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Category: Interviews with Tea Party organizers

Decisions, decisions, decisions

The theme of this post is:  Give yourself the grace to make mistakes.

Organizing a Tea Party requires a few basic decisions before you can launch into what you’ll spend most of your time doing, which is getting the word out.

The basic decisions are:

  • Where will it be.
  • What day will it be.
  • What time of day will it be.

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Meet Melodye Aben, Tea Party organizer in North Carolina

Melodye Aben is organizing April 15 Tea Party events in North Carolina.

Here’s our e-interview with Melodye, which features a charming North Carolina saying toward the end.

So are you an experienced “community organizer”?

No. I have never done anything like this. I am a mom of 4 in North Carolina who while fascinated by politics never felt there was a part for an ordinary person like me to play. Yet as I watch what is happening on a federal and state level I know that it is my right and responsibility to get involved.

Do you have any words of wisdom for other organizers?

Open up to any and all volunteers, I am learning that everyday folks have amazing ideas and are just waiting for a chance to get involved and implement them.

How are you letting people know about your event?

Facebook, the web, blogs, email distribution lists, word of mouth, flyers, local organizations like the county taxpayer associations, hopefully local radio, tv, and print media.

Why is this important to you?

There is much at stake with this movement. We the People have sat on the sidelines and trusted in our Reps or been so turned off by the process that we have just thrown our hands up. However, as our Government is increasingly spending, involving itself more and more in our everyday lives, and working to change the fabric of our society, if we do not stand up now we may forever lose that opportunity. Often times we are caught in the trap of believing that this or that can’t happen because this is America. Yet it is happening and We the People need to let DC know that they are indeed accountable to us and that they work for us, not the other way around. While the Tea Party Movement is growing due to the insane spending and entitlements I do believe it will branch into other areas of interest.

What do you think is important to keep in mind?

I would just like to add that this should not be a one and done event. That in order for things to change, we need to keep speaking out and keep holding our representatives to account. Also don’t be afraid to speak out and don’t feel like your voice does not count because it does.


More interviews here…

Meet Christie Carden, Tea Party organizer in Alabama

Christie Carden is organizing April 15 Tea Party events in Alabama.

Here’s our e-interview with Christie.

What is motivating you to organize a Tea Party?

Our freedoms are at stake, our economy is at stake, our quality of life is at stake, our very safety (from global threats) is at stake. Right now we are deciding what our country’s foundation will be: limited government and Capitalism or big government and Socialism.

How are you reaching out to people to let them know about your event?

Asking facebook RSVP’ers to invite people, asking local groups to spread the word, and we will be sending our press releases to all of our local media.

When did you decide to get involved?

After I attended the Nashville Nationwide Chicago Tea Party, I heard about the second Tea Party coming up and wanted to see one in my own city.

Is anything about this hard?

The hardest part for me so far has been getting the permit.

What would you say to someone who is considering becoming an organizer?

It’s not as hard as you think. Follow the “How to Guide” suggestions on the nationwide website, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’re not alone, and people will join you to help out.

More interviews here…

Meet Felicia Cravens, Tea Party organizer in Texas

Felicia Cravens is organizing April 15 Tea Party events in Houston, Texas.

Here’s our e-interview with Felicia.

(Click here to read yesterday’s interview with Laura Boatwright and here, to read our interview with Pam Fowler.)

Felicia is from Katy, Texas, a western suburb of Houston. She is a part-time drama teacher, and is married with two daughters, 9 and 19. Felicia’s 19-year-old helped her organize the February 27 Houston Tea Party and both children helped run it.

Do you have any advice for any other local organizers?

ASK FOR HELP! People want to be a part of the event! Don’t be shy and think you have to do it all yourself! If people know about the event, they will come to you!

Ever done any organizing before?

The largest organizational task I’ve ever taken on was chairing a PTA carnival.

Why are you doing this?

At stake here is nothing short of our liberty. People forget that economic freedom determines the fate of so many of our other freedoms. Pamphleteers (as well as bloggers!) need resources to propagate information and opinion. Gun owners need financial resources to obtain and maintain their firearms. Churches and non-profit organizations need access to donations to fulfill their missions. Take the plank of financial liberty out from under any of these other rights, and they can easily topple as well.

How are you getting the word out?

We purchased a website, captured and entered all the emails we received to send e-mails directly to our list, and we are blessed to have three local talk hosts on board with us, donating time, money, and air time to our cause. They talk about the event on their shows, help with planning and speaking, and even record promotional spots for us to advertise the event. We could NOT reach nearly as many people without them.

Anything easy about this?

Getting people to the rally was amazingly easy. The people we invited quickly spread the word to their networks of friends, and where we expected around 150, we saw 500! People who planned to attend also called in, on their own, to the local radio shows to talk about and promote the event.

What’s challenging?

The hardest thing has been keeping up with communication. We haven’t perfected the contact plan yet for future events. We’re better organized than we were for the first rally, but the e-mails keep coming in bunches every day. The sooner we get a contact management system in place, the better we’ll be able to keep in touch with our local forces.

Are you in this for the long haul?

I love this country and the principles from which it derived, and it grieves me to see it in danger of losing its historical character of a land of opportunity, hope and freedom. Many people are disheartened and don’t know what they can do. They’ve all but resigned themselves to waiting out the bad times.

My goal is to see people inspired to stand up and find out what they can do about the direction of the country. It will take a long time, longer than we will like. But if we persevere, if we refuse to accept the unacceptable, if we insist upon a return to sanity and accountability and personal responsibility in government, if we DON’T GIVE UP, we will prevail.

Wrap-up:

I’d sum up Felicia’s last answer as another well-known female Republican activist put it:

“You betcha.”

Stay tuned

Later today, I’ll be posting the third in our series of daily interviews with local Tea Party activists and organizers.

Are you a local organizer and activist?

Then I’d like to e-interview you, as well.

Please e-mail me at roxannekramer@gmail.com

Meet Pam Fowler, Tea Party organizer in Connecticut

Pam Fowler is organizing April 15 Tea Party events in Connecticut.

Here’s our e-interview with Pam. (Click here to read yesterday’s interview with Laura Boatwright.)

Pam, what’s at stake in the Tea Party movement?

What’s at stake? Our entire way of life! We are moving from a system that honors and rewards hard work to an entitlement system. And our children’s future is being mortgaged and they don’t even get a say.

When did you decide to get involved?

After seeing the February protests and saw it as a means to express my concern for the dangerous economic path this administration is pursuing.

Do you have any advice for other local organizers?

Contact local Republican Town committees (some democrats have been open to the idea as well) and ask them to send your Tea Party link to their membership. Go through your own email list. Twitter. Facebook. Write a letter to your local paper. Keep track of the skills people tell you they can offer. For instance, one person in our state said she was not well suited to organize a group but would make signs.

What has been easy and what has been hard about putting together this rally?

Coming up to speed on using the media is my challenge but I’ve sought out several people to help with that. Managing people’s expectations. It’s important for people to feel that they have really contributed something for their time and effort. The easy part was deciding to do it! The hardest but most rewarding part is the execution.

Have you done anything like this before?

Nothing like this especially from an organizational perspective!

Meet Laura Boatright, Tea Party organizer in San Bernardino, California

Laura Boatright is organizing a Tax Day Tea Party in San Bernardino, California on April 15 from 3:00-7:00 p.m. (Here’s the event’s Facebook page.)

I contacted Laura and she graciously agreed to do an e-interview with me about how she got involved and why she thinks this is so important.

Laura, when did you decide to get involved?

Last week when I received an email from Freedom Works, I initially planned on 4/11, but when I saw this push for 4/15, I changed plans.

Do you have any advice for any other local organizers?

Don’t be afraid to jump in! I am a “nobody” politically. Just a “work horse” (avid volunteer). But I know how to talk and circulate information. We CAN do this thing. Don’t be intimidated. Network, network, network! And remember, our founders were “just a bunch of English citizens”…until….

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