status quo

Allan thinks I should blog more often. He has a point; I don't want to lose my audience. (Do I have an audience?) But there's nothing to report on the We Move To Canada front, and that's what this blog is supposed to be about. At some point, I'll be writing a lot, and very often. So please keep checking back! But for now, there's nothing new to report.



Well, here's something at least tangentially related. I started phone banking last night with ACT, the voter mobilization group.



ACT stands for America Coming Together. Started by Ellen Malcolm of Emily's List fame, it's a national effort to target the 17 battleground states - to disseminate info and get out the vote. You can go to the main website to read about the group in general, or here to learn how to get involved locally.



If you live in NYC, becoming more active is the easiest thing in the world. Four nights a week, you can call Ohio on someone else's dime. Ohio is an extremely important state for Kerry to win; no Democrat has ever become president without winning Ohio. It's also a state where the economy has been hit very hard, millions out of work, and many young Ohioans are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seems ripe for us to win.



Here's how it works. You show up. You sit through a brief, easy training. Then you sit in front of a computer and read from an on-screen script. You don't try to convince anyone of anything. You merely ask a few questions, say thank you and good night, and move on. You are taking a very brief survey to identify swing voters, so they can be targeted later.



Here's the deal:

Mondays through Thursdays

6:00 to 9:00 pm

330 West 42 St, west of 8th Ave (next to Port Authority), 7th floor

SEIU communications center



Hey, try it! What have you got to lose? As I told Allan (my latest recruit) last night, when Ohio goes to Kerry, you'll know you helped.



* * * *



Did I mention I have eBay fever? I'm selling everything that's not nailed down. One day Allan's going to go grocery shopping and come home to a bare apartment. "Um, I sold it on eBay..."

Comments

  1. Kythryne12 August 2004 at 09:30

    You do have at least one reader... and I agree with Allan, because your writing is lovely. :)

    ACT sounds like a very cool project, and if I didn't have so much trauma left over from my days as a glorified telemarketer, I'd likely volunteer myself. Sadly, I can't face cold-calling people anymore, no matter how worthy the cause...

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura k12 August 2004 at 10:13

    Why thank you, Kyth! :)

    I hear you re telemarketing. My first job ever was as a telemarketer. I sold Lawn Doctor lawn care products while there were two feet of snow on the ground. Later on I parlayed that experience into running subscription campaigns for nonprofit theatres.

    If it hadn't been so long ago, I might be allergic to phone work, too. The cool thing about doing this particular phone work, is that you're not selling anything, only asking questions.

    But hey, there are lots of other ways to be involved. Anyone up for a mid-week road trip to PA?

    ReplyDelete

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