silbatron

Most widespread day of political action in history

This past weekend I had the honor of volunteering with the 350.org team during the final 48 hours of their global day of action on October 24, in more than 180 countries and every single time zone. It was filled with the same intensity and emotion as Election Day -- complete with lots of under-slept bodies and a dank campaign office. I was thoroughly impressed, learned a good deal, and had a blast. I'm preparing a more in-depth write-up on lessons learned, but in the meantime I wanted to pull together my status updates from the day (start reading from the bottom!) as well as some of the videos i shot.  

ok, 350.org has basically turned into a porn site for online organizers. (and my coworkers have caught me sneaking peeks) #350ppm 11:49 PM Oct 26th

Photo: From times sq, proud organizers, mvmt builders #350ppm global day of climate action 4:16 PM Oct 24th

Top three reasons to travel with an iphone

I try not to be a product evangelist but this was the first international trip i've taken with my iphone, and man has it performed in ways that I didn't anticipate.

1. WIFI -- enough said; ATT's international roaming plans will cover you for some emergency email checks, tweeting, or mapping, but beyond that, tapping into hotel or conference wifi has proven invaluable for uploading photos, downloading messages, checking flight information, and most importantly, making phone calls (see 1B)

1B. SKYPE -- in Turkey, ATT's best roaming plan (at $6 for the month) brought the voice rate down to $1.99/min (from $2.99/min); nice to have for emergency use, but otherwise Skype has saved me; at point-zero-something-per-min to landlines, i've talked as long as i've wanted on clear connections and barely made a dent in my skype credit (just lookout for unstable wifi networks that drop your calls); pair this with free incoming on an inexpensive local SIM chip (cost me less than $20 for a number + some minutes) and I probably didn't even need to tell my clients i had left the country; although the 7 hr time difference on email may have tipped them off.

2. VIDEO -- i recently upgraded to the 3GS, but the video was incidental for me; not anymore; having video has been a cool way to capture unique stories or experiences as they happen; i'd never travel around with a camcorder (i eventually abandoned my Flip after a several-month honeymoon was over), but when there's one on your cell phone, you'd be amazed at what starts to be come video-worthy all of a sudden.

3. MAPS -- English is not so prevalent here, even in Istanbul, as most people had me believe. As in, I have yet to find a cab driver who knows where my hotel is. But everyone can read a map of their own city, so shoving a screen in a driver's face has proven to be remarkably effective. (Or if you're suspicious of the results of your exchange, follow along on GPS to see if you're heading in the right direction.)

Video: The volunteers behind Obama's ground machine -- 3 clips from Jackson, OH

I'm still reading and reconciling the flurry of 'how Obama won' articles -- in particular the ones relating to field and internet. In the meantime, I want to share three short conversations I had with local volunteer leaders I was working with on Election Day in the Jackson, OH office. They're a great snapshot of the backbone of the campaign's ground efforts. I shot them during smoking breaks or down moments, but I still feel guilty taking 90 seconds of their time on E-day.

Some context: In just under a week, I drove close to 1,000 miles across half a dozen conservative Appalachian counties to assist the tireless field organizers in "Region 3" with their get-out-the-vote (GOTV) operations, the final push. As did Ben, Asher, and Jen in their respective regions. Ginny had been there for several weeks and was coordinating the entire GOTV picture for our part of the state.

Our work included everything from figuring out the logistics of getting tens of thousands of location-specific door hangers ready for volunteers to shuttling last-minute supplies around or training poll-watch volunteers. Asher and I both unknowingly ended up with Chevy HRR's from the rental agency. What some consider a herse, i like to think of as Dick Tracy's pride and joy.

This first clip is of Sandy, who explains how she went from being an online volunteer to  running the entire office and staging location on Election Day, something she never imagined she'd be doing.

Next up is Betty, Sandy's mom. Betty was classic, which i think is fair to say of anyone who lives in a town for 75 years. Betty explains how she got pulled into this massive volunteer effort along with her family and what she's seeing for the first time:

Finally, Marleen, overseeing the phone canvassing (and big fan of pumpkin pie), on why this campaign is different from Kerry 2004 and more important than her wedding day:

I reached down to pet a dog last night

It was a big german shepherd type. And it was in my dream. The dog bit my hand, in the webbing between my thumb and pointer finger, and it wouldn't let go for several minutes. The pain was excrutiating and the dog's people didn't intervene despite my (very masculine) yelling. The only thing that doesn't make sense to me is this: why would a seemingly nice dog do such a thing? I've never had trouble with dogs beofore-- they always like me --- sent from my wireless handheld

overheard in DC (tourist edition)

(pointing) "oh look, there's another italian place on the corner -- Cosi!" --- sent from my wireless handheld

away messages

work voicemail, check work email, check. Cell voicemail, check. Facebook? SMS? where's the emergency exit for these two? Oh well... wheels up. See you in a week or two --- sent from my wireless handheld

central control

that's the HQ for the metro system, as far as I can tell from the announcement I just heard them make from inside the tunnels: "all station managers, contact central control" we already know it's gonna be an awesome place with lots of red buttons and wall-sized maps and monitors, but the name is tremendous. definitely beats 'headquarters', is somehat cooler than 'operations center', and it just may, I fear, rival 'CTU' --- sent from my wireless handheld

hard-case briefcases

where have they all gone? They're going to come back in the next 5 years for the under 30 set and I will lead the charge. --- sent from my wireless handheld

this should be illegal. and flights should be on time.

i'm in DCA waiting to hop a flight and this quebecois woman plops down on the floor a few feet from me with her baby and proceeds to change the baby's diapers. if I kick my legs out i'll hit the baby. and she's talking baby talk in french. The worst kind of baby talk. This is why flights shouldn't be delayed. --- sent from my wireless handheld

airport people inspire

was just in logan airport sharing a bench and crappy dinner with a woman on her way to a small coastal town in louisiana to help with restoration. She said she was part of this 'emergency communities' network that got started sort of like burning man and has been growing ever since. They're trying to get funding to keep volunteers based in this one town all year. there's hope. And here's the best part. she asked if I had heard of step it up this weekend. Have I ever. Love how quickly info can spread word of mouth online when combined with some traditional media. Bill and his crew only came up with this idea in nov/dec and started organizing in jan. Her friend is helping to organize the boston event, where they'll make a human chain inland at the future coastline and have some members of congress speaking. stories like that is what makes the hard work of online organizing all worth it step it up this wknd: www.stepitup07.org --- sent from my wireless handheld