Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

If you build it, they will come. Social gatherings, netroots and random ramblings

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There were a few people who had just become involved in our Town Committee during the 2010 cycle.  They are both interested in becoming more involved and possibly attending the convention.  People had a chance to tell them what to expect at the Convention.  

There were a number of BMGers there.   The aforementioned JohnT001 was there.  Christopher joined us.  Two others who I know but who aren’t “out” relative to their BMG handles came.  There may have been others, who post anonymously.    

Some members of the Middlesex and Worcester Democrats joined us.  Folks from the MNW Democratic Alliance came, including newly elected DSC member Paul Yorkis came by.  There was a strong presence from the newly forming Blackstone Valley Democrats.  Jason Palitsch of the Massachusetts College Dems was part of our groups.  Jason is a DSC member in the “college youth” category.  A volunteer from Geraldo Alicea’s campaign joined us.  Former representative Mark Carron came by, as did Tim Dodd, who is a selectman in Westborough and recently ran for State Representative.

Through the magic of Facebook one of the people who came was a woman who I had not seen in at least eight years.  She is the mother of a former colleague of mine.  I knew that she had an interest in Democratic politics but we had never really volunteered together.  I’m optimistic that I can connect her with the Democrats in her community.

I decided to tell this story here to encourage others to have informal gatherings of Democrats.  One of the people who was part of group last night has recently become active in the Democratic Party.   I met her through a chapter of Drinking Liberally and encouraged her to get involved in a local rep race.  She is now the Chair of her town Democratic Committee.  When we get together informally we build better relationships with each other.  When we socialize we learn more about each other’s interests and passions.  

I also want to reiterate Mr Lynne’s suggestion that we have a BMG Gathering.   As I said earlier, we don’t need to make this overly complicated.  We just need TWO PEOPLE who can commit to a date and a place.  I’d say that to succeed the place needs to be T-accessible and have decent parking for the rest of us.  I know that they those two requirements can make it challenging, but let’s give it a try.  

So I’ll kick off what I hope will be a discussion.   Obviously I have my opinions on this, but I am interested in hearing other opinions.  Is doing social stuff worthwhile, if you are interested in helping elect Democrats?  What do people think of “Drinking Liberally?”  What “Netroots” tools work for you.  I reviewed my posts about  FaceBook and Twitter .   I continue to use Facebook, but have never quite become accustomed to tweeting.  A good friend, who I respect, felt Drinking Liberally was a waste of time.  This person felt that if you were trying to organize, the cost benefit wasn’t there.  I think that you have to actually enjoy the social stuff, which most of us do.  If you simply see it as a means to an end, your time is probably more effectively spent calling through a good prospect list.   Thoughts on what works and what doesn’t?

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Comments

  1. I saw an old friend who took a job in New Jersey several months ago, it was great seeing him – and I got to talk about home-sized solar power systems, one of my favorite topics!

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    p>Kate, as to your friend who thinks DL isn’t good for organizing, I think that has to depend on the chapter.  When I wanted to form a renewable energy committee for the Town of Milford, I reached out to folks at my DL chapter and 3 of them joined me on the committee.  Our Democratic Town Committee has a few openings right now, and we’ve found several prospects in our DL chapter, so perhaps the chapter your friend attended wasn’t the same flavor as ours in Milford.

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    p>For anyone who’d like to join us at Milford Drinking Liberally, we meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at the Turtle Tavern, 72 Main St in Milford, just two doors down from town hall.  We start at 6:30 pm and go until the last stragglers head for home.  See you there?

  2. Policy meetings, work meetings, social meetings.

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    p>Policy meetings are what we usually think about when we think of meetings – agendas, votes, minutes, committee reports…

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    p>Work meetings are things like weatherization and solar barnraisings, mailing parties where you fold printed material and stuff it in envelopes…

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    p>Social meetings are what you are talking about and what Drinking Liberally and other such things, local get togethers, and just talking to others at parties.

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    p>You need all three for a functioning movement and a convivial society.

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    p>JohnT001, if you want to talk about solar and energy policy, drop me a line.  That’s my meat.

    • I might not use the same three categories, but I think we agree in principle.  But do others?  As a Democratic movement do we really need the social meetings?  I enjoy them so I feel that I am not wasting my time.  More importantly, I feel that we moved the ball forward.  Through posting, I identified people who want to help Geraldo’s campaign.  People who are considering running for delegate learned more about the Convention.  And we got more comfortable with each other.

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      p>Relative to solar, for the first time in more days than I care to count, the solar installation at my home generated some electricty.  Check out the video of the istallation.  

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