Free Speech Coalition - who to vote for 2006 Board of Directors?

[DJilla]

Welcome and thanks for your informative and well written response. I was wondering if we were going to tease somebody from FSC here to respond to the many questions and comments posed. Its obvious that you are in touch with most of the concerns and undercurrents that WM's have been sharing amongst themselves and seem to be willing to push FSC in the direction of adressing them and getting us more involved. That's Great! Thanks! We want to be involved and active.

I'm one of the posters that said it was my impression that there was a general feeling of negativity toward FSC and I still think that there was no particular "divide and conqouer" action going on. My take on the matter was there exists a frustration and suspicion from the LACK of information and inclusion as to what the heck is going on. The Old School vs New School dynamic is seriously at play here. You also made a strong statement when you pointed out that no great numbers from the so called "new school" have really stepped forward to take on the grunt work of what must be numerous tasks and matters that could be done and this most definitely needs to change!

There are a couple of points to make here which I'm sure you probably already realize such as the online community is HUGE and growing exponentially both in dollars and reach. Were 24/7, all time zones and continents. We never close and our gross will eventually easily overwhelm global mail order/retail if it isn't already. We are thousands, and have thousands and thousands of friends and associates. Most of us will never attend meetings in California. We get all the press releases already though our many and varied online media. We don't need the FSC website to check out the latest release. Any junior clerk with a little experience in Outlook could easily (almost easily) be sending us real updated information, or how about an RSS feed. I have never gotten an email asking for five more dollars, or giving me the contact of a particular legislator who may be on the fence and requesting that I send him an email about my feelings or even (yeck) make a call. I know its largely a court matter now, but I'm seeing new admendments proposed all the time. With regards to the boards, having someone spend time on the boards such as you just did here is EXACTLY what you need to marshall the additional strength, resources and money that you could get from a lot of really smart people with lots of contacts on a global reach. We want to know. We want to participate. We want to win. Our livlihood is on the line too!

Your single, reasonable, sensible, post here I guarantee has gotten peoples attention. Imagine what a steady stream of information and call outs would do. You've got people here that can put together a wiz bang website in 72 hours and we're looking at you like "what the heck are they doing"?

Strictly as a personal opinion but from someone who's had a little experience in the PR field, your PR stinks (language changed to protect the innocent). After the lawyers, and the fundraisers, a professional PR person is THE most important person in the organization. Lobbyists are important but unless he's got Tom Delay's phone number PR is written direct for the public and the public will do as much lobbying for you (see: Librarians March On Washington Over Records). Most of your present PR seems to swim only in the the adult community. My take on the public pulse is that they feel that the 2257 issue probably isn't a bad idea.... hey right now they're accepting that maybe torture is not a bad thing either in the right circumstance. You must move the public body to the cause more effectively. The virtual world is one way you can do that. You put your info "out there" don't expect them to come to you and if they do give them something to READ besides PR, like links to the history of censorship, scholarly papers, research, notable quotes, etc.

Finally, I know that you are involved in a lot of things not just 2257 and come to the aid of many on the state and local levels too. You guys (and girls) are busy and committed and stretched and harried and overwhelmed and I appreciate the efforts you’re a making. Open the doors and we'll come in? Though I'm not sure what I could do and I already work 14-16 hours a day, I would be willing to put something aside to help... PM me if you have any suggestions or I'll drop you a line. There have to be tasks besides board member or stamp licker that can be done in the virtual world. Thanks and good luck, you've got my vote! Come back soon.

PS: How 'bout scanning the legal brief and putting them online? Not the preliminary motions, just the main brief?

PSS: .xxx is an inevitability IF ONLY because the rest of the world (they have executed pornographers in China) who has no where near the respect for concepts of free speech, etc. et al that the west does will demand it. Big change can always represent big opportunity!