Filled out one for each of my representatives and senators, and also made a small donation. I may not be able to do much, but I'll be damned if I don't do anything.
Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
81–90 of 98 posts
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#82I absolutely love the idea. I cant remember where I read it or heard it, but physical letters do get much more attention. Nothing against SendWrite, but I think even more attention can be gained via distinctive-looking enveloped letters that need to be cut open and unfolded. A stack of similar-looking postcards will have an impact in terms of volume, but will likely be sorted into a bin and never read. If you have th…
Thanks! Just to clarify, SendWrite letters are mailed in an envelope, so each one will need to be opened. Also we deliberately didn't use a pre-written letter as a template. The result is that the letters we have received are very unique.
Damnit! Great idea, but I HATE it when on-screen text is not user-selectable. I want to take your on-screen address and put it on my own envelope. GRRRRRRR!!
Great idea, though. Thank you.
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Email works better, actually. All of Congress uses web forms that categorize and route the messages directly to their CRM systems. So it is easy for them to tally and respond. Mail, on the other hand, has to get irradiated for bioterror and takes 4-6 weeks to arrive. The letters are made brittle and staff dislike handling them, and they have to be typed or scanned into the office CRM.
Congress uses multipliers to figure out how predictive each piece of communication is (ie, how likely it is that a certain piece of communication will result in a change in voting behavior). I don't remember the exact numbers, but the hierarchy goes (in descending order): in-person visit to DC office, in-person visit to local office, physical handwritten letter, physical typed letter, phone call, email. The multiplie…
OK, so who's going to start sendperson.com?
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yup, everything I've ever heard through the grapevine is that congressmen will notice if they suddenly receive a big volume of calls about something.
If only calls were recorded and letters were scanned. Analyzing the trends seems like pretty powerful data for a congressman. Then again, you could say that the congressman shouldn't need a computer to understand the people he represents.
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Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#85Although I applaud the efforts here, as a former staffer and intern for a congressman, I hate to be the bearer of bad news... The truth is my job as an intern, as was the job of all other interns that I met while in DC, was to take constituent calls and also open constituent mail. However, no information was ever actually relayed to the congressmen. We had a formatted response to each and every issue that the House c…
I believe your account, but it may not be as bad as this in all districts. Consider this report and the reply from someone who worked in a district office (from Reddit): http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/lxrpk/so_i_email... "Congressmen win based on grassroots and know where their bread is buttered. You have so much more power than you think you do, if you're one of the (very) few who are willing to step up…
Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate as to how things work in the OP. As he and some others mention, if you say that you are with the "press" or "organization X" you are much more likely to get to talk to someone who has direct involvement with the congressman i.e. an LA (legislative assistant) or even chief of staff although he's about as scarce as the congressman at least in my instance. It's unfortunate though that you have to lie to order to get your personal opinion conveyed. I agree that we should have more congresspeople or at least a way to better account for everyone's point of view.
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#86Although I applaud the efforts here, as a former staffer and intern for a congressman, I hate to be the bearer of bad news... The truth is my job as an intern, as was the job of all other interns that I met while in DC, was to take constituent calls and also open constituent mail. However, no information was ever actually relayed to the congressmen. We had a formatted response to each and every issue that the House c…
What about if people express their commitment to actions, e.g., boycotts, etc., if SOPA goes ahead. I created a simple site where people can just send one-liner email to register their commitment to action. Kindly see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3243052 .
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Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe your account, but it may not be as bad as this in all districts. Consider this report and the reply from someone who worked in a district office (from Reddit): http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/lxrpk/so_i_email... "Congressmen win based on grassroots and know where their bread is buttered. You have so much more power than you think you do, if you're one of the (very) few who are willing to step up…
Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate as to how things work in the OP. As he and some others mention, if you say that you are with the "press" or "organization X" you are much more likely to get to talk to someone who has direct involvement with the congressman i.e. an LA (legislative assistant) or even chief of staff although he's about as scarce as the congressman at least in my instance. It's unfortunate though that y…
What do you think of PlainSite?
It's not done yet but we're working on it.
Do you think a site like this is even theoretically capable of catching the attention of people in Washington?
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yup, everything I've ever heard through the grapevine is that congressmen will notice if they suddenly receive a big volume of calls about something.
If only calls were recorded and letters were scanned. Analyzing the trends seems like pretty powerful data for a congressman. Then again, you could say that the congressman shouldn't need a computer to understand the people he represents.
You've got a pretty good pattern-matcher between your ears. Staffers have them too, they can note "hey we got a bunch of calls about this issue" at the end of the day.
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, that sounds pretty accurate as to how things work in the OP. As he and some others mention, if you say that you are with the "press" or "organization X" you are much more likely to get to talk to someone who has direct involvement with the congressman i.e. an LA (legislative assistant) or even chief of staff although he's about as scarce as the congressman at least in my instance. It's unfortunate though that y…
What do you think of PlainSite? http://www.plainsite.org It's not done yet but we're working on it. Do you think a site like this is even theoretically capable of catching the attention of people in Washington?
There are several things that come into play here. First off, the majority of politicians I have met (Governors, Senators, Congressmen and former VP Big Dick Cheney) are the old white male types with social tendencies and aren't very technologically oriented (This is a generalized statement, I know - it doesn't apply in all situations.) That is how you become a politician: become a likeable figure with some sense. I have a feeling that the majority of their opinions are based not on their own research/knowledge but rather that of their legislative assisants. We had 6 or 7 of them and they were all smart people finishing law degrees and trying to work their way up in Washington. They do the research. They DO NOT care about the news or "second hand" informational sources as they put it (unless it's negative press). So I guess my point is, know who you are trying to reach.
Your idea is solid. But you are going to have to gain a critical mass and become the go-to place for expressing your opinion on politics. If you can do that I have a suggestion for you: Make it so you can sign in or browse by district. Make it so that the legislative assistants can go to their specific districts' thoughts and opinions within the website. This is much more important than getting viewpoint of the nation as a whole. Good Luck.
Re: Tell congress to stop SOPA with a physical letter
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
If only calls were recorded and letters were scanned. Analyzing the trends seems like pretty powerful data for a congressman. Then again, you could say that the congressman shouldn't need a computer to understand the people he represents.
You've got a pretty good pattern-matcher between your ears. Staffers have them too, they can note "hey we got a bunch of calls about this issue" at the end of the day.
You are mistaken if you think that 18 and 19 year olds taking phone calls as interns are in any way an effective means of conveying information to those in charge. Sure, they can note trends. Do they? No. The primary concern was which lobbyist reception with free alcohol everyone was going to at the end of the day. And although many of them may have a good grasp on a lot of issues, some like SOPA may be lost on them. Not to mention the more fringe issues. What if 60% of your constituents call in favor of an issue and for 40% against it.. How does that get relayed effectively?