The subject of TEA Parities is a sore one for many people, but regardless of whether you lean to the red or the blue end of the spectrum, TEA Party reporting is a great example of the reason for Connections Planet.
On the 4th of July, there were about 1504 registered TEA Parties (http://www.teapartyday.com/Organize.aspx) in the USA. Yet news media coverage indicates that there were none or only a few, and they were poorly attended. When we held a TEA Party in Norfolk Nebraska, the local newspaper reported 50 people in attendance, a radio station reported 75, and we counted 118.
So, you ask with baited breath, how does this apply to Connections Planet? Connections Planet relies on members of the community, our Zip Code Managers, to publish news and information about the community. Our site is based on the individual community.
When designing this site, I had several people suggest that the site be based on Cities, Counties or Metropolitan what evers, to do so would dilute the community based face of this site.
When I started recruiting, Zip Code Managers I sent emails of over 1,600 county and state level Republican Party officials, 1,300 Democrats, 900 Chambers of Commerce/Convention and Visitor Bureaus. I asked them if they knew someone in the community that would like the opportunity to serve as a voice of the community and make a decent part time income. The response was just overwhelming (the factious light is now flashing). From 3,800 emails, I got less than 30 responses (0.78%) and 2/3 of those were requests that I remove them from my mailing list. Three were requests for more information and one resulted in the recommendation of a person who was not interested. When I attended the Nebraska Republican Convention last year, it seemed like most presentations mentioned “grass roots” at least once…
If there is something going on in your community and you want to share it, and a Zip Code Manager has not yet been picked for your Zip Code, just type it into the body of an email and send it to cforsell@connectionsplanet.com and I will add it to your zip codes site. Please make sure you specify your zip code in the email.
Take care one and all. God Bless America,
Carl