monumental project but it does need to make a difference in your community. We are “community organizers”, are we not?
Yes we can!
We have traveled a successful arc that took us to this point but “now what?” Do we ride the curve back down as we let what we built disassemble or do we take this opportunity to redefine ourselves and begin a new trajectory upward? The choice is ours but the time is now.
President Obama is calling on us -- his grassroots supporters -- to participate in a national day of service on January 19th, 2009. The California team is asking that we keep our geographical organization in place and get these community service projects pulled together at the neighborhood level.
I am asking each of you to challenge your team to develop (or participate in) a community service project for January 19th.
The Obama team wants to vet the project ideas by January 2nd; so, please reach out as soon as possible (I understand that it is the holidays and it may make things a little more difficult) and let me know, by team, and area what your plan is.
It doesn’t have to be a monumental project but it does need to make a difference in your community. We are “community organizers”, are we not?
Yes we can!
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