Tank

I’ve been thinking about how we can get things done, how we can be the most effective change agents. There has been some discussion of what kind of organization Thinkers & Drinkers can become. I’ll put forth one proposal here.

Phil Kidd (I’m pleased to say I now have my T-Shirt) and I discussed some possibilities over lunch today. He mentioned the possibility of creating a periodical or paper of some kind; draw on the resources and experience of past efforts like the Walruss. He pointed out the cadre of active writers, journalists and bloggers in the group and its periphery. It’s one thing to have ideas, the next step is to put them out there. The ideas need to be visible in the community. A publication of some kind would be a natural vehicle for this.

I started thinking about how ideas get disseminated on the national level. How do policy makers and lobbyists get their ideas into the hearts and minds of the public? They form think tanks and publish position papers and give speeches and raise money. These are the people who show up every night and weekend on the talk shows and tell the viewers what they should think about the issues. Could we be, then, a kind of Think Tank, just call it “Tank” for now. Maybe a bold graphic of a tank bearing down (forged from mighty steel, of course!) with a light bulb sticking out of the turret perhaps? We could publish a regular paper, and/or publish position papers and lobby news organizations to feature broadcast segments and op-eds or longer articles about them.

We talked about how to divide into groups (or committees, teams, whatever) to really investigate and attack issues, then report back to the group. We all stay up to speed on what’s going on, and we have pockets of subject matter expertise to leverage in drafting and publishing proposals. In the process, we develop an activists’ directory of groups that are making a difference in the city. In addition to the enjoyable brainstorming that is a part of the meetings, we need to find a path to action that both avoids duplication of effort with existing groups and leverages what strides are already being made by these groups.

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