Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Million Mom March and the Internet

Author:Scott Paley
Posted:5/13/2000; 9:10:16 AM
Topic:Million Mom March and the Internet
Msg #:17266
Prev/Next:17265 / 17267

Dave,

Thank you very much for the flow you provided to the Million Mom March web site today (http://www.millionmommarch.com). A little over a year ago my partners and I started a web development company, Abstract Edge, and we had the great privilege to be the ones to create the MMM web site.

I believe there's a very big story here that nobody in the press has really picked up on yet. The Internet played a HUGE role in this march. Without the Internet, there is no way this could have happened. This was a truly grass-roots campaign and much of the fund raising and communications happened through the web site. Many of the organizers of the March will be meeting each other for the first time ever in person this weekend.

A strong argument could be made that this has been THE MOST successful use of the Internet towards a grassroots political movement (though I suppose that will only be determined by tomorrow's turnout, expected to number about 200,000 at the DC March, and many, many more than that at other marches nation-wide.)

Back in September when we were first approached to do the site, the Million Mom March consisted of three women and a great idea (in fact, Donna, the founder of the March, likes to remind my two partners and I that we were three of the first six "Moms".) Now, hundreds of thousands are involved, including celebrities such as Susan Sarandon and Rosie O'Donnell, as well as others like Bill and Hillary Clinton. The March has seemingly even brough political pressure to George W. Bush who all of a sudden is now pushing for increased usage of trigger locks. The NRA has invested in a massive advertising campaign to try to counter the March. THIS is the power of the Web!

We worked exhaustively with Donna Dees-Thomases, the founder of the March, to develop ways to utilize the web to make this whole thing happen. Most of the early fund raising came through online t-shirt sales and online donations. We came up with the idea of adding a "Registry of Protected Children" where people could make contributions in the names of one or more children. On the same page, mothers could express their thoughts on this subject. Emotional appeals such as this helped the March raise a LOT of money (unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to give a figure publicly.)

The first several weeks, the site was generating only trickles of traffic, and now it's getting over 100,000 visitors a day.

I know you're always looking for stories about the Internet as a great enabler, and I just thought I'd mention this one to you. An event like this could not have been pulled off just a few years ago.

Scott Paley
Abstract Edge Web Solutions
www.abstractedge.com

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