September is a month of actions and we're writing this feature for two reasons:
1) Honestly we're pissed at the nonsense that went on in Fort Worth.
2) There are a lot of other actions this month and hopefully others will have it together but, if they don't grasp why they need to, they need only look to Texas.
Texans for Peace (and Ego?) staged a . . . nothing.
They have no one to blame for that but themselves. They planned poorly, they refused to do publicity for it and they pissed off a huge portion of people that were early on last week excited.
Want to suppress turnout, follow their 'model.'
Here's your first clue. If you can stage an event in the state of New York in either NYC or Dabney, you go with NYC.
For some reason, Texans for Peace decided the place to stage a big rally in north Texas was Fort Worth. As Carly Simon has sung, "It's a cow town, it's a cow town." Let's say the event had been a success (it wasn't) and had received national press. People across America reading their papers the next day wouldn't be thinking, "Wow! Look at those numbers!" They'd be thinking, "Where the hell is Fort Worth?"
Dallas and Houston are the best known Texas cities nationally (and they both have football teams associated with them). After that, it's Austin. Dallas was where over 500,000 rallied in April 2006. Dallas is not just nationally known, it's internationally known. The locale was a huge mistake. (And didn't, as Eddie explained to us Saturday, take into account the long term rivalries between Dallas and Fort Worth.)
The city choice was bad planning.
It was not the last of the bad choices.
When those of us who flew to Dallas Saturday morning (all but Cedric did, he had a family wedding), we landed at DFW. The rally itself began at 12:30 p.m. to be followed by a march. We were grabbing taxis outside DFW when Rebecca said, "Forget it, I'm staying at the hotel." Why? She had her infant child with her. "I'm not taking my baby out in this heat for hours." (Hotel? If you're a community member and didn't get a call Saturday morning that we were going to stay overnight in Dallas, our apologies. It was last minute. Read on.) (We were told at DFW that the temperature was around 94 degrees.)
On a Saturday, a non-work day for most people, and a Saturday that's a holiday weekend, why the hell do you invite people to stand around for hours (12:30 to 3:30) in hell-like temperatures?
Answer? You don't. Billie (like Eddie, Billie lives in the area) explained to us that one of the complaint that gets tossed out each August is that schools really do not need to start back up until after Labor Day because it's so hot. It was hot. Too hot to plan a mid-day rally.
For some idiotic reason, the free event required tickets. They wanted people to print up tickets so they could have a number count. If they're taking tickets, presumably they can do a head count at the same places they'd be taking tickets. The ticket nonsense irked people. (Which was why C.I. repeatedly noted last week, you don't need a ticket. Hopefully that was true, hopefully people weren't being turned away if they didn't print out a ticket.)
Worst of all was the issue of media. At the party we staged (we skipped the event), a reporter for one of Dallas's big stations explained he attempted to contact the group in advance of the event and never got a reply.
There was laughter when he said that because that may have been the biggest mistake Texans for Peace made.
James Hohmann (Dallas Morning News) notes this in his write up, "Protest spokeswoman Alyssa Burgin said the fact that the straw poll itself did not draw as many delegates and candidates as Republican officials had announced likely kept crowds away."
No, Alyssa Burgin kept people away from the protests.
Early on community members in Texas began e-mailing C.I. and calling. They don't like Alyssa Burgin. They never knew of her until last week. But they didn't like being blown off by her.
Texans for Peace's website carried this message:
WELCOME MEDIA, BLOGGERS AND PODCASTERS
Whether you plan to be in town for the Republican President Straw Poll, or are coming expressly for the American People's Straw Poll on Iraq, welcome. We will have a media/ blogger tent, a platform for video cameras and media packets available for you as early a 10:00 on September 1.
MEDIA REGISTRATION
Please help us to plan for the event my registering for the event. To register as Media/Blogger/Podcaster, please contact Alyssa Burgin, media coodinator, aburgin@texansforpeace.org
A number of Texas community members planned to take photos. At some point a group decided that if they could get on the media list, they'd be able to get some really good photos that they could share. (Three community members did attend. Their photos run in today's El Espirito. They will run nowhere else.) So they wrote and wrote and wrote. And Burgin, the alleged media 'coodinator' (who'd already blown off a Dallas TV station), blew them off as well. There was never a reply.
Isaiah, The Common Ills' cartoonist, got wind of what was happening (every one in Texas knew, and many outside of it, what was going on there). He wrote three times. He included his phone number. He included his full name, his place of work, his home address. He noted where the photos would run. Had he gotten a reply of any kind, photos would be running at all websites. Counting mirror sites, that would have been twelve. He noted that it photos would run in newsletter (that would have been four newsletters). He e-mailed three times. He never got a reply of any form. He used the e-mail address posted (which possibly was wrong -- if so, check your information that you post to make sure you posted correctly). By the time Isaiah joined the list of the blown off, the community was done with what Diana called "that f**king circle-jerk."
Billie earlier, we're talking 2003 right after the illegal war started, tried to work with Dallas' peace chapter on the issue of the Clear Channel staged 'independent' war rallies. The chapter had no interest in it.
Billie declares, "It was made perfectly clear to me that my Black ass wasn't welcome in their chanting, ego-tripping group."
Texas organizations have a bad image with Texans and the reason is because the organizations can't get their sh*t together. An East Texas member who ended up debating a Republican and Libertarian campaign spokesperson in 1992, offered the best example. At the time he was a college student. He was volunteering with that county's Democratic chapter. He showed up for his daily hours after classes only to learn he'd be debating in a public forum in a matter of hours. Why? Ron Brown was coming to the area and everyone wanted to be there. The local chair, the paid volunteers, etc. Everyone wanted to meet the 'star' so a planned debate (that the local Republican and Libertarian spokesperson would still be attending) was being blown off by one and all. He said he told them he wasn't prepared for a debate. He wasn't even comfortable with public speaking. He was told they just needed a body there. (What a confidence builder!) He had less than half an hour before the debate (he cut his hair in the Democratic Party headquarters' bathroom during that time because he'd been putting off going to the barber to use all his spare time during the week volunteering) and no one helped him prep for the debate. (We're sure he did a great job. Despite what he still thinks, he's an effective public speaker and we've seen that first hand.)
When he shared the story Saturday at the party, everyone agreed that was how things went in Texas. A few people eager to meet 'stars' and not willing to do the work required.
After what happened on Saturday and during the lead up, we more than agree with that judgement.
Get your posted facts right. Know the TRE schedule before you post it online. When those of us still trying to get there arrived at Union Station (on the TRE and more, see "A Day in Dallas and time wasted at Parkland") we were greeted by a number of community members who were also running late because the schedule was not as posted. (The Texans for Peace website at one point offered the TRE ran every 45 minutes, currently it says it runs every 90 minutes.)
Update your website (the TRE change doesn't count). Cindy Sheehan was there. That's a 'detail' that should have gone up early. Apparently it went up 'late' (after the event swears Kendra).
Dallas has several colleges. Members who go to El Centro, Mountain View and UT at Arlington had no idea about the event from anything on campus. Were college students not seen as the 'in crowd'? Diana's oldest son, who goes to El Centro, attempted to get the word out. The question he was asked was, "Are you a part of the group?" (No.) "Well if we're welcome, shouldn't they have sent a member out to invite us or at least posted flyers on campus?" They did neither. Nor did they post fliers at libraries in Dallas. (We checked with two of the public libraries in Dallas. We were told by both -- Dallas has multiple branches, the main library is downtown -- that if they'd been asked, they would have given permission for the event to be posted on their message boards.)
Exactly how were you getting the word out when you blew off at least one mainstream news source and blew off countless people e-mailing for permission to take photos that would run at websites?
From a Google search:
Thousands to Rally in the Streets Outside GOP Straw Poll 'Bring ...PR Web (press release), WA - Aug 29, 2007
They put out a press release on the 29th. The event was on the first. The event was Saturday and they weren't issuing a press release until Wednesday. (C.I. heard about the event from a speaker on Tuesday which is why it was announced in Tuesday's "Iraq snapshot.")
As Trina noted Saturday morning:
In Texas today, there will be a big rally in Fort Worth to end the illegal war. (Details are in the snasphot.) I know a lot of community members have worked hard getting the word out so I hope it goes well. I know some members were hoping to get some pictures to share but when they contacted the organization they received no reply. One member contacted the organization three times in one day. So I am worried about the number of the turnout (and think that explains why so few members even knew about it -- ones living in Texas -- until C.I. started noting the protest this week). But a lot of people have been working on getting the word out and I am pulling for a huge turnout. I congratulate them on the turnout whatever the number is.
The way this worked for Texas community members is that they were getting excited by Wednesday when the first news was being shared among them that contacting Burgin (as the website instructed) didn't seem to be resulting in a reply. By Friday at 5:00, when Isaiah had not heard a reply to any of his three e-mails, the excitement had largely vanished. Three members did end up attending. Most skipped it and came to the community party instead.
The party had been scheduled to begin an hour after the march. Instead it started early. There were five times as many people at the party as the current press estimates on the turnout for the event in Fort Worth. And, note, the party wasn't planned until Saturday morning. Billie called as we were walking through DFW and said, "I don't think anyone's going to go." C.I. said, "Get the word out that we'll stay in Dallas and throw a party. It'll probably be a conference room in the hotel." That's when and how we ended up staying in Dallas -- because the enthusiasm for the event had gotten weak as the week wore on and cratered when Isaiah (providing everything but his Social Security number and contacting Burgin three times) couldn't get a reply.
People were sick of Burgin, were sick of the nonsense and the few that did make it to Union Station were sick of it and sweating like pigs.
Texans for Peace offered a text book example of what not to do. If there's any 'contribution' to the half-assed work they did it's in telling others how not do plan an event.
For starters, no one wants to stand or sit out in the heat during the hottest point of the day. (As late as three o'clock, Kat and Ty could see the sun straight overhead, beating down.) A 12:30 rally does not need a nine a.m. start time. A nine a.m. rally (which would have avoided the afternoon heat) might have made sense.
We strongly urge all groups and speakers not to participate with any event where the organizers cannot provide you (in writing) with their to-do lists to get attention for the event.
If the whole point was to let organizers hobnob with Cindy Sheehan, Adam Kokesh and Diane Wilson, great job!
If the point was to get people mobilized, it was a failure.
The event was a failure. Again, we had five times as many people turn out for the party that only got planned when we landed in DFW Saturday morning.
If you're the press contact, don't blow off big media. You need them. And don't blow off small media because they'll make sure everyone knows how little you think of them and make sure that people don't attend. That's exactly what happened as one community member after another got blown off by Burgin. By the time Isaiah was blown off, the community was enraged which is why Kat wrote this Friday:
Review? Yes, I'll be doing a CD review over the Labor Day weekend. Our plans changed at the end of this week and we probably won't be back in California for a bit. So I may not have the review done until Labor Day itself. But I will be writing one and it will be the one that everyone who weighed in said they wanted reviewed.
That was after the 5:00 pm deadline passed for a response to Isaiah (no response came ever, by the way, for any wondering). As member after member was blown off by Bergen, the community was already enraged. When Isaiah, writing three times and providing all his essentials (seriously, he's got everything in those e-mails but his Social Security number) was blown off, the community had decided to boycott the event. When we learned of that, we said, "Okay, let's fly out." That's what Kat meant by the last minute change. We alerted as many members as we could. Billie worked hard calling around Friday night and Saturday morning to say we were coming in (that's all participating on the writing of this except Cedric). Our party had more people than the event.
Fort Worth was the wrong city. That's why C.I. was stressing (beginning Tuesday) all the surrounding areas. It's not nationally known, it's not densely populated, it's not easily reached. For all their talk of "Take the TRE," the reality is Dallas has buses and a light rail. The reality is that the largest protest in Texas in modern history took place in Dallas in April 2006.
Texans for Peace made no effort to reach out in the areas. It would have taken a few minutes to post fliers on library bulletin boards. If they want to argue that they were short handed, had Burgin replied to any of her e-mails (she didn't) with, "I need some help getting the word out, do you know anyone who can help with fliers?", she would have found willing volunteers. But she wasn't interested in that. She wasn't interested in contacting big media and she wasn't interested in replying to her e-mails.
Maybe she had a death in her family or an accident? That's what we were thinking during the party. But, as the Dallas Morning News article demonstrates, she got her ass to the rally. Maybe that's really all that mattered to those organizing the event, that they got speakers to give up their valuable time for the organizers' private party in a public place.
It was a waste of time. And it's an embarrassment.
If the event had low attendance because of indifference to the goals, that would be one thing. But the reality is there was interest in ending the illegal war. There was not interest in participating in the ego tripping of a few little non-names who weren't going to do sh*t to promote an event.
They picked the wrong location, they picked the wrong time for the rally, they posted the wrong information at their website and they didn't reply when contacted. The failure is Texans for Peace, not people in Texas who care about ending the illegal war.
The plus is after the disaster Texans for Peace staged, it's hard to imagine any event coming off worse.
P.S. The party in Dallas was wonderful.