‘Going to the Mattresses’
courtesy of ‘Amberture’
There’s a reason that community activism is done best by communities instead of organizations. It feels right to work together for a common cause to demonstrate solidarity of opinion and effort, instead of just being hit up for money. That’s exactly what the save the screen on the green guys did this morning. Instead of providing me with the tools to contact HBO and request that they keep up this valuable community feature, or asking my help in identifying sponsors to help defray event costs, they came straight for my wallet this morning:
HBO hasn’t yet decided whether or not they’ll host “Screen on the Green” this year, so we’re back in action. Fans like you have already helped, “liking” us on Facebook and tweeting about our cause.
But we need your support. We need $2,000 to upgrade our website and prepare it for our next letter writing campaign.
Will you chip in $20 to help build our website and save “Screen on the Green”?
Look, I love Screen on the Green, too, and we were one of the first sites to break the news last year when HBO pulled the plug, but what I want was community outreach, not a hand in my wallet so you can build a website. I want this to be an event that returns year after year, too, but that isn’t built off solicitations and exhortations without giving me the opportunity to help you with my labor and efforts.
So really, bite me.
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
I totally agree with you. I’ll write a letter, make a phone call, hold a protest sign “Save Screen on the Green.” But I am highly unlikely to send $20 to strangers for a website to tell me to do those things.
The first time around we were very successful with a very traditional grassroots campaign. We can do the same thing this year if need be…and we don’t need fancy graphics to do so. I’m sure someone would be willing to donate their time to update the website if it’s really in disrepair.
In the meantime, Facebook, Twitter, email, and good ol’ word of mouth can start a letter writing campaign off the ground in just the matter of days.
Damn skippy, Elyssa. There seems to be this effort, in Washington especially, to causify everything so that we’re fitting into the same tools that major league campaigns use, and this seems to be the result here. The Obamafication of SSOTG is just another indicator that sometimes, technology isn’t the answer.