Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Nice Job, MassEquality

MassEquality created a new tool for its supporters in Massachusetts: a website that allows people to

1) Create your own personal homepage about why marriage equality matters to you
2) Track your progress in organizing your friends and family and getting them to take action
3) Win prizes by motivating your friends and family to contact their legislators
4) Use easy tools to contact your legislators, write a letter to your local paper, donate, or sign up to volunteer
5) Find events in your area or create your own pages to invite family and friends to your equality activities
6) Post messages on your own Equality Journal

While I haven't played around with it, there's certainly some potential there. I especially like the concept of allowing people to create their own pages and diaries. I've come down hard on MassEquality in the past - and perhaps unfairly to some extent. However, there's certainly a purpose to my criticism: I do so only because I think the organization has great potential if it adapts and changes strategies. I can't say for sure whether or not this proposal is going to work, but it's great to see some new developments out of that organization. It should be helpful - and, if enough people get involved, could be the difference between blocking this next marriage-banning amendment - or not.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Curious to know what strategies you think it needs to change.

Ryan said...

Well, this goes in the direction I'd like to see - more focus on grassroots, less focus on 12 legislators you can't convince of anything until they have 5,000 angry visitors from their district knock on their office door.

I think a lot of the behind the scenes stuff they've done has reached about the maximum amount of success it can - it's reached a point where the efforts in that direction may not be worth the rewards, at least not without working on other things simultaneously.

Also, I'd like to see more focus on the 1913 law by MassEquality. It's two sides to the same coin and I'd like to gain some momentum going into the ConCon.

Anonymous said...

I generally agree with focusing on the grassroots. However, the law doesn't, and they aren't yet allowed to do very much to target the general public. That may now be changing a bit.

How would you target the grassroots?

About Ryan's Take