Gore-Group Progress and Activities

I thought I'd use this space to keep a running account of how our Gore-group campaign is going.

Since Oscar night when the new website was rolled out, we've added a lot of groups here at AGO. The number of groups at Meetup.com stands at 100. It took two months to get to that number. But in the few short days since the new website was rolled out, we've added almost 15 new groups here at AGO. This is fantastic!

We still need to get all the Meetup.com groups listed over here, and I'm working with the organizers to finish up that job. The problem is that if your group doesn't show here and someone comes along in your area wanting to start a group, they won't know that there is already a group in existence. If you're having trouble registering, please let me know and I'll work with you to solve the problem. Once you're registered, you should have no trouble setting up your group.

You'll find that the communication and organization features are much easier to use here than they were at Meetup.com. Please encourage your Meetup.com members to officially register in your group at AGO so you can communicate with all of them. You should also check your Meetup.com page regularly because as long as the group shows over there, people can and will continue to join. You should contact those people and invite them to join your group here as well.

The March agenda has gone out and contains lots of exciting activities to plan for. There's Gore's testimony before Congress on March 21st. The D.C.-area organizers are planning a big rally for that day. All organizers and their group members are encouraged to join them in D.C. on that day. More to come on this soon. It's also Al Gore's birthday on March 31st. We're commemorating that by asking people to host a showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" either in their home or at a public place in their town. Then there's Earth Day on April 22nd. Now is the time to start planning to have a draft Gore presence at events that are planned in your area. We've also suggested that people might want to contact colleges in their area and arrange for local bands to play there on Earth Day. Your group can set up a table or circulate through the crowd with our petition, buttons, bumper stickers, etc.

For all of these events and any others that are newsworthy, your group can send out press releases. Many of our organizers have had success in doing that, and some have led to interviews and write-ups in local papers. Anyone who needs to learn about press-release style can contact me. At some point, when I have the time, I hope to send out an example of what a presss release should look like and what should be included in it. If anyone else knows about press-release style and would like to do this, please let me know. I can send it out to everyone.

The mentor program is shaping up nicely. We've added a bunch of new people to the roster. The mentors are available to give you assistance and guidance, and I hope you'll make use of their expertise.

I continue to learn my way around the behind-the-scenes things I have access to on the new website, and I'm getting there. I was able to help quite a few people today who were having problems of one kind or another. Please don't hesitate to contact me if there's something you need help with.

The most important thing about this campaign is our community of organizers and groups. Together, we can move mountains.

Thanks for being part of it all.