Minnesota for Internet Freedom

Top Priority for MN: Set up Meetings

We've had one successful meeting so far, but we need to keep on pushing for more!

So please keep requesting meetings!

We would love to meet Sen. Klobuchar!!!

• Call 612-727-5220 to meet with Senator Klobuchar, a co-sponsor of PIPA.
  
• Fill out this form or email mnscheduling@franken.senate.gov to meet with Senator Franken, a co-sponsor of PIPA. Call (651) 221-1016 to follow up.

Be polite and professional, and request a meeting on behalf of Minnesota for Internet Freedom (the folks in this forum) to discuss the PROTECT IP Act and SOPA.  Make it clear that you want to meet with the Senator during the January recess, and that you'll be bringing others from your group.  Have your calendar open when you call, so you can pick a time that works for you.  When finished, post a report-back. 

For example: "Hi, my name is ________, I'm with Minnesota for Internet freedom, and I'm calling to request a meeting with Senator _______ during the January recess.  The PROTECT IP vote is happening on January 24th, and I wanted the Senator to understand my concerns before the vote happens."

Report back by posting a comment below

IMPORTANT: If you do get a meeting, post another message. That way others can join you in your meeting.  If there's any other specific information we should include in this post, message us and we can add it. 

SparkyXI

Sent an email request to Sen Franken for a meeting. Will work to secure supporters in MN via social networking sites.

StopSOPA-HQ

Awesome, thanks for the hard work! Let us know what kind of response you receive. 

SparkyXI

Canned email response: 

Thank you very much for contacting the office of Senator Al Franken.  Your scheduling request has been received and is under consideration. Please note that requests may take up to two weeks to be processed. 

 

In the meantime, to better assist our scheduling department, we ask that you respond to this e-mail and provide as much detail as possible about your request.  Please include the pertinent contact information, date, location, time, program specifics, invited guests, number of attendees, and Senator Franken’s anticipated role in the event or meeting. 

 

Again, thank you for your request.  We appreciate your patience and look forward to speaking with you!

 

Sincerely,

 

Office of Senator Al Franken

StopSOPA-HQ

Wouldn't hurt to respond with the requested info... just make it vague. Encourage your friends to request meetings on behalf of Minnesota for Internet Freedom - the more requests they get from a single group the more they'll try and plan a group event.

littlemisskrys

I'll go for sure. I'm trying to gather more people too. Franken provided me with an email a few weeks ago saying he fully supported the bill.

littlemisskrys

Sparky do you want to try and coordinate a day? I'll try and lure at least 5 of my friends who can be eloquent and thoughtful...perhaps with promises of punch and pie. (kidding, or not if it works.)

rubydear

I'll be out of state most of this month but I could probably gather some friends to help you all out once you have dates. Are you going to try for Klobuchar too?

mennel

It might help to post a centralized list of reasons against supporting the bill. Just so people know what to say when they come to the meeting.

Vladlagg

I have a meeting set up with Senator Franken's people on January 11th at 2 PM at his St. Paul offices. Most of my talking points are good to go, and I can't wait to tetell all Redditors how and why Franken supports this bill. I want to hear what he has to say.

IamPT

I can easily get plenty of well educated folks on board if you give me a time and place

IamPT

I guess what I mean by that is, do You want me to recruit for Jan. 11th at 2pm?

StopSOPA-HQ

@Vladlagg any chance others can hop into that meeting with you? The more people who attend the better! It really couldn't hurt to ask if they've got a conference room you could use and how many people they can fit into it!

SparkyXI

@Vladlagg and everyone else: Let's try to coordinate all of us to this January 11th meeting. If we can potentially get enough people, we might be able to get Sen Franken there, and perhaps a town hall.

Perhaps @Vladlagg can lead the charge here? It sounds like you're pretty well prepared for it already.

IamPT

How much time do we have with him?

RobertAltman

I plan on being there Wednesday.

TThor

If I can get an opportunity to get up to the cities, I think I might like to join. I might not be that great of a public speaker for things like this, but if nothing else, strength in numbers.

StopSOPA-HQ

We created a Facebook event for your meeting tomorrow: http://www.facebook.com/events/308068929234219/
Please distribute the link widely, and let us know if you want any of the details changed.
Thanks for all of your hard work!

StopSOPA-HQ

@Vladlagg good luck with your meeting today, report back to us when you're finished! We're eager to hear how it goes!

IanBradfordRobinson

Hey! Is there an update somewhere on how the meeting went? I wish I'd heard of this sooner, I'd have loved to attend. Regardless, Franken is one of my favorite senators and his support for this bill has been disappointing, to say the last.

RobertAltman

The meeting went well (I think).  We had 4 people there, and while I really hoped there would be a larger turn-out, more people would have made it harder to communicate clearly.  I felt that we had knowledgeable people their who presented clear and compelling arguments against PIPA.

The senator's aide we met with took extensive notes and paid close attention to what we were saying.

That said, the only real test will be if we can convince Senator Franken to drop support of PIPA.

StopSOPA-HQ

@RobertAltman - It sounds like you guys made an excellent showing, and the fact that the staffer was so engaged is a very good sign indeed. Many thanks to you and the other three who attended for all of your great work on this!

And everyone else: let's get more meetings going, so the staffers don't have any time to forget what they've learned today!

Dragonborn_BR

Many thought that the Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world in 2012 .. but no. was so advanced that they predicted the end of the Internet in 2012 (uhahuahu. .. = /)

Athlon76

I'll go. Tell me the time and day and I will be there.

CmonMan

I requested a meeting with both Rep Franken and Klobuchar today, My dad also works for a local TV station that is willing to attend.  Ill keep you posted.

daniel

i help too

MJE754

Minnesota needs to know what the vote is.  We do want to have freedom of expression on the internet, do not let " they " take away our freedom !!!

Say NO to SPOA / PIPA ! ! !

DIABLO258

Im from minnesota and im constantly spreading this around. Tell me what I should do to get it around more and ill do it!

axi0m

I'd be willing to attend a meeting as well. However I'd need a good time and date. How much longer do we have to even request a meeting before the recess is over? I have at least 4-5 people I can gather behind me who are articulate and well educated on the issue and modern government in general. I can contact them and request a meeting as well but we only have a few days left and I need to know everyone that would want to go. 

dtoneill

NO SOPA/PIPA

StopSOPA-HQ

Keep it up, everyone! We've had a huge impact over the past 24 hours, and we need to use that momentum to reach those Senators (like Klobuchar and Franken) who aren't responding to their constituents' concerns. Call, email, fax, and (optimally) go to your Senators' local offices and ask for meetings, preferably under the banner of "Nevada for Internet Freedom." That'll let the Senators' staffs know that there are a lot of you out there, that you're all working together, and that they therefore cannot possibly hope to ignore you. Stay strong out there - we're making progress!
And yes, it's important to keep on requesting meetings, and following up on those requests, even once Congress is back in session. Information given to staffers WILL be sent up the chain of command - if it seems like enough people are standing behind it.