You are here: Home / Blog

Finally: The Organizers Join the Occupationistas

October 3, 2011 by

Want to understand the difference between ‘organizing’ and the Occupy Wall Street protesters? Go watch the new film Moneyball, based on the 2003 book of the same name. For the last seven or so years, I’ve been immersed in the world of ‘new organizing’ which lies somewhere between ‘new media’ and ‘online organizing.’ Where Moneyball pits baseball traditionalists against soulless number-crunchers, new organizing pits the integrated use of new communication and database technologies against those overly committed to meatspace technology: talking to people in person.

The Meaters & The Onliners
For years now, the ‘meaters’ (as I like to call them) have been whining about the digital divide, defending their organizational and cultural turf within decaying/aging organizations, and grumbling about kids being on their lawn. You hear them less nowadays, as they are too embarrassed and fearful to attach their names to such opinions, but occasionally thinkers like Malcolm Gladwell or fanciful terms like ‘slacktivism’ gain brief currency. (Then Egypt has a revolution or something proving them wrong – again.)

Folks like myself, whether freelance or staff, function at times almost like secret agent consultants. We know we have something valuable to offer, but with a few exceptions much of our work is devoted to proving already established facts to slow moving organizations and overly confident staff.  How interesting then to observe that our skill sets as digital strategists or communication specialists are so undervalued by the Wall St. occupationistas as to make it impossible for many of us to connect within a movement ecosystem. We want to work them; they aren’t sure they want to work with us. Given the super loose/ultra democratic structure, it’s really hard to work with them.

And It Begins
Part of my experience with this movement began six weeks or so beforehand, when I came to what was announced as a planning meeting by the bull statue in lower Broadway. The first two hours was dominated by the Workers World Party, an obnoxious tribe of newspaper sellers. The second two hours were a dry run for the general assembly process of sitting in a large circle and slowly building consensus. I joined a working group, wrote out my name/email address on some lists, gave out some business cards to folks I know were early movers and shakers, and basically said: I like this and I’m interested in helping.

No one ever sent me an email. While folks in my line of work are very interested in things like list building, CRM databases that handle email lists. I kept wanting to ask ‘who is in charge?’ or even ‘who is in charge of communications strategy’ or perhaps ‘is there a designated accountable person for anything at all?’ Later, when a friend who is involved asked for my help, my response was hard to say out loud. While I wanted to help ‘Occupy Wall Street’ it felt extremely alienating to see such a lack of organization. Organizing skills are like a secret bat signal to wider circles of committed activists; if they seem to exist, folks show up; when they don’t, folks stay home.

Moneyball Organizing
And that’s the Moneyball connection. The occupationistas are protest traditionalists. For them, and this is in keeping with the principles of the Temporary Autonomous Zone and other pro-Situ ideas, the moment at which someone transitions from everyday life to Wall Street Occupation life is pregnant with possibility. Focus on creating that moment for yourself and as many of those around you as possible and magic ensues. This process can’t be counted, tallied up or ‘organized.’ It must be experienced. Just like baseball for the traditionalists.

Did that sound like criticism? It’s not meant that way. The creation of moments that demand a high personal investment but grant participants a meaningful conversion experience is the specialty of this tradition. They did it in Seattle in 1999 – remember Teamsters and Turtles? The direct action enviros do it all the time. This is the strength and contribution of the Zuccatti Park occupation. They’ve created a moment of truth in the heart of the capitalist spectacle. As Matt Stoler wrote, a church not a protest.

By organizing folks in my circles mean a process of recruitment, leadership development, and exercise of power that is accountable to a defined community. This is the working definition used by unions, community organizing groups like the former ACORN, and even a certain 2008 presidential election campaign. A close cousin might be called ‘coalition organizing’ that begins and often ends with groups standing together on a certain issue to maximize their impact on the political class. A great example is the New Bottom Line campaign.

Organizing places a great deal of stress of planning and accountability. How many doors knocked? How many petition signatures? Which organizations have signed on? Who are the community leaders involved? Much of it involves organizing people in structures that already exist and enjoy community support, such as churches and civic groups. This kind of organizing assumes that large numbers of people linked by authentic networks of deep relationship can overcome the advantages of money in political struggles. Winning isn’t the result of magical experiences leading to a crescendo, it’s the result of master organizers using enhanced voter files, membership databases, conversion rate metrics and the scanning of walk lists.

Organizers will often ask ‘who is on board?’ while planning the start of a campaign. This question covers issues of racial and gender diversity among the leaders and supporters, but also seeks to maximize the chances for victory. If some group out there could be helpful, and they haven’t been properly courted, their absence down the road could result in a preventable loss. So you have to do your homework.

The Wall St. Alternative to Organizing
The Occupy Wall St. crowd does it differently. Their answer to ‘who is on board’ is ‘we are!’ referring to whoever shows up that day. So if the early stages were overwhelmingly white, young and disaffected, representing a constituency so truly powerless that no community organizing group would think to recruit them, well so what? In the United States, young disaffected whites have often shown a great willingness to combine passion and self-sacrifice where others might have counseled deep organizing and networking first, and militant action second. (or never!)*

This rejection of what we might call ‘organizer’s bias’ meant that many potential allies were turned off during the planning stages and the first two weeks of the occupation. Make no mistake: folks who are connected to old school and new school organizing groups have been paying close attention, attending meetings, coming for drop-ins at Zuccotti Park, and trying to figure out who is in charge and what they want. And since no one is in charge and they want so many different things, those folks reported up the chain that it’s great, but very unclear how to connect. The complaint: ‘what are you demands’ was actually a plea: ‘we want to join but you’re making it hard!’

A colleague from a major NYC union called me to discuss how best to support them. But his initial take was quite mixed– the absence of a coherent strategy made it hard to negotiate specific forms of aid, which is often how unions conceive of their ability to help. Later, this union decided to jump in with both feet; but they still don’t have a handle on ‘the plan.’ There is no plan. That’s why we can’t call it organizing. The folks with plans have now jumped into the fray with both feet, as will be seen on October 5th.

You Might Not Like What Will Happen Next
But whatever it is, the impact is beyond question. With some meager hundreds of occupationistas, helped along by NYPD stupidity, the occupation of Wall Street is now a front page national issue. To a certain extent, the issues they raise are trailing behind. Issues like the culpability of Wall Street in our current mess, a millionaire’s tax, taxing financial transactions, reregulating Wall St., creating jobs, and addressing the foreclosure crisis.

Right now, some very different actors are coming together with public expressions of love and support. The street theater anarchists look at labor and think, ‘yes, we’ve prodded the behemoth to stir!’ The grizzled organizer types look at live video of the general assemblies and think ‘we can use this to generate concrete political victories like extending a millionaire’s tax in New York State!’ Truly, a May-December romance if there ever was one. Now we observe the groups from column A build their lists off the energy produced by the doe eyed campers from column B. Thanks Wall Street occupiers!

At some point – next week, next month or next year – this romance will come under strain. Street theater won’t spark a revolution. Instead, transactional politics will rear its compromising head, following the lead of groups that are accountable to members who would rather have real victories sooner (2012) rather than socialism later. See you at the ballot box folks – don’t forget to pick up your trash.

When the pivot happens, it won’t look like a struggle full of lighting and thunder. It will be more like an elephant shrugging off a monkey. In the end, whether you are feel more comfortable with old school or new school organizing will be irrelevant. It’s whether or  not you do organizing that matters, and all the websites, livestreams and video in the world won’t make up for not doing it. It’s Moneyball baby, not baseball. Pity the self-sacrificing occupationistas who don’t know this yet. I love you and wish you actually wanted to organize.

 

*Please don’t interpret anything above as a knee jerk rejection of white left activism. God forbid. And yes, there is some diversity. Funny how so many whites are actually fearful of simply recognizing their leadership and impact, as if the absence of people of color in multiple + visible leadership roles render their efforts pointless. That just ain’t so. It’s more complicated than that.

Filed Under: The Blog Tagged With: ,

Communication Bias

September 24, 2011 by

Organizing 2.0 trains online organizers in social media, digital strategy and other fields related to ‘the online digital arts.’ Among the issues raised in our trainings is the problem of professional bias.

Communication directors who were trained in strategic communication and press relations are often biased in favor of message control, print and commercial electronic media, and the news cycle. It happens that many deal poorly with real time media, interactivity, and the elevation of amateur voices to the fore.

Webmasters/IT Staff are often technically minded web developers who took on the role of ‘online content manager’. They are often biased to see the website itself as the core function of digital media. It happens that they are often weak at offering digital strategy leadership, and sometimes a little too eager to suggest coding fixes to strategic problems.

Organizers are generally oriented to ‘real world’ activities like meetings, signup sheets, phone calls and events. The role of online engagement is often misunderstood, as expressed by flawed/incorrect mentions of the ‘digital divide’ or pejorative phrases like ‘slacktivism’.

[Note: Obviously, dear reader, YOU don’t fall in any of these categories.]

What this means to the budding growth of ‘digital strategy’ as a professional niche, is the importance of recognizing these kinds of entrenched bias. Leaders and grassroots activists alike can be alert for signs of the bias at work, to surface it openly where it can be treated with the best disinfectant: exposure. After all, there is plenty of evidence and resources to overcome the blind spots mentioned above.

Unfortunately, most of us encounter bias under circumstances where we can’t address it squarely. What if the bias is coming from someone with status power, and the culture doesn’t allow you to challenge their assertions? Or if the bias holder insists that her assumptions are valid and beyond question and is impervious to change? Or if you are able to recognize the bias, but not skilled enough to address it in the moment?

One of the unpleasant professional memories I hold comes from a time when one of my managers insisted, publicly, that one of our consultants had said A when in fact he said B. It didn’t help that I went back and got written clarification from said consultant…. Much like climate denial, professional biases aren’t necessarily rooted in fact. Culture eats strategy for breakfast.

What’s happening under the surface is that someone’s communications frame is very securely attached to their brain, making it hard to process information from outside the box. But right now, we’ll try and change that. With some advance preparation, those very same ‘frame hostages’ will not only adapt but convince themselves that they never even thought that way in the first place. Excellent.

Here’s how. Look for a training opportunity or strategic planning session to introduce our ‘communications taxonomy.’ It situates as many of the sub disciplines of organizing communications’ as we could come up with in relation to each other. Let us know if we’re missing something:

Technical

  • Web development
  • Databases and CRM management
  • Coding, programming
  • Software to manage mobile campaigns, listening dashboards, enhanced voter files
  • Collaboration tools
  • Open source software promotion
  • Video/audio/graphics production
  • Web optimization/SEO
  • Software training
 Public Messaging

  • Framing, positioning
  • Creating a narrative
  • Journalism/producing copy
  • Interacting with mainstream press/political class/A list bloggers
  • Cognitive linguistics/Lakoff
  • Strategic communications
  • Polling
  • Focus groups
  • Micro targeting
Digital Strategy

  • Writing for email/web
  • Online content strategy
  • Blogger relations, blogging culture
  • Social media /mobile campaigning strategy
  • Integration of tools, online/offline
  • Engagement politics
  • Ladders of engagement
  • Online advertising/message testing
  • Online community management
  • Small dollar fundraising
 Policies/Distribution

  • Media reform
  • Net neutrality, micro radio licensing, public access to bandwidth, addressing digital divide
  • Identity politics media campaigns on behalf of marginalized groups
  • Promotion of favored voices (WMC)
  • Support for better press/Pro-publica/opposition to Fox/monopolies
  • Capacity for video/audio production

Even the most veteran professionals with the biggest egos won’t claim to be experts in ALL these areas. Most people have a few areas, clustered around one of these quadrants, where they have the most experience/expertise. Most communications operations focus on those areas where staff has the most expertise. It can be helpful to do an inventory of skill sets and experience to collectively recognize those areas where you/your department/your organization are lacking, and commit to being open to fellow professionals who DO have more expertise in that area. Just like in the song…

Well, I got a brand new pair of roller skates/You got a brand new key
I think that we should get together/And try them out to see

The frame changes from ‘I understand the important part of communications so let’s do it my way’ to ‘my expertise is mostly in one quadrant and I’ve got a lot to learn from experts with different specialties’. At least, one hopes it does. And if not, at least you’ll be able to articulate precisely what’s wrong with your communications operation.

Final note

There is a kind of communications firm in existence today that simply didn’t exist in the past:

  • Purpose: “Purpose creates 21st century movements.” Founded 2010.
  • Fission Strategy: “Fission Strategy helps social causes harness social media for social good.” Founded 2008.
  • Echo Ditto: “We guide leading social change organizations and social enterprises through their use of connected media and emerging technologies.” Founded 2003.

I’m writing these words while attending the International Labor Communications Association conference. The slogan on the podium banner reads ‘The Power of Labor Journalists United.’ The roots of this organization are in the labor press going back more than 100 years. I suspect that the future of labor communications will sound a lot more like the copy from these young communications firms.

Filed Under: The Blog Tagged With:

Liveblogging the ILCA Conference

September 22, 2011 by

No one else is doing it (as far as I can tell) to it falls to Organizing 2.0!

Filed Under: Featured

The World Wide ILCA

September 21, 2011 by

The International Labor Communicators Association (ILCA) is having its biennial conference in Seattle this week, September 21-24. I’ll be attending for the first time and invite all those who care about or work with the labor community to catch up on the work of this important organization.

The first thing to understand about ILCA is that once upon a time it was ILPA – the International Labor Press Association. The labor press has a grand and storied history in the United States. There was a time when newspapers produced by and for union members competed successfully with the establishment press. Labor journalism wasn’t simply about labor struggles, it was the entirety of journalism, covering all fields of human activity – but from a class conscious perspective.

For many of us on the front lines of progressive organizing, the importance of the labor press might not be readily apparent. The fact is, there has been a decline of the labor press for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that the labor movement is in crisis. But for union staff, grassroots leaders and the engaged rank and file, newsletters and magazines published by the union are sources of great pride. That said, print publications were mostly founded long before unions members had access to the internet. We know what the internet did to regular newspapers; perhaps the same process is taking place in the labor press.

I first learned about ILCA in 2009, while working for the Working Families Party in New York. As an online organizer, I wanted to know: what exactly is a ‘labor communicator’ in the 21st century? Does it include bloggers on labor issues like Laura Clawson and other Kossacks? Does it include webmasters who manage content without producing it? What about those who draft emails, or use online communication tools for organizing?

My answers to these questions come from private conversations I’ve had with ILCA members and leaders. Let’s remember that ILCA was built around labor print publications, and membership was often related to the specific publication and how many copies were circulating. That said, the folks in charge weren’t ignorant of the rise of the internet, the shift of content to the web, the rise of self-produced video and audio content, and the reduction in budgets for print publications. An example of how they are adapting can be seen in the annual awards programs they run, which include categories for websites and use of social media.

The last few ILCA conferences featured a website devoted to the host city, with content created by the conference delegates. This is the Pittsburgh Media Center, from 2009. This is the New Orleans Labor Project, from 2007. After next week, you’ll see the Seattle effort, with a mix of stories chosen by the conference organizers and assigned to attendees. This activity is a great way to highlight the role of labor journalism and gives members a chance to showcase the great work they can do.

Digital Challenges
While celebrating the role of labor journalism, it might make sense this year to have a broader conversation about the future of labor communications. I asked the folks at UnionJobs.com to send me data about job descriptions in which the word ‘communications’ was mentioned. Looking them over for the past few years, it’s clear that a number of job categories are changing.

First of all, there is greater need for more technically skilled staff to work directly within union departments instead of as consultants or with vendors. Producing video on a regular basis using flipcams is different than hiring someone to make a well-produced video for a specific purpose. Is the union member using flipcam video as part of an organizing campaign a communicator? What about the staff member who distributed 20 cameras in the first place?

Second, email, web and social media communication channels are being used across departments and for different purposes than newspapers. While there are fewer jobs devoted to writing stories about labor, more and more have to engage in story-telling and mass communication as part of their job.

Third, we have the rise of a new function, not yet well integrated into the structure of the labor movement. Call it ‘digital strategy.’ In the good old days, important campaigns might have had access to ‘strategic campaign consultants’ who focused on messaging, and to a lesser extent press relations and advertising buys. But today, as important as those functions are, their practitioners are often absent when decisions have to be made about responding in real time to social media, adopting new technologies, implementing tools across staff roles, and keeping in close contact with those outside the labor movement working in the same professional space. There’s a reason why SEIU created a new department for New Media that was separate from the pre-existing Communications department.

It is probably true already that the number of webmasters, videographers, email campaigners, web content producers, bloggers, and digital strategists working in the labor movement rivals the number of those involved in print publications. Do they see themselves as ‘communicators’? Does ILCA see them as future members? ILCA’s website doesn’t actually define what it means to be a labor communicator, but just about everyone I’ve spoken to agrees that it has meant ‘content producer’ in some form or another. Print, video, graphic and audio content. It has not, traditionally, meant the kind of union employee who graduates from an online organizing training, or who is managing their local’s Facebook page and Twitter stream. Most of the staff performing those functions have never heard of ILCA.

The upcoming conference’s keynote speaker is Nation correspondent Jon Nichols, who reports often on labor issues. But they will also have Scott Goodstein of Revolution Messaging, a mobile phone campaign vendor, and Jason Mann, the producer of a recent series of training videos for labor folks using social media. It seems that a shift is underway, but the parameters of it are closely held. We know that a conversation about it exists, but we can’t read about it in advance, and there isn’t any space for discussing it online in advance.

I can’t help but wonder what an ILCA conference would look like in two years, and who will be attending. What fraction will work with or for print publications? How many will be primarily organizers? Will the emphasis remain on content production, or move in the direction of digital strategy? As an associate member who doesn’t work for a union, I’m not sure I have any ‘shoulds’ to offer. ILCA should be whatever it wants to be. But I’m very curious about what the current executive members and delegates think. Do you want to be different than what you are? Who do you think you need that isn’t already in the mix? Is that a conversation you’d like to have using new media where it would be transparent, interactive, and outside of your control?

What do you think? I’d love to hear from labor communicators of any stripe.

Filed Under: The Blog, Upcoming Events Tagged With: , ,

I Love Working People: A Pro-Bono Consult-a-thon

September 17, 2011 by

In our trainings for union members and grassroots organizers, we recognize that many people simply don’t have access to quality consultants. it’s a real shame – in many cases, a little bit of advice or technical know-how can save a lot of time and improve the quality of a campaign.

On the other side the aisle, there are many consultants of the digital strategy arts eager to help the labor movement, unions, and grassroots campaigns for economic justice. Some work for well known firms based in Washington DC, while others are freelancers from around the country. This September, they are coming together to offer pro-bono consulting services.

During the month of September, following Labor Day weekend, in honor of the role of organized labor and its allies, Organizing 2.0 and dozens of amazing consultants will be offering expert-level pro-bono consulting services. Please read the details of the project below and participate if you are able!

The Basics:
Forty consultants (including staff at unions and nonprofits recognized for their expertise) are setting aside an hour of time on Labor Day week. Organizing 2.0 will match them with staff and leaders at labor organizations (mostly unions) looking for specific help. After the week is over, we will describe the questions, the consulting assistance offered, and the clients in a report. (This report will omit details as relevant, to protect sensitive information, reputations, etc.)

The Consultants:
This project is starting with a number of consultants already on board. If you would like to participate as a consultant, please apply here. Our initial list of participating consultants is here.

The Clients:
The labor organizations requesting one hour of expert assistance can apply here. We encourage unions, community organizing groups working on economic justice issues, labor studies departments, labor constituency groups, councils and federations to submit requests for help. Our preference is for those who might not have regular contact with the ‘new media and online organizing community.’

The Questions:
What kinds of requests for help are suitable for a single hour of consulting? We’re not sure – one of the goals of this project is to learn about the needs that exist in the field. That said, here are some examples of requests for help that are high value and can be delivered inside of one hour -

  • Assist in the preparation of an RFP for a website or other online consulting services.
  • Review an existing client/consultant relationship. Are you being charged to much? Are there things your current consultants should be taking into account?
  • Review a campaign or communications plan and look for online activities that might be integrated.
  • Engage in a creative brainstorm. What else could be done? What kinds of online efforts make sense given your budget/timeline?
  • Training: video production, Salsa/BSD, social media, Drupal/Wordpress/LaborWeb, or graphics programs. Or accessing resources to plan your own training.
  • Communications review: look at existing websites, social media, email and advocacy campaigns, and hear a professional take on what could be done better.
  • Search for case studies: maybe you are trying to do something that’s been done before. Use our network to find case studies you can use and make contact with others who have done it before.

Submit your questions here.

The Consulting:
If your question is selected, our first step is to set up a time between the client and the consultant. We’ll be making the most appropriate matches; not everyone will be selected. We expect the consulting to take place on the phone, via email, instant messaging (skype/gchat) and webinar software. In some cases, the consultant will spend part of the time learning about the issue, and then circle back at a later date to provide the appropriate service.

Additional Information:
Consultant rates are generally from $75-$250/hour. Most of the consultants on our list charge $100/hour (for freelancers) or $200/hour (for the larger firms). Based on that, we expect to provide at least $6,000 of consultant services.

Sponsors and Sponsorships:
We are grateful to Mobile Commons and Rogue Repairman for their ongoing assistance to Organizing 2.0. For the Labor Consulting Project we are seeking additional sponsors to help us with publicity. If you would like to help, please contact us.

Our Consultants:

 

Filed Under: Featured

Live Event

September 16, 2011 by

text

text

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Social Media Training Takeways and Thankyous

August 24, 2011 by

Our ‘Fighting for Families’ social media training event is a week past. So what did we have and what’s left on our agenda?

If you want to skip over the thank yous and backslapping, click here. Otherwise, THANK YOU speakers/presenters, including Farra Trompeter of Big Duck, Beka Economopoulos of Fission Strategy, Donna Norton of MomsRising, Eliza Bates of 1199/SEIU, Greg Basta and Olivia Leirer of New York Communities for Change, Elizabeth Jenkins of 32BJ/SEIU and everyone who participated in the discussions.

Thank you Murphy Institute who once again made it possible for us to offer training at such low prices. Thank you to our sponsors, and especially Jocelyn Mazurkiewicz who brought them all together and initiated this training. Thank you to our loyal volunteers, many of whom actually paid for the privilege: Bob Daraio, Marisol Thomer, Edrie Irvine, Justin Krebs, Brad Gans & John Greaves (3Knights Media) and all the rest who just chipped in.

And of course, thank you Elana Levin, Chairman of Organizing 2.0, who led our last session and without whom very little of what we do would be possible.

Intro to Social Media for Organizations

Farra Trompeter’s presentation is available below. I was very pleased that she was able to come, and for our first session no less. It combines a lot of facts that some of us might already know with some great analysis and insight. It made a lot of us happy that she felt trusted enough to critique a certain union’s Twitter feed. We need more of that!

Intro to Social Media for Organizations
Unfortunately, I missed most of the day because of having to run around. We really need attendees to offer comments on lessons learned that deserve to be shared! That said, it feels right to offer a few notes that capture our intentions in planning the training.
There are many trainings in social media available these days. They are often aimed at small business, nonprofits, marketing & development staff and others with a strong need. Organizing 2.0′s contention is that unions and advocacy organizations are often ill-served by training that doesn’t take our specific needs into account. In the case of Fighting for Families, we were very well served by having a focus on family and worker issues like paid family leave and paid sick days. This meant our audience was mostly thinking about city and state advocacy on topics that have to fight pretty hard to get media attention. Attendees were used to working in coalitions, and many knew each other beforehand.
Our main goal was to give a very diverse group of volunteers, organizers and leaders a shared sense of how social media is used to advance our campaign mission, as opposed to competing goals like organizational branding or fundraising. Based on feedback, we seem to have accomplished this. What we did less of – and we’ve heard from attendees that they want more – is offer hands on skills training that go deep into specifics. Anything from practicing a campaign, to developing a written social media plan, to learning some Twitter analytics tools. We also heard a complaint that too much of the day was devoted to frontal presentations followed by Q and A, at the expense of truly interactive sessions that build on the experiences of people in the room.
For organizers thinking about ideas for future trainings or just keeping up with the demands of a complicated media- and tool-rich environment, there are some questions to think about:
  • What is your peer community for staying on top of social media? (Like NTEN, ProgEx, or something internal to your organization.)
  • At what stage do ideas about social media tools and tactics get introduced into campaign and strategic planning? Are the right people in the room to propose and evaluate new media strategies?
  • Are folks clear about the investment and return on your social media activities?
  • Is there a role for outside experts/consultants? How might you cultivate your ‘bench’ of advisers?

Is there anything else you’d like to share or learn about? Let us know!

Filed Under: Featured

Looking for a Few Good New Media Directors

July 19, 2011 by

Jason Rosenbaum

Like many of you on the Bold Progressive’s campaign list, I saw an email recruiting new media directors for congressional campaigns. As a close follower of how politicians are adapting to the shifting campaigning landscape, I had a few questions to ask. This interview is with Jason Rosenbaum of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Organizing 2.0: I hear you are looking for a few good organizers….
Jason: Yes! New media directors, to be precise. [Job details here.]

Organizing 2.0: What’s the likely profile of these NMD’s? Are these positions that a congressional campaign would fill on its own, or are you supplying something they simply won’t have without you?
Jason: We’re looking for folks that have both great tech skills, but are also (and more importantly) talented strategic organizers who are motivated to help progressives run and win boldly. These are positions that a campaign might fill on their own, but is often filled with a Washington, DC based consultant or by someone less talented and committed.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Organizing Tagged With: , , ,

Netroots Nation Reportback: Labor in the House!

June 27, 2011 by

It was another great Netroots Nation conference in Minneapolis, and like many of you, I’m still digesting. As someone a little bit responsible for sending folks there (three folks won a free registration at our last big event!) it’s important to do a little public evaluation.

Rob Callaghan, Ethan Rips and Harry Waisbren - the winners of Org 2.0's Netroots Nation attendance raffle

1. Netroots Nation is a labor event, full stop. If twelve of the top eighteen sponsors were corporations, it would be a corporate event. But it was labor: AFL-CIO, Working America, Change to Win, SEIU, UFT, NEA, UFCW, even the firefighters, who did seem a little bit like fish out of water*. So on behalf of the netroots, THANK YOU.

2. Netroots Nation is home to a lot of self-organized liberals and Democrats who often represent a kind of loyal opposition to whatever “the” Democrats are up to in DC. It makes sense that Labor, that poor bride who keeps getting stranded at the altar while her groom is off having sex with corporations in the dressing room, should make common cause with us. But we can still ask: just how serious is labor about dating the netroots, as opposed to purchasing some seasonal influence? I want unions to love us for our free-wheeling exuberance, critical thinking and free-agent empowerment. Not just for political influence that on rare occasions result in some electoral or electoral victory.

3. At the labor strategy session, I heard it explained that some years ago, unions invested big in organizing – but were unable to staunch the loss of members, especially in the private sector. So they went big on political spending, going all out for Democratic victories in hopes of passing EFCA.

Or at least getting a little bit of love now and then. Right now is an interesting moment: labor is organizing, but not focused on new member organizing. Labor is doing politics, but not necessarily in close cooperation with the official Democrats. Is this a fully articulated strategy we can learn from and follow, or evidence that labor strategists are figuring things out as we

go along? (It can’t be just Stephen Lerner talking openly about labor strategy these days, right?)

4. This goes hand in hand with the excellent session about Wisconsin. One of AFSCME’s senior political strategists said something like “as a result of Wisconsin, we really understand the importance of new media. And over the next year, you’ll see that manifested in how we do things.” What I should have asked as a follow up question is “What kind of changes will we be seeing? What new combination of job descriptions, training, new hires, shifting budgets and consultant contracts can we look forward to?”

5. Labor had many tables/booths in display. I visited all of them and found no job descriptions related to online organizing or new media campaigning. That said, I know from UnionJobs.com that many unions ARE trying to fill those jobs. Next year, let’s make sure that the booths of unions that are hiring staff have some information about their job openings. It’s the perfect captive audience for recruitment.

6. Where is the labor netroots? Union members who blog, as opposed to a) bloggers who enjoy labor support, and b) staff at unions who blog? Some members of teachers unions who blog were in attendance and on (really good) panels but overall there were not many rank and file members who blog or use social media at the conference. I imagine that lack of funds to attend the conference might be the reason why. NN does a great job of offering scholarships but it would be a good idea for more of the unions that send staff to NN to also send their union members who blog.

7. Netroots Nation staff did what they could to promote attendance among Minneapolis and Minnesota union locals. That said, I spoke to a handful of union members in attendance who came because they asked/demanded to go, but who never saw anything from their International about Netroots Nation. Part of me wonders if a $10k sponsorship and the expense of staffing a booth in the exhibition hall wouldn’t have been better served by sending an additional 10-15 union members to attend the training sessions (organized by Democracy for America) and schmoozing with union staff from across the country.

The next conference will be held in Providence, RI, easy traveling distance from New York, Boston and Philadelphia, all big union cities. So will we see a dozen locals send two people each from those areas? And staff from 5-6 state labor federations? And Labor Councils? Maybe consultants from the strategic media firms that (sometimes) pretend to be experts in online communications? Let’s not leave that up to the powers that be.

If you think your union should be doing better at online organizing, consider using this as your check list for promoting more, and more effective labor participation at Netroots Nation:

  • Request that your local’s magazine/newspaper/website features a story about unions at Netroots Nation.
  • If your International was a sponsor in 2011, remind them to put something in about the upcoming conference in Providence next spring.
  • Sign up now, pay the super-inexpensive $195 early bird registration fee. If your union won’t pay your way, file for the vacation days now – and signal your boss about the importance of Netroots Nation.
  • Ask your union to purchase a block of tickets now, even before it’s clear who would actually go.
  • Let’s ask Netroots Nation to post data about how many trade unionists attended, and make it a goal to exceed that number in 2012.
  • Start thinking now about sessions that appeal to a labor audience in particular. Not just on the issues, but training relevant to your own work as a trade unionist. Why not sessions on new member organizing, blogging for union staff/members, or setting the labor agenda from below?

Got any other bright ideas? Let’s hear ‘em. If you hear of any posts about labor at Netroots Nation – please let me know or link below.

 

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: ,

Mobile-ize Training Videos – Part 2

June 14, 2011 by

Filed Under: The Blog Tagged With: , ,
«Older Posts
Newer Posts»