Something under my desk is beeping. ๐ณ
More accurately, on the desk or in the cubbyhole under the monitor. That could be one of two laptops, or several electronic devices. ๐ค
I'll wait and see if something catches fire before I go digging. ๐คทโโ๏ธ ๐
@Jezibaba
Oh, you've seen the website I'm working on? ๐คฃ
@p3R1n01D Mayyyyyybe. ๐
Actually, I have.
@Jezibaba
You've seen DemCast? Right on! โค๏ธ I remember sharing that with you now. Wait until you see the new version, it's so much better!
We launched that one in the run-up to the election in 2020. Everybody scrambling, I was leading three teams of volunteers and training new leaders... Needless to say, we cut some corners building it. ๐
@p3R1n01D You did. I don't remember if I joined joined but I did peruse the site.
How are they doing these days?
@Jezibaba
If you didn't join yet, you'll have plenty more chances. Trust me! ๐ ๐
They're doing really well, thanks! There's a lot less interest during "off years," but we have a core of really dedicated volunteers who kept the messaging flowing.
Behind the scenes, we've been plotting, planning, re-structuring and fine-tuning. We have strong alliances with other organizations, and we're getting more and more recognition! ๐ช
@p3R1n01D How ready for 2024 are they? This is going to be a roller coaster year.
@Jezibaba
Not nearly as ready as we'd like to be, but ready for battle as we are! ๐ช
Lots of work to do, and I always have ideas for improvement, but I think on the whole we're in pretty good shape.
We'll get a huge flood of social media volunteers next year, they're the troops in the trenches. โค๏ธ They spread strategic messaging, promote candidates and causes, alert DemCast to local issues, etc.
We really need grants to take it to the next level, and Nick is working on that right now. ๐ค
@Jezibaba
Oh, and we need to update our sign-up form to reflect our new direction of a platform-agnostic approach.
Most of us met on the bird, and that was our strongest foothold. Luckily, we already saw the danger in that and were branching out before the muskrat took over last year.
We even have a Slack channel just for CoSo! ๐ If you join, I won't be the only one posting in it! ๐ ๐
@p3R1n01D Whats the link? (I know nothing about Slack)
@Jezibaba
I'm new to it too, we switched last year from Basecamp. Also not sure what may have changed in our sign-up process, but I know it's outdated and only mentions FB and twX. ๐ ๐
If you want to get involved, I'll totally make sure it happens! ๐
The Slack group is only open to DemCast volunteers. Once you've signed up, I *think* you can automatically join the Slack group.
You'll need to create an account on Slack, too. Then you join the "DemCast USA" group.
@Jezibaba
Here's our sign-up page if you didn't join but want to:
Click the blue "Join Us" button near top of page.
Some people just subscribe to the newsletter, but if you want to be a social media volunteer, you need to check at least one SM platform.
Our "other social media" option is hard to spot, down near the very bottom. See pic below.
If you have any trouble/questions, just LMK! I think you're the first to join from CoSo. ๐ You're sort of a guinea pig. ๐
@Jezibaba
BTW, the Slack group gives you access to not only DemCast's CoSo channel, but general Announcements, Community, Graphics and more. They will be expanding soon, I think (hope!), to cover the issues "rooms" that are currently only on X.
Volunteers can bail any time if they don't like it. ๐
Also, we've got donation links everywhere, but there's never any pressure. Volunteers are worth than donations. ๐ ๐ฟ๏ธ
@p3R1n01D I joined. Hooked my Twitter and IG back up. Have some questions. Mind a dm?
@Jezibaba
Right on! Sure, DM away, always happy to answer questions. I'm about to hang out with Dad for an hour or so, but will be back after that.
@p3R1n01D
Just checked out Demcast and donated - This is awesome! Thank you so much for your work.
@Esther
Thank you so much for donating, you are awesome! ๐ค โค๏ธ You wouldn't believe what we can do with that.
For every dollar donated, we generate about $7 for candidates and causes. And that's just donations raised.
We have no bloat. Jamie and Nick are the only paid staff, outside of occasional contractors like our SEO specialist.
I'm their IT Manager, but still a volunteer. That might change if we get a big grant. ๐ But it's absolutely my pleasure to do it! ๐
@p3R1n01D Your enthusiasm is electric! Ready for battle is good news. Do you have a group writing up grant proposals??
@Jezibaba
Right on! I was chuckling at myself later, guess my enthusiasm for DemCast shows. ๐ I'm really an introvert, but make a good cheerleader when the country is at stake. ๐
Among other cool things, Nick is a professional grant writer. ๐ We put out a round a couple of years ago, but one issue they had was that we lacked a strong presence outside of Twitter. I think we've got that fixed! ๐ค
DemCast is very connected, too. For example, former Alabama Senator Doug Jones loves us. ๐
@NorthernInvader
Thanks! They're both ours, but our plan is to consolidate them to demcast.com.
demcastusa.com was our first, launched in 2019. As you can see, that's where we publish articles from contributors.
Late in 2020 we acquired the demcast.com domain, and launched it as the business end of things. For donors, volunteer sign-ups, etc.
This year we trimmed it way down to test basing an app on it, but are about to launch the newly remodeled site soon!
@p3R1n01D someone somewhere knows exactly what that set up entails. They lost that job and left this guy in charge to figure stuff out. He's not working. He's sleeping. ๐ด