So, somewhere on here I made mention of a 'special event.' Bob Thompson, Pat McFadden and I decided there were enough uncommitted votes, units sending their Delegates without a final determination. We decided we needed to have a 'happy hour' where they could come, meet us all, and hopefully reaffirm any thoughts that they might have had about casting votes for candidates versus nominees.
Dan Durieko and Bob Butler hosted the happy hour and helped me get this together in every imaginable way. The biggest thing they did, was offer for me to take their Segway (oh what a feeling!) on a daily basis. The parking areas were so spread out, and during peak hours, the bus frequencies plummeted, no way to get the word out. The Segway allowed me to get from parking lot to parking lot, but not trailer to trailer. I should also mention, deliveries started Saturday evening, but most of them were actually done Sunday morning, starting at about 6:30am!
We (I had some help from those that would rather not be mentioned) put 1/8th page invitations, taped to windows adjacent to Airstream entry doors, in message pouches, and on the tow vehicle driver's side windshield wiper. They were bright yellow -- really hard to miss. Here's the text of the invitation:
Come One, Come All, Come on Out to
MEET THE CANDIDATES
This is your best opportunity to meet all three candidates running from the floor at the Delegates Meeting.
Find out why they're running, what they have to offer, and why the only way the WBCCI will ever grow is to have run-off elections every single year.
Location: Blue 1, Row 6, #29072
Date & Time: June 29th, 4pm - 5:30pm
I had thought we had covered EVERY parking lot, but we never did get to the G section, and a smaller section I found much later, out by the Student Union Bldg. Still, more than 600 invitations were hand delivered to each in every Airstream in at least 7 separate lots. I, for one, had BLISTERS on my feet!
Obviously we had no idea just how many people would show. We were ready for up to 75 people and we weren't all that far off. A few showed up as early as 3:30 to ask some questions because they couldn't make our 4pm soiree. Many stayed as late as 6:30pm. We guessed that from start to finish more than 50 people had come through to ask quesitons, listen to answers, and hear some overall statements from the three of us. What those that came got, was a whole lot more.
The number of RED badges (Region Officers) was HIGH. All of Region 2 showed up -- completely and totally unexpected -- and both Don and Phil spoke to club issues. If you're not familiar with Don McKelvay, you should be. Don has been a real member advocate, trying to work amendments through the IBT that would help individual members and units cast their votes, and fill the chasm that is clearly evident (not perceived) between many IBT members and the general membership. We had another Region President in attendance and many other Region 1st and 2nd VPs in attendance. Not at all what we had expected, but I was highly impressed with the amount of support, from Region Officers, that is truly present in this movement. Of course, we also (and most importantly) had Unit Delegates, that came uncommitted, milling around, asking questions, and getting answers. You might not think 50+ is impressive based on the number of invitations sent out, but the audience we were hoping to attract were uncommitted Delagates, and we got a WHOLE lot more. If it weren't in the mid-to high 90's in full sun between two shiny travel trailers, who knows how many others might have braved the weather.
Overall, I think the gathering far exceeded any of our expectations, and contributed to the vote count that took place the very next morning...
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Topic: LIVE from Bozeman - The WBCCI International (Read 807 times)