[DMCA-Activists] Re: NY Arena Outreach, 5/17/03 and 5/10/03

[Seth Johnson]

Anatoly Volynets wrote:
> 
> Hi Seth,
> I wonder who the volunteers are? In terms of occupation,
> education and age?
> Do they continue to do something?


Yes, they continue.  Street outreach is fundamental.  We recruit volunteers
continually.

We have trained many volunteers, from many walks of life.  We use written
down tools so our practice is transferable and can therefore be reproduced
and expanded.  We do "on-the-job training," so there really isn't a
significant education barrier.  In age, typically mid-college up to mid
30's.  Occupation is also not something that stands in the way, though it is
true that information professionals are the ones who most quickly "get it." 
One of the important things is to pitch everyone, because you really do want
to expand your base and your constituency.  We are continually surprised by
the response we get from all sorts of people.

The key is to show effective practice in motion to those who are looking for
something that works.  That's how you recruit organizers and build
leadership.  You actually basically are preaching to the converted, and you
spend as little time as necessary trying to convince and convert
non-buyers.  We pitch people from the outset to take on roles, and this sets
the expectation for what the movement calls for.  We probably have
established between 5 and 10 very dependable vols at this point, who take up
roles and understand that what's needed is people who are in place and ready
to act.  The biggest impediment to our efforts is the personal economic
obstacles -- I have just returned from an imposed break from organizing
(very likely briefly), because of the pressure of seeking personal
employment.

I like your set of principles for discussion, below!  :-)

Seth

> 
> Thanks,
> Anatoly
> 
> A discussion may always bring valuable fruits if interlocutors
> assume responsibility for every single word they say. That is
> they respect logic and each other, that is they are honest. I
> derived 7 checkpoints to make sure I meet my responsibilities in
> a discussion: 1. Always answer, and always answer to that exact
> question or argument, which is stated by your opponent; 2. Do
> not use fallacies, which actually means: never change premises
> of your opponent; 3. Do not hang on every single word, but try
> to keep up with the whole and ideas; 4. If disagree with a
> language, argue this separately; 5. Try to be short;  6. If
> cannot answer, state this openly; 7. If want to change the rule
> set, state this openly.
> 
> http://www.total-knowledge.com
> 
> On Sun, 25 May 2003, Seth Johnson wrote:
> 
> > 5/17/03:
> >
> > Last Saturday, New Yorkers for Fair Use did 4 hours of street outreach on
> > 7th Avenue in Brooklyn.
> >
> > One volunteer approached 180 passers-by with a pitch about stopping
> > Palladium and TCPA before they get deployed.  Out of those approaches, 7
> > people volunteered for Press Outreach.
> >
> > Combined with results from previous Street Outreach tactics, we have a total
> > of 144 volunteers added to our database.
> >
> > Seth Johnson
> >
> > ----
> >
> > 5/10/03:
> >
> > On Saturday, May 10, New Yorkers for Fair Use did street outreach on 7th
> > Avenue in Brooklyn, recruiting volunteers to help build the strength of the
> > information freedom struggle.
> >
> > Three NY Fair Users approached 137 passers-by with a pitch about stopping
> > Palladium and TCPA before they get deployed.  Out of those approaches, 17
> > people volunteered for various roles, most commonly Press Outreach
> > Campaigners.  That gives us a parity rate of 12.4%.
> >
> > Combined with results from previous Street Outreach tactics, we have added
> > 137 volunteers to our database.
> >
> > Seth Johnson