I kept looking for examples of eye catching public writing all over until I realized that I kept seeing this poster. And because I had actually taken an interest in the cause I decided it is a perfect example of effective public writing. I am interested in education and really understand how mentoring and providing children with support can only be beneficial to their success and their future. I would enjoy participating as a mentor/tutor in the future and now I know a place where I can get started.

The poster provides a service through public writing to make people aware that these services are not only available but in need of volunteers. The poster did catch my eye because I saw it at the local coffee shop and my town library. I think these were two great spots to hang this message and reach the target audience.

I asked the woman behind the desk at the library about the poster and if she had any thoughts or more information about it.

She told me that it seemed like a great cause and a few people had approached her about getting involved since the poster had been moved from the entrance to this spot. The poster was hanging over a sign in sheet for a summer tutoring session. I thought this was a perfect spot for the poster. The tutors and parents of children who could benefit from a mentor all saw it every time they came to the local library. This poster can be beneficial to this cause if it continues to be seen by those who are likely to help.

Campaign Against Racial Profiling in R.I.

The Rhode Island Afflilate American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with more than a dozen other local organizations, is leading a campaign to bring attention to the problem of racial profiling in R.I. The campaign begun in May 2009, in which they declared the month of May as “Racial Profiling Awareness Month”. They started their efforts advertising their toll free hotline numbers in which they would take the calls of those who had fallen victim to such a crime. Then later expanding their efforts into an anonymous on-line survey. Not only were the participating organizations fighting against the injustice but they were also lobbying for passage of a comprehensive bill that would place restrictions on police practices that organizations believed encouraged racial profiling.

Flyer for the campaign: http://www.riaclu.org/documents/RacialProfilingSummerFlyer.pdf

Racial Profiling Bill Enacted in 2011: http://www.riaclu.org/documents/2011RPBillBulletPoints_000.pdf

Public Writing; A bettet Future for Children

  At the local library in my community, there is a notice board as one waits in line to check out a book or movie. On this notice board is an attractive poster that asks any grown up to be a mentor to a child living in a low income housing project close by. This board notice is the initial service done by Public Writing for this particular good cause.
When one logs onto the computer at the Library, the message is further given a stage by the welcome page. The volunteer opportunity message is repeated. Here goes again that Public Writing in conveying this honorable cause for children. So if one has some interest in helping less fortunate children and first notices the message on the notice board, they may think about it but not really get motivated to do anything about it. But when the message is repeated on the welcome page of the computer and action for the cause is just a click away, your guess is as good as mine. It is a lot easier to 'click into acceptance' for a cause you believe in than to go to an office, get registered and all the motions needed to get active in a cause.

Foundations and Friends

I was definitely no book worm growing up. In fact, I cringed at the thought of reading. Regardless, the reading assignments and homework assignments poured in. My feelings of dislike for reading did not stop me from taking full advantage of the Milton Public Library. The library had much more to offer than its large array of books. By the 4^th grade I spent every day after school in the library, whether it was social hour with a librarian yelling at us to be quiet or my first research project on the frustratingly slow computers and printers.

Now, the Milton Public Library has reached an entire new level. Of course there are still books upon books upon books; however, the place is overflowing with modern technology. I wouldn’t recognize the place if it hadn’t kept its historical 1904 front entrance, landscape, and location. The new, nearly complete, renovations did not come easy to the library. It started with establishing the Milton Public Library Foundation to start and ensure the library’s growth and to raise funds for the expansion and preservation. Aside from the physical aspects, the foundation enables programs and resources by creating a modern library, community and program space, and ongoing support after the building was constructed. The foundation is currently run by an executive board with Herbert Voigt as President.

Establishing a foundation, especially one that has achieved so many goals, obviously takes a lot of work, internal and external. The Miltoncommunity played a vital role during this long process. It was through community and public writing that the community came together and supported the cause. After the decision was made to go ahead with the extensive plans for the new building and all it has to offer, the main problem then became money. As a result, the community stuck together and more public writing was in the works. Campaign letters, donation requests, any amount of money benefited the Milton Public Library.

Once the town achieved their goal and the new building was in place, another organization was created to continue the growth of the library in addition to The Milton Public Library Foundation. In form of a membership program, “Friends” was created as a non-profit organization to ensure that the benefits of the community’s hard work would continue by funding programs, activities, and events. One can become a “Friend of the library” to show their support by joining for $15 (individuals) or $25 for families. The money goes to sponsoring the programs offered to the community and sign is easily done online.  Members of the Friends include individuals, families, and businesses who support the programs, resources, and services the Milton Public Library offers. This organization depends on the membership dues, donations, and grants, all of which rely heavily on public writing and/or writing to the public.

The Milton Public Library also depends on volunteer work in their book shop café, and more.

A Team Effort

As I mentioned in my last post, there is a great deal of truth to the saying "power in numbers." When it comes to public writing, dedicated supporters can truly make or break a campaign. When the school committee wanted to eliminate high schools sports in Cranston, RI, public writing and active support from local residents were what made the difference. I grew up in Cranston and lived there until I was about 16, so I found this news quite disheartening. As a student-athlete throughout middle school and high school, I felt sad for the young athletes who would be stripped of their opportunity to compete.

For the past two years, budget cuts have led to heated battles between school officials, students, and parents throughout Cranston. My friend's father has been an outspoken advocate to prevent the termination of sports programs in the city. As an influential member of the city council for many years, his father used public writing as a medium to communicate his ideas and distaste for the potential cuts. He wrote letters to the school board, editorials and articles in local newspapers, and he issued notices to Cranstonians about what was actually going on. He was a driving force behind the campaign to prevent these cuts, yet he was not alone.

Parents and students from the schools- along with alumnus- came together in an effort to prevent the elimination of sports teams; they created and circulated petitions, wrote letters, held protests outside of city hall, wrote to local newspapers, and spoke to the media about their concerns. It was an emotional, and at times, seemingly impossible battle, but they never gave up. In the end, their appeals were heard and a donation was made in order to save the athletic teams from termination. Thanks to the dedication of local supporters and inspiration from public writing, this quest to save high school sports was a great success.

A Healthier Lifestyle

The town next to mine, Princeton, New Jersey, is a beautiful town that millionaires tend to flock to. Because of this, Princeton is very big in health food stores and hybrid cars but also has beautiful gardens and farms. I have always noticed in the Princeton community that they value healthy lifestyles a great deal and when I have thought about this in the past, it made sense that money may have something to do with it. When we do have money, a healthy lifestyle may sometimes be easier to obtain. While Princeton offers a plethora of local farms, all natural ice cream shops etc., not everyone can afford to be so active in achieving this goal. However, once we get over the obstacle of healthier things being more expensive, we realize that there are small things we can all do to make a healthy lifestyles for ourselves and still be considered activists.

I babysit for a woman in Princeton who honesty, seems like the epitome of perfect. While I know that isn’t possible of course, she’s a wonderful mom with two kids, and she takes a great deal of time to educate them and everyone about the importance of healthy food. When I got to know her a little more, we got to talking and I found that she's a health food specialist, health coach, food guru, triathlete, she practices yoga and was a magazine editor for ten years for Vogue, Elle and Self and is currently writing her own blog. This woman can do everything! Anyway, I found that she works a great deal with Home Front as well, a large goodwill organization, and she also gives food demonstrations at Whole Foods. What makes things better is that in her blog which I follow, her theme is ‘inspired living’ and how to guide people to eating better and living better. Talk about activism!

This has always been a struggle in my community and its great to see these goals being reached in the Princeton community. The woman I babysit for has really done a lot herself in the community by activism as well as public writing. Her blog is indeed public and is meant to motivate people and create change, which I believe it does in fact do. Her activism in the town such as the food demonstrations, and working with local farms I believe has motivated other people to do so as well because she has definitely motivated me. While I know I won't be able to be as active as she may be, I have learned of small things I can do to reach this goal and be active in raising awareness to the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Goals, Activism and Public Writing...CHECK!

What I choose is slightly old and something that everyone at URI should know about. It was one of the first things that came to my mind when we got this assignment. The orange sticker policy of Narragansett is something that was accomplished by public writing. Because there are so many college kids living in the town of Narragansett now the residents of the town began to complain about noise and how college kids were ruining their neighborhoods and the place where they grew up. The residents began to write letters to the town about the issue and spoke in front of town hall meetings etc to try and figure out a way to resolve the issue and what they came up with was the orange sticker policy. This meant that every house that got a noise complaint or was having a party would get an orange sticker on their front door. The orange sticker means that if the cops are to be called again regarding your house and a complaint you receive a fine. Not only was this supposed to hinder URI students from having parties and interfering with families and residents who have lived in Narragansett for years. The group of residents of the town accomplished getting this policy in order and the major way they did this was through public writing in the public sphere.

After speaking with a friend of mine who has tried getting this sticker policy removed, I discovered more about how the change actually came about. This project became alive through public writing. That’s how the whole quest for the policy began. The residents of Narragansett began writing to the town asking for their help and because they wanted to make more of a presence they showed up and spoke out at town meetings. The point of this is that it all started through public writing. These individuals and participants were active in trying to get something done about the problem going on and they accomplished the means by using public writing. The residents knew that this was the only was to start and so they wrote letters and emails to try and get the help of the town. What is so great about this example is that it actually became a reality and these people accomplished their goal. Public writing doesn’t always accomplish goals in this way but this is a perfect example of how using public writing is an avenue and way to generate awareness about an issue. This individual I spoke with told me that the group had some challenges in the beginning because their emails and requests weren’t being recognized and nothing was being done about it by spreading the word through public writing and the public sphere they gained more participants and the issue became so widespread that something had to be done about it and the town took action.

From this example I learned about the many difficulties public writers face when trying to resolve an issue or problem. A fear that many public writers have or people who would like to become involved in public writing is that they won’t be heard. And for this reason public writing can deter people from taking the step to do so. These individuals participated in public writing to try and conquer their cause and they could have given up because nothing was being done but they were persistent and it paid off. Public writing is not a hard task whether it be bloging, writing on facebook, emailing or writing a letter to the editor but being heard is the hardest part. With persistence and determination there is a way to be heard through public writing and this example shows that.

ME,ME,ME

To have an audience as a public writer means everything. As I previously addressed in another posting, audience means everything when it comes to public writing. The audience are the people who respond and listen to public writers and what they have to say and without them public writing would exist but not how it does in the public sphere. Activist audiences are made up of people who work to change things, problems or issues. They are the ones who fight for certain causes and take action to create change. Being an activist means to be apart of a cause and working to help fight for that cause. I also believe that being an activist means being an audience-participant because it is part of being an activist. It’s the job of an activist to continually participate and try to work towards achieving their goal. All of us have lives, jobs and families and it is impossible for us to be involved and apart of all the organizations that do public writing. In my opinion, as selfish as this may sound I believe that the organizations that one should be involved in should be the ones they care most about. When someone is passionate about something it comes out through their work and participation and for this reason I believe that people should only get involved in organizations and causes that mean something to them and that they believe in. To get people to care and to be receptive to our message we need to show them why it is that they should care. I try and show people everyday through my blog why they should care about global warming. I talk to my family about it and I tell them how this may affect their children, grandchildren and event themselves. That’s how you get people to respond and want to take action. People’s lives are complicated and busy and fitting time in for an organization or cause can be tricky and sometimes impossible but if you prove to someone why they should be involved and want to help then it leaves them with no other choice. People don’t realize what they are passionate for if they don’t hear it from someone else. I believe this because this is how I began to raise more awareness about global warming which has been my targeted cause for the semester. 

Organizing Communities: Accomplishing Goals

This past weekend I traveled to the Berkshires and did a bit of camping with my wife for our first anniversary. We visited a local tourism welcome center and found some pamphlets of things to do in the region. One stuck out as not only a fun activity that we participated in, but something that I connected, for me, with this class.  We ended up riding the 22 miles (roundtrip) of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, but the really interesting part of this is the way this public activity space is utilized and how it came about:

Seeing the potential for recreational use of the corridor, citizens organized to preserve the right-of-way, eventually gaining the local and political support needed to make this rail trail a reality. 

Now as the work you've all done so far attests, developing and creating publics is a bit of a challenge. How do we get people to care about various issues when they are already so busy, and how do we keep them involved with issue once they've committed some level of support (especially with other competing issues that are also valuable?). To me, this sentence in the history section of the webpage seems to gloss over what was probably a significant amount of hard work that was performed by a group of hardworking community members. What could we learn about public writing if we knew more about how this specific group "gain[ed] the local and political support needed".... 

For this week's blog (due by Saturday at 10pm) respond to the following prompt. Go out and find an example of something that was accomplished by public writing in your community or a community that you are familiar with. Describe in a paragraph what it is a group accomplished. Then, try to find someone who knows some of the history about how that change or that project became a reality through public writing and activism? Ask them to share what they know about the challenges and successes the group encountered? Then, in 2-3 paragraphs describe what you learned about the difficulties real public writers face when trying to make an idea a reality--like the 22 miles of activism I rode on July 4th!

THE AUDIENCE THAT CAN MAKE A DIFFERNECE

Lets face it…we live in a busy world and many of us have very hectic lives, therefore it is important to really understand what it is that will encourage someone to participate when appealing to an activist audience. What keywords or stories should we use as writers when attempting to capture the attention and take time away from anyone.

I will share an experience that I believe relates to public writing and volunteering. Last summer I volunteered and was on the committee that put together a big event to raise money for the Stone Street Food Pantry in Bristol RI. The event was called uncorked. My job was to convince local restaurants and other businesses to donate either food or beverages for the party, which was held under a big tent (that was donated too). Myself along with the other volunteers were very successful and the event was a huge hit and everyone a lot of fun…not to mention the fact that we raised over $16,000.00 for the food pantry. I just got an e-mail about volunteering again this summer.

I have some new ideas about how I could help and will use public writing to inspire more people to come to the event and make donations. Everyone wants to gain something out of everything they do, it is human nature and even if actively volunteering or just attending the event makes you feel good about yourself …that is rewarding. I believe the restaurants that donate food are being rewarded with free advertising and good business ethics, and I know I like to support those who support those and so on. This needs to be brought to their attention. If the food pantry uses the internet to advertise this event and really entice local restaurants that by making a donation they can be a part of making a positive difference, than we could really be on to something. The town newspaper did a great story about Uncorked last year. I am hoping that even more businesses will donate this year because of this positive feedback.

I am very busy this summer, so can not commit to doing as much, but I did feel really good about volunteering and now understand that even doing a little bit can make such a big difference. If I take the time and post information about this cause and how anyone can help on my facebook wall, than I am helping in a small way and it is so easy. The Internet has made public writing that much easier. If the word keeps get out and the positive feedback continues, who knows…in a few years local businesses could be begging to be a part of this great charity event!!

What It Means To Have An Audience as a Public Writer

What does it mean to have an audience as a public writer? I think this question is very important and serves as one of the main questions to address in achieving public writing. The audience is everything when you are a public writer. The issues that a public writer addresses seeks to gain respectability from other people who have the same view and may potentially become an activist on the issue if they aren’t already. An activist in my opinion is someone who stands by an issue they feel strongly about despite the position they take. An activist’s role is to promote awareness on the issue to the public, gain the respect of their target audience which are the individuals who share the same views, and aim to expand their audience and gain more activists to promote the issue to the public. I think that the public writer plays an important role in gaining the attention needed for other people who have the same view to want to participate in the movement by demonstrating their own views or just simply supplying the necessary information on the issue that may catch the attention of the audience. This was one of my focuses while doing my blog. I thought about what information I can write about that may catch people’s attention and want to think more in depth about how severe the issue is and to consider getting involved. I think that naturally everyone is an audience to some issue and feel some type of way about an area in which they would love to become involved, but may not have the proper information to become involved; this is where I think the public writer is the most influential.

No matter what information the public writer is writing about, there are people that have the same views and may be willing to participate. However, I also believe that to have a great impact on the rest of the community it is more powerful to be a physical force in promoting and advocating the issue. I do think that people are able to participate in different causes as well, but it is essential for the “activist” to make sure their participation in certain causes do not contradict each other. It is also crucial that the participant is passionate enough to find the time to participate and be an active member for the cause. It is hard to juggle different tasks such as school, work, family life, and so forth, but I feel that if an individual is truly passionate and engaged with the issue they will not have a problem with finding the couple of extra hours in being that active member. When a person enjoys doing something, I think there isn’t much of a hassle for the person to “want” to play their part in either organizing events well, recruiting others to help, and promoting and attending various events. Public writers need to have a target audience because it will make the issue come alive with the support of other individuals and I think that having a clear view on the issue and proper organization many of the events will be successful.

Audience & Public Writing

An activist would be any person that has a strong interest in a topic and feels passionately about it. Activists can really be anyone; students, teachers, basically anyone from the community that wants to help out. A public writer would appeal to these various activists by getting them involved with certain activities or organizations. For instance, a public writer could do something as simple as create a flyer for an event or maybe submit a write up to a local newspaper, anything that would get the information out there about the event and would persuade people to take action. I think if you are an activist for one cause then you might pay closer attention to other causes because you understand the importance of helping and becoming involved in order to make a difference; I suppose being an activist means you can also be an audience-participant for other causes as well.

The best thing to do in order to get people to participate and care about a cause is to get the information out there, so they can decide for themselves if they want to help out and support a cause. You can’t force anyone to do something, but you can educate them and make them aware of the circumstances. Time is definitely a factor when considering involvement in an organization. Personally, I don’t have time because of school and work to go out and become involved with various organizations. There have been times when I have thought about joining an organization, such as Habitat for Humanity because I think it is a great cause and I would love to support it, but my schedule wouldn’t allow my involvement with the organization. Some people lead rather hectic lives, which makes it difficult to make time for anything else. Public writers can only do so much as to get the message out there to the public, but after that it is up to the community to decide whether or not they want to lend a helping hand to the organization(s).

A Question I Ask Myself

"How do we get others to participate, to care, and to be receptive to our messages?"

I often wonder the same thing. Sometimes there seems to be a sad cycle of reluctance to participate which leads to reluctance to plan and organize, which leads back to reluctance to participate. It's strange how some activist events are booming and how others are a bust. I guess it all has to do with that cycle. I've touched on this idea before, and like I said, I can't really speak for the masses, only myself. In general, I do not consider myself an activist. I don't personally identify with any of the popular causes that exist in the form of countless walks, pledges, plunges, and other events. In the future maybe I will, but right now feel like participating in an activist event that I know little to nothing about is kind of like attending church only at Christmas. But maybe I've got this activist thing all wrong...

As far as the debate about activist planning vs. attendance, I don't think there's much of a difference. Certainly planning an event gives someone a deeper stake in the cause, and obviously they will attend, but participating in someone else's event is just as important. I'm more inclined to see it as activist vs. non-activist as opposed to planner vs. participant. You can't be a true activist if you only stick to one cause because that would just create cliques and work against the goal of unifying people for a cause.

Finding time in people's busy schedules is also probably not the issue. I mean, if there is a direct scheduling conflict then, no, that person will not attend, but if someone is serious about a cause, they will mark it on the calendar and take the time off. I'm working 50 hrs a week and taking 2 classes, but if I had something I was really into (and knew about the event enough in advance) I would find the time to help out. Also, working for an altruistic cause is really personally rewarding, but that's about it. Sometimes people just have different priorities, or they're like me and just haven't found a cause that they personally identify with yet.

To care or not to care

Merriam Webster defines Activism as “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” Regarding certain situations, such as relay for life, I see this to be true. However, when considering a public writers audience and/or activist audience, I believe there is room for interpretation and debate.

First, what does it mean to have an audience as a public writer? Personally, having an audience means that there are others that either agree with my topic or are simply interested in reading what I have to say. Although this is an important aspect to public writing, reaching the public, I believe many public writers write to express their opinion and get their ideas “off their chest.” For some, the simple act of writing may be enough satisfaction. And so, who are the activist audiences? I consider those who contribute or respond via contacting the writer or leaving a comment the activist audience as well as those who return and read the public writing regularly. Those who put forth effort in any way and actually care are the activists.

A recent situation I encountered during the spring semester got me thinking about this topic. As a part of the Public Relations Society at URI, I greatly contributed to what I and my fellow executive board considered an amazing opportunity to learn from professionals in the fields of PR, Business, and Communications, and to network with colleagues and professionals. We ran an event titled “Going the distance: make it happen.” Everything went perfectly according to plan; however, attendance could have been better. At the end of the day, it comes down to who really cares and who the activists are. The activist audience that is eager to learn more is what matters. So long as those who care to contribute and put forth some type of effort, whether it be in the planning stage or simply attending, all events are successful. Both parties play a vital role.

Although our organization believes the above as true, the question of how to get people to participate, to care, and to be receptive to our messages still remains. The truth of the matter is people are busy and many do not care to go an extra mile if it does not directly benefit them. In my experience, the event did directly benefit the audience, which was clearly advertised and promoted. Still, very little chose to participate and be receptive to our message. I still have not found a way to solve this problem. I understand and can relate to not being able to find time to support all the things I care about. Personally, I incorporate the things I care most about into my academics and hobbies. For example, majoring in PR and serving as the Public Relations Society President allows me to enjoy my passion for PR while minoring in TMD allows me to enjoy fashion everyday. I base my schoolwork and projects on topics that I care about to give myself time to explore and learn more on the topic. These simple actions help me to be an active audience member.

 

 

Acitivism and Public Writing: The Audience and Motivation

While most writings have an intended audience in mind, they can be written for ourselves as the only audience, when public writing requires more participation and reaction from its audience.  When we bring activism into the picture we are able to see the purpose of public writing bring put into full effect as it brings people together, making a change to a societal issue. Public writing is an outlet that has helped activists express their message in ways other than physical.

The reason why public writing is linked to activism and organizations alike is because in public writing, society is a key focus, so it is speaking to the public, and also because it uses beliefs and current issues as inspiration. As an activist or the audience to public writing, people of society question how much involvement is required and how the issue may speak to them. I think it’s a really interesting question you posed asking, ‘is part of being an activist about being an audience-participant in other causes.” It’s important to have public writing but it is also important to put words into actions, something people can’t always find time to do. But it is important to have at least one cause or issue that you care about and at least keep track of. However, this doesn’t mean you need to be involved in other groups worried about the same issue. I think it’s great when people do this or more so the people who are true activists, because it requires constant support and involvement. Public writing and activism both try to create motivation. People have a hard time motivating themselves to pursue their cause or even other issues, because when we become activist, it is purely hard work to get those in power to notice.

            I myself am passionate about the environment but even though it was my main focus throughout the course, I haven’t done a great deal to consider myself an activist. However, this class has allowed me to contribute in terms of public writing, and through my blog and twitter I can maintain my support to this cause. However, it isn’t always easy for people to keep themselves involved. To maintain a stance is difficult in the hustle and bustle of everyday hassles and sometimes, updating a twitter page now and then doesn’t seem like enough. If you are involved in more widespread issues, it takes a little more time to feel like you’re making a contribution, which can get discouraging. Even as a public wrier, when we write an article, draw a message of an abandoned wall or post a blog concerning the environment, it doesn’t feel like we made a huge impact on the problem so we eventually do less and less.  To find time to support groups and causes is difficult, but if we all do these little things for a widespread issue, eventually they will add up.

Power of the People

Although it is often over-looked, audiences play a vital role in all kinds of writing. No matter what, a writer must always be aware of who their reader will be. As a result, this often dictates how the author will formulate their ideas and in which genre the document will fall into. In a field such as public writing, being aware of the audience is even more critical.

Because public writing is presented to a wider range of people, the author will pay a great deal of attention to how a reader will perceive the piece. When appealing to an activist audience, the writer is seeking a direct reaction in support of their cause. Knowing that many people will have access to the document likely propels the writer's desire to inform others and encourage active participation. On the other hand, if the writer knows that no one will see or care about what they write, it will probably deter them from continuing their literary quest for change.

When it comes to organizations such as the ACS Relay for Life and Hands Across the Sand, audience participation is crucial. Without the actual presence of supporters, the objectives of such organizations- both physical and symbolical- cannot be fulfilled. Even if the people who show up are not the driving forces behind each group, the mere fact that they cared enough to attend is empowering in itself. Thus, it is imperative that the cause is "advertised" through different mediums, so that potential supporters are aware; this is where public writing comes in. If a person presents the group's ideas and cause in an understandable and enticing manner, then they will gain more members as a result. There is a great deal of truth to the phrase "power in numbers", and having active support from audience members in the public sphere proves that.

Public Writing; The Audience

On any issue, the audience is the people who are interested in the issue. Many people may browse through a topic on the internet and find it an interesting one but may never be moved to participate actively in it. That may be the reason that just a couple of people showed up at Misquamicut for the 'Hands across the Sand' event.

First of all, what was the event about? A picture of such a previous event seen on the net by anyone may mean anything to them. One may think that it's a game or something.

This now leaves the task of explanation to the participants in the cause. Only they know what the cause is and can deliver its message to the audience, or people that know nothing about 'Hands Across the Sand'. They are tasked with doing the Public Writing here.

If one of the participants brings together several people of a like mind who are interested in the cause, then they can each find other people still interested. If this is done on the internet, it’s even better because the number to be reached is limitless, especially if the cause is explained clearly to a new audience. This would be just the general audience. Only those that go further by enlisting even more people are the activist audience. When the internet writers get together with the people that finally show up for the event then these are the activists.

So actively engaging an audience by Public Writing on the internet will bring in participants and when participants bring in more of their acquaintances, the numbers grow. There is a ripple effect.
Furthermore, in case people do not turn up for an event perhaps because of bad weather or something like that, as a resourceful public writer, this is not the end of the convention. There is a new mode of communication on the net called a "Webinar" and it is exactly what it sounds like. A seminar on the web. Getting together this way by people promoting a cause, and relaying the message to an appropriate decision maker like a Member of Congress or another target audience would indeed have some effect. Not even the weather or 'stay-at-home' participants can take the mojo out of this. Besides, is this not how Barack Obama got elected?

Public Writing Audience?

To begin to answer this question one must define who the activists are. I would define it as anyone who has an interest in a given topic and does something about it. The audience that the activist writer would have would then be people who are interested in the same topic. It would most likely include people who are opposed to the topic as well. If there are two sides to a given topic wouldn't you like to know what your opposition is doing and thinking to help rally the people on your own side. The public writer can be a rallier, lobbiest, teacher, any "job" that helps bring people to the cause and helps people understand the cause. The public writer has the oportunity to wear many hats and fulfil many roles in getting their choosen subject out for public consumption.

People who show up to support events are critical to any cause. These are the people that care enought to take time out of their day to support an event or cause that has meaning to their lives. Activists can plan and do all day long but it they don't have the average everyday person showing up to participate in what they plan and do what's the point. They have not been sucsessful because they haven't reached and audience when no one participates. But the bigger question of how to get people to interupt their lives to be involved in a cause is even more interesting. You need to create something that has enought appeal to get people out of their comfort zones and out into the world doing. I know that I see events that look interesting but to actually get me out of the house to participate, I couldn't even define what would get me out and involved. I guess the biggest way to get people involved is to have a cause that directly affects them or that they feel greatly about. I know tomorrow night I'm getting politcally involved in my life, I have to go to a zoning board meeting. I'm involved in this issue because the gas station next door wants to turn into a convience store open to midnight. The only reason that I'm getting involved is because this has a direct affect, if the gas station was two or three houses down I'm sure I wouldn't care.

A Reflection on Public Writing: As We Continue

To begin, let's start with a few housekeeping items: I have been remiss in getting the final project assignment sheets up on Sakai. (They will be up no later than Thursday: my word on this.) Regardless, if you feel like beginning the work, each one of the options is in someway a research project. Thus, you will need to begin conducting research on the public writing topic that you've been focusing your efforts on this whole semester.

Second item: Feedback for projects will be send out by Friday. Initial grades take into consideration the work you've done in producing a 'polished draft' of a project, as well as the product itself (i.e. how well it meets assignment criteria/objectives as outlined in the assignment sheet).

Now, onto the reflection. So, this weekend I participated in two events that can be considered activism. First, I participated with others from my home community in Westerly at the Relay for Life, an event that benefits the American Cancer Society. The turnout and effort of everyone involved was amazing, more so considering the stormy weather we had that evening. On Sunday morning, however, I attended the Hands Across the Sand event in Misquamicut. One friend whom I surf with and I were the only two there. We talked. We wondered why no one else came. So, this leaves me with the question, and a concept that I'd like you all to explore in this week's posts. Namely, I ask you to consider what it means to have an audience as a public writer. Who or what types of people are activisit audiences? Who are the activists? What are the various roles that a public writer may play? I say audience, because in performing the hands across the sand, the spectacle of people united (physically) carries a sense of power and strength that also means something (symbolically). When people don't show to be part of that performance that text, then, cannot occur. Is part of being an activist about being an audience-participant in other causes?

Personally, I will share that I am much more active (in terms of doing actual work on behalf of the event) in the ACS Relay for Life than I am in the Hands Across the Sand. Still, I realized this weekend that even being a person who "shows up" to participate, while not planning/being active in an organization is often a very important and pivotal role. How we get others to participate, to care, and to be receptive to our messages? More importantly one might also ask, with all the things like work, loved ones, responsibilities, hobbies, how does one find time to be a part of all the many organizations that do public writing. How do we support organizations when there is only so much time in life?

Enjoy writing I look forward to reading these responses!

Somewhere in Limbo

Even as a younger student in high school, I realized my unique position in history by having grown up during the dawn of the information age. I still remember the first computer my dad bought when I was 6 or 7 years old and the extremely primitive games and word processors. I remember typing up writing assignments on the computer in my 3rd grade class---the black background, green courier font, and big green rectangle that marked the end of the line of text. I essentially grew up with computers, and cannot imagine life without them or the Internet. It never ceases to amaze me how far technology has advanced in my short lifetime (from DOS to the iPhone 4, think about it).

What's even more interesting is having a grandmother who does not use the internet at all and could care less about it. It's amazing just how dependent on computers I am, but then looking at her life, completely computer-free, and realizing she's still alive. The Internet is actually not necessary for 21st century life forms---who knew? And this is the time frame we live in. My generation is somewhere smack-dab in the middle of a time when there is still a significant portion of the population not using computers, yet there is no doubt in my mind that in the future, everyone will be computer literate.

I do think access to the Internet will be a right in the coming decades. Other older methods of gaining access to information will be grossly inferior to new methods, and people will want the right to the best information, similar to how people want the right to better health care. It will simply become a necessity and a part of life. Despite reading all these statistics about who is not online, the fact is that all these numbers are shrinking. There are a variety of reasons people may not want to be online, but I don't think the amount of people logging on will ever slow or reverse. The economic reasons are dwindling with internet access being so affordable and widespread. The older generations, like my grandmother, who lived the majority of their lives without internet and don't need it now will also dwindle as time goes on---same with rural dwellers. Those born with it, starting with my generation and beyond, will have little to no reason not to use Internet; it will most likely be required starting in elementary school even. The various reasons people today are not online don't actually matter---all they reflect is the exciting time period we are in: directly between the Pre-Internet era and the Everywhere-Internet era. I wouldn't be surprised if people in the very far future looked back on this time period and wondered what the transition to the modern era was like; they will wonder just how the computer-literate and computer-illiterate could live side-by-side....