I'm Connected...Now What?
by Jim Capo, JBS Coordinator and National Spokesman on Trade Policy

For over six months now, visitors to JBS.org have been greeted with the declaration, “Get Connected!” And more every day continue to do just that — over 7,000 and counting.

Like sticking a plug in a wall socket though, “getting connected” is just the first step to actually getting something accomplished. Now that you’re plugged in, we need you to get things turned on. Here’s our quick-start guide.

Step 1:  Your Profile

Make sure you have included enough information in your community user’s profile so that others can make a reasonable judgement about the advantages of trying to network with you. Your Avatar (user image) is a powerful first impression. Make it a good one. Real names help build good relationships with other parties who are serious about getting things done. However, we don’t make their use a requirement. (In fact, doing so allows you to be indexed by search engines, which will label you as a JBS member if somebody happens to do a search for your name. Members who want to protect their privacy will use a fictitious name, like BlueDog48.) What has been added as required information though are the city and state you live in. Others looking to take action and make things happen in their city and state need to be able to quickly identify the pool of potential activists they have to work with. If you signed up earlier and do not yet have your city and state listed in your profile, please take a moment to update your profile.

Step 2:  Join the JBS Community Group for your state

Over the last weeks, leaders have been creating statewide groups to build networks of JBS Community members in their states. Many of our organized activities focus on taking action at the state level. The “Stop the North American Union,” “Repeal NAFTA,” and “Restore State Sovereignty” are good examples. To be successful in these efforts, it is critical that others can easily contact you based on the state you live in.

Step 3:  Join the District Group for your state

Congress is the key. As the JBS Community grows and becomes more organized, we expect there to be JBS Community groups operating in a substantial majority of the 435 House districts. We will have congressmen who pay attention to the restrictions placed on the federal government only when we have well organized constitutionalists working effectively in enough districts.

Step 4: Join the group in your local area.

The most effective action — face-to-face contact— occurs at the local level. Many of our volunteer leaders and members are already using the Meetup social networking system focused on bringing people together for real-live meetings and team building events. The JBS Community is headed in the same direction. Though we encourage those using the third-party Meetup system to continue using it, we are working on making the JBS Community more competitive with all the attractive features in Meetup. Long term, there are many great advantages in having people organizing and interacting in a database of information under the direction of The John Birch Society rather than a third-party provider. Meetup’s recent decision to shut down their Meetup Alliance system that we had built into a useful networking tool for ourselves is a case in point.

Follow these simple steps and you will soon discover the full potential behind the words, "Get Connected!"

Note: Groups can be found by clicking on the Applications >> Groups button found in your main JBS Community navigation bar. See inset picture. Look for state-wide and congressional district groups listed under the “category” JBS groups. This is the last item in the list of categories. And while you’re at it, we highly recommend that you join the “JBS.org Freedom Campaign — National” group, so you can stay up-to-date with our latest campaigns and tools.