[sklyarov-chicago] Advice from an Expert

[Sean D. Francis]

I like the 'ever present protest' idea.  After Monday's protest, I'll gladly
wear ribbons, buttons, or bells to bring extra attention to Dmitry's plight
and the unbalanced DMCA.  I think carrying extra flyers to give to people
who ask would also be a good idea.  I know in the morning I am not the most
coherent person, but brochure's and flyers give a consistent message (and
can be easily photocopied by the person who rec'd it).

Sean D. Francis

Larry Garfield wrote:

> I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is more politically
> connected than anyone else I know.  She's worked several campaigns
> before, so  had some very good advice to offer.
>
> First, and most importantly, does anyone here who was/will be at a
> protest live in Skokie?  Can we get anyone who lives in Skokie?  I'm
> from Evanston, and I'm hoping to get some other Evanston people.  The
> Skokie Review and Evanston Review may both be convinced that it's a
> story worth covering if they have a local angle.  I'm going to call them
> Friday afternoon, so if I can mention any local people who will be
> there, that's a good thing.
>
> Both she and I are going to try and follow up on some contacts with
> local politicians that we have.  More on that if it pans out.
>
> Another important item:  Yes, snail mail does carry more weight in
> Senatorial and Congressional offices than e-mail or phone.  In fact,
> according to Greenpeace, most Reps now ignore e-mail completely.  So
> start buying stamps, you'll need 'em.
>
> In terms of getting a letter writing campaign going, start with people
> you know.  Talk to them in person, or send them a hard copy mail.
> Explain to them the situation, why it's important, why it's important to
> them, why it's important to us as a nation.  Above all, be polite.
> Provide them with a sample letter if they want an idea of what to write,
> or even for them to just sign and send.  Form letters are better than
> nothing.  If you can, get them to talk to their friends as well and get
> them to send letters.  Or, if they tell you to talk to the people they
> know, make sure that you mention to that other person who directed you
> to them.
>
> Don't use a phone.  That takes up a person's valuable time (esp. if it's
> during dinner), and is easily forgotten afterwards.  That's true for
> talking to other people, and to legislature types.
>
> She also said that we may want to go as far as considering lawn signs
> for people.  If we can make a decent sign (with URL), we can certainly
> try and get a couple of people to put signs out.
>
> She also said that form letters or sample letters are fine.  So, over
> the next week or so Nate and I will be drawing up sample letters to
> congresspersons, maybe 3 different flavors, that we can pass around.
> When you talk to someone, encourage them to write their own letter using
> the sample as a guide, but if they want to just take the sample, add a
> name, and put a stamp on it, that's good too.  (That's why we have
> multiple versions, it gives variety.)  Letters should be a page or less,
> otherwise busy senators' staffs get bored.  Stay tuned.
>
> Another thing Nate and I discussed earlier was more ever-present
> visibility.  After the protest last Monday, I had my sign with me on the
> train on the way up to Evanston.  I had several people looking at it,
> and one or two ask about it.  Now I'm not advocating that we carry signs
> around all the time, but Nate and I came up with ribbons.  Blue ribbons
> are the traditional color for free speech.  On their own, though,
> ribbons don't say anything other than "I'm protesting for the heck of
> it!"  So, we should design a blue ribbon with a card behind it that has
> "DMCA is Unconstitutional" or something with "DMCA" in it very visible.
> We should then ALL take to wearing them regularly, in order to get
> random people on the train talking to us.  The more people talk to us,
> the more people hear about the DMCA, and the more people realize what a
> bad idea it is.  Nate also suggested attaching ribbons to the fliers we
> hand out, in the hopes that some people will put them on.  That's again
> more grassroots visibility, which is good stuff.
>
> So does anyone have access to a shit load of blue ribbon? :-)
>
> We've got some momentum, let's take advantage of it.
>
> --
> Larry Garfield
> lgarfiel@students.depaul.edu
>
> Do you have a PalmOS Organizer?  Click here to add me to your address
> book:
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>
> -- "If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you." :-)
>
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