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MA: Overall StrategyPosted on March 10, 2007 - 11:45am.
from: People First Overall Strategy Verizon has introduced a bill into the Massachusetts State Legislature which is a disaster in more ways than one could even count, and they are putting a full-court lobbying and media press on to pass it, with extraordinary local and national dollars behind it. We need to kill this bill, but it’s going to take a seriously organized effort to win. I created this blog not necessarily to be the solution to this organizing challenge, although people are welcome to use it as such, but to call attention to the fact that for all the very talented and well-intentioned people who are working to kill this bill in their own way, we are dangerously disorganized. And this is not simply the rant of someone predisposed to organizational tidiness and efficiency; it is a call to arms about the fact that Massachusetts towns and Massachusetts citizens are literally under attack by a corporation whose only concern is its own profitability, and this corporation has marshalled its troops and has begun firing its cannons at us, and at the moment, all we have is a relatively small and dispersed group of 21st century patriots firing their pistols in all sorts of directions hoping to land a hit here and there. This is a formula for failure, and we’re not just failing for ourselves here, we’re failing for everyone in Massachusetts who stands to lose if this bill passes. So it’s time to put our heads together and come up with a winning strategy. Such a strategy would address the fact that no one of us has the time or energy or knowledge or connections to do everything that needs to be done, but every one of us can do a little bit, and would do a little bit, if we only knew what that was and how it connected to what other people were doing. And all those little bits, if well organized, could actually win the day. And even if we don’t knock Verizon’s state franchising plan totally out of the box for good, taking the steps to be organized now gives us the connections and infrastructure to be more effective with the next battle. Otherwise, we will simply have to start a square one again the next time, while Verizon will be about 10 steps and 100 guns ahead of us. So, what would a comprehensive strategy entail? You don’t have to look too far, but swallow your pride for a moment and take a close look at Verizon, because they could teach us a thing or two about comprehensive strategy. * Messaging. Talking points for our perspectives. Perhaps you can suggest other components to this overall strategy, too! Perhaps (we can only hope!), people are working on these right now. But if they are, I wish they would start communicating what they are doing with the rest of us, and starting working in a coordinated effort that multiplies our chances for success. I’ve created categories for each of these different components, and populated them with some initial comments, as you’ll see in the right column. If you have any information about anything going on in any of these areas, PLEASE post them here. If you are not yet registered to post to this weblog, please contact me and I’ll set you up. Also, I would like to organize a meeting or conference call of anyone who wants to work this Verizon bill issue, and do so as soon as possible. Please contact me if you would like to participate. Thanks! John Donovan |
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