ScottsBigMouth

ScottsBigMouth's "Digital Footprint" for the Chicago Marathon

That's right, guys, we'll be down in the race zone, collecting stories of inspiration and perspiration.  We're proud to dedicate our B.A. donation to the Aids Marathon Training Fund.  We hope you do too.  See you along the route! -ScottsBigMouth

STATEMENT Re: ChiTownDailyNews.org Announcement

September 12, 2009

To: Chicago MediaHub Project Members / wsRadioChicago.com
Collaborators

Fr: Scott Foval, The Foval Group Inc.

I was saddened to learn this afternoon about the halt in newsroom
operations for the not-for-profit website ChiTownDailyNews.org.  Geoff
Dougherty, ChiTown Daily News Editor, released the following statement
via his Editorial Page.

>>>>>>>>>> STATEMENT BEGIN <<<<<<<<<<

The editorial team at the Daily News is moving on to launch a new,
for-profit local news venture.

Over the past four years, the staff, volunteers and supporters of Chi-
Town Daily News have built an impressive thing -- a new kind of news
organization that works aggressively to hold public officials
accountable to voters and empowers members of long-ignored communities
to tell their neighborhood's stories.

We've been privileged to work with a fantastic group of foundations
and other supporters, including the Knight Foundation, the Ethics and
Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Abra Prentice Foundation, and
others too numerous to name here. Their advice and financial support
have been instrumental to all that we've achieved, and we owe them a
heartfelt thanks.

We've concluded that, as a nonprofit, we cannot raise the money we
need to build a truly robust local news organization that provides
comprehensive local coverage.

The Daily News needs $1 million to $2 million per year to do a great
job of covering a city as sprawling and complex as Chicago. And
despite hundreds of phone calls and letters to foundations,
corporations and individual donors over the past four years, we've
never come close to that.

Last year, we raised about $300,000. This year, due to the economic
downturn, it was unclear whether we would be able to maintain that
level of revenue, let alone move quickly to expand our coverage.

So, after much soul-searching, we've decided to turn our efforts
toward a business model that will support the kind of vibrant public
affairs coverage that Chicago deserves. Ultimately, we believe we will
be able to fulfill the same mission we set out to accomplish with the
Daily News, though with a different business structure and a slightly
different approach.

We've got some angel funders lined up, and will be recruiting
additional investors over the next few weeks. I'll be announcing more
details about the new venture shortly.

Meanwhile, we are talking with  local organizations that we believe
will be able to fund and grow the neighborhood reporting program. We
expect to quickly place that program with an organization that will be
committed to citizen journalism and great local news coverage, and one
with the resources to make the program even bigger and better.

In the interim, we'll continue to update ChiTownDailyNews.org with the
work of our existing volunteers, and with content from our partnership
with Loyola University's City News reporting class.

>>>>>>>>>> STATEMENT END <<<<<<<<<<

Tonight I reached out to Geoff and other members of the editorial
team, offering to assist in any way possible to allow their operations
to continue.  As the Founder of the Chicago MediaHub Project and
ScottsBigMouth.com owner, I have always held that the
ChiTownDailyNews.org is a valued and highly-capable member of the
Chicago journalism community.  Arguably they have broken more original
community news stories than most of their competition combined.  As a
resource for our community, the editorial and reporting team there
have a level of professionalism which matches or exceeds many other
sources in The Windy City.

I look forward to providing any sort of assistance that Geoff and his
team suggest will be helpful, and hope to meet with Geoff and his team
in short order next week in order to meet that goal.  Certainly, it is
my hope, as it is of many colleagues in Chicago's social media and
Journalism community; to see ChiTownDailyNews.org re-emerge rapidly
under their new for-profit business model.  Accordingly, we look
forward to assisting them in providing options for gainful employment
and utilization for their entire team.  That team needs to keep
covering our city and its diverse neighborhoods, communities, and
issues; and it is hoped that the members of The Chicago MediaHub
Project and wsRadioChicago.com's future team will join with me in
offering support as Geoff and his team work through this difficult
problem as they rebuild.

Sincerely,

Scott Foval, President and Founder
The Foval Group Inc. / Chicago MediaHub Project
groups.google.com/group/chicagomediahub
www.foval.com
www.scottsbigmouth.com
www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-foval
sc...@foval.com Email/IM
1-773-570-0011 The Foval Group Inc. Main
fovalgroup Skype
1-312-519-6466 Mobile

Schiller Has Some Explaining To Do

Disclaimer:  I wasn't present at the CAPS Meeting Last Night.  I am working from multiple accounts online on what happened, as well as multiple-source reporting.  I am currently traveling in Bella Vista, AR, and Corpus Christi, TX; but I am STILL very disturbed about what happened JUST BLOCKS away from my home.  I'm coming back on Monday night the 24th.

That said...

Helen, you have screwed up, again.

The excuses for the gangland behavior in Uptown are absolutely unacceptable.  Let's cut the crap.  You have some explaining to do.

I have watched the video of our local thugs out wilding over the weekend in the streets at Sheridan and Leland.  We all know where they hang out between Wilson and Argyle along Sheridan.  We all know that the police are doing a little bit of patrolling, but seem to have almost no support from you.

We are noticing how you show up for meetings that involved moneyed people like developers, Chicago 2016's folks, and of course, the Mayor.  We always seem to see you where there is money, or a camera present...but we rarely if ever see you on the street in our actual neighborhood.  You seem to move through our neighborhood like a ghost, unseen.

I'm not sure if anyone has told you this, Helen, but people are pissed at you.  Pissed enough to not vote for you, give you any more money, and to run other candidates against you.

WE EXPECT ACTION.  SERIOUS ACTION.

We are not going to give up our neighborhood to a bunch of pushers, thugs, drunks, and crazy people.  We live here, and we intend to take back our neighborhood, with or without you.

You had a distinct and unique opportunity to do the right thing when you showed up to talk about how great the 2016 Olympics will be for Chicago.  The right thing to do, in this case, would have been to make a forceful statement against ANY and ALL violence in the Uptown/Edgewater corridor, and then call on CPS Supt. Jody Weiss to get his butt up to our ignored neighborhood and make it so.

But, instead you made excuses.  Unlike some neighborhoods in Chicago whom are too scared to take back our own streets, we're going to stop the problem before it declines into all out war.  The on-the-street officers who protect us now, as much as they can with limited resources, deserve the support from all of us.

What we seem to be getting from you, though, is a shrug and a very weak statement that "shit happens."

If you think this is going to cut it, you're wrong.

Now I wasn't there, so I only can go by what I've been seeing from here...albeit limited by distance, but the distance lessened by the all-seeing-eye of the Internet.

Helen, we're waiting for you.  You weren't at the CAPS meeting yourself, but instead sent some "aides."  That was not the right call.  You should have been there.

As for me, I'm on my way home soon.  When I get back, I'm coming to you with a mike and a recorder to find out where you're coming from...you get a chance to explain why 5 people getting shot in 48 hours just down the street in my neighborhood doesn't demand your direct and personal attendance at the meeting.

I hope to hear from you Helen.  My email is scott@foval.com and my phone number, in case you need it, is 773-570-0011.  I expect that we're going to have a civil, on-the-record discussion, that I can bring back to ScottsBigMouth's audience to tell them what you're going to do to support us in our effort to hold the line on the thugs, take control of our turf.

It's time to explain, Alderwoman Schiller, and your constiutents expect you to respond directly.

Regards,

Scott

The Future of Journalism In Chicago Depends On Embracing The Net and On Journalists Remaking Ourselves

With all of the hand wringing over the Seattle Post Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News going down for the count, and broadcast news operations taking hits across the country, nearly every journalist in the United States silently is asking him or her self "what is becoming of my profession?" Based on the current stats in the Pew Center for Excellence in Journalism's 2009 "State of The News Media" annual report issued online, the future is the Internet, and we should just get used to it.  The reality is that the only sharply growing share of audience/reader/listener/viewer attention, besides subscription cable television, to show significant promise is the Internet audience.  What the Pew study reveals is that this could be both a boon and a bust for different kinds of journalistic endeavors, depending on the commitment of the journalist to get their story out there in a ubiquitous fashion.  Whether the journalist will get paid for doing their work, and whom will pay for that work, still are open questions.

Digging deeper into the issue is harder when you consider that business models in both media and entertainment ventures seem to be upended every week.  Newspapers, terrestrial radio stations, and television news operations all seem to be scaling back in their overall coverage, even as the numbers of online consumers for news content seem to grow.  Just in the past two weeks alone papers like the Rocky Mountain News, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, San Francisco Chronicle, and even the once-mighty Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, with their fingers in seemingly every area of media, this year are falling victim to the economic realities of the day.  Meanwhile, new media models that once were heralded as the "future" are being upended due to the "de-coupling" of advertising from much of what we used to consider to be "the business of news."

The New York Times has seen a massive surge in its online readership, yet the print version of the Gray Lady has been providing most of the operating revenue.  Estimates of most studies reveal that likely only 10% of NYT's operating budget comes from NYTimes.com's advertising stream, despite the reality that NYTimes.com has surged in the number of "consumers" it serves through its main site, its sub-sites, its RSS feeds, and its affiliate distribution platforms, including mobile.

When it comes to broadcast, since the beginning of the year, operators across the country, including the nation's largest radio company; Clear Channel Communications, have seen massive bloodletting.  On the flip side, though, CBS has seen an uptick in its content distribution and related ad revenue, a reality that has analysts pouring over its properties asking "what are they doing (at least partially) right?"  CBS Radio's integration of its radio content with Last.fm is seen as a major reason that part of the Tiffany Network's business is doing better than other areas.  Meanwhile there continues to be massive inequity between "conservative" and "progressive" political talk radio, widely seen as dominated by corporately-owned, tightly-controlled and protected, large media conglomerates.

Then, of course, comes the 800-pound-gorilla of online growth in news.  The Huffington Post, once seen as just a "liberal online blog site" has grown to carry mainstream news content, and indeed seems to continue growing, in some cases scooping "old line" news organizations.  HuffPo, has engaged a part-pay-part-no-pay model for its content, with only a small share of its journalists actually being paid to write for the site.  More likely, citizen journalists submit content to the site, and paid editorial staff sift through it to create the news mix; along with a significant share of re-posted content from content partners across the web.  As much as a "farm" for news and opinion, The Huffington Post's own model is one of the reasons many journalists fear the future of news, as they can't imagine not being paid to report or comment.  Many of these same "old-line" journalists have seen "citizen journalists" eating their lunch so to speak, getting scoops, and even seats at White House press conferences these days.  (FULL DISCLOSURE:  Scott Foval is a contributor to The Huffington Post.)

In Chicago just two weeks ago, 400 journalists gathered for a "Town Hall" event where the best and brightest gathered in one room to discuss the future of journalistic endeavors.  Included in the crowd were representatives from GapersBlock.com, ChiTownDailyNews.org, and ChicagoPublicRadio.org, each serving as growing "models" for what the future of Journalism may be.  An important distinction these models represent are in the way they have embraced the online distribution paradigm while producing quality content. Each has a little different spin on how they operate, whom they pay, and how they are modeled from a business perspective; but each seems to be growing in a market (Chicago) that has seen an incredible number of newsroom positions either eliminated altogether or newsrooms "reorganized" in order to adapt to the changes in the habits of news-gobbling customers.

In the case of Chicago Public Radio, their website hosts a massive amount of content, much of which also airs on WBEZ-FM radio, its flagship station.  The difference, of course, is the depth and breadth of additional content that ChicagoPublicRadio.org serves up 24x7, including the full audio to the aforementioned Town Hall.  That kind of full online coverage has yet to be embraced by commercial stations, and that is mainly because the commercial stations haven't found a way to make money off such content.

The days of the ad-supported model are indeed in question, but it would seem that the pay-for-content and public-donation models may have better future possibilities than were originally envisioned even 10 years ago.  After all, it seems like only yesterday that community-supported media were falling on hard times, and donors were not yet seeing the value in supporting such endeavors.  Indeed, in an analysis piece on the News Hour on PBS Monday evening, the CEO of the Knight Foundation noted ChiTownDailyNews.org as one of the key news outlets it considers to be "one to watch" amongst the throngs rising even in this global economic downturn.  Not to be left out, aggregation sites like WindyCitizen.com also are in on the act, literally helping independent content producers through an agnostic and democratic "vote" for content you like method for promoting and publicizing quality stories.

An amalgam of the community news media model may be the future of the journalism profession.  Instead of separate sites that feature print, video, audio, live or pre-produced programming, you may have a set of "universal" partnerships between sites that allow for cross-platform journalism production and content distribution to occur, with the true ethical independence available to the journalists producing it that in the past were only provided by "strong ownership."  This strength-and-variety-in-numbers approach, literally empowering hundreds of independent producers and reporters, editors and ombudsmen, could be a way for the profession to take hold of its own best qualities and produce something that hasn't existed in the news business.  A truly ubiquitous news source that never stops, always is aware, always is watching, and is always evolving its sources and stories is a real possibility.

Much of the evolution of the profession, though, indeed depends upon the willingness of working reporters themselves to let go of the old mental constructs of what it means to be a Journalist.  Rather than being a "radio guy" or "newspaper gal" we are going to have to embrace all forms of technology, distribution, and even medium in order to communicate the news in an effective manner.  The most widely-accepted and visible single individual in Chicago that embodies this future may actually be one of its first real converts to the evolving journalist ideal.  Her name is Carol Marin.  Rather than being a one-trick-pony, Marin seems to be everywhere at once.  She's at the Sun-Times, on NBC 5, online at one of those properties' websites, and then later on WTTW's Chicago Tonight, where she is a frequent host.  She's visible both at press conferences, in newsrooms, and in classrooms across the city.  There seems to be no medium to which she cannot adapt, always performing her core duty to ask the tough questions and hold accountable the difficult news makers.  She almost always does so in a manner that reminds you of your hard-driving college professor--the one you most respected because she made you work harder and pushed you further than you thought you could go.

The combination of the evolving platforms and the evolving persons using them seem to be the keys to unlocking what the future of the profession will be.  Reading through the Pew report (and I encourage you to do so), the clear message that comes through is that we're on the cusp of what will definitely be a make-it-or-break-it moment for the profession.  In embracing this future, we as journalists and readers and consumers of quality content must also be willing to put our money where our preferences are, in order to support the experimental models that are emerging.  They won't all succeed, but only by voting with our wallets and eyes, ears, and time will we be able to collectively keep important stories and quality reporting, i.e. the Fourth Estate, from withering on the vine.

In Chicago we must remember that now so many other towns are struggling, the Chicago journalism "community" must step up and prove once again that we have the best and brightest reporting, producing, editorial, and ethical talent in the world.  Literally, as the 400 or so journalists that packed the Town Hall are no doubt keenly aware, our "guts" are going to lead us in the right direction.  We seem to have the right direction already firmly in our grasp, but we're going to have to pull up our boot straps and lead by doing what we always do...Just Do It.  After all, this is Chicago we're talking about.  We've always produced, we've always led, and we've always proven in the end that we do it the right way here.

BREAKING: ROBBIE GOULD=MONDAY NIGHT HERO; KICKS IN OT TO WIN! BEARS 20, PACKERS 17

CHICAGO, IL; SOLDIER FIELD - In a heart-stopping final 5 minutes of the coldest NFL game hosted at Soldier Field since 1963, Kicker Robbie Gould is a hero tonight; kicking the Bears to victory and keeping the Bears' post-season hopes alive.

The -2 degree kick-off didn't stop the Chicago Bears from moving forward towards the post-season, with a 20 to 17 win over the Green Bay Packers, televised globally on ABC's/ESPN's Monday Night Football.  Gould carried the night with two repeated perfect kicks in the clutch; the first to clinch the OT over the Packers in the last 4 minutes of the game, and the second a game-winning kick.

The Bears were helped over the weekend to keep their post-season alive, with 4 different teams losing, and the Packers giving up tonight's game; the result being a win-or-die bid for the post-season berth, against Houston next week.  Between kick-off and game's end, the temperature in Chicago climbed 8 degrees from -2 to 10 degrees, and ABC/ESPN reported on-air that the game was the coldest game hosted at Soldier Field since 1963.

>>>>>>>>>>> ScottsBigMouth Is Presented By <<<<<<<<<<<

BREAKING: TRIB: Abandoned Baby Found In Uptown

A baby was found abandoned outside in the Uptown neighborhood on Chicago's North Side Monday night.

Paramedics responded to a call of a baby outside at about 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of West Sunnyside Ave., police said. They found the baby wrapped in a blanket.

The child was transported to Children's Memorial Hospital. Police were not clear on the baby's condition and did not know the child's gender

BREAKING at 10:13 PM by The Chicago Tribune, 12/22/08
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/12/abandoned-baby-found-on-north-side.html

SCOTTSBIGMOUTH NOTE:  THIS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM US, AND IS ONE OF NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ABANDONED BABIES IN THE UPTOWN AREA OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS.   UNFORTUNATELY, MANY YOUNG MOTHERS REMAIN UNAWARE OF THE SAFE BABY SITES AT ALL CHICAGO HOSPITALS, FIRE DEPARTMENTS, AND POLICE STATIONS.  THESE LOCATIONS ACCEPT ABANDONED CHILDREN NO QUESTIONS ASKED, AND WILL PROTECT THE ANONYMITY OF THE PERSON LEAVING THE CHILD.  IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS EXPECTING WHO MAY BE UNCERTAIN ABOUT KEEPING THEIR BABY...PLEASE TELL THEM ABOUT THE SAFE BABY SITES.  NO CHILD SHOULD FREEZE TO DEATH BECAUSE ITS MOTHER CAN'T CARE FOR IT!

>>>>>>>>>>> ScottsBigMouth Is Presented By <<<<<<<<<<<

Chicago's Tempers In Near Snow-Meltdown Over Streets And Sanitation's Poor Performance

If there is one thing that Chicagoans absolutely will not tolerate, it is a lack of responsiveness from Chicago and surrounding communities when a snow or ice storm hits.  Based upon the responses from people on the street and in the media today, the heat is ratcheting up on Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation as the streets have frozen over.  The grumbling on the street and at the supermarket this morning was palatable, and cell phones all over town are buzzing with crankiness about the snow and ice piled high this morning, many hours after the snow stopped last night.

This morning several of Chicago's Aldermen appeared for the cameras, calling for better snow control from S&S; although it did seem that the squeaky wheels might be getting the grease.  On the one hand you have Ald. Billy Ocasio who claimed on camera this morning to WGN-TV 9 News and others that he "drove around for more than two hours looking for a salt truck" last night.  On Chicago Tonight last night, the most vocal critic was Ald. Tom Allen, who appeared to question why Snow Czar Matt Smith was using a "wait-unti-the-snow-quits" approach instead of a "clear-it-while-it-happens" approach, no matter what it costs.  Allen appeared with Ocasio this morning and echoed last night's message that Chicago should not be covered in snow and ice more than a couple of days, and that if it takes more money to get it done, well that's what the city's primary municipal responsibility should include, along with water, fire/emergency, and police services.

On the flip side, the Trib reported South Side Ald. Pat Dowell had noted her streets had been cleared at 3:30AM, and she seemed pretty pleased with the response on her side of town.  This is an interesting perspective, considering that I was on the phone with a couple of people during the storm, one who was navigating South Side primary arteries (Matt Smith claimed primary arteries were first priority).  My clearly angry friend said that after leaving work, also located on a primary south side artery, and staying only on primary arteries; that she had seen up to 6 S&S salt trucks "running with their blades up and not laying down any salt."  It took her greater than 2 1/2 hours to get to her home just a few miles away from her job.  The question is, was Pat Dowell a frequent caller to S&S and that's why she got her streets cleaned so early this morning, or did the entire city just clueless as to how the plan works as Matt Smith seems to be asserting in his AM presser?

Up here in Uptown, every side street is screwed.  The ice has taken hold, and on the several side streets I checked this afternoon, several right off of Marine Drive (which carries tons of people on CTA buses along with Sheridan and Broadway), there appeared to be zero salt laid down or even a pass by an S&S truck.  Of course the local Ald. up here, Helen Schiller, barely can keep her eye on all the drug dealers, hoes, and crazies walking around, let alone actually get S&S to clear the streets; so who knows whether she actually picked up the phone to complain about the poor snow removal service.  She's way more concerned with helping the developer of Wilson Yards rip off the ward's TIF funds, by appearing in court for his benefit instead of more than 2,000 folks who've signed a petition and filed a lawsuit to halt the project and return it to the original plan.  Who would be surprised if she was just letting us ice over so we can't make it to the public hearings or to court.

Of all these Aldermouths, Allen and Ocasio have it right.  The City of Chicago has only a few real core responsibilities when it comes down to it.  On the top of the list is snow control.  Chicagoans will tolerate a lot of crap--poor public transportation, high taxes, skyrocketing fees and fares, faulty automated traffic camera systems, drunk and disorderly police officers, even a Governor who's a total mobster.  What they won't tolerate is having to navigate an uncleaned icy street, an alley piled with garbage, dirty water, or poor fire or police coverage.  If Matt Smith doesn't get his head out of his keister and realize that he has screwed up, that he's providing major firepower for people to go after the Mayor's job, and could fix the whole situation just by being competent, not perfect; he's going to get his ass handed to him faster than you can say "Jane Byrne."

>>>>>>>>>>> ScottsBigMouth Is Presented By <<<<<<<<<<<

Blagojevich "Crime Spree" Attempted To Sell U.S. Senate Seat, Squelch Tribune, Pressure SEIU

CHICAGO, IL: Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris have been arrested, charged, and arraigned in U.S. Federal Court on multiple counts of official corruption.  The charges and a description of the arrests were detailed this morning in a press conference by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; as well as other representatives of the FBI, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Office of the Inspector General.  Blagojevich, dressed in a blue workout suit and tennis shoes, and Harris, dressed in a suit and tie, both appeared in U.S. Federal Court just minutes ago, for their arraignment.  News accounts described Blagojevich's attire as indicating he may have been arrested this morning as he may have been preparing to go out for his morning workout.

The 78-page criminal complaint, filed this morning in U.S. Federal Court in Chicago, documents in rich and shocking detail, how Blagojevich and Harris attempted to shake down members of the Illinois political establishment, labor movement, contractors, and even members of the press for personal monetary compensation in exchange for political appointments, grants, and the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama.  There is no indication that Obama or his advisors have any role in the investigation, and Fitzgerald was careful to say this morning that the President-Elect was not complicit in the shakedown schemes.

Referring to Blagojevich's activities in the preceding month since Obama won election as President and vacated the Senate seat, the complaint details how Blagojevich was caught on Federal wiretaps attempting to sell the seat in exchange for significant monetary compensation in the form of a paid position with the Service Employees International Union, seeking appointment by Obama as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in exchange for a prefered candidate of Obama's choosing, seeking a paid position for his wife, and expressing his disdain for Obama's lack of response to Blagojevich's attempts to personally gain from the pending appointment.

From the U.S. Attorney's News Release about the complaint...

"In a conversation with Harris on November 11, the charges state, Blagojevich said he knew that the President-elect wanted Senate Candidate 1 for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation.  [Expletive] them."

Blagojevich is further documented as prioritizing his decision about the seat would be based on three criteria prioritized in order of importance.

"...our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation. This decision, like every other one, needs to be based upon that.  Legal, Personal Political."

The seethingly defiant Governor appeared yesterday at a protest sit-in in Chicago, and dared people to tape him, almost as if he knew something was coming.  The complaint also details how Blagojevich attempted to secure the firing of members of The Chicago Tribune's editorial staff in exchange for action by the Illinois Finance Authority to grease the skids on the sale of The Chicago Cubs by Tribune Company. (More soon...)

 

>>>>>>>>>>> ScottsBigMouth Is Presented By <<<<<<<<<<<

Chicago Early Voting On Track For Record Turnout

Early voting is is hotter than ever this year. Chicago's early voting is "off the charts" according to James Allen, Spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. In a phone interview Wednesday night, Allen said that around 32,000 people had voted early in Chicago.

Allen said Chicagoans taking advantage of the right to vote early reflects a general massive increase in registrations reported in a previous post. Persons whom have not yet registered still have a few days to do so, and vote at the same time. Visit http://www.chicagoelections.com or http://www.voterinfo.net for the rules, identification and residence requirements, and early voting locations in Chicago and Cook County.

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“One Year” Out Chicago2016 Olympics Bid Running Hard With Good Planning, Volunteer Support

Volunteers gathered at Balbo and Columbus before dawn at 6:30 AM last Sunday morning, just a couple of hours before the start of The Chicago Marathon. As with all large events around the country, there were groups of from numerous Chicago companies, not-for-profit organizations, and the event's main sponsor Bank of America; all whom showed up to claim their uniforms and to learn their assignments for the day. For the 400-plus group of volunteers activated to work the event on behalf of Chicago2016, the bid committee for the city's candidacy to win the 2016 Summer Olympics, the marathon was one in a well planned series of test runs for the future. The third such test in recent weeks, it was clear to observers and participants alike that Chicago2016's ability to generate results with its army of 5,000-plus registered volunteers is built through quality planning and enthusiastic volunteer muscle.

The volunteers that showed up for Sunday's event included students, senior citizens, school teachers, and even this blogger/reporter; each had a different reason for being there. As we mixed “sport drink” for the finish line, it was clear that the goal of getting the Olympics and then executing them as a team is the higher goal. The marathon had Chicago2016 volunteers working on everything from mixing and distributing the aforementioned “sticky yellow rehydration beverage,” to guiding participants through the finish line, to spotting runners and walkers needing medical assistance and guiding waiting paramedics and athletic trainers to them. Under hot conditions, nearly 84 degrees on the pavement in some spots, Sunday's exercise in mass logistics gave the volunteers experience they might not get otherwise.

Earlier in the month, Chicago2016 gathered a volunteer crew of about 150 Chicagoans behind the AON Center early on a Thursday morning, all prepared to wake up the city. Gobbling down coffee and donuts, a diverse crowd including a retired police officer, photographers, entrepreneurs, and even former Olympians; all pulled together to mark “One Year” from the day that the International Olympic Committee announces which city will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. The all-day “One Year Celebration” also was organizational test, focusing on the local committee's public relations and marketing efforts.

Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo all are the remaining contenders vying to host the 2016 games. In Chicago, the “One Year” day organized staff and volunteers to fan out across Chicago to hand out special limited edition countdown clocks emblazoned with the bid's logos, hand out informational post cards about the “One Year” celebration, and pop up on nearly every morning TV news show. The effort was by all measures a shining success, with web site visits to Chicago2016.org and its online volunteer recruitment tool shooting upwards. Many of the volunteers recruited by the “One Year” effort were trained and activated for Sunday's marathon.

Chicago2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan said in a statement that the bid's success depends on good volunteer work. “Volunteers embody the spirit of Chicago 2016 and are critical to its success. Bids do not win the privilege of hosting the Games, cities do. Together we can show the world what Chicago has to offer.” In the last several weeks news has trickled out from international experts speaking in widespread news reports that Chicago's bid is “in the strongest position to win.”

The bid's ongoing work within the corporate community extends beyond just gathering donations and organizing for the event itself. The committee has hired former volunteer corporate and not-for-profit specialists to staff its internal efforts. Most recently it named former Accenture Marketing Consultant and Corporate Volunteer Coordinator Deb McDonald as Volunteer Director, and former Special Events Manager for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan Amy Rosko as Assistant Volunteer Program Manager. Additionally, the committee plucked well-known public sector marketing pro Valerie Barker Waller, known for relaunching the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry's marketing operations during its massive renovation, as Chicago2016's Director of Marketing and Communications.

The bid also has recruited top specialists like Digital Media Consultant Blagica Bottigleriero and Media Producer John Hillman to help bolster the Chicago2016.org blog, activated volunteer recuitment tools from MyVolunteerPage.com to coordinate scheduling, and LexisNexis for volunteer background screenings. Collectively the personnel and online resources are bearing fruit, with scores of volunteers turning out for trainings and events like the Chicago Marathon and “One Year” events, as well as the IBF World Boxing Championships earlier this summer.

The next test comes this weekend, as Chicago2016 activates its growing volunteer base once again for “The Science of Sport” at Malcom X College in Chicago. The fesitval, co-sponsored with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, will feature fun educational exhibits and activities for Chicago's youth with a special focus on areas where science and sporting activities cross over and interact. The event runs from 8AM to 6Pm at Macolm X College, 1900 W. Van Buren. Volunteers are still being recruited, email volunteer@chicago2016.org or visit http://www.chicago2016.org and click on the volunteer button to register.

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