A U.S. Citizen Trying to Understand Your Fight - Page 7

That is why we need to get our name out there...

We have three types of people that we have to deal with.

Guest: they need to get the vision of what is DAP and quick access to information in an easy way. They also need to get right away a clear and easy argument for the Dream Act. Easy means sound bites. Simple like Dreamers will support the baby boomers when they retired and Dreamers will pay an estimated of a billion dollar in taxes. Clear and crisp, propaganda for the Dream Act. Also the invitation to becoem a member.

Casual Members: they come for information and they usually browse around, get what they want and leave. They also need a somewhat easy access to information just so that they do not get in the way if we are too busy. That will clear all the new 16 year old members that want to know how to apply for college and that need to know about scholarships and DL and so forth. Some might help during call campaigns and voting polls. They also like to play around and vent. That is also okay.

Leader Members: These are active members that get into campaings and collaborate. They are heavely involved. Some of them do one thing but they do a better job than a professional. Ianus is the one that stand up on this category. There is no point for him to get into a phone campaing when he is more useful reading tons of articles and analized them to bits and giving us an assesment of the state of affairs. Others are more flexible and can collaborate in many tasks. They have a well definded vision and a lot of drive. Taskgirl, hrvatica and free2bee are good examples but clearly we have plenty of members like this. DAP needs to love back these leaders. Their needs need to be met and their ideas fomented. This is the core of DAP and they are all equally important. There is no one leader that is better than the other. Seriously don't get piss off if your name is used as an example, there is too many of you for me to list. We need to have the perfect amount of work, too much work and they will feel frustrated, too little and they become irritated. This leaders will create the structure need it for this site to work.

Note: The two first groups are easy to target. Leaders are harder to identify. Some guest will come up find the first set of information and then become leaders. Some members have been casual members for years and they will never become leaders. Always handle invitations but never press for anyone to be part of the site. The general public needs to have a positive view about DAP and the Dream Act. Casual members need to have easy and quick access to information. Leaders need strong relationships with one another and a model to make their campaings work. The art of sorting the average person from the leader is really hard. So you might err the fist times but soon you will develop and eye for them and we will gather members faster and more effectively.

Well, at least that is my take in the whole thing. You can have another way to see it and it is also welcome. We are in a period of brainstorming. Even angry shakes of fist are welcome and encourage.

Optimist , I really like your last post. I just think it is important to remember that the first two groups are just as important as the group of leaders (in the larger scheme of things ).

The people who are undecided citizens and just trying to get some info may never actively campaign or make a ton of phone calls or even write a letter. However, they very well may live in some state with a key race for Senator. If they are "undecided" and come to this site and are moved by the struggles of the people here it might just tip their vote towards a pro-DREAM candidate. It also might lead them to explain the benefits of the DREAM act when they talk about the issue to their spouses, siblings, church group, neighbors, co-workers etc.. (who also vote, and who might also be swayed)... I think much of public perception comes from the little conversations of average people as much as it does from the big media campaigns. Most people aren't going to have the DREAM Act, or immigration, as their "main" concern - but if they are undecided about a candidate a positive perception of DREAM (and related issues) could sway their vote one way or another.

Also the kids who come here who are uninformed and just looking for info and to play around can very well become active - and they, like the casual citizen, also know people and talk to them. Maybe they will sway the opinion of their Math teacher, or the guy at Circuit City, or their friend. I think driving away any of these people by being snarky is just short sighted. And really, I know I say it constantly, but you would be amazed at the number of people who should know about political and societal issues and just don't.

I didn't mean to convey that the two other groups are unimportant. They really are but in a way they depend on the core members because the core member will fed them the information they need. Also, we should always welcome and invite guest and casual members to become core members but we should never press too hard. They should never feel as if we are trying to force them to join our cause. They should always move by their self interest - as miriam mentioned- they need to feel that this is worth while for them. Still, your point is great and a nail is always a nail whether I like it or not. So, I am officially nailed.

eh, i stopped reading after the mariam drama. But well, from what i noticed, nobody mentioned that also...we can't travel outside the country, well we can, but we just can't come back xD, i'm sure there are a fair amount of families here that have gone in the situation where a family member or grandparent or such has died and well, you can't see them off, my dad went through that a few years ago, my grandma died...horrible situation. Also i was thinking today...with the situation that we are in. Some people came here before they were even one year old...so! i am sure that there are people that don't speak their native languages since they were brought here so young, and probably their parents never used their language...i'm sure it's a rarity but it is also a possibility. How messed up would that situation be huh? imagine somebody like that being deported...that is probably the worst case scenerio, but also i'm sure there are probably people that would not be able to survive in their native country if deported even though they can speak the language. And most of those people pertain to us "youngins".