The Osprey Manifesto

From GrassrootsPedia

What we need is: More On-the-Phone Bobbiness!

Make organizations stronger.

Enhance our Democracy.

What are the opportunity costs of what we're not doing?

How do we get leadership to change?

Small orgs vs. Large orgs?

Can we even change large organizations? Is it worth our time?

Tom disagrees. Are you connected to your members or not?

Even the worst union is in touch with its membership in a way that most non-profits are not. Madeleine agrees because the relationship matters with the members. (Do big non-profits rely on large donors so their member relations are less 'important'?)

Do EDs know how to go about doing things?

1) It requires one or two people to take the risk. Madeleine doesn't know why they aren't willing to step up to the plate. Comm folks and policy folks. Then you lose the moment.

Does the decision have to come from the 'leader'?

Fundamental Organizational problems that manifest themselves in our lives, but are not necessarily Internet Organizing specific. -- Communications directors think their job is to constrain/sanitize 'the' message.

Is there something we can do by selecting clients based on their willingness to change/listen, or do we try and effect organizational change. (edited version of JR comment)

Internet makes the work people do transparent. Very scary for those who have operated in silos/organizational flaws (Amanda)

Having a senior person who 'gets it' - eg, willing to go to bat. Do you try and convert/evangelize, or bring your people in? JR

Engineering change from the inside. Understand the assumptions of those stopping you and work to change the assumptions. three mistakes - point out opportunity costs exist in many locations - risk reward in all parts of life - standing still is not a risk free decision

It feels like leaders do get it, but they are not connected. So is it the mid-level managers, not the top leaders? (ZE)

Fluid team meetings. Bring representatives from many teams into the Internet team meetings. Helped make others consious of the internet and how all those tubes worked. Co-opting other groups.

TM - For leaders important they spend time with their members... should pay attention to the internet(s). Making direct AND personal communications - sending press releases is apparently bad. Communicating that small dollar donors like different things than large donors. Talk with people about the stuff they care about, not what you care about. Be willing to dynamically change the direction of your message/focus in response to the dynamic situation. Patience young grasshopper. Be willing to fight for institutional change. (MS agrees fully)

For internet people:Show results that apply directly to the organizations mission.

Stop the website fetishism.

JR - Find your champion.

Testing. prove what we do will not cause blowback and will produce results.

Ari - returning to Zack's problem with communications people. Pathway to becoming a comm director. 1) press secretary on the hill 2) talk to a hundred reporters or so 3) don't learn how to talk directly to an audience. They work through a filter... We are unfiltered.

historic examples -- are there any of NGOs or campaigns who lost on direct mail or other technology paradigm shifts. Dick gephardt...

Internet people are often scared of bringing other people into their meetings (fearful of starting a blog/wiki/podcast). Josh thinks we should bring them in... ala dean campaign (see above).

What works? disjointed internal processes at the _____ campaign. policy teams/internal discussions.

Leaders are smart/successful people. Very dangerous to assume they are stupid. Ignorance vs. Stupidity. Orgs are starting to pay lots of dough for senior internet people. document structure: - audience - examples of major lost opportunities - laying out a set of concrete things that orgs need to change

What's the goal? inspiration. big. exciting.

a world of endless possibilities with a blikicast

Imagine.... interesting org. small list. open minded and smart ED. What do we want them to do MACRO - there are people out there who love you and want to hear directly from you. you should write to them in the same way you write to your family and friends. - numbers - opportunity costs - THere is a whole chunk of money out there. - praise them for being successful leaders - indentify their concern. - the world has changed... - benefits are enormous. - tell them how to at the end. - relationship management vs. communications management - Leading through telling vs. asking - there is a way we can transform 'the business' using this technology. not a tool just to change communications, but change your whole organization.

- ACT FAST

- For every how attach a dollar value - see op costs above - MICRO - Does this email work as a conference call to your 100 best volunteers?

Two conversations 1) how do you get an org to embrace/use the internet 2) now they've embraced you... but they don't really believe in you. how do you get them to listen to your team.

What's the evolution of the website team in 2012? There is no phone team... does the web team get integrated into the overall structure?

markets are conversations. want to do the same stuff they do offline online... It's a different box. have to think differently.

on opportunity costs. orgs spending money on out of the box stuff. not being creative. spending lots of money... not breaking even yet.