I know how exhausted I am after just organizing one little ole rally.
Wish I could buy you a couple of beers to thank you.
MKM
Posted on 03/24/2003 2:05:35 PM PST by Bob J
There are a few more rallies this week and beyond, but the big weekend is behind us. I think it is fair to say this was the biggest coordinated event for Free Republic and every FReeper, Chapter leader and event coordinator performed with excellence! Here are some numbers. Keep in mind these are just from rallies that we are aware of. There are many more being conducted outside of the FR orbit and spontaneous events seem to pop up everywhere!;
The weeks prior to Liberty Weekend saw 63 rallies, we had 105 on the 22nd-23rd, and 16 more scheduled in the next couple of weeks. That gives us a total of 184 Rallies for America during the month of March (with a few of those occuring in April)!
It is safe to say the media exposure was phenomenal! Almost every rally reported multiple reports and articles, TV and radio broadcasts and mentions! We had good coverage from internet sources and mentions or reports from every national media organization!
We don't have all the numbers yet, but it looks like the totals for attendance at this weekends events alone will get close to 150,000! The media is finding it difficult, if not impossible, to ignore the pro troops, pro war message being sent throught the country.
However, the most important result of our efforts is that the message is getting to our soldiers in Kuwait and Iraq. They are aware that the people of America support their efforts and are willing to stand up to the commie pacifists and say so! A Navy Vet is working on a CD compendium of rally pics to be duplicated and sent to them so they can see for themselves the support and know we are behind them!
The model developed for this weekend, partnering with other like minded organizations, the Free Republic Network acting as the national representative of the chapters and funneling assistance, tools and media inquiries to the grassroots level, and, letting the leaders in Free Republic and the chapters do what they do best...make something happen, was a home run!
There is plenty of kudos and thanks that need to go around. Thank you to the Free Republic Network Board of Directors, FRN Executive Team (in particular diotima and Nick Danger who worked 24/7 for 3 weeks to make it a success!) and the Leadership Council (chapter leaders) for providing the leadership, support and vision to get it off the ground. Thank you to our RFA partners, rally organizers, chapter leaders and members for taking the ball and running for the touch down, and, to all freepers for attending rallies, conducting events in your home towns and supporting the efforts here on the Forum.
Last but not least, thank you to Jim and John Robinson for creating Freerepublic.com that has been our home and inspiration, and for providing the stewardship that allows us to reap such a bountiful harvest from this wonderful garden!
In the days ahead, the FRN, Leadership Council and individual Chapters will meet to review performance and plan on how to improve on it next time. However, it may also be time to start thinking and planning for "Rally for America 2"!
I know how exhausted I am after just organizing one little ole rally.
Wish I could buy you a couple of beers to thank you.
MKM
Wouldn't have happened unless you all had taken the initiative and provided the bold leadership!
You can count on it...A NAvy Vet and VetsCor is on it!
See my announcement on the NC profile page! WUNC-TV did a segment on us.
BTW, we will be working on sending pictures to the troops soon.
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