"Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stone, and good in everything."
-William Shakespeare
That quote isn't particularly pertinent to the contents of this entry, but I had to put it down because I believe that it's my favorite quote to date. I found it at the beginning of "Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year," by David M. Carroll, which I picked up at a book giveaway. Nerdy, I know, but the biologist in me is still very much alive. It won the John Burrough's Medal and seems like it will be a wonderfully serene read. It's a pity I'll have to shelve it until November.
Racing Time
Although tall, the waterfall I likened this campaign to in the last entry flows extremely quickly. My work is like trying to construct some sort of device on the way down in order to make sure that you aren't dashed across the rocks, ending your journey. You're endeavoring to land safely and float on down the river to new victories. That's a bit dramatic - but like the bottom of the waterfall there is no question that November 2nd will come, and so every moment until then is extremely precious.
My precious time this week was spent calling people. In 20 hours of my week I contacted over 100 people, and had almost 90 pledge to vote no on Prop 23. Of those people, two came out to phonebank with me, and about fifteen made it to our rally on Saturday. With Claire my partner in crime doing the same, we had over 30 people at our kickoff rally, which was a great success. After learning about how this whole grassroots organizing thing is supposed to work, it was wonderful to see it work in reality. Our job now is to set some of these volunteers up as leaders, so that they can activate their own groups of people and thereby amplify the message exponentially.
We have great support from our employers, which has been awesome. We were invited to have beers on CREDO's tab along the water on Friday, and got to meet the whole team as well as the president, Michael. He's the kindest (and I think only) CEO I've ever met; he went to Spencer and John's (fellow organizers) rally on Saturday in Palo Alto and is going to make his way round to each of ours over the coming weeks.
CREDO also set us up with ten Blackberry phones per office for our volunteers to phonebank with. While we can't help feel spiffy with all of them, teaching my first retired volunteer how to use one was a bit of a challenge! We now have some great signs, buttons and bumper stickers for the campaign as well, which cover the walls of our rudimentary office. It's small and a bit dilapidated, but I found a print of a Group of Seven painting at Goodwill which has improved things a bit. One of the Environment California staff Lindsey from our office keeps her two little turtles in there too; their terrarium is a bit too small for them, but they are terribly cute and seem happy as far as I can tell.
Oh right, and check out how legit our website is! You can see the shining faces of my fellow organizers: http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/stop_texas_oil/contact.html
Air Time
Racing Time
Although tall, the waterfall I likened this campaign to in the last entry flows extremely quickly. My work is like trying to construct some sort of device on the way down in order to make sure that you aren't dashed across the rocks, ending your journey. You're endeavoring to land safely and float on down the river to new victories. That's a bit dramatic - but like the bottom of the waterfall there is no question that November 2nd will come, and so every moment until then is extremely precious.
My precious time this week was spent calling people. In 20 hours of my week I contacted over 100 people, and had almost 90 pledge to vote no on Prop 23. Of those people, two came out to phonebank with me, and about fifteen made it to our rally on Saturday. With Claire my partner in crime doing the same, we had over 30 people at our kickoff rally, which was a great success. After learning about how this whole grassroots organizing thing is supposed to work, it was wonderful to see it work in reality. Our job now is to set some of these volunteers up as leaders, so that they can activate their own groups of people and thereby amplify the message exponentially.
The Berkeley campaign's kickoff rally crew!
We have great support from our employers, which has been awesome. We were invited to have beers on CREDO's tab along the water on Friday, and got to meet the whole team as well as the president, Michael. He's the kindest (and I think only) CEO I've ever met; he went to Spencer and John's (fellow organizers) rally on Saturday in Palo Alto and is going to make his way round to each of ours over the coming weeks.
CREDO also set us up with ten Blackberry phones per office for our volunteers to phonebank with. While we can't help feel spiffy with all of them, teaching my first retired volunteer how to use one was a bit of a challenge! We now have some great signs, buttons and bumper stickers for the campaign as well, which cover the walls of our rudimentary office. It's small and a bit dilapidated, but I found a print of a Group of Seven painting at Goodwill which has improved things a bit. One of the Environment California staff Lindsey from our office keeps her two little turtles in there too; their terrarium is a bit too small for them, but they are terribly cute and seem happy as far as I can tell.
Oh right, and check out how legit our website is! You can see the shining faces of my fellow organizers: http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/stop_texas_oil/contact.html
Air Time
One of the big lessons for me this week was about the media. I managed to secure some airtime on a local radio station and a reporter came down to our rally on Saturday to take quotes from people. She asked me lots of questions, and I gabbed on and on. Being on the radio for the first time is exciting, until you listen to the clip yourself.
I found that hearing yourself on the radio is a bit like getting a new haircut. When you first see (or hear) yourself, you think "Uggh. . is that really me?" Bet then, after looking in the mirror (or listening to the recording) a few times you realize that it's perhaps not as bad as you thought. I learned so much from those little bits of airtime though, such as: never say "like" - you sound rediculous, talk slower than you think is normal because you'll always quicken your pace, don't yell into the mic - it can pick up a conversational tone perfectly well, and finally, make sure to pronounce your own name clearly to the host prior to the show. Listen to the clips if you want - one from Andra Borg and one from Angela Boag - they're entertaining one way or the other :p Next to the link are the minutes that my story's on.
These are all things I'll work on for next time. The most important thing I learned however is that you must make sure that you stick to your message when you talk to the media. My science degree taught me to answer questions as honestly and thoroughly as possible, but here in the world of biased and sensationalized media, what you don't say is just as important as what you do say.
This sat uneasily with me at first, as I strongly believe that to be constructive the whole truth of an issue must be discussed in a balanced way. I maintain this belief, but my superiors have been organizing for years now and certainly know the lay of the land better than I do. We're in the midst of coming up with media talking points for ourselves and our volunteers to ensure that the best things get said in the airtime that we have.
Taking Time
I should say that although I'm working more than I ever have in my life, I still have the time to make my lunches, do my laundry, go on a run every so often, and write these entries. The Bay Area has no shortage of entertainment on Saturday nights either. Last weekend I went to "Booty," an apparently famous pirate-themed club in the Mission district. It specializes in mash-ups (songs that go well together smushed into one, for those who don't know i.e. parents), and on this, the evening of Michael Jackson's Birthday, a live band was combining MJ's hits with every groovy song in the world. It was great.
The event I'm most excited for is coming up September 25th. My friend Christa told me that my favorite band had just been in Vancouver, while I thought they were touring in Europe all summer and fall. I jumped on their website and lo and behold, Vampire Weekend is coming to Berkeley's Greek Theatre. I've never been so happy to spend $50 on a ticket for something in all my life.
Sign-off
For the very first time in 18 years I'm not going back to school this week. I thought it would feel weird, but it doesn't; I was definitely ready to graduate. To be fair, my internship is a bit school-ish (we get taught theory and skills, marked, and debriefed), but I've already learned a great deal about the "working world." Walking Berkeley's incredible campus makes me miss the academic life a bit, but also makes me really excited. I know I'm not done with ivory towers, and when I go back the world outside of them will be a whole lot less mysterious to me.
Saturday Morning Talkies
Minutes 8:20 - 11:40
Evening News
Minutes 18:55 - 22:10
These are all things I'll work on for next time. The most important thing I learned however is that you must make sure that you stick to your message when you talk to the media. My science degree taught me to answer questions as honestly and thoroughly as possible, but here in the world of biased and sensationalized media, what you don't say is just as important as what you do say.
I was taken aside by my bosses after we listened to it and they congratulated me on getting media coverage, but said that they should have given us better media training. They don't want us discussing the nuances of the jobs arguments - as I did in both these pieces - because it gives the opposition's talking points more coverage. They stressed that we are solely to focus on the issues of global warming, corporate influence in politics, and on the more general fact that California is currently well positioned as a leader in the green economy.
This sat uneasily with me at first, as I strongly believe that to be constructive the whole truth of an issue must be discussed in a balanced way. I maintain this belief, but my superiors have been organizing for years now and certainly know the lay of the land better than I do. We're in the midst of coming up with media talking points for ourselves and our volunteers to ensure that the best things get said in the airtime that we have.
Taking Time
I should say that although I'm working more than I ever have in my life, I still have the time to make my lunches, do my laundry, go on a run every so often, and write these entries. The Bay Area has no shortage of entertainment on Saturday nights either. Last weekend I went to "Booty," an apparently famous pirate-themed club in the Mission district. It specializes in mash-ups (songs that go well together smushed into one, for those who don't know i.e. parents), and on this, the evening of Michael Jackson's Birthday, a live band was combining MJ's hits with every groovy song in the world. It was great.
Hanging out in San Fran with (L-->R) my supervisor Lucy, classmate John, office partner Claire, and classmate Spencer (working with John in Palo Alto).
The event I'm most excited for is coming up September 25th. My friend Christa told me that my favorite band had just been in Vancouver, while I thought they were touring in Europe all summer and fall. I jumped on their website and lo and behold, Vampire Weekend is coming to Berkeley's Greek Theatre. I've never been so happy to spend $50 on a ticket for something in all my life.
Sign-off
For the very first time in 18 years I'm not going back to school this week. I thought it would feel weird, but it doesn't; I was definitely ready to graduate. To be fair, my internship is a bit school-ish (we get taught theory and skills, marked, and debriefed), but I've already learned a great deal about the "working world." Walking Berkeley's incredible campus makes me miss the academic life a bit, but also makes me really excited. I know I'm not done with ivory towers, and when I go back the world outside of them will be a whole lot less mysterious to me.
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