[SfN] O17 rally/caravan plans in Champaign - please help!

[Jim Buell]

Would anyone interested in helping to plan for the local part of the Oct. 
17 rally and caravan please meet up with us at 2 pm at the office (206 N 
Randolph, downtown Champaign, 355-5001)? We need to decide on where to hold 
the local rally, write up and send out press releases, and contact media 
people we know. In other words, a busy afternoon!

Plans out of Chicago call for a group starting there to meet up with us 
here at 11:30 a.m. or so next Tuesday. We're to hold a rally from 11:40 to 
noon, then caravan out with them (those that are okay to leave at noon 
rather than at 2, as some students are) to Springfield and then on to St. 
Louis.

To be decided:

** where to hold the rally in town.
some ideas:
* The quad or Alma Mater would be a good place, but cars need to be 
accessible and, ideally, visible so news cameras can use them for visuals. 
If there's just a few cars, they could go right down Green Street and park 
in the lot next to Kinkos. But if there are more than a few, they'd 
probably have to use the Assembly Hall lots and shuttle in - not good for 
timing or visual effect.
* in front of county Dem and GOP headquarters. The Dems of course are right 
downstairs from the Nader HQ (I still love that), where parking is ok but 
not great; the GOP is at the corner of Green and Neil, just opposite the 
Osco where there's plenty of free parking.
We'll need to check too on the legality of holding rallies in various spots 
- Champaign city vs on campus.

** what to do at the rally.
I'm guessing some short speeches are in order, and maybe a bit of theater. 
We need to say who we are, where we're going, and why, and we need to tell 
off the 2 big parties for closing the debates to all but their own 
anointed. Costumes may be appropriate - e.g. Billionaires for Bush or Gore 
(got bits and pieces for 3 to 5 of these) and/or 'Mr. Clean' outfits to 
clean up the party offices (these can be real simple - white t-shirt, bald 
wig and maybe a curtain hook for an earring). Gotta keep the cameras happy!

** how to alert the media
Once the above are decided, we'll need to fax out a press release to the 
local newspapers, radio and tv stations. (All their offices are closed 
Saturday afternoons, as I found when trying to hand-deliver notices of last 
week's office grand opening a week ago.) Then, early Monday morning, we'll 
need to follow up with personal calls/visits to contacts we've made with 
the media, i.e. reporters, editors and crews who've covered us to date.

YOUR IDEAS AND ENERGY ARE ESSENTIAL TO PULLING THIS OFF. Like everything 
else, we're flying by the seats of our pants on this one, and on very short 
notice. The more energy we can throw toward this in the next 72 hours, the 
more of a statewide splash our 'Cross the State for a Real Debate' can make!

Go we go!

Jim B.