#this would work for campaign funding and outreach too

[nimenianemone]

I want a twitch streaming politician that reads aloud and annotates bills they are reviewing on stream for full transparency.

[husampersonal]

Why Would A Company Want To Outsource A Marketing Director?

Your annual firm budget for marketing ought to earmark a share for social media. When outsourcing to an agency, you don’t have to fret about these costs. But there may be other costs relying on the wants and extent of your marketing campaigns.

It’s necessary to have the best materials and output to indicate that your funding has come to fruition. Posting common updates, responding to feedback, and monitoring activity could be a full-time job in itself. As a result, many companies choose to outsource their social media posting to marketing partners who may help them keep lively and engaged. In addition, an expert may help you to identify areas the place your corporation is spending too much cash and provide suggestions for methods to chop prices. So if you’re on the lookout for a method to save money and time, outsourcing your bookkeeping and accounting is a good possibility.

Link constructing is really the process of constructing out your backlinks, you understand, by way of the efforts of enhancing your offsite search engine optimization. And the extent that they do this it improves your backlink profile and your domain authority. It’s much less necessary than it was once though, and it is extremely time-consuming since you get lots of rejection frankly, and simply way more no’s than yeses. So it makes sense to have someone who’s somewhat bit inexpensive when it comes to the hourly fee to facilitate that outreach and to get them the content that’s wanted. So in case you are offering a service that is locally oriented, you do wish to ensure you have somebody who understands the local market doing it, not somebody who’s fully divorced from your country or your space. You need both, because conversion price optimization is actually putting yourself in the place of a potential shopper or lead and pondering by way of the checkout course of from their perspective.

Unlike how you'd be restricted to the expertise of 1 or two employees when managing social media inside the company, your marketing consultant from the social media agency is supported by a staff of professionals. Since one particular person can not presumably master all of the social media platforms, each outsource digital marketing services member of the group is assigned to manage a selected space of the whole social media campaign in accordance with their forte. Thus, the vast experience ensures that you simply get one of the best of the efforts of every member assigned to your social media management staff.

You know it’s not like you need to get it appropriate out of the gate anyway. Like for many start-ups, it just must be “good enough”, after which you probably can grow it iteratively; improve it, tweak it, over time. And if you outsourced digital marketing do wish to do a full-on rebranding afterward when the corporate is larger, it’s no big deal, it’s not like you’re losing out or something.

So what are some of the largest challenges faced by small companies when it comes to digital marketing? Dedicated hashish marketing agencies like ColaDigital.ca have an experienced staff in place and ready outsource digital marketing to work for you! We’re capable of handle every thing from website design, web optimization, social media management, content material creation, logo design, and branding.

digital marketing landscape. Although consultants usually price more by the hour, they are often employed on an as wanted basis, thereby costing much less within the general image. Fortunately, the choice between the development of in-house talent and outsourcing help just isn't mutually unique. An alliance with a marketing automation company can supplement your company’s resources by contributing a depth of expertise beyond the common marketing team. So, although it’s always good to have certified personnel in-house, it’s equally useful to take care of a relationship with a trusted marketing automation company. Finding and reaching the right audiences can turn into difficult as the business adjustments.

You need to know if the company you pick will match into your future vision. There are immediate digital marketing objectives you've, but it is also necessary to include all the requirements you'll have sooner or later. This might help construct a long-term enterprise relationship between you and the company. A poorly written RFP doesn't provide enough details about the company and their project which may usually result in you hiring the mistaken agency that does not fit together with your firm. The company may not understand your company objectives or wants which might waste everyone’s time and efforts.

[populus-tremuloides]

Hey I noticed you linked the BLM website in a post but can you tell your followers not to donate to the organization

The donation link the website has is secure act blue and secure act blue funds democratic campaigns

So for the past 7 years all that money they collected over $1 billion probably none of that has touched the black community

Hoo boy so while I agree with the gist of this ask, there’s some misleading info here:

ActBlue is not giving BLM donations to the DNC, and this claim has been debunked multiple times by reliable sources. However, the BLM Global Network Foundation has faced questioning and controversy this year thanks to their nonprofit partnerships and a lack of transparency. I always advocate for donating as small-scale and locally as you can. I’ll put the rest of this analysis (with sources linked) under a read more, since it’s LONG (but it took me forever to put together so pls read thx ❤️).

ActBlue is an online fundraising platform that is not explicitly related to the US Democratic Party, but which only funds left-leaning and progressive candidates and organizations. It’s a tech company. It earns money by functioning as this service, so yes, your donations help fund it. Organizations and candidates pay ActBlue a 3.95% processing fee for donations, but the rest of the money donated does go to the organization or specific candidate. ActBlue is also registered as a PAC (political action committee) which is a whole can of Political Worms I don’t want to open, but that means it has to report to the Federal Election Commission/the IRS which is a positive because it results in transparency of conduit funding. 

So...96.05% of the money you donate through the BLM website SHOULD go to the BLM Foundation. It does NOT go to the DNC.  The person who started this rumor (from a since-deleted Facebook post which led to a viral video) is a member of a Students for Trump organization, and other conservative pundits picked up on it and posted it. It just isn’t true, and has been debunked many times.

HOWEVER there’s still a problem. It’s hard to say where the money donated to the BLM site actually goes, and that issue is directly related to tax laws and nonprofit organization status in the US. There were questions and lawsuits about this earlier this year. There is an interesting loophole in ActBlue’s policy that states that “contributions...which are not cashed or affirmatively refused will be kept by ActBlue and used generally to support its social welfare activities”. In other words, ActBlue will keep money that is not cashed by the organizations within 60 days and use it to “generally support its social welfare activities”. No, I don’t know exactly what that means--it’s probably used by ActBlue for program costs, or is reallocated to its general fund (which gives grants to nominee funds, the Flip the Senate campaign, etc) but it does mean that money doesn’t go to those organizations, even if it was donated to them, if the organizations don’t claim it. Then, in a Reddit AMA in June, a BLM Foundation organizer provided less than satisfying information about where the money they fundraise goes. It’s difficult to find that info online thanks to the way nonprofits function within American tax law. 

It’s important to note here that the BLM Foundation and BLM Global Network are not necessarily associated with individual community activist organizations, protests, or the general BLM social movement. There’s plenty of discourse on this you can research on your own if you want. Google is free.

What’s important here is that the BLM Foundation operates as a nonprofit with a “parent” charity. From 2016 to this year BLM worked with Thousand Currents, which “fundraises grassroots groups led by women, youth and Indigenous Peoples”. In July they switched to a “working relationship” with TIDES, which is a “philanthropic partner and nonprofit accelerator dedicated to building a world of shared prosperity and social justice”. 

I’m not going to get into my personal feelings about large scale nonprofit organizations and the oxymoron of conscious capitalism (because organizations like this are essentially venture capitalists for nonprofits imo), but personally I think the larger and more decentralized the organization (or parent organization, in this case), the less effective your donation. More on that later. 

Essentially though, Thousand Currents and TIDES are organizations that focus on fundraising and infrastructure and then fund smaller grassroots groups that might not have the infrastructure or foothold to do that for themselves. This is not uncommon in the nonprofit world. I work for a nonprofit that ran though a university foundation and an established local nonprofit for ten years before we got our 501(c)(3) designation and started functioning independently. It’s not abnormal that the BLM Foundation works with an organization like that, given BLM is pretty decentralized by design and is also a fairly new organization (2013/2014). 

Thousand Currents and TIDES have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. It can be difficult for smaller and newer nonprofits (as well as nonprofits that function outside of the US but which rely on donations from the US or other countries outside of where they’re headquartered) to gain that status, so they often work under a larger organization. 501(c)(3) status means financial records have to be made public, which means anyone can access the financial records for Thousand Currents and TIDES. You can also find tax filings for the BLM Foundation, but it’s less comprehensive (the most recent I could find was Form 990 from 2017, but maybe I’m not looking in the right place). Anyone can request tax documents from 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

This is getting complicated, right? Welcome to American tax law and nonprofit organizational hierarchies functioning under late stage capitalism. i’m not trying to throw the BLM Foundation under the bus here, because honestly this is just how it goes with a lot of organizations in the US. I don’t think it means you shouldn’t support them. But it gets pretty twisted up. Maybe you made a $20 donation to BLM back in July and now you’re wondering where the hell it went. Here’s the pipeline: your donation goes through ActBlue (which takes 3.95%, or .79 cents of your donation) to TIDES, which then directs that money to BLM. They know how much money is coming to them for BLM because ActBlue differentiates fundraising campaigns--the BLM money going to Thousand Currents or TIDES is separated from the funds coming to them for, say, CLIMA or the Farm to School Network . However, Thousand Currents and TIDES probably take a cut to support their operating costs, too. I couldn’t find data on this, so this is conjecture and I’m not sure how much--this statement is just based on knowing how nonprofits and fundraising usually work. 

So, the money stream from you to BLM is like this: You------> ActBlue (takes a 3.95% cut) ------> Thousand Currents or TIDES (probably takes a cut, then directs the money to)------>  BLM -----> Whatever BLM uses it for. Despite that strange loophole in ActBlue’s policy, Thousand Currents appeared to be claiming the donations and directing them to BLM (as of 2018...will be interesting to see tax stats from this year since their move to TIDES after unprecedented donations). 

BLM does have a huge grassroots organizing fund that began this June in response to overwhelming donations following the murder of George Floyd. The fund provides grants up to $500,000 to smaller grassroots organizations and activists, as well as educational curriculum and political platforms. Their grant campaign is supported by TIDES, which provides the infrastructure and tax-exempt funding conduit needed for such a large scale effort. I’m guessing most of the money they’re fundraising goes to that fund. A chunk definitely goes to paying employees, running their website, and funding outreach and education. 

So ALL THAT BEING SAID, I would always say donate directly to bail funds, mutual aid funds, legal fee funds, and local activism organizations before donating to a larger, all-encompassing charity or organization. If you can Venmo someone you know and you know where that money goes, that’s always the best. 

Venmo accounts, gofundme campaigns, cashapp accounts, paypal accounts...that’s often what smaller scale organizations and activists are using on a local level and it’s generally collected and distributed more directly. The BIPOC and COVID mutual aid funds where I live are active on Facebook and Instagram and operate based on requests for help from community members that are posted on Google documents available to the public. Here is a good example of a grassroots COVID mutual aid fund that is directing A LOT of money locally and transparently--there are similar funds and organizations like this worldwide for COVID, BLM, and beyond. 

The biggest impact you can make always comes at the community level--you should do some research into figuring out what’s going on in your area. There’s almost always something nearby, even if you live in a rural area or smaller town like I do, and if there’s not, hey--you could start something! Engage in your community and put your money into that, or into other communities in need. Pay attention to stuff going around on Twitter and Instagram--a lot of community organizing is facilitated there. 

I included the BLM link in the original post because the website is a good place to learn about actions around the globe, organizing basics, and has a lot of up to date news and educational materials. I advocated for donating to bail funds, mutual aid funds, water projects, and local activist organizations and I stand by that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t donate to the BLM Global Network or other larger-scale foundations, but the conduit of money to cause is usually not as direct. I still don’t think it’s a bad thing to donate to them.

But ALSO don’t spread straight-up misinformation like this ask does. ActBlue is a fundraising platform and it’s not stealing the money you send to BLM and giving it to Biden or the DNC. It’s a whole lot more complicated than that, and this is a great way to dissuade people from donating money to progressive organizations who use ActBlue because it’s an easy, accessible online fundraising platform. Funny how right-wing pundits latched onto this so quickly, huh?

Feel free to correct me or add more info. I’m white and operating within US-centric organizing circles. But PLEASE give some sources if you do have corrections or arguments and PLEASE do a google search before you spread stuff like this. 

_______________________________________________________________________

TL;DR: ActBlue is a fundraising platform, it is not stealing your money and giving it to the DNC. The money you donate to BLM goes to that organization, though it is a meandering path from donation to impact. Donate to bail funds, mutual aid organizations, legal fee funds, local activism organizations, etc., over larger organizations. Invest in your own communities, and directly in black communities, and always do your research. 

[hedgewitchgarden]

In 1992, a Canadian ecologist named William Rees coined the term “ecological footprint,” a measurement of how much any entity was impacting the planet’s ecology. A decade later, British Petroleum started promoting a new term: “carbon footprint.”  In a splashy ad campaign, the company unveiled the first of its many carbon footprint calculators as a way for individuals to measure how their daily actions—what they eat, where they work, how they heat their home—impact global warming.

BP did not adopt the footprint imagery by accident. In the 30 years prior to the carbon footprint campaign, polluting companies had been using advertising to link pollution and climate change to personal choices. These campaigns, most notably the long-running Keep America Beautiful campaign, imply that individuals, rather than corporations, bear the responsibility for change.

“It was done so intentionally,” says Susan Hassol, director of the nonprofit science outreach group Climate Communication. “It’s a deflection.”

The universal adoption of the term “carbon footprint” hasn’t just changed how we speak about climate change. It’s changed how we think about it. Climate change has become an individual problem, caused by our insatiable appetite for consumption, and therefore a war that must be waged on our dinner plates and gas tanks, a hero’s journey from consumer to conservationist.

Yet the reality is that the future of civilization is being decided at a political and corporate level that no individual can impact. Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. Fossil fuel giants are funding climate change skepticism while simultaneously lobbying for tens of billions of dollars in subsidies. Big corporate names like Costco and Netflix are loudly committing to reduce emissions but unable to set meaningful targets or put plans in place. The Trump administration rolled back more than 100 environmental rules and regulations.

The reality is that the future of civilization is being decided at a political and corporate level that no individual can impact.

The same way that you give your child a toy to play with so you can finish your task uninterrupted, everyday citizens are busy changing out lightbulbs and buying electric cars while the true cause of global warming continues uninterrupted: a civilization dependent on fossil fuels. As Mike Tidwell, the executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, wrote in a 2007 op-ed, “every time an activist or politician hectors the public to voluntarily reach for a new bulb or spend extra on a Prius, ExxonMobil heaves a big sigh of relief.” A complete paradigm shift is needed—both in the way we conceptualize our individual climate impact and in the ways we calculate the emission impacts of those ultimately responsible: corporations and governmental systems.

One of the challenges with the carbon footprint measurement is how few of the factors an individual controls. Most of us have limited options for where we live, how far we have to commute to get to work, what kind of energy is available to heat our homes, etc. If we don’t own our home (and more than 30% of Americans don’t), we may not be able to properly insulate or install high-efficiency appliances. One research report from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that roughly one third of a city dweller’s carbon footprint is determined by public transportation options and building infrastructure. “We build our cities this way,” Hassol says. “It’s system change that’s really needed so that people have better choices.”

The inadequacy of our carbon footprint as a driver of change is painfully highlighted when you look at single-use plastics. Much attention has been given to how much plastic Americans consume (35.3 million tons per year, enough to fill the 104 million-cubic-foot AT&T Stadium in Dallas every 16 hours) and how each individual should be changing their behavior to help combat this waste. Everywhere you look, there’s a campaign to recycle more, or use metal straws, or bring your own bag to the grocery store.

In contrast, there are no public campaigns about the fact that packaging, an area where consumer control is limited, is the top driver of plastic production by a significant margin. The emissions impact of plastic manufacturing itself is rarely mentioned, along with the fact that much of our recycling still ends up in landfills. Some of the poorest nations are left to deal with hundreds of thousands of tons of soft drink bottles. The plastics are often just incinerated, creating serious environmental and health consequences. It’s a question as to whose carbon footprint is making a deeper impact on the environment: the family whose lettuce comes sealed in plastic (and who pays, not only for the product, but also for the waste collection and management services), or the company that is continuing to package food products in plastic materials, and then opting out of responsibility for their disposal.

Even if we just wanted to measure individual impact on climate change, the carbon footprint falls painfully short: “The current concept of a carbon footprint is too narrowly drawn,” Hassol explains. “It’s only the things I’m actively using and doing in my personal life and it doesn’t draw on other actions that are perhaps more important in the big picture as far as addressing climate change.”

For example, the average American has a carbon footprint of 16 tons. The average individual footprint globally is 4 tons. But that calculation doesn’t include who you vote for, how you invest your money, who you work for (and how much you travel for work, versus for leisure), or how you talk about climate change and influence others to get involved. “All of that should be part of the way we conceptualize our impact,” Hassol says.

Instead of obsessing over a single metric, Cameron Brick, a social psychologist from the University of Amsterdam, says he urges people to have an ongoing and evolving conversation between themselves and their chosen lifestyle. “It’s not a single number, because anytime you pick a metric, then we will begin to game it,” he says. Instead, a minimal-carbon lifestyle is a process—one that involves community-building and continuing to make improvements over time, he says. “My lifestyle is not perfect either, but probably better each year.”

Hassol points out that one of the most important ways that an individual can impact emissions on a wider scale is also the hardest to calculate: social contagion. “When people do something, it affects others around them and their emissions,” she says.

Studies have shown that energy-related behaviors are heavily influenced by peer groups, even more than cost or convenience. A study in California showed that every time a solar panel was installed within a certain ZIP code, the probability of another installation in that area increased by 0.78%. Similarly, if you know somebody who has given up flying because of climate change, you are 50% more likely to also reduce your own air travel.

“Your individual footprint is not the full measure of your contribution because you’re encouraging other people through your personal actions,” explains Hassol. She recommends that people who want to do more should research community solar options and ways to buy into clean energy in their communities, and then publicize those options among their families, friends and social networks, in order to create that initial momentum for change.  

But what could system change look like? For starters, using measurements that actually hold the decision makers responsible for their emissions impacts, for the entire lifecycle of their product or service. That might look like Big Soda being held accountable not only for the manufacturing and transportation of their single-use plastics, but also for each and every bottle that ends up in somebody’s recycling bin (Coca-Cola is the top producer of plastic waste in the world). The shift also might look like emissions information being printed on product labels and unbiased regulatory bodies certifying the accuracy of corporate emissions reports.

On the policy level, interest in a carbon tax is growing. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act was reintroduced in Congress this year (as Senate bill 984 and House Resolution 2238), and would force a temporary moratorium on virgin plastic production, require minimum recycled content, and ban some single-use plastic food service items. Many states already have some form of a producer responsibility program, where the producer of hard-to-dispose products such as paints, batteries, and other hazardous materials, must finance proper disposal. This creates an incentive to design reusable or less-toxic products.  

When we shift the focus from changing consumer behavior to changing producer behavior, we see where true change happens: in corporate boardrooms and among political leaders. The irony of the carbon footprint is that individual action does have the power to change the world, just not on the lightbulb and recycling level.

“This problem is too big to solve voluntarily one person at a time,” Hassol says. “We need to change the system and you have a role in changing that system.”

[hpc-media]

The Daily Prophet’s

2020 Supreme Mugwump Candidate Profile Guide

July 24, 2020

Learn about the candidates for Supreme Mugwump and see where they stand on key issues with The Daily Prophet’s 2020 Supreme Mugwump Candidate Profile Guide.

With the large number of candidates campaigning to become the next Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, it can be difficult to distinguish various candidates from one another.

To assist readers in finding information about the candidates in the 2020 Supreme Mugwump Election, The Daily Prophet has produced a Candidate Profile Guide.

All candidates were given the opportunity to submit a brief statement to let voters know about themselves and their platforms. The view and opinions expressed in the statements are those of the candidates and do not reflect the position of The Daily Prophet.

Ivanna Verynhora, age 34, is one of the youngest Delegates the ICW has seen out of Ukraine. Since Muggle unrest in the region took the life of the previous representative of Ukraine, Delegate Neschadymenko, Ms. Verynhora has taken upon herself to strengthen Ukrainian ties with the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain, and South Korea. An alum of the world-renowned Beauxbatons, Ms. Verynhora was an exemplary student with talents in charms and healing, which she put to use during the 2013 Ukrainian Crisis. With her mastery in Healing magic, she went on to found the ICW’s Committee for Cross Boundary Healers, inspired by the Muggle organization Doctors Without Borders. Funded anonymously—by whom is unclear at this time, but many believe them to be international banking financiers—the committee has expanded into the Middle East, South America, and the United States and Canada. She currently serves on the Committee for International Quidditch and the Committee for International Magical Transportation. Much of Ms. Verynhora's time is spent strengthening Ukraine and little time at ICW meetings or the committees she belongs to—which is to be expected, as the Ukraine has has experienced extreme changes in its government for the last five years, and several turnovers within the Ukranian Ministry, including the loss of Ivannas's late uncle, killed last spring during the Centaur & Giant Uprising in the northern part of the country. 

Despite these tragedies, both personal and nationally, Ivanna hopes that the esteemed title of Supreme Mugwump will be but a stepping stone to her larger goal of facilitating a younger, more progressive, stronger ICW focusing on international ties and bonds between countries for the purpose of mutual aid.

Sitara Noorani, age 35, is one of the most accomplished witches of her age. A graduate of the esteemed school Uagadou, she moved quickly after her schooling to join the Pakistani Ministry of Magic, working with their Control of Magical Creatures division before transitioning into politics to succeed her elder brother in the Pakistani Senate. Since joining the ICW only 3 years ago, she has had notable success in working with Being Outreach as well as in addressing illegal creature movements and breeding across borders in partnership with the Rangers. She has found a friend in Delegate Baptiste, who shares her passion for preventing cross-border illicit activities, and together they have drafted new international law addressing the issue. 

Noorani has only this to say about the upcoming election cycle: “We must continue to strengthen border security across the world, increase education about culture between wizards of all enclaves, and continue monitoring illicit activity among the lower echelons of our society.”

Continuing the procession of younger Delegates tossing their names in the ring for the title of Supreme Mugwump, Estefania Caldera, age 32, comes from one of the largest and most powerful pureblood families in the Caribbean, with branches in Mexico, California, and Brazil. The rising star of the Caldera family, Estefania attended Castelobruxo alongside fellow Caribbean Delegate and classmate Horacio Baptiste—and took special interest in the subject of Magical Eco-Tourism. Her subsequent specialization in the field and her time in the Cuban Ministry for Magic have prepared her to help bring economic prosperity to her region through her practice. Though young, she must not be underestimated by her peers. She has already forged strong connections with the Caribbean, Brazilian, Venezuelan, and Peruvian Delegates, creating a Committee around revitalizing tourism in these regions while highlighting their natural beauty and working closely with Indigenous communities to preserve and celebrate their heritage. 

Caldera says about her candidacy for Supreme Mugwump, “Though I am young, I am not without passion for both Cuba and the magical world at large. For too long, we have idolized industrializing and militarizing our magical nations, but I am calling for peace and for a new age of magical understanding shared by all.”

Horacio Baptiste may be known for his booming voice in ICW meetings, his Caribbean Pride, and his ability to cross the many committee aisles of Nations across the world, but he is more than the handsome face many purport him to be. An alum of Castelobruxo, he first rose to prominence as an Auror for the Commonwealth of the Caribbean Islands. Baptiste’s ambitious track record as an Auror soon gave rise to something far more momentous, as his public image transcended his official title and Baptiste became known as something of a folk hero at the tender age of 24 during his 2010 run for President of the Caribbean Commonwealth. While Baptise lost with grace, he was subsequently offered a position on the ICW with an aging Delegate Ocasio-Cortez’s blessing. As the first-ever Muggleborn elected by the Commonwealth, Baptiste’s position as the Caribbean ICW Delegate is considered boundary-breaking by many. He has not only risen to expectations—he has shattered them. Currently, Baptiste sits on the Committees for International Magical Transportation and International Committee for Human Trafficking and Dark Wizard Tracking, and is a proponent for sanctions against magical nations for Human Rights Violations and Dark Magic Violations. Though only 34, Baptiste has garnered the respect of many other Delegates, and has contributed monumentally to the ICW’s efforts at lowering crime internationally, in collaboration with the Rangers and Delegate Caldera. 

Baptist maintains no comment at this time beyond: “I am entirely too busy to talk about the Supreme Mugwump Election. Bother someone who wants to play nice with the press and has less work to do than me. They’ll be easy to find— go ask the Delegate from Sweden.” Fighting words from everyone’s favorite fighting Caribbean.

What more is there to say about Delegate Lyra Arista that she has not already demonstrated over her many years of service to the ICW? Elected to the ICW in 1958 at the age of 21, she was the youngest Delegate ever elected in America, and has only continued to be a trailblazer in her 62 years of service. Delegate Arista proved to be a powerhouse while helping create the Human Rights Act for Magical Folk, and she has been a vocal proponent for Natural Magic (or Wild Magic) and expanding Magical education across the globe. Arista is renowned for her magical masteries over charmwork, transfiguration, healing, alchemy, and potions. One of the most esteemed graduates of Ilvermorny, Arista’s been a bastion of the ICW, admired cross-generationally. In America, she has been a proponent for Being rights and education, and has helped expand the LGBT+ movement for equal rights in collaboration with Muggle political allies. In the 90's, Arista advocated to expand magical education access to American magical immigrants, refugees, and the Indigenous population. Her election to Supreme Mugwump would only be a footnote to the aggressively progressive acts she is known for. 

Lyra Arista says about the upcoming election, “I am old, and though I have much to offer to the ICW as its leader, it would not surprise me if someone younger takes my place. But I have done my work for over 50 years, and if elected I will do so for another half-century, as is my duty to magical folk across America the Beautiful and Earth the Magnificent. Blessed be.”

Cyprian Patenaude has been nothing but a joy to the ICW Delegate circuit. As the newest ICW Delegate, at the age of 30 they are well-loved and well-known in the Western Hemisphere, having attended both Ilvermorny and Castelobruxo. Patenaude became a rising star in the Canadian Senate for Magic, elected from his home city of Montreal in 2013 through a grassroots campaign after leading several organizations concerned with underserved magical communities, championing early magical education, and combating Auror brutality. His ties to MACUSA through the Patenaude family helped to establish several laws concerning magical secrecy within the United States and Canada. In addressing political unrest in both regions, Delegate Patenaude became a familiar face in the media through his regular attendance at rallies and protests. On the subject, then-Senate member Patenaude said, “It's not political grandstanding that got me to this position, it is empathic standing, with people both magical, Being, and Muggle. I am not doing this for political clout. It is the right thing to help where you can, ease tensions, and create a better atmosphere for healing.” Delegate Patenaude would know a thing or two about healing after having been viciously outed as transgender by American political opponents and instigators. Patenaude took this in stride, advocating fiercely to expand Canadian magical law for privacy protection, and he was elected to the ICW by the Candian government shortly thereafter in 2018. He often jokes that his efforts in this realm are for his own safety, as there have been no less than three attempted assassinations since the debacle. 

Patenaude is a proponent for Being rights, de-militarization of Aurors, blocking illicit animal sales, and raising awareness around LGBT+ issues among magical communities. Though young, Patenaude is respected by his opponents due to his gregarious ability to broker deals and swiftly end infighting in committees. Like Delegate Baptiste, Patenaude has no comment at this time, likely owing to the fact they are currently occupied dealing with political unrest in the Canadian-American district of the world.

Readers have always been fascinated by Delegate Sergio Gutiérrez, who, while proud of his long and unbroken ancestral wizarding line, quite frequently shocks the stately old families of British wizarding society with its high civility and careful social graces. After completing his formal education at the Madrid School Of Magic and Durmstrang Institute, Gutiérrez made Keeper for the Barcelona Eagles, prior to the Spanish Quidditch Association (AQE) and the Catalonian Quidditch Association (AQC) split. While amassing a large fan following with his record-breaking, jaw-dropping saves and daring high-speed maneuvers, Gutiérrez discovered his ability to attract support for political issues and a passion to change lives through his advocacy. Critical to Gutiérrez’s successful transfer into politics was the convergence of several crises within the Spanish wizarding community, which slashed public faith in the current Delegate’s ability and the wizarding political class. These events presented an opportunity for Gutiérrez to prove himself a skilled manueverer both on and off the Quidditch pitch. In addition to tapping into widespread discontent with political elites, Gutiérrez also strongly advocated for a retreat from Spain’s involvement with international affairs to focus on its own issues. At age 51, Gutiérrez, who considers himself a self-styled political outsider among his fellow Delegates, still leads a very public life (one may recall the ongoing investigation into whether Gutiérrez converted campaign funds to rather scandalous personal use in 2019), and can always be counted on for his transparent stance on issues and his commanding approach to diplomacy—in particular, his meteoric clashes with Cyprian Patenaude. To detractors, he’s a dangerous cheerleader for an insular and traditional wizarding community at both a national and international level. To supporters, he is one of the only Delegates with a strong and loud enough voice to bring about real change and unity. 

On the subject of the Supreme Mugwump election, Gutiérrez said, “What I know is that people are tired. Tired and pushed beyond their limit by the demands of this new ‘modern’ wizarding world, as they say, and its politicians that push policy after policy for this new group and that new group down their throats while ignoring our real, shared issues…we have forgotten that in our history there are simple answers to complex problems.”

For Delegate Kotov, age 40, his personal life is his political life. As a young man, Kotov attended Durmstrang to study martial magic for a brief time, withdrawing the same year the institution began to admit Muggleborns and part-goblins under the leadership of Headmaster Matvey Golovin. Kotov’s parents then began his private homeschooling, although many have long speculated Kotov was in fact transferred to the secretive Scholomance to complete his education. Proud of his centuries-long wizarding heritage, and regularly extolling the values of fraternity, tradition, and legacy in his speeches, Kotov is a man who has never forgotten his past while keeping his eye firmly fixed on the future. During his homeschooling years, a group of vampires newly displaced by a freshly implemented Romanian policy attacked and killed Kotov’s childhood friend. The event, followed by sluggish and failed attempts to capture the vampires, left Kotov with a resolve to shake the wizarding world out of its stupor concerning dark creatures. Kotov would work at the Romanian Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for all of six months before quitting; during that time it was his capture of infamously “uncatchable” vampire Sebastian Vântu which catapulted Kotov to international recognition. After resigning, Kotov pivoted immediately into politics, championing an increase in international private and public security for the wizarding world, and pledging to tackle magical creature-related violent crime rates and threats to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy by cracking down on criminal offenders and allowing Aurors greater freedom and less government oversight. Despite his colleagues’ voiced concerns that his actions may cause further breakdowns in negotiations between the ICW and sentient magical creatures, 

Kotov remains sanguine and determined about the future, though he has some choice words to offer about his fellow Delegates in advance of the upcoming election. “They have no idea what they’re dealing with,” Kotov said grimly, in his statement last Tuesday. “Half of them are idiots who follow Patenaude and his kind–magical creatures are just like us, etc, etc.—and half of them are people like Arista, heads stuck in another century and no idea how to deal with the growing number of strikes and crime rates among the magical creature communities. Either way, while the ICW tries to negotiate and sits in committees, their numbers grow and the violence continues—and something is better than nothing.” It’s a tricky dilemma he raises, and one the magical community has conveniently avoided answering head-on, though Kotov has received campaign funding from many old, well-known wizarding families that suggests he has their support.

Serving his freshman year on the ICW at a shocking 22 years of age, Sven Nordstrøm is the fresh face of Swedish international politics whose influential family name precedes his appointment to the Confederation. The Nordstrøm family have for centuries stood tall (and no, we’re not just referring to their statuesque genetics) as pillars of traditional wix values in the Scandinavian region, with generation after generation passing the political torch on from father to son. Delegate Nordstrøm’s own brother, Gunnar Nordstrøm, is a favorite to take over for current Swedish Minister Engström at the end of his term, which has led to speculation regarding the young Delegate’s novice appointment over Gunnar’s notably more cultivated experience and presence in politics. But don’t write off young Sven just yet! He may thus far be known in delegation meetings for his looming, mountain-like presence and choice few words, but Delegate Nordstrøm has a few tricks yet up those long sleeves, making several controversial statements and voting decisions without any predictable formula that seem to go against every ideal his political platform was built around. Are the boy’s wildcard antics toward shock and awe a crafty plot to attract favor and attention to his icy, old-fashioned country? Or is Delegate Nordstrøm simply having the last laugh at us all? 

When asked for a comment, Nordstrøm just had this to say: “And why the [expletive] would I tell you anything? Who even are you?” Who indeed. We’ll be following Delegate Nordstrøm at the upcoming conference with keen interest.

As recognizable in the society papers as he is on the delegation floor, Atticus Ayers has been an asset to British-French wizarding political relations for upwards of twenty years. Savvy local readers will surely recognize Ayers from his meteoric post-Hogwarts rise through the ranks of Britain’s own International Magical Office of Law, or perhaps from his brief but memorable five-year stint as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, during which time Ayers garnered widespread respect and adoration as a moderate judicial voice amongst the uproarious radicalism and reforms that swept through the Ministry of Magic following the Second Wizarding War. After presiding over a number of landmark Wizengamot proceedings, Ayers settled in the magical district of Montmartre in France with his family, but he’s been a staple French Delegate since day one, where he’s continued his campaigning for Being equality as well as amendments to the Statute of Secrecy in favor of privacy and protection of magicfolk, their livelihoods, and their assets. 

Nowadays, Delegate Ayers is known throughout Europe for throwing outrageous fundraisers in support of the causes he’s backing, with some of the most famous faces in the international magical community making regular appearances. Some may raise brows at Ayers’ “party for politics” methodology, but there’s no arguing that beauty, popularity, and a knack for entertaining are powerful tools when it comes to reaching the upper echelon of magical folk with the means to enact change.

The Daily Prophet will continue to run extended profiles of candidates and bring you updates on the September 9th election.

[reading-writing-revolution]

Heather Cox Richardson:

August 25, 2020 (Tuesday)

The Republican National Convention is designed to fire up the base to make sure its members vote, and to reassure wavering Republicans that they can vote for Trump without being racists but rather staunch Americans. And on both fronts, the first two days of this convention have delivered.

Yesterday, Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kim Guilfoyle offered up red meat to the base, warning that Democrats stand for “rioting, looting and vandalism,” while Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley promised that race relations aren’t really that bad in America after all.

Tonight, First Lady Melania Trump spoke soothingly of parenting and offered sympathy to coronavirus victims while offering a sanitized version of her own American dream. Trump offered American symbolism, using the might of the presidency. He was flanked by servicemen in the White House, naturalized five immigrants, pardoned Jon Ponder, a Black man who started a program that provides services for former convicts after he was convicted of robbing a bank.

The Trump team is not using half-measures; they are meeting head-on the criticisms of Trump and exacerbating them. They are campaigning by audacity. That is, after all, one of the characteristics Trump’s base likes most about him.

Tonight that audacity dovetailed with what appears to be the Trump family’s growing authoritarianism to make them broadcast that they are above the law. Tonight’s proceedings smashed all U.S. laws and traditions against using public property for partisan purposes. The power of the presidency, the physical space of the White House—the people’s house-- and the nation’s international standing are all enlisted to get this president, this one man, reelected.

Trump used the power of his office to pardon as a campaign stunt. He used a naturalization ceremony—the fundamentally non-partisan act of becoming an American citizen—to sell the idea he is not anti-immigrant. Melania Trump spoke from the White House Rose Garden, behind a podium that bore the presidential seal, to campaign for her husband. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke virtually from an official trip to the Middle East.

There is a law—the Hatch Act—which prohibits all employees of the Executive Branch except the president and the vice president from engaging in partisan political activity. It also prohibits the president and the vice president from commanding any employee to work on behalf of any candidate. The act is designed to make sure that officials cannot leverage the power of their office to enhance their own power. Since the law’s passage in 1939, presidents of both parties have scrupulously adhered to it. Members of the Trump administration have violated that act repeatedly, but tonight’s performance celebrated and extended those violations.

Pompeo’s speech made it clear the violations were no accident. One of the State Department’s own legal memos says in bold letters: "Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees may not even attend a political party convention.” But Pompeo not only spoke at the convention, he did it on an official overseas trip paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Former Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who spent 35 years in the foreign service, told NBC News: "People are extraordinarily upset about it. This is really a bridge too far…. Pompeo is clearly ensuring the State Department is politicized by using his position to carry out what is basically a partisan mission."

Pompeo’s appearance with some of the religious sites of Jerusalem showing behind him was intended to highlight Trump’s outreach to evangelical voters like Pompeo himself. Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the other day said: “We moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. That’s for the evangelicals.”

The State Department said Pompeo addressed the convention in his “personal capacity,” but even this is out of bounds. In February, Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun wrote an email to department employees saying he would not talk politics even when responding “to emails from friends.”

The State Department says that the RNC will pay for “everything” associated with the talk, but four current and former high-ranking diplomats noted that the logistics of overseas travel make that unlikely: the planes, motorcades, security, and so on required for a Secretary of State’s travels is all paid for with taxpayer money.

Far from objecting to Trump’s lies or his violation of the law to use of the government to win reelection, Trump’s true believers will likely applaud both. The lies are a comforting story, made better by how much they upset non-believers—those “others”—and in their minds, the power of the government actually should be used to put down Trump’s unAmerican opposition.

A State Department official told NBC News, "It is outrageously un-American for a sitting secretary of state to participate in a political convention." At least the State Department indicated a little nervousness about using taxpayer money for partisan purposes. The White House has shown no such concern.

The first two nights of the convention have ranged far from the truth, keeping weary fact-checkers working overtime. But the gaslighting is not an accident, either; it is the point. Trump is selling the classic alternative reality of authoritarians who have little actual good news to report: he claims the country is in chaos, caused by lawless “others,” and he alone can solve the problem. He will return his supporters to the positions of authority they feel they have lost, ushering back in the good old days when the country was great.

Trump’s plan for a second term, though, will not necessarily benefit his supporters. He appears to intend to continue to act as he has done for the past three and a half years, slashing regulations and taxes, destroying the social safety net, and privatizing infrastructure, all in the service of freeing up capital to boost the economy.

That plan was in the news today as, in response to an inquiry from leading Democrats, the Chief Actuary for Social Security crunched the numbers behind Trump’s plan to end the payroll tax. Chief Actuary Stephen C. Goss said that the plan would end Disability Insurance in mid-2021 and Social Security by mid-2023.

Payroll taxes are just that: taxes that come out of your paycheck. In this case, the tax in question is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) payroll taxes and the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes. These taxes provide the money that funds Social Security and Disability Insurance. Trump has talked about eliminating the taxes, arguing that getting rid of them would put more money in people’s pockets. It would, in the short term but, as Goss explains, it would almost immediately destroy Social Security and Disability Insurance.

A disregard for social welfare laws is not limited to Trump. In the New York Times yesterday, former chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen and Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Priorities, note that the Senate is on vacation while thirty million American households did not have enough food last week. “The economics of this moment are not complicated,” they write. The economy can’t recover and sustain itself until the coronavirus is under control. Until then, it is imperative for Congress to fund a relief bill to put money back into people’s pockets, both for moral reasons, and to keep the economy from grinding to a halt.

The House passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in May, but the Senate refused to take it up. The Senate turned to writing a bill in late July, just as the federal boost of $600 a week to unemployment benefits was due to expire, along with the moratorium on evictions. Quickly, though, it became clear the Republican caucus could not agree on a bill, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell turned the problem of negotiating a new bill over to White House leaders and congressional Democrats.

With Republicans on the sidelines, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows refused to budge from their $1 trillion starting point even after the Democrats offered to meet them halfway. Trump declared the negotiations over and dramatically claimed to be handling the most crucial problems with executive actions. His use of the nation’s disaster relief fund to pay for a $300 weekly bonus in unemployment benefits to people in 30 states (so far) will not last more than five weeks, even as it drains our capacity to respond to the California and Colorado wildfires, the Iowa derecho, and the two tropical storms bearing down on Louisiana.

Reality looks a lot less triumphant than tonight’s tawdry performance in the house that has sheltered Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, and which belongs not to the Trumps, but to the American people.

[zeroglitchtic-blog]

The Best Crypto Miner to Build

Https://www.kickstarters.com/heretosaveyouall

I'm not a gerk that wont tell people how I designed the most powerful Ethereum Miner on the market that anyone can build even with no real computer skills at all and be alll like "I alone hold the keys." cause that would be a total dick move.

The 4 books I read to learn about Crypto Currency and Crypto Miners were:

Crytocurrency 3rd Edition  -   By: Abrahahamk White The Bitcoin Guidebook   -   By: Ian DeMartino Bitcoin For Dummies - Ethereum for Dummies - By: Anrus Istomin

NVIDIA.com video Cards (Titan V or Higher) Two 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM i7 Processor 8 Cores or Higher 19 GPU Mining Case Rig with 18 LED Fans Power Supply KKmoon 1800W  (will need a few) Leboo PCIE Riser 1X to 16x Graphics Exstension Transcend 1TB  SATA Solid State Drive ASUS Cryptocurrency Mining LGA1151 HDMI ATX Motherboard with 20 PCIe-Over USB  Ports for GPU Riser Adapter

This build at full 20 Cards will earn around $10.28K per month

The key part to the whole machine are the power of the video cards. NVIDIA.com has the best but if you go cheeper check how much you will earn from running your rig at cryptocompare.com (you need a crome browser to use the site)  The site will tell you you cost of running your machine over energy bill and proffit on a week, month, and year scale. If you need help always youtube it. Get the books I listed they are easy reads and contain every lagit source of info you need. Some stuff out there looks real but is a total scam. Check out the stuff in the books by going to the sites and than youtube a lot of different links on it to get a full understanding.

I researched this stuff for three years and I'm in treatment so I cant build mine till I get out but those are the best specs. Get the parts straight from the makers, they are cheaper and you know your getting what you paid for and it's not burnt out or damaged.

The price for a full 20 Card build is huge because Crypto Mining has driven up the prices of video cards. My mom is givig me a $10,000.00 Trust when I get out of treatment and I'm putting the whole thing into my first build.

I suggest doing an internet search for every Crowdfunding site on the internet and the top ones and than a search yor every social media site and network to post your crowd fund on. If you have a ton of fallowers already on networks post there too. When I get out I'm going to pay Ad Agencies to create mine and do massive Campaigns to target Corporations and other types of donors. The specs I gave you cost around $88,505.70 for the entire 20 Card build. With my $10K Trust I'll start with only 2 or 3 cards and earn around $2K per month and without any help I'll have to save, see and reinvest in more cards over and over. The cool thing is you only need about 5 cards running to live comfortably and never have to work again.

I however have loftier goals of ending homelessness, changing Poverty, and rescueing exsploited kids and people around the world. 100 of my builds will bring me in over $1 Millio a month and by than I'll have computer engeneeers setting up huge fars of builds and be exspanding so fast that I'll have the abillity to make a small global change. My plans to reach that are 25-35 years from now though and I hope to have hired people around the world to help do outreach it their Countries tonot just Minnesota or the USA.

[leftpress]

| July 24th 2019 | Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)

We have a lot going on and I wanted to be sure we are in touch with you even if you are not attending the convention!

Reminder to Chapters and Members of the Critical Need for Confidentiality in the Grievance Process

Jane McAlevey Tools from No Shortcuts to Organizing for Power Series

Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC) Update

Electoral Endorsements in California and Ohio

DSA In Office Gathering in Atlanta

Convention is Coming Up!

Pre-Convention Budget Webinar for Members

Delegate Convention Emails

Reminder to Chapters and Members of the Critical Need for Confidentiality in the Grievance Process

On the July 8 call of the National Political Committee Steering Committee, the SC voted to send this letter to members.

The entire process for Resolution 33 grievances and non-Resolution 33 cases may be seen here, as well as resources for chapter Harassment and Grievance Officers.

Jane McAlevey Tools from No Shortcuts to Organizing for Power Series

In the last two months, hundreds of members attended three mass organizing calls with Jane McAlevey, ending on July 10 with a call on how to use these techniques to strengthen your DSA chapter. In moments like now, when the boss class is doubling down on their campaign to divide, conquer, and spread fear, it is more important than ever that we build effective chapters who can both mobilize, but also organize.

Stay tuned for an August follow up call to see how folks have applied Jane’s lessons, and in the meantime, here are some tools she developed for chapter members in DSA. We hope you can try them out and then get on our next call!

DSA chapter charting conversation rap

DSA chapter charting worksheet

DSA 1 to 1 organizing conversation roleplay debrief checklist

If you missed any or all of these mass calls, click here to watch the three videos. At the link you will find a discussion guide for No Shortcuts, brought to you by the DSA Fund, dedicated to education and outreach about Democratic Socialism. Learn more or support the DSA Fund here.

Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC) Update

The DSLC is hosting a call featuring the leaders of Labor Working Groups, Committees, and Branches throughout the organization. They will be discussing the approach they take to the labor movement in their chapters, campaigns they’ve taken on, and issues they’ve faced. We are still finalizing a time and agenda, but you can pre-register for the call at this link.

And check out the DSLC’s Labor 101 curriculum! There will be an opportunity for delegates to participate in a Labor 101 session at the convention, which is a great opportunity to bring this training back to their home chapter.

Electoral Endorsements in California and Ohio

The National Electoral Committee is proud to endorse Dean Preston for San Francisco, CA Board of Supervisors and Liliana Rivera Baiman for Columbus, OH City Council!! Both are up for election Tuesday, November 5th. Vote for them if you live in town, donate to them if you can, and reach out to eric@dsausa.org to volunteer remotely for them or our other candidates like Shaun Scott in Seattle.

Dean Preston wrote the Right to Counsel ballot measure that San Francisco DSA endorsed and won, and is known as one of the lead organizers who helped save CA rent control in 2008. He has represented tenants in eviction cases and victims of police misconduct as a lawyer, and now he is running to represent working people on San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. This is a chance to elect a DSA member who has already worked alongside the chapter to office and boost their fights for a green new deal, public transportation, and of course, tenants’ rights and affordable housing.

Liliana Rivera Baiman is a mother, labor organizer, and DREAMer activist who is running because Columbus workers shouldn’t need more than one job to survive. That means good union jobs with benefits, and a city that can support them. She’s a member of Columbus DSA and knows that without municipal ID cards and public internet, it’s hard for everyone to take advantage of everything the city has to offer. With public services that are funded by prioritizing the good of all over the good of developers, Liliana believes everyone can thrive.

DSA In Office Gathering in Atlanta

The past few weeks we have seen what happens when the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party attacks their left flank. It opens the door for the likes of Trump to go on the offensive, galvanizing and growing his base from among those who would like to return this country to pre-Reconstruction economic and social relations.

Outside the formal political arena, DSA members across the country have attended and in many cases helped organize Close the Camps mobilizations. It is critical that our chapters be part of broad based majoritarian coalitions organizing both in direct actions and in civil society against the increasing neo-fascism of the Republican Party, the accomodationism of too many moderate Democrats, and the corporations who assist ICE and other institutions of oppression.

We are also working inside the formal political arena, supporting our members in office to use their resources to facilitate working class self defense in their communities, and helping new democratic socialists candidates run for office at all levels of government. Dozens of DSA members currently in office will gather concurrent with the national convention to build our national network and find new ways to leverage our independent, collective power.

Convention is Coming Up!

It’s been great seeing members on social media discussing some of the many resolutions before delegates at the convention, and knowing many of you are holding chapter meetings to discuss them as well. Delegates will make major decisions about the direction of the organization in just two weeks.

We will also hear from inspiring leaders both inside and outside DSA, including:

Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. During the government shutdown, Nelson released a video calling on flight attendants to stop working and support air traffic controllers sickouts. Hours later, Trump cut a deal to end the shutdown. Now she’s standing up against climate change, supporting the Green New Deal, and calling on airlines to stop enabling deportations.

Linda Sarsour, DSA member, co-founder of MPower Change, Palestinian-American community organizer, former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and Women’s March board member.

Together we will marshall our strength for the struggles ahead. We want nothing less than a planet for the many, not the few!

Pre-Convention Budget Webinar for Members

The Budget and Finance Committee is organizing a Preconvention Webinar Budget Presentation on Sunday, 7/28th 8pm ET/7pm CT/6pm MT/5pm PT. The call will be one hour long and will include an mid-year budget analysis. This call will be limited to DSA members as of 7/11/2019.

To verify memberships are up-to-date with their dues, we ask that you RSVP for access to the call. Every member who RSVPs will receive a recording of the call.

Delegate Convention Emails

Are you a national convention delegate but not receiving convention bulletin emails? You may not have filled out the full registration process! Email RegHelpDesk@dsausa.org to check.

Learn more about our national convention here.

The post Special Mid-Month Dispatch appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

[Read More On LeftPress.org]

[suffermylove]

Mercy Junction is being kicked out of our building.

As I write these words I realize I am not sad, I am angry.

We are a church, a community, a ministry led by Trans Women.

I’m not sad, I am not surprised, I am angry.

When I received the call to Pastor at Mercy Junction a year and a half ago Mercy had just gone through a catastrophe that it had barely survived. Funding was gone, our building was mostly empty, and the council of elders had voted to end Mercy Junction pending a few days of prayer. When the council came back together they decided to continue, to see what could be done to keep it going. With the heroic effort of our former Director Beth Foster, things slowly turned around. As our founding Pastor Brian Merritt began an interim position several states away, I was brought on as the new Pastor.

At the time I was working full time and as Mercy was barely able to keep the lights on I received the modest stipend of $200 a month. It’s what could be afforded, and I was happy for the chance to minister.

Most of us don't get that chance.

As a trans woman minister I had no real hope of ever leading a church. I was realistic. It seems God isn't a realist though as I was put where I was needed. And I was definitely needed. The work was endless and by the end of October I had quit my job to minister full time.

I did so on faith.

And by faith I don't mean belief. I knew my family and I would struggle. I did not “believe” we wouldn’t. But it was what needed to be done.

Faith is an action you do because you believe in the moral necessity of a thing more than the rationality of it. Faith isn’t just an action, faith is a purposed risky action.

Part of the reason I was willing to do that, to take that path, is that when I received the call, I knew Mercy would suffer for me.

That is a difficult truth, but it is honest. There is a reason there are (AFAIK) less than 10 trans women serving as Head Pastor in any church in the US. To put it mildly, I practiced my faith for Mercy because Mercy practiced their faith in me.

In January, though we had been through hell and were still struggling; the board that own St. Andrews center, which had been established to promote social justice and to encourage community growth, renewed our management contract for another 3 years.

We settled in to do the work. We built community, we stood boldly against white supremacist groups, we continued our relationship with the Poor People's Campaign, we did the work of justice, the tiring but fulfilling work. We had beautiful services, provided hospitality, a free store, and welcomed our unhoused neighbors in on the coldest nights of the year and hottest days of summer. We practiced our mission. We did our work. And at some point I even started getting paid my $200 weekly instead of monthly.

But then, in September, our director left to work with a sister ministry and she appointed me to take over her leadership responsibilities.

This was, it soon became apparent, too much for some to take.

Almost immediately I was met with resistance, including an elder becoming violent in a council meeting.

Up to this point I had very little reason to have anything but surface level interactions with my former co-director. His job mainly consisted of maintaining the building while Beth handled finances, outreach and activism. I knew he was uncomfortable with me as a trans person but hoped he would work past it. Instead, when I challenged him on an attempt at shifting resources away from ministry during our first council meeting, he responded by smashing a glass case and kicking over things in our hospitality room.

He refused to apologize in the coming weeks and instead sent an email containing lightly veiled transphobia aimed at myself and the other two trans women present: My Lay Minister of Hospitality who is a Cherokee two-spirit woman, and our seminarian.

That would have been my final interaction with him, but he squatted within our building and has refused to leave. And here I should add, he is the president of the St. Andrews Board, the board that owns our building.

From that point forward he and another man on the St. Andrews board began making wild accusations about Mercy Junction, myself, and my Lay Minister. Everything from misappropriation of funds to her being a sexual predator (the classic transphobic fallback).

Instead of letting the situation drag us under, we focused on the ministry. We doubled down on serving our community. We started new projects, we expanded service hours, we made plans for the future. And it’s one of those plans that I think might be the real reason we are losing the building we have called our home for years.

Though under fire I was not willing to back off our mission. Our mission is one of radical hospitality. And because we take that seriously our plan for 2019 was (and still is) to open a low-cost / no-cost Transgender Hostel.

Before I began working at Mercy I started the Trans Crisis Ministry Network and over the years I have seen a deep sustained need for low-cost or no-cost housing for trans folk. It is Mercy Junction’s desire to see that need fulfilled. To do so we had planned on renovating a portion of the Center and had begun lining up the funds to do just that. But now we are in a bind.

The board has seen fit to end their contract with Mercy two years early. When asked for a reason, none was given. Though we are in a better place financially than when it was renewed, though we are doing more for the community, serving more people, sheltering more people, helping more people. Though we are doing the work Mercy Junction was brought in to do, the answer I received when I asked was “we don't have to give you one”. Transphobia and mudslinging were seemingly enough of a reason.

So In the coldest time of the year, we will no longer be able to provide a space for people to find shelter for “no reason”.

In the time of the year when people are struggling the most, we will no longer be able to serve a warm meal for “no reason”.

In the time of the year when we pass out mountains of blankets and jackets, we will watch our neighbors grow cold for “no reason”.

Because some people who don't want to do the work refuse to recognize the basic humanity of those who are.

Mercy Junction is suffering because they called a trans woman to be their pastor.

Mercy Junction is suffering because they asked a trans woman to lead.

So I plan on leading.

This is not just a sad story or even just a reason to get angry. This is a call to action.

If you believe in the work of Mercy Junction then I implore you to give.

If you believe that a church led by trans women is needed, I implore you to give.

If you believe that trans people should have a safe place to go, I implore you to give.

We aren’t done. People like us are born into the fight and we don't give up easily.

This is the work of the church. Radical Equality, Radical Hospitality, Radical Justice.

Mercy Junction needs you. We are currently looking for a new space, we are currently looking toward the future. Help us get there. Faith is purposed risky action. We need you to have faith in us. Take action however you can. Risk betting on us. On our vision. On our mission. On our dedication to our brothers and sisters and siblings who need us. We need your help so we can help others.

With Faith and Love,

Rev. Alaina Cobb and the Elders of Mercy Junction

Donations can be sent to donations@mercyjunctioncenter.org by Paypal or by clicking the link below.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HHKAXQ4ADHADJ&source=url

[privateschool]

When Cheshire Academy launched its “One Word. One Gift.” annual fund marketing campaign at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, we had no idea how successful it would be.

This two-year branded annual fund marketing campaign combined traditional print marketing with email, digital and social media marketing, as well as organic development outreach to reconnect with current and past constituents. Designed to engage constituents in a two-part interaction with the school, this endeavor asked donors to remember what they love about Cheshire Academy by choosing one word to represent their experiences, and then make one gift to the annual fund in honor of that word.

The goal was to engage alumni, increase annual fund participation, and increase the total amount raised for the annual fund.

How One Word was Developed.

This marketing campaign came after a failed, “Tell Us Your CA Story” annual giving program during the 2013-2014 academic year. CA Story was designed to engage donors by soliciting both stories and donations from current and past constituents about their Cheshire Academy experiences. Very few stories were submitted and the annual fund fell just shy of its goals, raising only 92% of the intended amount.

When the CA Stories effort faltered, we were able to use those experiences to drive a better strategy for the next year. This strategy involved minimizing the effort we ask of our donors to participate (give us one word versus a paragraph or longer) and allowing them to choose a meaningful memory to them to honor with a gift online. We focused on nurturing relationships and asking constituents to reminisce, which gave them the inspiration to give in honor of their own experiences.  

The concept came out of a meeting with the development office in which frustrations from the previous year were aired, goals were shared, and the previous year’s marketing campaign was analyzed. With an alumni director who wanted, “just one gift” from a group of disconnected alumni and my own declaration of, “forget a story, I just want one word,” One Word. One Gift. was born.

A crucial component of success is that the concept was fully embraced by both the Strategic Marketing & Communications team and the Development & Alumni Relations Office.

The Target Audience

The One Word endeavor targeted the full Cheshire Academy constituency: parents, alumni, past parents, friends, and donors.

Even current students got involved and made annual fund gifts in honor of their words.

The Goals

The initiative had a three-part goal of increasing overall participation in the Annual Fund, increasing online donations, and engaging donors in meaningful conversation. These goals aligned with the goals set in our strategic plan that called for the Academy to increase support through Annual Giving.

The Implementation

The concept was simple, and we kept the implementation of it simple, too. In fact, the first print publication was a clean and simple postcard that outlined the marketing campaign.

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We outlined a strategy that combined print and digital outreach that worked together to reach our constituents in the ways they wanted to hear from us. Simple postcards directed people online, detailed brochures contained BREs, and digital appeals connected them straight to the giving page, which was branded with One Word. Social media outreach supported the effort, with several outlets sharing the message. Facebook galleries were made with graphics that showcased words that had been shared with us, tweets went out highlighting words, and YouTube videos were posted.

The results

From the start, this endeavor resulted in strong positive anecdotal feedback, with multiple donors expressing positive reactions to the concept. This was the first occasion in recent history in which donors voluntarily reached out to us to comment favorably on an annual giving effort.

We also saw hard numbers that supported our overwhelming success of the effort by the end of the 2014-2015 school year. In total, we saw a 15% increase in funds raised and 20% increase in donors as part of this effort. In addition, the Academy has seen more than an 800% increase in online gifts and more than 2,000% increase in total funds raised via online gifts. The most staggering measurement of success is the participation rate for One Word submissions. Compared to our story submissions from the previous year, One Word submissions are up more than 4,000%. Of those who submitted words as part of One Word, 28% were new donors.

We attribute much of the specific One Word success to taking a multi-channel approach, combining regular print and digital outreach with personal contact from the development office. The repeated touches have allowed us to share updates on success and share stories, which help us make emotional connections with donors. In addition to this growing outreach, we also attribute One Word success to the fact that both the Strategic Marketing & Communications team and the Alumni & Development team embraced the effort and worked the language into everyday conversations. 

Awards Received

The campaign won two awards for its success: • CASE District 1 Silver Award for Annual Fund Programs • CASE Circle of Excellence Award for Annual Fund Programs

Annual Fund Marketing Program When Cheshire Academy launched its "One Word. One Gift." annual fund marketing campaign at the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year, we had no idea how successful it would be.

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Saturday was the deadline for Americans in most states to enroll in health plans for 2019 through the marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act. When Barack Obama was in office, the federal government, including the president himself, spent the days and weeks before the deadline constantly urging people to sign up. But this year, like in 2017, President Trump and the federal government did little outreach.

That hands-off approach to ACA enrollment isn’t an accident or an oversight. It’s part of an intense, sustained, nearly nine-year-long Republican campaign to stop or limit the implementation of the ACA, better known as Obamacare. (A group of Republicans filed a lawsuit against the ACA minutes after President Obama signed it into law on March 23, 2010.)

“Virtually no major health reform has become the subject of an partisan assault so quickly after its passage,” said Philip Rocco, a Marquette University political science professor and co-author of the 2016 book “Obamacare Wars.”

You’ve probably read about the many attempts by Republicans on Capitol Hill to repeal Obamacare, most notably the failed push last year. But the anti-Obamacare movement is way broader than just the effort to undo it with legislation in Congress. It is not a single, top-down operation, but rather different parts of the conservative movement taking actions in their own spheres in opposition to the law.

Conservative-leaning groups and Republican elected officials have filed numerous lawsuits challenging various planks of the law. (In one of those lawsuits, a federal judge ruled the entire ACA unconstitutional on Friday. That ruling does not immediately go into effect and maybe never will, as legal experts expect other judges to overturn it. But there’s also now the very real possibility that the case ends up before the Supreme Court.)

Republicans in Congress have done away with some parts of the law and cut funding in other areas. GOP-controlled state legislatures and Republican governors have opted out of some of Obamacare’s key provisions. The Trump administration is using its executive powers to essentially rewrite some parts of the law, and it’s taking a largely hands-off approach to some parts it doesn’t like, like the enrollment process, that might benefit from a supportive federal government.

This campaign has curtailed Obamacare in some ways we can clearly measure:

Fourteen states have not yet opted in to the Medicaid expansion, leaving about 4 million eligible Americans unable to enroll. A lawsuit brought by GOP elected officials and a conservative-leaning business group led to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states did not have to extend Medicaid benefits to more of their residents, as the ACA had initially mandated.

Republicans currently control both houses of the state legislature in all 14 of these states, and the governor’s office in all but one (North Carolina). The biggest holdout is Texas, where the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that more than 1 million additional people would be eligible for Medicaid if the state participated.

Twenty-eight states have completely opted out of running local Obamacare exchanges, which means all enrollment processes are left up to the federal government. As originally written, Obamacare gave states the option of running their own insurance marketplaces. Like with Medicaid, more conservative states have been chosen not to participate. Of the 28 states that leave their health insurance marketplace entirely up to the federal government, Trump won 24. And of the 22 that are involved in running their own exchanges, Hillary Clinton won 16.

Why does this matter? Well, states that run their own insurance exchanges can also run their own enrollment drives — which means extra staffing and promotional efforts — and they can also create their own deadlines for signing up. So in California, residents can enroll for health care through Jan 15, giving them a full month longer than, say, Texas or other states that don’t have their own Obamacare marketplaces and rely completely on the federal government.

Federal spending to promote ACA enrollment has been cut from $163 million to $20 million. The Trump administration has cut money both from government programs designed to increase Obamacare enrollment and from grants that are given to nongovernmental groups to help people enroll. In Obama’s last year in office, the federal government spent about $100 million in advertising to encourage people to enroll in ACA plans and gave out $63 million to groups who were supposed to boost enrollment. This year, the Trump administration is spending $10 million on ads and giving to $10 million to these assistance groups.

When Obama was president, these outside groups were deeply involved in enrollment efforts, particularly in states that were hostile to the ACA. But these groups now get much less federal funding, which they say limits how much outreach they can do.

Those are the parts of the anti-Obamacare campaign where the effects are easiest to quantify. Here are some other effects where the numbers are less clear:

The percentage of Americans without health insurance decreased from about 16 percent in 2010, before the ACA went into effect, to just under 9 percent in 2018. Experts attribute that drop largely to the ACA. But how many more people would have health insurance if Republicans had fully participated in the ACA by expanding Medicaid and starting state-level marketplaces in places where they have political power? How many more would sign up if the Trump administration were conducting extensive enrollment outreach at the federal level, like Obama and his team did?

We know some people are not enrolling because they are confused about whether certain benefits still exist or if the law is still on the books. But how much of that confusion has been heightened by the constant efforts to render the law moot, whether by invalidating it in the courts or repealing it on Capitol Hill?

Congressional Republicans and Trump got rid of the individual mandate, the requirement that many people who don’t have health insurance pay a fine. The Trump administration has started allowing the sale of more limited health insurance plans that don’t conform to Obamacare regulations. How many people will end up uninsured because they aren’t required to buy insurance? How many will end in plans that will probably have cheaper premiums than Obamacare but that also offer less coverage, potentially increasing their out-of-pocket costs if they get sick or hurt?

The Republican effort to dismantle Obamacare hasn’t just changed how the program works in practice — I think it has also changed the politics and policy of health care more broadly. The Democratic Party has strongly defended Obamacare since its passage. But many Democrats, particularly on the party’s left, have long been dissatisfied with the law, arguing there are still too many people either uninsured or paying very high costs for their health care. More centrist Democrats initially thought the ACA’s fairly modest approach would garner some Republican support — or at least avoid an outright war against the law. That bet was wrong. So now both the left and center-left of the Democratic Party are pushing proposals that would either let some Americans choose to enroll in a Medicare-style program or basically force all Americans into a broader single-payer health system.

We don’t really know exactly how a program written and designed like Obamacare originally was would truly work — and we probably never will find out. The Republicans have blocked, slowed or impeded so much of the law that what’s left in its place is something like Obamacare Lite or Obamacare Version 0.75. Republicans will probably keep trying to destroy the current system — and Democrats now want something new and improved.

[ocelotapologist]

ay I have a fc5 au for you. In the car crash, Joseph dies. Wife goes into premature labor and it's touch and go for a minute there, but she pulls through and so does the baby. she's still kind of in shock so the doctors ask if she has anyone--iirc her family is out of the picture and the couple didn't have any close friends, but she remembers Joseph talked about brothers. She latches onto the idea and tries to find them while struggling with newborn issues. (1)

John is easiest to find–she just looks up recent news in Rome, GA and he’s everywhere in the headlines, funding community outreach, public health and education resources, engaging in small suits/contract work for local businesses, etc. He takes the news re Joseph pretty hard, but is fucking over the moon that she sought him out, and a little baby niece? that kid is getting everything, everything–they’re gonna be so happy and loved, and just having someone to talk to about Joseph feels gr8 2/

But if Joseph’s gone, what happened to Jacob? Does he know? John and Mrs Notfridged end up tracking him down like they did in the book, and he’s messed up but at least they’re together. John’s been through rehab and while the Duncans probably fucked up his concept of therapy, he for sure knows enough to know that Jacob needs help. Montana’s gorgeous and relatively secluded, and there’s an old VA hospital that could be fixed up without much fuss /3

ok honestly u got me at “joseph dies” LKGLFFGLKF

god, this is AMAZING though ! i might want to write it 👀 but first of all, I LOVE how you mentioned John doing all of that. because I’ve always HC’ed that John was getting BETTER and doing better and trying to get over all the shit the Duncans put him through. so him helping the community and expecting nothing out of it makes me !!!!! love my scruffy boy….

BUT YEAH !! okay another headcanon is that John fucking ADORES children. he’s always wanted to be a father or! the next best thing! an uncle !!! bc he wants to prove he can be better, again, and he’s going to give the kid EVERYTHING. she’s gonna be so spoiled fdkjfdkj John’s gonna do anything and everything for her;;

but ?? John finding Jacob would be so emotional, I think. he remembers Jacob always protecting him and taking beatings for him, so of COURSE he’s gonna break down and probably refuse to let Jacob go for the next couple of hours when they’re situating everything. which, sure, is out of character for him, but please, he’s found his brother again after all these years, let him have this-

them moving to Hope County together is super sweet too. John’s still loaded and I bet it’s pretty cheap real estate, so he buys up several acres in each region for their family. he probably also starts campaigning for help in the VA, which he buys, and opens it again to the public, except I can see him making it more accessible to everyone, not just veterans. like maybe there’s a special wing dedicated to veterans but u feel ???

make it part hospital, part rehab center – which could maybe be how they meet Rachel 👀

and i’m sure their family would become well-known, but this time for GOOD things.

let them all be healthy !! let them remember Joseph as he was, not a manipulative bastard-

[blackaquokat]

Iv datective friends to romance

iv)    Somewhere along the way of getting into bar fights together, staying up allnight with movie marathons, other friendship things, I’ve fallen in love withyou but oh my god this could ruin EVERYTHING

For @dontworryaboutanything

So, inwriting this prompt, I’ve realized this is exactly the missing piece I need forpart of my DAtective series, ‘Law and Disorder’ and here we are! If you wish toknow the origin of this pairing, I shall direct your attention to how theymet inthis series. This work also foreshadows the next installment.

Oo00oO

Abe has no idea when it began.

Not the friendship, obviously. He will forever remember thatfirst meeting at the DA’s office, the way his lawyer friend took to the case likea shark to its prey. Then later, when the two of them were supposed to rejoice a job well-done, their close-minded asshole ofa coworker decided to ruin the celebration.

Although it wasn’t sobad. Their outing did end with a rather lovely sunset.

Since then, Abe has outright searched for reasons to spendtime with them in between cases. Advice on how to talk to a victim, checking inon them at home when appropriate, and sometimes just popping by without awarning because old habits die hard and he’s not so great at personalboundaries.

They haven’t kicked him out yet though, so Abe considers thata good sign. They’ve even taken initiative and dragged him to a few films,invited him out for drinks, and taken him to the pier again to watch thesunset.

He doesn’t even understand why he’s so intent to be around them. They’re easily annoyed,reticent, and not friendly at all,not in the typical sense anyway.

But then, maybe that’s it.

They aren’t typical. And neither is he.

True, the two of them are very different kinds of different, but hey, Abe likes to think that’sexactly why he’s drawn to them. The thrill of finding a kindred spirit willdwindle eventually, but he’ll drag it out as long as he can and then they’llboth move on to being mere acquaintances.

Which is what brings him to his current situation.

They’ve just completed their second successful case together,and rather than go to the pub, he drags them to the fair taking place in thecity.

“What part of ‘I really do not like crowds’ do you notunderstand, Lincoln?” they growl as he drags them by the hand down the street.

“What part of ‘Just trust me’ do you not understand?”

“Last time you said that, it was about the fact that you licked a corpse’s fingers beforeforensics could look it over.”

“Don’t start spouting logic, we’re supposed to be having fun.”

“You told me this in the courtroom.”

“Details, details, you’re still coming with me.”

Abe ignores the groan, because they’re only a few blocks awaynow.

“Abe, I appreciate that you’re trying to get me out of myoffice more, but I’m exhausted. Ijust want to go home and take a nap—”

They cut off when Abe pulls them to the entrance to the fair,staring wide-eyed at the bright lights everywhere, the countless tents andrides. The air smells of cigar smoke and fried food. Aggressively cheerfulmusic is played via strategically placed radios.

More importantly, however, there are a rather minisculenumber of people taking part in the festivities.

“Where…where is everyone?” they ask, looking at him withhesitant excitement.

“It’s the last day of the fair,” Abe answers. “It alsohappens to be Sunday, so everyone is at church right now. No lines, not toomany screaming kids, no risk of someone bumping into you and sending your foodeverywhere.”

“Abe that happened once!”they defend. “It’s not my fault you can’t watch where you’re going.”

“I could say the same about you.”

They laugh, making an enchanting sound that sends a jolt ofelectricity through his chest. “Anyway, um, the peanut vendor is over there, Ibelieve…” he mutters.

The pair spends a good two hours at the fair, sharing a bagof peanuts, making fun of the people looking at them with judging eyes, andtrying out a handful of the games offered. Oddly enough, Abe’s companion dominates the sharpshooter tent.

“You never told me you know how to use a gun,” Abe mentions.

They shrug. “It never came up. Is it really so surprising?”

“Not really, no.” Whey they glance at him, he explains, “Youdid tell me both of your parents were in the military. But, honestly, mostpeople just dissolve on the spot when you turn your Angry Eyes on, so youknowing how to shoot a gun doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.”

The corner of their lips quirk upward, and Abe suddenlynotices that they have dimples. Why is he just noticing that now? Why does that little detail make his chest thump faster?

Matter of fact, this entire evening has been an exercise in notstaring at them for too long, because damn it, this is a side of them he hasn’tseen yet. This utter delight, a smile bright as the moon, eyes lit up likefireworks, Abe wouldn’t be surprised if they started glowing of all things.

“I can’t believe you remembered that about my parents…” Theylook around some more before seeing, to his dismay, the Ferris wheel. “I haven’tridden a Ferris wheel in years.” Theystart heading in that direction and Abe moves with them.

They’re about to get on when they notice he hasn’t tried tojoin. “You’re not coming?”

“Uh…well…nah, I don’t…” Abe clears his throat. “Not too big afan of Ferris wheels. You go on ahead.” He shoves the last of the peanuts inhis mouth before he says anything incriminating.

They gaze at him a moment longer and he just prays they don’t read too much into hiswords. “Alright.” As they enter the ride, they turn back to him with a smirk. “Foryour information, if I could make people dissolve with my ‘Angry Eyes,’ therewould be four people left at the DA’s office, including myself.”

Abe chuckles so hard he nearly chokes on the peanuts.

After that ride, he walks them home in silence, which isuncharacteristic for him, but not so much for them. Normally their strollstogether involve him ranting about a case or his fellow officers while they nodin sympathy and occasionally throw in a complaint about their own coworkers.

This time the silence feels…different. If he didn’t know anybetter, he’d think they might have something they wish to talk about.

“Thanks,” they eventually say. “Thanks for, um, bringing mealong.”

“Not at all,” he answers. “These sorts of events aren’treally fun to take part in solo anyway—”

“I’m not done,” they interrupt. They take in a deep breathand roll their shoulders. “I’ve had exactly onefriend in my entire life. Due to our current career paths, we haven’t been ableto see each other as much, so I’ve been a little…lonelier than normal. I guess what I’m saying is…it’s nice to haveanother friend and not feel like I’m, um…too strange to be around.”

Abe’s mouth opens and shuts. What the hell is he supposed tosay to that? How does one respond to the realization that you’re one of two ofthe only acquaintances a kick-ass, emotionally distant ADA has?

Whether he would have found a response or not, Abe will neverknow, because they hurry to fill the awkward quiet with, “Also, the DA calledme into his office earlier today and said he planned on retiring early nextyear.”

It takes Abe longer than it should to switch gears. “Oh, um…that’sinteresting. Why would he tell you?”

They bite their lip, almost like they’re trying not to smile.The two of them stop walking. “God, I shouldn’t be telling you this…he basicallytold me that if I was interesting in being the DA, he would back me in aheartbeat.”

Abe swings around to face them, eyes bulging from his head. “I-you’reshitting me??!!”

“I had to pinch myself to keep from leaping with joy.”

He can’t help it. He grabs them into a hug and actually spins them around a few times beforesetting them back down, both of them laughing in joy as they start moving oncemore. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We could have been doing something farmore high class, like eating at a fancy restaurant or crashing a prom—”

“No, I hate big fusses, you know that,” they dismiss. “I just…Ireally wanted to tell someone. I mean, obviously this isn’t a guarantee. He’sgoing to announce his upcoming retirement soon, so I really need to buckle downand get started on a campaign. I’ve built a reputation in the community andmade a few public statements about community outreach, but I don’t exactly havefunds—”

“Hey, all of that will work out,” Abe interrupts. He’s still grinninglike an idiot until a thought occurs to him and it disappears. “I guess thismeans you’ll be pretty busy for a while, huh?” He tries to sound nonchalant,but he doesn’t think it works. Much as he’s been expecting this relationship todie down, he doesn’t want it to do so this soon.

They give him a strange look as they stop walking again. Aberealizes they’ve reached their home.

“I won’t be too busy to spend time with my favoritedetective,” they assert in a determined tone. “Not when he still owes me aFerris wheel ride.”

A nervous chuckle rumbles in his chest. “Uh…yeah, yeah,definitely…”

It’s time for them to part ways, but Abe is suddenly overwhelmedwith the thought that he should do somethingbefore the night officially ends. But what?A handshake? A hug? The thought of kissing them flashes through his headjust long enough to make his face turn beet red. He desperately hopes it’s darkenough under his cap that they don’t notice.

“Well…I had a lot of fun tonight, Abe,” they eventually say. “Thanksagain. I’ll see you again soon, alright?”

It takes three gulps to actually force a sentence out of hisdry throat. “Absolutely. Have a good night.”

When they finally entire their house, Abe stares at the doorfor the longest time, feeling like a total buffoon, before cursing to himself andhurrying down the street.

He never looks back, so he doesn’t see the attorney part theshades a hint to watch him leave, a smile tugging at their cheeks.

Oo00oO

The months pass and, unfortunately, Abe and the attorney’s timespent together shrinks a rather significant amount, what with Abe’s suddencaseload and them taking on more and more court cases to further solidify theirreputation.

They make time to leave him notes though, at his doorstep,especially if weeks go by without them seeing each other. He starts doing so inreturn, though not as often, he’s ashamed to say. He’s still awfully shook upby that night, the way they looked under the porchlights and how the thought ofkissing them actually crossed hismind.

Now that it’s happened once, it’s been happening more andmore often lately.

Abe will look over a case and notice a quirky detail, whichhe then wants to share with his friend, butthen those thoughts dissolve into definitelynot friendly thoughts and he’ll endup spilling his coffee on his lap. These sorts of incidents have happened, invarious ways, more than he’d care to admit.

Damn them. This is their fault. He’s never been this distracted byanyone except three of his pastpartners, and look at how those turnedout.

He just…he can’t.

Not again.

And so time goes on in this cycle of missed calls and lettersonly sometimes answered. Before either knows it, the DA retires, gives a glowing endorsement to Abe’s favoriteattorney, and it’s only a month later that they’re elected into office by an overwhelmingmajority.

Abe wishes he could say that he was at the celebration whenthe news hit, but he was seeing someone about a new case.

His old friend Mark had finallycontacted him again, after almost two years of complete silence. Their meetingended up lasting several hours, both catching up on the latest personal events(he suspects Mark hasn’t been particularly forthcoming about why he’s been sounreachable) and discussing what Mark wanted Abe to do for him. It turns out tobe a simple recon case: check out the guests and employees for an upcomingparty Mark is throwing. Nothing too out of the ordinary, aside from the Mayor,of all people, being included in that list.

But when he returns to his car and switches on the radio, hehears the results of the election.

At first, Abe lets out a whooping cheer in the confines ofhis car. He is so proud. They’veworked so hard for this, fighting for justice in the courtroom and againstprejudice in their own office…

Simultaneously, however,he felt this awful guilt gather inthe pit of his stomach at the realization that his friend had won a positionthey’ve been struggling to reach for so long and Abe wasn’t there to celebrate with them.

So now, with these thoughts eroding his mind, he leans hishead back against the seat of his car and makes a new resolution.

Abe will finish this case for Mark, check out these peoplelike he wants.

Then…then he’ll make it up to the new DA, somehow.

For the moment, he needs space to clear his head. Otherwise, he’llruin the best thing in his life.

Oo00oO

@skidspace , @peaceiplier , @beereblogsstuff , @sassy-in-glasses , @chelseareferenced , @musical-jim , @sketchy-scribs-n-doods , @cosmic–frappucino , @wkm-detective-abe-squad

Sendme a prompt for Detective Abe/DA, Damien/DA, Actor!Mark/DA!

[maybeignoreme-blog]

Hey. Maybe the Internet IS Helpful

     The internet is a hateful place. You know it. I know it. It’s pretty much a fact. So many weird/bad things have come out of the creation of the internet. That ‘me gusta’ meme for example.

(Know Your Meme)

(Seriously why did we let that go on for so long)      Or Jake and Logan Paul.

    Think about it. If we didn’t have the internet D*nald Tr*mp would have no platform for his hate speech. But sometimes the Internet produces some really great things. Vine (may she rest in peace), those random websites that let you stream movies for free, the Wendy’s Twitter account. The internet allowed Ariana Grande’s “Thank u, next” to go certified platinum. It’s beautiful really. 

     Another bonus, the internet has this really cool ability to connect everyone in the world. Facebook has 1.49 BILLION users (click that link if you don’t believe me). Think about that for a second. BILLION. B-I-L-L-O-N. ~21% of the world’s population is on Facebook. 

     So all that super awesome internet connectivity has to amount to some good, right? Yeah! It has. The internet has proven to be revolutionary in terms of increasing the outreach and influence of new social movements. At the same time, however in some ways, these movements are slightly less effective than the ones in the past.

     I’m gonna focus on Twitter because I actually use that site and it’s pretty much the birthplace of the New Civil Rights Movement. Twitter rebirthed and rebranded activism. Literally every issue on earth is at your fingertips and with a few keystrokes, boom. Anyone can be part of the conversation. 

    So here’s the downside. According to a USA Today article “77 percent [of people surveyed] believe social networks can distract from issues that are really important, and 71 percent agree that “social media makes people believe they’re making a difference when they really aren’t” – a phenomenon more commonly known as ‘slacktivism’” (Simon, 2018). 

     USA Today writer Caroline Simon isn’t alone. In her dissertation Nadine Barnett-Cosby had this to say: “Some scholars argue that online activism is an asset or supplement to real-life activism, particularly for younger users who may not otherwise engage, others argue that it is a major deterrent from active behavior because it can create “the false sense of making a difference and undermines real-life activities” (Milosevic-Dordevic & Zezelj, 2016, p. 118)” (Barnett-Cosby, 52).

     It’s easy to see where all this comes from. To be completely honest I’ve been guilty of slacktivism. Most of the time I just scream into the void that is my Twitter feed without really doing anything. I sign the petitions but I don’t pay money to fund them. I retweet the posts but I don’t go to the rallies. (No one ever wants to admit that but like...who’s gonna fight me)

    What is digital activism anyway? In his dissertation, Tyler Goodridge puts it best. “Digital activism is both static and fluid; it can function as awareness building on an online forum, mobilizing large groups of people through digital campaigns, or using one’s personal social media account to support or promote a social concern” (Goodridge, 11). Basically that means that digital activism is unique as opposed to other more traditional forms of activism. The internet allows more people to become educated be a part of a movement.

     Another thing people worry about with movements like Black Lives Matter is the lack of a key figure. In the past there were leaders. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Marsha P. Johnson. 

They were figureheads that people could rally around. Online movements tend not to be structured that way.

     However “the suggestion that the organizations that have emerged from the Black Lives Matter protests are somehow lacking because they have rejected the old style of leadership misses what makes this movement most powerful: its cultivation of skilled local organizers who take up many issues beyond police violence” (Ransby, 2017). By not having a centralized figurehead movements like Black Lives Matter have been able to have leadership groups that can better work to help their communities under the banner of this huge movement. The e-generation is one that rejects tradition. 

     But great power comes great responsibility (or something like that). At the same time this non-traditional stance we have with modern activism can sometimes backfire. Movements can become too big. In his dissertation Kyle Chapman says about the #NoMakeupChallenge “What began as a movement intended to promote solidarity, femininity, and cancer research essentially devolved into a platform for egotism and narcissism” (Chapman, 44); which is pretty much a harsh way to say the movement was co-opted and its focus shifted from breast cancer awareness to how cute someone is without makeup (I’ll admit I thought the no makeup challenge was a way for people with clear skin to show off tbh). 

     That’s just one example. Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? People dumped freezing water on top of their heads. It made a lot of funny videos. For example:

(Crey Crey, ‘*NEW VINES* EPIC ALS Ice Bucket Fail’)      People got more caught up in the comedy than in the message behind the challenge. It was supposed to ‘simulate’ how ALS patients feel to raise awareness (and money) but it turned into a meme.

      Such is the danger of the internet. 

     But Black Lives Matter has proven to be different. #BlackLivesMatter has proven not to be a fad. It began in 2012 with the death of Trayvon Martin. It garnered more momentum after Zimmerman wasn’t convicted. Black Lives Matter was catapulted back into the spotlight when Michael Brown was shot. This time it became a viral thing. By analyzing tweets from the beginning of 2014 to the end of November 2014 there were roughly 66,159 tweets about #BlackLivesMatter (Ince et. al), 45,844 of which were posted after Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted. Even more, these weren’t all just tweets. There were rallies and protests and petitions. 

     Black Lives Matter is a fluid movement that adapts with the time. Unlike #occupywallstreet (who was she anyway) or the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, #BLM has managed to outlast the Internet’s 5 second attention span and has continually made changes IRL. 

     Anyway I’m gonna finish this up. If you’re going to take anything away from this it’s that you shouldn’t let old people tell you that you’re not doing enough because you’re not marching in the streets and getting arrested. Awareness can be just as powerful as direct action because oftentimes awareness can inspire action. Although maybe you should donate to your local organizations just to be safe. 

     If you’re broke (Me. I’m calling myself out) or don’t know who to donate to or just don’t don’t want to donate you can always speak to people about issues. Creating a dialogue can be just as helpful as going to rallies. Holiday season is coming up kiddos. Call out your racist uncle. Correct your homophobic cousin.

     To be completely honest most of the people you try to talk to won’t take you seriously but those whose minds you do change will be better for it. I mean come on, how cool is it to have bragging rights for converting your problematic family members? Even a little bit of change is good. Bring attention to marginalized groups even if it doesn’t affect you directly. 

     No, especially if it doesn’t affect you directly. You don’t have to be black to raise awareness about Black Lives Matter. You don’t have to be trans to advocate for trans rights. If you, yes you, incorporate those little changes you learned online to the real world you can make a change. Knowledge. Pass it on.

[talltalestogo]

July 16, 2021, 7:40 p.m. ET

NASHVILLE — When Dolly Parton received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine at Vanderbilt University, where her million-dollar donation helped to fund the research, she sang an updated version of her iconic song “Jolene.” The tongue-in-cheek lyrics were meant to inspire people to get vaccinated:

Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine

I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate

Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine

’Cause once you’re dead, then that’s a bit too late

She gave it a good try, a heroic try, but somehow the bonehead politicians running this state managed to overcome even the good will generated by its favorite daughter.

Remember how hopeful we were when the new Covid-19 vaccines arrived so astonishingly quickly, and were so astonishingly effective and safe? As a nation — politically, institutionally, too often personally — we’d botched almost everything about this pandemic, and we did not deserve a miracle. The miracle arrived anyway.

We were giddy about the prospect of those vaccines. We could not stop talking about how happy we would be to sit in a movie theater again, to hear live music again, to go to church and sing out loud again, to sit and talk around a table again, late into the night, with no care for how long we had been breathing the same air. We would reach for new babies and lean down to smell their downy heads. We would weep with the joy of being skin to skin with new life. New life, after such a long, dark year!

The anticipation of happiness seemed truly ecumenical. Liberals, conservatives, politically indifferent people — all the people I knew were watching for their vaccine priority number to come up. We were signing up for leftover doses that might be available at the end of the day. We were heading out of town to get vaccinated in rural counties where health officials were moving more quickly through the vaccine priority rankings. The lack of vaccine lines should have told us something was happening in those counties, something besides the fact that fewer people lived there.

Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, understood what was going on. Mr. Lee is vaccinated, but he refused to be photographed getting the shot — the Covid shot, that is: He did post a photo of himself getting a flu shot last November. “Getting a flu shot is more important than ever this year,” his Twitter post read. “I got mine to help protect my granddaughters as we prepare to celebrate their first birthday.” Not a word about protecting children from the deadliest pandemic in a hundred years.

None of this was surprising. Mr. Lee is not a leader who actually leads so much as a politician who reads the room. From the beginning, white people in rural Tennessee have been so skeptical of this vaccine that last month state officials returned an allotment of three million doses to the federal stockpile. “We’re sort of grinding to a halt,” the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Lisa Piercey, told News Channel 5 in Nashville. “The people who want it have gotten it.”

The trouble is that not enough people want it, particularly here in the South, which accounts for eight of the 10 states with the lowest vaccination rates, and infections have begun to climb. “The rate of daily coronavirus infections in Tennessee has more than tripled in the past three weeks — one of the largest increases in the entire nation — as the virus shows signs of renewed spread,” wrote The Tennessean’s indefatigable health reporter Brett Kelman last week. “The state’s average test positivity rate and count of active infections also climbed sharply in the same time period.”

Conservative Tennessee legislators responded, it’s true, but not by working to reduce vaccine hesitancy. Instead, they pressured state health officials to cancel vaccination events aimed at teenagers and retract social media posts urging adolescents to get vaccinated. Worse, these anti-vaccination efforts weren’t limited to the Covid-19 vaccine. Conservative lawmakers also urged the Tennessee Department of Health to halt outreach efforts designed to inform teenagers about all vaccines.

Worse still, they arranged the firing of Dr. Michelle Fiscus. As medical director of the vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization program at the Department of Health, Dr. Fiscus was the state’s top vaccine authority. “It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against Covid-19,” she wrote in a statement. “I have been terminated for doing my job because some of our politicians have bought into the anti-vaccine misinformation campaign rather than taking the time to speak with the medical experts.”

The politicization of public discourse around immunization is not unique to Tennessee. The question isn’t why Tennessee is so out of step with science. The question is why politics has anything to do with health policy at all.

The planet is growing more crowded, bringing people into closer contact with diverse animal and human populations. At the same time, the health risks associated with climate change are ratcheting upward. But just as protection against communicable diseases becomes increasingly urgent, conservative media outlets are sowing doubt and delusion in the Republican base, and feckless elected officials are following suit. Like Mr. Lee, his licked finger held aloft in the wind of rural white discontent, other Republican leaders in the South take their lifesaving vaccines in private and give lip service to perverse notions of “freedom” in their public statements.

Campaign funding from the national oligarchs is what sets legislative agendas across the red states, so I can understand why these penny-ante politicians are working so hard to limit tax-funded safety nets. I can even understand why they’re so hellbent on killing public education. It clearly benefits the wealthy for taxes to be low or nonexistent and for poor people to be incurious and compliant. But how can it possibly benefit the oligarchs to risk the lives of the very people who keep electing their toadies to statehouses in the first place? I just don’t get it.

[devontroxell]

B2B Lead Generation 2021: Evergreen Strategies and Irreplaceable Tools

Feeling stressed and sad because your pipeline does not have enough quality leads?

Let me be the bearer of good news: you are not alone!

Jumplead states that lead generation is one of the biggest challenges for 61% of marketers. Finding a product-channel fit is a tough task for both enterprises and startups. This is a never-ending task, and no market is fully protected from it – channels that worked perfectly fine yesterday may bring zero leads tomorrow.

Lead Generation Strategies Worth Trying in 2021

While there are tons of lead generation channels and activities the scope of which is only really limited by your creativity, this article covers some evergreen strategies. Scroll down to find the list of tools that will make your lead generation process easier, more straightforward, and accelerate its performance.

Website Optimization and SEO

While SEO is a long game, the leads that you get organically have the highest buyer intent as they are already searching for products and services like yours.

SEO content that targets the highest volume keywords is definitely a wrong strategy for 2021. Most probably, you’ll need to create long-form pieces and get an enormous number of backlinks to rank high. It takes time and energy. That’s why you should focus on long-tail keywords with lower difficulty instead. Usually, the topics that meet these criteria are found at the bottom of the funnel. Just base your content on the questions that interest BOFU leads.

Also, think about contributing to media and writing guest posts – it will give you additional high-quality backlinks and establish you as an expert.

Content Marketing

Content serves as the currency of your website, which is why you should post new pieces regularly. Not only does it validate you as an expert in your industry, but also increases your brand awareness and audience reach.

Just remember to make sure you stay mindful of the content you create. Creating content merely for the sake of an illusion of activity is not going to get you far. Create engaging content, which is actionable and provide an action plan for readers as only this type of content will help you leverage the benefits of content marketing.

Attract more leads by producing content that is unique and valuable: share your own experiences, discuss the strategies that work for you and the ones that do not, etc.

Create blog articles, guides, ebooks, videos, record podcasts – the more diversified type of content you have the better.

In 2021, it is also necessary to focus on content distribution. There is absolutely no point in creating star content if no one sees it. Pay attention to relevant expert groups and communities on Facebook or Slack that are getting more and more popular nowadays. Use your existing audiences to send them useful content via the newsletter and share it on social media.

Cold Emails and Outreach

If someone says that email marketing is dead, simply do not believe them and start generating leads using this channel. The best way to achieve your end-goal with an email campaign is to send hyper-personalized emails.

However, if you want to generate leads with cold emails, you will need to not only select the content that is relevant to the interests of your email recipients but also send your emails out at the right time. A great way of tackling this problem is to use email automation software. It will help you set up drip campaigns and focus more on the content rather than on remembering to send follow-up emails.

If you do not know how to ensure the success of cold emails and are struggling with where to start, you can find a selection of cold emails tips that sales experts provide on personalization.

Social Media Communities

Even though platforms change, communities remain a source of leads regardless of the circumstances. Previously, offline events would generate lots of valuable connections, however, after 2020, online communities have taken their place and are currently on the rise. Find groups that are centred around the problem you are trying to solve. Ask questions, answer questions, engage in conversations, and establish yourself as an expert.

As mentioned above, you can use communities for content distribution, just make sure not to be too promotional. You shouldn’t abuse your posting privileges and only share your articles when it’s appropriate and relevant. Remember the main rule of communities, give and not only take.

By the way, why not build your own community? That’s much more effective in terms of increasing the visibility and awareness of your brand. One fool-proof community-building tip is to concentrate on solving the problem first, and only then shift the focus towards your brand.

Omnichannel Marketing

We do not recommend focusing on a single platform to engage with your audience. Instead, involve various platforms to communicate with users at multiple touchpoints. Follow your audience and stay on top of their minds.

For example, if you host a webinar, share it on your social media afterwards, upload it to your website, and include the recording in your newsletter. This helps to increase the visibility of your brand.

Be sure to provide the same experience for audiences along multiple channels. They have to complement each other.

The lead generation process is impossible without using proper tools that help you capture the contact information of potential customers, make more contacts, create new opportunities for the pipeline, and scale. It eliminates manual work which lets you focus on high ROI activities instead.

Lead Generation Tools to Use in 2021

Here are my top picks to touch on every aspect of web-based B2B lead generation. Besides, I’ve tried to list the combination of tools which functionality does not overlap, meaning that you save money by covering a few lead generation activities by the same tool.

NetHunt CRM

NetHunt is a powerful CRM platform, handy for sales and marketing teams who rely on Gmail and other Google Workspace applications. It automates the entire customer journey from lead capturing to the automated creation of tasks and notifications. It helps generate leads in one click from multiple sources (website chat, web form, email, LinkedIn, etc.), set up nurturing campaigns, track progress of every deal, communicate with your team, and more effectively manage prospects and clients.

How NetHunt CRM helps to generate leads:

Lead generation through webforms or website chats: capture leads from the website with native web forms or collect them by sharing direct web form link;

One-click lead creation from email.

Lead generation on LinkedIn: due to native integration, check what companies and profiles already exist in your CRM and new ones. Create new records in CRM already enriched with available data, such as profile picture, contact details, job position and company, etc.;

Cold email outreach: send personalized cold emails in bulk, set up follow-ups and triggered email sequences to reach out to potential customers.

Pricing: starts at $24/per user per month. The tool offers a 14-day trial period.

eSputnik

eSputnik is a data-driven marketing automation platform that helps businesses collect contacts and manage customer communication at every stage of the client lifecycle. It provides tools for contact collection and segmentation, personalization, omnichannel marketing, behavior tracking and customer engagement analytics.

How eSputnik helps to generate leads:

Lead generation through website forms, web push tokens and app tokens;

Automated mass messages (email, SMS, browser notifications, app notifications, Viber messages);

Personalized website recommendations;

Automated omnichannel sales funnels;

Cold email and SMS outreach;

Integration with the biggest CRMs and analytics platforms.

Pricing: Pricing depends on the channel and starts at $5 /mo for up to 1,000 contacts. Pricing plans for enterprises are flexible and customizable: you pay only for the features you use.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s tool for finding prospects on their social network. It includes advanced search filters for finding prospects, displays more detailed information for prospects such as a phone number and job title), allows to save leads, qualify lead recommendations, and gives InMail credits.

How LinkedIn Sales Navigator helps to generate leads:

Social selling to over 500 million business people.

Pricing: starts at €61.97 per user per month

Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder is a B2B lead generation software that identifies the companies and individuals that visit your website. It also tracks how they get on your website, what pages they visit, and how likely they make a purchase or registration. The valuable thing about it is showing the industry breakdown which helps businesses to adjust their messaging and content strategy. Leadfeeder also determines decision-makers of the companies that visit your website.

How Leadfeeder helps to generate leads:

Account-Based Marketing: monitor accounts that are interested in your product, identify new ones, reach out to them or launch ad campaigns;

Sales Prospecting: find emails and social profiles of your ideal contacts, assign prospects to your sales reps, and make them move down those contacts through the pipeline.

Pricing: has a free pricing plan with limited functionality.

Crunchbase

Crunchbase is a directory and database of company-related information from startups to Fortune 1000 companies. It’s like a LinkedIn for company profiles. Get to know their company news and updates, acquired funding or latest releases. This will help to personalize your outreach and contact them at the right time.

How Crunchbase helps to generate leads:

Database of potential buyers and companies.

Pricing:has a free plan with limited data availability and no-CRM integrations

CloudTalk

CloudTalk is a user-friendly cloud-based phone software helpful for sales and support teams. CloudTalk enables sales and call centre teams to make and receive calls anywhere, on any device, supporting international numbers from more than 80 countries. CloudTalk functionality includes: Basic call features, Automated Call Distribution, Interactive Voice Response, Click to Call, Call statistics, Real-time dashboard, Conference call and many others.

How CloudTalk helps to generate leads:

Outbound cold calling to reach more prospects.

Handling inbound calls, storing communication history from other channels.

Pricing: starts at $20 per user per month. Offers 14-day trial period for any plan.

Intercom

Intercom is a Conversational Relationship Platform, helping businesses build better customer relationships through personalized, messenger-based experiences. The platform allows users to chat with leads, engage them, and convert into paying customers. It delivers conversational experiences across the customer journey, with solutions for Conversational Marketing, Conversational Customer Engagement and Conversational Support.

How Intercom helps to generate leads:

Online chat to answer any questions and convince website visitors to buy in real-time.

Custom chatbot to proactively engage website visitors.

Pricing: Starts at $59/month for small businesses

AeroLeads

AeroLeads can automate your email marketing and lead generation process by finding emails and building email lists. It also eliminates duplicate email addresses from the developed email list. You can also measure the real-time data of the email marketing campaigns and lead generation campaigns. The features will also decrease the bounce rate. Aeroleads can capture leads from websites like LinkedIn, AngelList, CrunchBase etc.

How AeroLeads helps to generate leads:

Find contact details, such as emails and building email lists for further prospecting.

Pricing: starts at $49 per month, giving you 1000 credits. Offers a trial for 10 credits.

Demio

Demio is a great ‘set it and forget it’ platform for hosting automated webinars. The tool has intelligent ease of use features, it is quick to start with. You can entirely automate the event from landing page registration to reminder letters to after-webinar emails. You can co-host webinars with invited guests, share screens, bring attendees to the stage, and more. It is easy to brand your event with a company logo and styles: slides, registration page, replay pages, email notification, landing pages etc.

How Demio helps to generate leads:

Conduct live product demos for potential customers, explaining how your product works.

Attract larger audiences by hosting live webinars.

Pricing: starts at $49 per month. Offers a 14-day free trial.

ProProfs Survey Maker

ProProfs Survey Maker is a lead generation tool that helps you understand the behaviour of your potential customers. By editing and sharing the ready-to-use survey templates, you can monitor the purchase intent of your online consumers. It also allows creating interactive quizzes, tests & assessments

How ProProfs Survey Maker helps to generate leads:

Interactive business-related activities, such as quizzes and tests.

Surveys to get people involved with brands.

Pricing: has a free plan with a limited number of responses to 10.

Wishing you broaden your visibility and reach, get tons of high-quality leads, and win more deals by incorporating the most effective generation strategies along with tools for your business.

Good luck!

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