From: for7gen@idiom.com (Walter Epp)
>To: redorman@theofficenet.com (BIGMTLIST)
>Subject: action alert tips
>Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 14:45:47 GMT
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>
>Here are some channels for getting the word out on letter-writing action
alerts
>and publicity.
>
>Flash Activist Network: email fan@wafs.com
>This is a subscription system run by Working Assets. The alert they put
out on
>EPA air pollution standards generated 29,513 phone calls and letters.
>For more info: www.wald.com/activism/fan/fan.cfm 800/772-1077

>
>NationAlert: email emegaro@thenation.com (Elena Megaro)
>This is an activist alert subscription system run by The Nation magazine.
>For more info: www.thenation.com/static/alert/ 212-209-5400
>
>Global Response - Environmental Action & Education Network
>email: globresponse@igc.apc.org
>Posts action alerts on their website and through an email subscription
>Quick Response Network. Also has Eco-Club Actions (ECA) for high school
students
>and youth environmental clubs, and Young Environmentalist's Actions (YEA) for
>elementary school students, families, teachers, and classrooms.
>For more info: www.globalresponse.org
>P.O. Box 7490, Boulder, CO 80306-7490 | 303/444-0306
>
>Global Action and Information Network: email gain@gain.org
>Posts environmental alerts on their web site and through an email
subscription
>system, also has a database of background info on various eco issues on their
>web site. Currently in the process of converting to Vision Into Action.
>For more info: www.gain.org
>
>Protest.Net: post protest events and action alerts via their website
form at
>http://Protest.Net/add_article.cgi; website also has activist handbook,
calendar
>of protests, meetings, and conferences;
>For more info: www.protest.net
>
>The Earth Times: email editor@earthtimes.org
>or pranaygupte@worldnet.att.net (Pranay Gupte)
>Environmental newspaper published daily on the internet, biweekly in
print, and
>syndicates articles to other newspapers.
>For more info: www.earthtimes.org/about.htm
>
>Progressive Media Project: email pmproj@progressive.org
>Solicits and edits op-ed articles from grass-roots activists and
distributes to
>newspapers across the country. Affiliated with Progressive Magazine.
>For more info: www.progressive.org/mediaproj.htm
>409 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703; (608) 257-4626; fax (608) 257-3373
>
>Living on Earth
>Box 639, Cambridge MA 02238
>listener line 800-218-9988
>email loe@npr.org
>weekly NPR radio program on the environment
>
>Talk of the Nation, daily NPR radio talk show hosted by Ray Suarez

>800-989-talk
>email totn@npr.org
>
>Email query@motherjones.com to propose a story for publication in Mother
Jones
>Magazine. For details: www.motherjones.com/info/info.html
>
>For a variety of more comprehensive activist resources, visit
>www.igc.org/igc/issues/activis/or.html
>
>Check out "Designing Effective Action Alerts for the Internet"
at
>http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/alerts.html
>
>Posting to usenet allows people to find information about an issue by
searching
>with dejanews.com, which is updated day by day, while web search engines are
>often months behind.
>Usenet newsgroups to consider posting alerts to include alt.native,
>misc.activism.progressive, alt.activism, alt.politics.radical.
>Your usenet reader program has a list of newsgroups which you should be
able to
>search by keyword.
>You can also find relevant newsgroups by clicking the "interest finder"
button
>on www.dejanews.com after you've done a search and then enter some keywords.
>
>Normally a message should be posted to all groups at once by entering the
list
>of groups separated by commas, rather than sending to each group as a
separate
>message, but if it's time-critical or you want to be certain it gets
posted to
>all specified groups, you should post separately to
misc.activism.progressive,
>since that is moderated, and posting to all the other groups in the list
is held
>up until the moderator gets to it and he can then decide whether or not it
gets
>posted to other groups in the list.
>
>If at all possible, you should read the groups you post to for a while to
deal
>with followups; if someone challenges what you say and you don't reply the
>credibility of you and your message can suffer, and if someone asks for more
>info and you don't reply you could lose a supporter. With a good newsreader
>program you should be able to watch just the message you post and all
followups,
>and/or only messages whose subjects contain certain keywords, so you don't
have
>to wade through a potentially large number of irrelevant messages. If you're
>short on time and don't care about missing messages from responders who edit
>the list of newsgroups or change the subject in their followups, then you
only
>need to watch one of the newsgroups, since the default action on a followup
>from any newsgroup is to automatically cross-post to all the groups in the
>original message's list.
>
>Email lists are similar to usenet except they are conducted by email and
require
>that you be subscribed in order to post, which is almost always free.
>Visit www.liszt.com/ and search by keyword for lists of interest.

>
>Access http://cnn.com/boards/ to post a message to CNN Message boards.
>
>An alert should provide as many contact modes as possible.
>Many online people like online modes and if given web sites and email
addresses
>will respond right away. Some people can easily crank out faxes, and if
>there's a deadline it can make the difference between getting there on
time or
>not, while others don't have a fax. For some picking up the phone is second
>nature, for others dropping a printed letter in the postal mail is much
easier.
>Online people may make copies of alerts for acquaintances who have no online
>access, so be sure to include old-fashioned modes even if posting online.
>
>Inform people that email is better than nothing but MUCH less effective than
>written letters unless time is very short and maybe not even then (see
>www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,19480,00.html?owv). If you email or fax elected
>officials you must include your postal mailing address, otherwise they'll
>probably assume you're not in their district and ignore your message.
>
>When you put out a call for people to write letters etc, it's a good idea to
>confirm and doublecheck the contact info; officials could have resigned on a
>moment's notice, email & phone numbers can be changed without notice, etc.
>I've seen alerts with the wrong zip code, the wrong name for the public
>official, the wrong phone number, etc.
>
>If the alert is for people in more than one legislative district, include
this:
>
>If you don't know the names of your representatives, enter your zip code at
>Vote Smart's web site www.vote-smart.org and it will tell you all your major
>state & federal elected officials and their contact info.
>For the most authoritative info, access these official look-up web sites
>(but be forewarned that I have seen errors on official web sites):
> US House of Representatives: www.house.gov/writerep/
> US Senate: www.senate.gov/senator/state.html
>or call your local League of Women Voters,
>or call any local representative and ask them whether you are in their
district,
>or look in the beginning of your telephone yellow pages, which in some areas
>have maps of the district boundaries and full contact info.
>
>If you make an item in your email software address book (for example with
a name
>of "activist alert") and for the email address you enter a list of addresses
>separated by commas, and recall the list into the BCC: (blind carbon copy)
>field, you can send a message to everybody in one fell swoop (if your email
>program doesn't like a blank TO: field you can put your own email address
there).
>Alternatively, you could put the list in the TO: field, but then everybody
can
>see the list you're broadcasting to.
>