Evanston office up and running! (Experience inside)

Hey all, I see these kinds of posts on the main sub all the time, but I wanted to share with you guys since things are starting to look a bit more local.

The Evanston office opened on Thursday and the final headcount looked to be between 65-70! It was a great opening and lots of collaboration happened in the brief couple of hours we all spent together, getting to know one another. I met with some old friends from canvassing and debate-watching, met some new folks and pushed myself to the forefront to get started volunteering locally, as I've been itching to do so since my trip to Dubuque two months ago. This was also a way for me to put a public pressure on myself to counter my own social anxiety, which worked rather well, I must say.

On Saturday, I set off into the wild purple yonder of eastern Evanston, full of decadent houses way outside the financial estimates of this miserly fellow. Outpouring of support for Bernie was expectedly low in this well-to-do neighborhood, despite the 9th district being home to known progressive and vice-chair of Bernie's progressive caucus, Jan Schakowsky. When it comes to economic equality, it would seem, I met very few friendly personalities, and re-tested my hypothesis (so far accurate) that the Silent Generation is more apt to ask questions and listen to appeals than their children, the Boomers.

However, the outpouring on the sidewalk was a completely different beast, with runners and dog-walkers and the occasional elderly couple crying, "Go Bernie!" and, "Feel the Bern!" I did my best to remind everyone of the new office's location, and pressed on. Overall, though progress seemed light, I knew that for every house we covered, regardless of support, we were saving the campaign valuable time and resources.

Sunday, I sat down to phonebank with the Hubdialer (my first time using this format), and despite my fears that the odd delay and "telemarketer" feel to the app would make for a difficult time, I found myself blazing through calls. Final count:

9 Bernie (7 strongly)

1 Hillary (1 strong)

16 undecided (2 newly interested in Bernie)

12 rude hang-ups

a slew of wrong numbers and missed calls

& only

ONE person waving the McCarthyism flag out of the bunch (guess which)

So overall, it was a very successful experience (my CoD KTD isn't that pretty, that's for sure), followed by a good bout of data entry as well. I don't have many creative skills to lend the campaign, but it seems there is no shortage of it out there -- already we have ART and t-shirts made by local volunteers to support and spread word of the campaign, with more and more to come. Energy is high and Evanston is in full swing! I hope to hear more about the other offices popping up all over the state as well!