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You can now receive updates by email.  Sorry for those of you that had to keep coming here on a daily basis–I can’t believe it took me 3 months to figure out there is a subscription button.  Now, there have been a lot of updates this weekend; please read the entries below!

 

Fundraising: How to Work the Crowd

“HELLO!  Can you help me out today?  I’m fundraising to go to a United Nations Conference in Copenhagen! … Okay, thank you anyway!  Have a good one!”

That was my constant refrain this past week.  I spent a couple of days over the down at the Madeira Kroger’s (our local grocery chain) in a last-ditch attempt to fundraise some sort of meaningful cash.  It wasn’t always easy going.

First, I had to share the entryway with the Salvation Army–which made me feel like a terrible person, and very self-conscious.

Next, my plans took a major hit.  I set up Tuesday and was promised that I could set up on Wednesday as well (which happened to be the day before Thanksgiving) and fundraise; when I got there, they made me go home.  I was ready to kill management!!  I could have gotten another $250 that way.  I am sure!  So, I lost out on good money; they told me to come back Friday evening, after Thanksgiving, when absolutely no one wants to buy more food.  This still disappoints and embitters me.

The job was not always easy, either.  You had to stand right by the sliding doors in the entryway, which was sometimes very cold, and you couldn’t really sit down, lest you be overlooked.  You had to jump in the face of everyone who walked in the door and beg for money (which I don’t like to do).  It does teach you a few things about salesmanship and fundraising, though:

You have approximately half a second when the person walks through the sliding doors to grab their attention by saying Hello.  If you do not do so, they may never notice you at all.  The children generally will, but only about (I would estimate) one-in-ten adults will even glance in your direction.

You have to say hello to everyone, but there are exceptions.  Some people are too busy talking on the phone or with a fellow shopper.  I don’t disturb them.  Some other people plow through the door like the Cavalry.  I don’t disturb them either–they are clearly on a mission and in a hurry.  But most people amble on through, and you must smile and say Hello to these people.

After making contact, you have another 3-5 seconds to get your message out.  You must do it immediately, or you lose the momentum.  You can’t possibly cram your whole mission statement into that timeframe.  In my case, I recited the rather general and neutral statement at the top of this entry.  Those who want to know more will then engage you, and give you a chance to talk about being a youth delegate, sustainable development, your press credentials, etc.  Or, they will say “Not today” and keep on walking.

You can’t really judge a person by how they look.  A lot of people really look grumpy, but you can’t let that stop you.  Chances are they will smile when you address them and try to be polite.

Some folks are not polite.  They outright ignore you, snap at you, or engage in some other form of rude behavior.  My thoughts are that those people are afraid.  They are afraid to engage or else they won’t be able to say No, or they are shy, or think you are the “lower sort”, or whatever.  You can’t let it hurt your feelings, because THEY are the ones with the issue.

Not everyone has to agree with your cause to help you out.  Of course some folks will not agree with you, but don’t be intimidated–most are too polite to argue.  Still, even if they disagree with you or your cause, it doesn’t mean they won’t support you.  One man told me climate change was all nonsense, but still chipped in $5.  Someone else asked me what my stance on the United Nations was.  I told him, “I think it is an excellent forum for nations to discuss their differences and try to coordinate on global issues.  I certainly think the United Nations is a better idea than war.”  He asked me my role there.  I said, “As a youth delegate, I try to keep our lawmakers from messing things up for future generations.  The Secretariat has called us the moral voice of the UN.”  A Vietnam veteran, that man was convinced that the UN was a breeding ground for “communist and muslim spies”, and was not shy about telling me.  But apparently he approved of the idea that discussion is better than war, and that I would be acting as a moral voice to our policymakers.  He hated the UN, but he chipped in another $5 bill to help me out.

Also, it helps to know your audience.  My community is overwhelmingly Republican, which is fine.  But according to recent polls, only about half of Republicans think climate change is even real.  I found it wise to craft my message around the United Nations, the cuteness of being a young person, and to emphasize my role as a moral voice for lawmakers and guardian for future generations.  Certainly, folks who are curious will ask questions, about which you should be very open–but as a diplomat (and not an activist), I craft my speech carefully.

It’s a lot of fun once you get into it, but… I happen to hate asking for money, and I hate standing still.  I could only take about two hours of it on each day.  Still, I raised $137.00 and learned a few things about working a crowd, so I try not to complain too much.

 

Questions about Haters

Something I’m supposed to do (and if you look through my blog, you can see that I have done some of this already) is to attract media attention.  One of these methods is to write Letters to the Editor.  I’ve done this several times in the past.  They never get published in the paper, but I do write them.  The most recent one I wrote was to the Cincinnati Enquirer, and they posted it on their online message board (this is not the same thing as having it published in the paper).  This is what I put:

• I am a UC graduate who will be attending the United Nations’ climate talks in Copenhagen in just a few days as a member of the non-profit SustainUS. As part of SustainUS’ team of 30, I will act as a youth delegate, reminding our policymakers that their actions (or inactions) will have consequences for future generations.
• I maintain that the Copenhagen climate talks will be of historical importance. Climate change is real; it is dangerous, and it is high time we did something about it as a planet. I urge the public to be cognizant of this issue, and to pressure their lawmakers into action for the sake of the next generation.

At http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2009/11/26/copenhagen-climate-talks-will-be-of-historical-importance/#pluckcomments

That’s kind of inoffensive stuff, right?  Well, right off the bat, three angry people wrote in.  I’ve worked in customer service, and I’m not really sensitive about rude people, right?  But I do wonder what makes these guys tick.  Why all the hate?  And what do these people do with their lives, just sit around on message boards and defame everyone who disagrees with their ideology?  What kind of a life is that to live?

I mean, I’m just a cute and ineffective little young person who wants her policymakers to do the right thing.  I said as much.  People could say, “I support your ambition to make the world a better place” or “I think it’s good for young folks to get involved on big international issues” or even, “You’re a good citizen, going to all this trouble to represent your country”.  Instead, though, so many people just zero in on the phrase “climate change” and then think they have you all figured out.  Imagine that!  Someone who’s never met me in their life and has only read 114 of my electronic words knows all about me, my education level, my political affiliation, my background, and my values.

Due to an inside joke, my mom always reads my entries and thinks I’m pretending to be Michael Jackson because of my false positivity and my generalized statements of affirmation for kids and the younger generation.  No ma’am.  But tonight that’s really true–somewhere in all the hype surrounding Mr. Jackson’s death, I heard him say in an interview, “Don’t judge me unless you’ve talked to me one-on-one.”  That’s it exactly!

The thing I dread most about my line of work is people making assumptions, judging me, and assigning me a label based on their perception of a single thing I say.  I’m a non-controversial person.  I’m not assertive.  I’m a milquetoast, you even might say–I don’t like to put people off or argue with them; I think it’s preferable to build bridges rather than walls.  I’d rather figure things out and solve problems rather than antagonize people.  I guess that’s why I’m working in DIPLOMACY.  That is not to say I don’t have my beliefs and convictions, because I do, or that I won’t stand up for them, because I will.  But that IS to say that I understand that life is multifaceted, with lots of grey areas–and I don’t like to shove my agenda in everyone’s face.

Not everyone thinks like this, though, and they would rather label you as something insulting because you care about the environment (or in Michael Jackson’s case, children) and how it pertains to your personal survival and well being.  Rudeness and meanness doesn’t offend me (judging me does), but it’s something I will never understand.  Where does it come from?  Is it fun, seeing things in black and white all the time?  Do people derive pleasure from electronic name-calling?  Is it satisfying to shove your anger and contempt down the throat of someone who may never actually read your words?  And why did I just waste half an hour trying to figure this out?

The world may never know.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, what are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

I’ll name mine:

I’m thankful that I have a warm apartment and access to food; I’m thankful for delicious things like avocados, quinoa, and cheese; I’m thankful for being able to be a part of SustainUS’s mission to Copenhagen; I’m thankful for my friends, family, and community who have helped me raise $1476.48 towards the trip; I’m thankful for the NewsRecord, CityBeat, and Community Press for helping me get out my story; I’m thankful for the 203 petition signatures I have gathered thus far; and I’m thankful for the people at EarthSave, where I spent my Thanksgiving.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year.  I’ve been stressed out a lot about money and fundraising, about unemployment, about my Senators, about the future (both near and long-term), about medical bills and collection agencies.  When I stop to think, I realize that I am right where I need to be.

I spent my Thanksgiving in Clifton’s Methodist-Baptist church, just down the street from my house.  There was an Earthsave potluck there (read about the organization here), and all the dishes were vegan.  It was some really healthy stuff!  There were a lot of older people, and also a lot of college students…plus one lonely little girl about four years of age.  Some animal rights activists came in and talked about what it really means to be an animal rights activist. 

I also met Mary Ann, who is really cool and who is an inspiration to our community!  She works for justice and works as an artist, and her most recent painting is a vision of a better future.  Come check it out here; I want you to consider buying a copy.  She gave me a handmade card for free, so the least I can do is pass her name along.  It’s art for a better world!

A lot of stuff I am thankful for, but especially the people who try to make a better world.

 

We Can DO it!

Something you hear a lot of in my line of work is that humans are not evolutionarily equipped to deal with a life-long dangers like climate change.  We are geared towards immediate emergencies, like attacking lions and tigers and bears.  If you read enough articles about the state of our planet, you’ll eventually come across this sentiment.  The Age of Stupid even uses it at one point. 

It makes sense, right?  People tend to act according to short-term needs; this I do not dispute.  But I want you to forget about the nonsense about humans being evolutionarily unequipped to do certain things.  I say so on several grounds.

First, we’re NOT unequipped to deal with long-term dangers and other such issues.  Our entire existence as human beings is built upon agriculture–why did people develop agriculture?  So that they and their families wouldn’t be in danger of starving next year.  Why do people buy houses?  It makes no sense to me.  You have to fork over tens of thousands of dollars and are bound to the bank for the next ten or twenty years–but people do it as a long-term investment, so that they will not have to live with the constant worry of paying rent, and can instead achieve equity and prosper.  Why did Dubai go way out on a limb, spend billions on skyscrapers, and trash the local culture?  Because they dreamed of a better future for themselves.  It doesn’t matter in any of these scenarios that there are short-term challenges, hard work, and disadvantages–the future is more important.  So don’t tell me humans aren’t equipped to avoid long-term dangers and achieve long-term dreams, because I don’t believe you.

I also don’t like the thought of experts telling other people what they are and are not likely to be capable of.  “You’re not biologically equipped to deal with this situation, ma’am,” an evolutionary psychologist tells me.  With tears in my eyes, I give up and go sit down in the corner to waste away.  Way to set folks up for failure–tell them what they’re not good at.

I believe, in fact, that such ideas are a misuse of science.  I have no problem with studying human beings in light of evolution, but too often, it seems to justify our cultural perceptions of ourselves.  “Men are biologically designed to cheat” and “women are evolutionarily equipped to be over-emotional and can’t do math or science”–it doesn’t sound very nice to hear humanity being reduced to this, does it?  Soon you start attributing everyone’s every move to evolution.  Besides, this is only the American cultural perspective that identifies gender in these ways–these are not key masculine and feminine traits in everyone’s culture.  Indeed, other cultures might be appalled that science had proven humanity to be this way.

To me, using evolutionary concepts in this way looks an awful lot like Victorian justifications for colonizing and enslaving whole continents and ethnic groups:  These people were inferior, because they had not evolved to the point that white Europeans and Americans had.  They couldn’t even be taught to be civilized, because they were simply biologically undeveloped.  And because these races were unfit to look after themselves, imperial takeover was justified.  SURVIVAL OF THE EVOLUTIONARILY FITTEST!

Now, saying that humans have trouble dealing with long-term dangers is not the same as saying Polynesians and Africans are genetically inferior to Europeans, and it is different again from saying men and women have biological differences.  But nonetheless, it is using evolution to justify what the species can and cannot feasibly do.  If anything, evolution should teach us that there are myriad ways to adapt to changes, and that we have the potential to reinvent ourselves as much as we need.  That might also be a misuse of science (science is intended to discover the objective truth about our universe) but at least it doesn’t make me want to give up before I even try to solve my problems. 

Perish the thought!  Put it far, far out of your mind!  We ARE equipped to deal with climate change, and that is exactly what we will do!

 

Putting the FUN back in Fundraiser

I told you I needed money, right?  And that I was aggressively going to fundraise this upcoming week, remember?  Well, that’s exactly what I did over the weekend.

For the non-Cincinnatians out there, we have this really awesome thing called Findlay Market, which is part farmer’s market and part community center.  They let you set up fundraisers if you are part of a non-profit (which I am because of SustainUS).  And I did.

With no offence intended towards the good folk at Findlay Market, it really wasn’t an experience worth repeating.  First you have to show up before 8 am, or else risk missing out because it’s first-come, first-serve.  You’re pretty much required to stay there till 6pm.  And that’s not a criticism–believe me, that’s the good part!

I put up large signs explaining what I was doing and asked people for contributions as they came over to my booth (which happened to be my mom’s old card table with a keffiyah covering some of the ravages of time).  I don’t really have anything to sell, so I mixed up some old henna for tattoos, and also offered to write folks names in Arabic on pretty paper.  And you would not believe how openly derisive some people were about this!  I’M JUST A KID OKAY?  I’M SHOWING INITIATIVE BY ATTENDING A U.N. CONFERENCE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY AND FINDING A METHOD TO RAISE THE MONEY TO GET THERE.  That’s exactly why this country’s in trouble: too many people have taken to mocking the American spirit of multiculturalism and entrepreneurialism!

Findlay Market is not located in some quiet countryside locale.  It’s right in the middle of the city, in Over-the-Rhine (kind of a rough neighborhood formerly known for its gang violence).  You meet a lot of interesting people.  One woman was pushing along a fake baby in a stroller and insisted on signing my petition in gibberish.  Another woman refused to support me, apparently because I hadn’t devoted my life to stopping abortions.  If only she had understood that I was trying to help stop humans from aborting THE EARTH (I was very insulted).  One man actually molested me (Oh my GOD!  I’m not even going to discuss the incident here).

On both days, I left at 3:15, unable to drag the day out another 3 hours.  For my efforts, I made a combined total of $42.68. 

Well, I’m starting to make it sound like Hell.  Which it maybe was, but what made it tolerable was the children.  The kids always notice the pretty things you are selling.  They always come over and say, Ooh, how neat!  They are proud of their reading abilities, and actually read the signs I put up.  I didn’t have to tell any of them, ”No, I’m not FROM Copenhagen; I’m travelling there” (which I DID have to tell the adults).  Kids don’t proselytize, nor do they molest.  The only problem is that, unfortunately, they are nearly always accompanied by one or more adults who don’t generally notice or care what their kids are interested in (the ones who do probably spoke to me this weekend and are reading this blog!).

This is the best part: at one point, three kids came over and contributed a dollar because they really wanted to help out–and I tell you, that dollar is to me worth as much as the other forty two combined.  When I watch the dumb crap  that people do to each other (like the antics I put up with this weekend, for instance, or privileged frat boys who come to Copenhagen for an all-expenses paid party session while I’m out busting my @$$ to get the funds to go in the first place!), I have to ask myself if humanity’s existence on this earth is even worth saving.  Then three kids give me a dollar, and I know it’s worth it. 

It’s funny how such small symbolic gestures can have such a profound impact on our lives, beliefs, and motivations.

 

The Money Rant

Um, guys?  Can we talk?

Yes, it’s about the money.

Now, after a very unfortunate incident in Dubai, I promised myself I’d be really good, and not bring up finances in polite society ever again.  But now it’s come down to this.  I’m sorry, but: 

• I’m supposed to fundraise, and if I don’t do it, then I have to pay out of pocket.  In 4 months, I’ve somehow only raised about half of what I need for the conference. 
• Not one, but TWO checks have mysteriously disappeared before they arrived at Treasury, one of which was my own mother’s.  That’s money that now I’m never going to receive!
• I’ve been unemployed for over a year (try getting a job in a severe recession when you’re going to be gone all December!), my finances are IN SHAMBLES, and now I’ve got medical collections down my throat. 
• I have less than two weeks to make up the difference
• I’m posting this at 2 am because the problem is literally keeping me awake.

I’m going to be aggressively fundraising within  my community over the next one week, but no guarantees how much I’ll be getting.  I hate to sound like a PBS fundraising plea, but if you’re planning on chipping in, please do.  If you’re not planning to, do it anyway.  I’m not talking a hundred dollar contribution!  I’m talking five, ten dollars!!  A little morale booster, at least? 

Something to lift me from my fetal position?  

Donations are tax deductible.

The world hangs in the balance of this vitally important conference, and I’d really like to be able to show up to it!  Don’t let a lack of little green slips of paper prevent me!  Together, we can do it!  Right?

 

Support the Cause from Home!

I’m not in this alone.  I need YOUR support.  You already know I am fundraising because of entries like this one or this one, or that button ————>                                       Monetary contributions are GREAT.

Have a Facebook account?  You can support me by joining my Cause and asking others to do the same!  Click here to view my cause!

You can also help by signing the Climate Countdown petition, which urges Obama to ramp up his actions on climate change prior to Copenhagen.  I need 500 signatures before December!  Click:

DO IT OR THEY WON’T ACCREDIT ME.

 

My Copenhagen Lecture

Today I gave the Copenhagen Process lecture at UC, and it was probably less boring than I was afraid it might be.  I gave the lecture in tandem with Mr. Gary Bramble, who works with waste management and will be attending the talks as well.  I’m enclosing a copy of my presentation below; feel free to download it, look at it, and use it for your own purposes.  You have my permission!

The Copenhangen Process

After we each spoke for about 20 minutes, we took questions.  It was a lot of fun, and I thank the folks in attendence for their presence.  The NewsRecord was there (these guys ROCK), and you can read about the event in this NewsRecord article. (My only beef with it is that the photo makes me look like a totally gross slob–which I am, though).

For now, I will mention that the Age of Stupid event, which I attended Monday evening, has also been written up in the campus newspaper.  Jeff, who I worked with on the 350 Day of Action, is quoted in the article and so am I!  It’s right here.

After the lecture, I met up with the UN “Seal the Deal” movement upstairs and added some petition signatures.  Thanks to all who signed!  If you have not signed yet, click here for your chance! 

I really enjoy this doing this stuff!  Keep it coming!

 

All in a Day’s Work

I spent the weekend, at the times when I wasn’t risking life and limb, mulling over my fundraising options. 

I spent yesterday evening at a mixer for UC’s Sustainability Coalition gathering petition signatures for the Climate Countdown campaign.  I would appreciate it if you could help me by signing here.  After that, I had an interview with The NewsRecord, and then we watched the Age of Stupid in the university theatre. 

Today, I gave a presentation at Xavier University on the Copenhagen climate treaty process and my role within it, and tomorrow I will be doing the same at UC.  I’m not the most engaging speaker (I rival Al Gore in terms of boredom) but it’s all in a day’s work. 

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK.