exformation
01-10-2008, 02:08 PM
I hate not knowing where to go or what to do, and on this site this is the feeling that I seem to be getting a lot. This forum has a lot of members, a lot of information, and threads move fast, so that makes things even harder to find vital pieces of information. Organization is our solution to this information overload, and these are the problems that I feel need to be addressed:
-Location, location, location
It's good to know like-minded people in the same area. Yes, this forum has sub-forums somewhere for each state, but this (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=170) for the entire state of Pennsylvania really doesn't cut it for me. I know that there are meetup groups, but I check this forum with a lot more frequency. It's good to look at our opponents every once in a while to analyze where some of their success may be coming from. One thing I like about the Hucksarmy website is their creative approach to organization, like this map here (http://www.hucksarmy.com/).
-Compile resources.
It's hard to find a flier or poster I want when I have to search through every thread I've posted in or previously viewed, or even worse trying to figure out which of the thousands of ron paul sites has the one I'm looking for.
-Checklist for things that need to be done
I like the nature of this forum, but sometimes important messages will get drowned out because this site is really fast-flowing. A list of action items for each supporter should be readily visible. Sporadic emails and random forum messages do not give me a good idea of what needs to be done in my area. I am too small to see the big picture and properly assess what direction we need to be moving in.
-Coordination
The difference between a bottom-up campaign and a top-down campaign is that in a top-down campaign coordination isn't an issue because everyone has well-defined duties and responsibilities, and if there is a failure it's obvious who is to blame for not fulfilling their obligations. However, in a true grassroots campaign, those obligations do not exist and everyone does what they think is appropriate. In this case, when there is a failure, no one can be for sure what went wrong. A well-organized grassroots can help move our actions into more concentrated efforts.
A solution to these problems:
I'm thinking this can be solved relatively easily. Instead of having the forums as a standalone site, make this a sub-site of something larger and more organized. What I have in mind is a site (maybe rp08.com or something short, simple, easy to remember) that links to everything of importance - a map to redirect people to meetup groups, a link to all known campaign resources (other websites and so on), things that need to be done and when, and general coordination of work.
Of course, there are other many other solutions but this would be a quick fix. There is no question of whether this forum needs organization, it will increase the efficiency of our efforts a hundredfold. :D
-Location, location, location
It's good to know like-minded people in the same area. Yes, this forum has sub-forums somewhere for each state, but this (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=170) for the entire state of Pennsylvania really doesn't cut it for me. I know that there are meetup groups, but I check this forum with a lot more frequency. It's good to look at our opponents every once in a while to analyze where some of their success may be coming from. One thing I like about the Hucksarmy website is their creative approach to organization, like this map here (http://www.hucksarmy.com/).
-Compile resources.
It's hard to find a flier or poster I want when I have to search through every thread I've posted in or previously viewed, or even worse trying to figure out which of the thousands of ron paul sites has the one I'm looking for.
-Checklist for things that need to be done
I like the nature of this forum, but sometimes important messages will get drowned out because this site is really fast-flowing. A list of action items for each supporter should be readily visible. Sporadic emails and random forum messages do not give me a good idea of what needs to be done in my area. I am too small to see the big picture and properly assess what direction we need to be moving in.
-Coordination
The difference between a bottom-up campaign and a top-down campaign is that in a top-down campaign coordination isn't an issue because everyone has well-defined duties and responsibilities, and if there is a failure it's obvious who is to blame for not fulfilling their obligations. However, in a true grassroots campaign, those obligations do not exist and everyone does what they think is appropriate. In this case, when there is a failure, no one can be for sure what went wrong. A well-organized grassroots can help move our actions into more concentrated efforts.
A solution to these problems:
I'm thinking this can be solved relatively easily. Instead of having the forums as a standalone site, make this a sub-site of something larger and more organized. What I have in mind is a site (maybe rp08.com or something short, simple, easy to remember) that links to everything of importance - a map to redirect people to meetup groups, a link to all known campaign resources (other websites and so on), things that need to be done and when, and general coordination of work.
Of course, there are other many other solutions but this would be a quick fix. There is no question of whether this forum needs organization, it will increase the efficiency of our efforts a hundredfold. :D