Web 2.0 and organizing

Teamsters online manager Richard Negri who attended the Organizing 2.0 conference in New York last week, has posted his comments on the event here. Best observation after the jump:

"At the conference something was said in one of the workshops that really struck a chord with me. If a worker's first contact with a union is through a web site form, so should the second -- usually with an email. Too often unions will realize they can get a worker's information mined by the sites but then they want someone to go house visit with the worker immediately after. It shouldn't, in my opinion, work quite that way. (In other words, I agree with the person who said this at the conference).  It should be: initial contact web site - second contact email. Sure, by the third or fourth correspondence with the worker, have them meet up with someone from the organizing committe, but they might not be ready sooner than that. This is why an online organizer needs to make assessments of the workers in the same way an organizer on ground has to."

Technological revolution in communications presents opportunity to break through the communications barriers between organizers and unorganized workers. There are so many more ways to communicate than were available in 1970's and 1980's. The challenge is to learn how to use the tools effectively. Negri's comments in general and this one in particular evidence an understanding of the need to develope a sophisticated deployment of the accessibility tools provided by web 2.0.