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I have been assigned by Reshma 2010 to work out of the Astoria office the final few days that I signed up to volunteer. I will be making phone calls and knocking on doors. And I will do whatever else I am asked to do. One thing would be boost the morale of the staff/interns/volunteers/gawkers in the office, and any passers by on the sidewalk.
I signed up for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. But I have a feeling I might show up also tomorrow, Friday. The idea would be to show up after lunch and stay as late as possible.
I have emailed some key people on the staff saying we need a ton of cookies and vitamin water in the two offices. Every time I have sat down to make phone calls, it has felt like a sea voyage. I have labored over it. Phone calls don't come naturally to me. I do much better with small group small talk. Did I say I don't own a phone?
I showed up for the office opening party in Astoria. (
Reshma 2010: Queens Office Opening Party: August 9) My first reaction that I shared with many people was, I actually like this office better than the Manhattan office. The Astoria office is democracy, the Manhattan office is capitalism. Voters are not elevator fodder. Voters are sidewalk people.
The Astoria office is on the ground floor. It is at street level. The entire office is see through. People on the sidewalk can see the entire office except the inside of the restroom, and that probably is by design.
I really like that proximity to the sidewalk. You can step out and suddenly you are a man of the people. You could be someone gawking in while passing by.
Before I started volunteering for Reshma 2010, it is like I had never been to Astoria proper. The neighborhoods are so great. They are so very inviting. I mean, I had been to the Beer Garden during
Obama 08. Alexis, who was a key Obama person in
Queens, was out of there. That Beer Garden place is really something. It has got to be the best beer place in the city, and I am not even much of a beer drinker. It is the setting I dig.
The last time I was at the Astoria office was right after the community conversation event in Queens 10 blocks away. I walked the 10 blocks to the office and picked two more Reshma 2010 red, white, and blue shirts, my uniform for this election season. Right before that 10 block walk, I got lost for a few blocks after I stepped outside the Holiday Inn where the event was. It is much easier to not get lost when you follow the train tracks.
Jon Gardiner in tow, I showed up. My first reaction, we need Reshma 2010 posters all over that thing at the top of the entrance. That is so much wasted free advertising space. That would work 24/7.
NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1
Roosevelt Island: Community Conversation
Community Conversation: Upper East Side
Reshma's Lower East Side Community Conversation
NYConvergence:
Custom Shirts, GPS Dating And Hyperlocal News At The NY Tech Meetup:
The NY Tech Meetup celebrated Rosh Hashanah last night the traditional way: hosting 800 people for a full course of startup demos. Thrown into the mix were a presentation by Google and an appeal from Democratic Congressional candidate Reshma Saujani (running in New York's 14th district) to get involved, specifically by voting or volunteering for her. She has emphasized technological innovation and tax breaks for investment in her campaign.
Image via Wikipedia
