Nicholas.
First, I would like to commend you on your desire to become involved. I will not be the one to deny a certain amount of "disorganization," but remember, none of us are paid staff and we are all holding down full-time day jobs and then doing as much as we can to support the party as well as maintaining a connection with the people in our lives that matter. Jim and Chuck are running for the most conspicuous offices, but a lot of us are running for local offices as well as trying to maintain the administration of the Party. Party involvement can become entirely absorbing, if you aren't careful.
We are currently planning the next convention, you are by all means welcome to attend. As time goes on, there will be more postings about the convention. At this point, it looks like it will happen in State College the weekend of 3/3 - 3/5, although that may change.
Your technical skills are fantastic and I'm sure a lot of candidates will be able to make use of them. We are in need of volunteers for a LOT of projects. . .some are on-going and others are one-time only and still others are once a year or once a quarter. There are SO many volunteer opportunities. I saw that Ron Goodman previously responded; Ron is my county Chair and from what I observe he is one of the better ones. I don't want to alienate anybody or make anybody feel bad because I am sure they are doing the best they can with what resources available to them and with the time they have; however, Ron really goes the extra mile. If you don't perceive you are getting enough volunteer opportunities in your own county, please consider getting involved in either other counties or at the Board level. Everybody is welcome to attend the Board meetings and although you may not have voting rights, you will be able to participate in the discussions and you will be able to volunteer on a state-wide basis. I am CERTAIN that there are activities that are being done by people who are already doing too much that you would be able to take over and execute from the comfort of your own computer room. The next Board meeting is in December although a contingent group of us is going to Baltimore for one of the National training sessions/National LP meetings on 11/12, which will cover federal election laws and the related paperwork that must be completed with respect to campaign financing. Since you are not already involved, it may not make sense for you to jump in at this particular training session, but if you perceive you would like to be involved in Treasury duties, either for the Party or for a campaign, your own or someone else's, you might want to consider attending.
David Jahn is the Chair of the LPPA; he has risen to a challenge of taking a disparate group of people, most of whom have a tendency to argue and who naturally think outside the proverbial box, and formulate a team working towards tangent, important goals. While I think he is amazing and has done a fabulous job in reducing the disorganization, we still have a long way to go. The number one thing that would help remove the remaining points of chaos would be to have more people actively involved.
So, again, thanks for the interest, lets make sure that you can find a good fit to help out; if the first area doesn't suit you, there are other opportunities, you can contact me here or at
p2sirius@yahoo.com if you want to talk further on this matter.
On a slight tangent, there are often groups that are VERY organized, but they rarely have free thought. Our organization exists because over a loose frame work of identifying with the ideals of Liberty, Individuality and Personal Responsibility, we each, as individuals, can and do think for ourselves; this amount of independence naturally means there will be a lack of homogeneity that is found in less diverse-thinking groups. I'd rather be who I am, which happens to be a Libertarian, and think my own thoughts than be part of a well-oiled machine and lose my individuality, even if that means I don't come to a perfect understanding with one or more of my peers, all of whom I respect, even while we disagree, on any given topic. I'd also rather be in a room with everybody disagreeing and arguing their points, knowing that everybody was being who they really were than be with a bunch of mousy, PC people who always towed the so-called party line. So, while I would like to see less disorganization, administratively, I truly hope we are never so perfectly together as to lose our diversity and range of opinions.
Thanks,
Karen L. Simons
LPPA Treasurer
