| Hi all,
Fewer meetings, more activism.
That's the bottom line from ATP's 2015 Member Survey.
The results affirm a lot of what ATP's executive committee has been doing and sensing.
From the more detailed results below, you can see that member mailings, our website, interaction with the public, and several activism categories scored higher than meetings. There was no great clamor for a new direction. We are confirmed in our belief that face-time and social interaction is no longer important to many Tea Partiers. In the beginning, everyone wanted to know they were not 'the only one'. That need has been satisfied, which may partially account for lower attendance at recent Tea Party events (not just ours). Several respondents indicated a willingness to work on short-term activist projects. As you may recall, ATP did a short project in the first couple of months of the year getting our message out to students who were already tweeting their unhappiness with the federal school lunch program. That's the model for future ATP activism projects in the near-term. We will be rolling out our next project soon to boost the 'We The People' Constitution school curriculum and contests. As for events, coming up we have the Obamacare Exemption rally on Capitol Hill on June 17th and our annual 4th of July celebration (11am in Old Town for one hour plus lunch). Many thanks to all who participated in the survey. Best wishes,
-ATP Executive Committee
-------------------------------------- OVERVIEW How important are the following for Alexandria Tea party on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 Low importance and 5 High Importance)?
Speakers and regular monthly meetings
3.87
Email updates of local Tea Party and associated activities
4.13
ATP website
3.93
Interaction with the public
4.00
Activism - issues
4.60
Activism - elections
4.25
Activism - taking back the culture
4.13
Alexandria City affairs
2.87
Recruit new members
3.88
Collaboration with regional, state, and national Tea Parties
3.69
New Direction
1.73
YOUR PARTICIPATION
Can you commit to helping ATP with any of the activities listed above? A few people responded 'yes'.
Do you want to put yourself forward for leadership in ATP? No one we were not already aware of.
SPEAKERS
What speakers or topics would you like to see at our second Tuesday of the month meetings? Most of the answers were familiar Tea Party topics - Common Core, Obamacare, limited government, sharia, Agenda 21, etc. One novel suggestion: speakers on grassroots activism efforts. Is ATP better off co-sponsoring fewer, bigger events with other groups? Opinion was mixed with some preferring joint events and others preferring the current format. Is ATP better off limiting meetings to occasions when we are working on projects? Most answered 'no'.
WEBSITE
What other content would you like to see on ATP's website? Some interesting suggestions were received such as a 'Get Involved' button for links to grassroots activism efforts and space for government whistleblowers to tell their stories.
INTERACTION WITH THE PUBLIC
Should ATP do more or less of the following: Most said 'yes' to handing out Constitutions and having booths at festivals. A suggestion was received to have booths at GOP events.
ACTIVISM
Please describe any activism projects in which you are currently engaged. Several responses were received - e.g., GOP work, writing, Constitution, calls to lawmakers.
Which of the following activism projects can you commit to helping with: Several responses were received and this will help determine future ATP projects.
OTHER QUESTIONS
In light of the demonization of the Tea Party movement by the Left and the press, should Tea Parties abandon the brand and change their names to something else? Most said 'no', with several observing, "because no matter what it is changed to it will be demonized." Should Alexandria Tea Party be more closely aligned with the GOP? The majority opinion was 'no'.
What, if any, changes should ATP make in the way its leadership interacts with ATP members? Most said they were satisfied. Suggestions were received for more social media and informal happy hours.
n.b. - ATP does use social media to a limited extent currently: Twitter - https://twitter.com/alexteapartyva Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandria-Tea-Party/205916216172547?skip_nax_wizard=true#!/pages/Alexandria-Tea-Party/205916216172547?sk=wall
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