Concerted Action

The Organizers Helpdesk is taking on new partners for 2024! If you work for a non-profit, union or political party and need technology support we've got you covered. We let busy organizers focus on their campaigns and member efforts while we focus on the technology, email production and just getting the tech working for you. Reach out to us here on LinkedIn, or via our website: https://organizer.help/

It’s finally Halloween, which means this is the last of your tech support horror story submissions we’re sharing. Beware: this one made us gasp aloud in shock! “The first year of my career, I ended up in a position that required me to interface with most of our tech vendors despite not having a technical background at that time. If I wanted to spin up a new website, the small hosting company we worked with granted me FTP access, but I came to realize we had absolutely no security or encryption set up. When I brought this up with them, the guy who ran the company asked if I was uploading state secrets, made fun of me for being concerned, and told me not to worry myself about it. I was new, so I felt uneasy bringing up criticisms with how we were doing things, but he was so dismissive of what I was pretty sure were valid concerns, that I took it to my boss who decided to end our monthly contract with them.’ “That should have been the end of the story, but YEARS later, I got a phone call from the new, much better company we used for managing our sites. They had received a request from our leadership to ‘pull everything down because the website was attacking the internet.’ Turns out the old, unsecured site was never actually shut down, and it had been hacked and was involved in some kind of phishing attack. The scary thing is how close we were to pulling down all our live websites because of one urgent, internal request from leadership who weren't provided with enough information to respond effectively.” Spooky season might be coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean you should settle for frighteningly bad tech support. When you’re ready to make the move to support that addresses your needs and concerns, Concerted Action is here to chat about all the ways we can help your organization thrive: https://lnkd.in/e_cCcqTf

We’re continuing to share some of the most bone-chilling tech support horror stories we received from you earlier this month. This submission outlines a truly harrowing tale but ends with a valuable lesson: “Our national union was holding a presidential forum with almost all the Democratic candidates in the primary election. An event of this size involves a lot of coordination and work from just about every department -- from securing commitments from the candidates to finding the venue and getting word out to the press.’ “An important part of the event was putting together a livestream to make sure members across the country could tune in and see the important policy discussions taking place. And of course the union used every digital tool available to promote the event online -- email outreach, a social media toolkit, targeted online ads, you name it. Plus, the livestream video would be hosted on a campaign microsite, built by a firm that specialized in building online presences for political campaigns and candidates.’ “On the day of the event, when all the work, promotion and coordination finally came together, thousands of people clicked on the link to get to the site and watch the presidential candidates live. But instead of a robust discussion of campaign issues, site visitors saw an error message because the site couldn't handle the traffic. The livestream worked as expected, of course, and a few lucky folks tuned in via YouTube or Facebook. Everyone else was out of luck because the site was built and hosted by a vendor who hadn't done anything to prepare for the spike in traffic we all knew would be coming.’ “After an hour or two, server capacity had been increased and public access to the site was restored. And the website firm marked the support ticket completed, patted themselves on the back and considered the issue resolved. A frustrating post-mortem phone call confirmed they hadn't learned their lesson, but we had: When it comes to mission-critical tech, always work with a trusted partner who believes in your mission, understands what's at stake and has a proven track record of keeping things running no matter what.” Are you looking for a trusted tech support partner? Contact us. https://lnkd.in/e_cCcqTf

This month, we asked for your spookiest tech support horror stories, and now it’s time to share them! This story comes from an IT support professional and shows how sometimes you can get in your own way when it comes to tech - especially if you’re missing vital information. Luckily, this story has a happy ending! “I was working on a math teacher's laptop and having a horrendous time with a stubborn virus. I started a cleaning scan, walked away, and came back to a screen of ones and zeros. I froze and felt a panic throughout my body, because the laptop was executing a ‘hex dump’. I didn't know why and I didn't know what to do. I had ruined the laptop! I watched it for a few minutes hoping it would stop. It didn't. I touched the mouse and it stopped! The screen that I was working on appeared again! Everything was okay… but why did it execute a hex dump? And then I realized what had happened. The math teacher's screen saver was from the Matrix. A true computer geek move!” If you're ready for tech support that is delightful, not frightful, reach out to Concerted Action. https://lnkd.in/e_cCcqTf

There is something major slowing down many progressive orgs this election, and it’s not just their opposition. It’s bad tech. When your digital program is set up correctly, it’s easy to create and track engagement, pull up information on specific supporters, and make sure you’re heading in the right direction. On the other hand, bad tech—either using the wrong tools or having your tools poorly configured and integrated with each other—can prevent you from reaching your fundraising, outreach, and turnout goals. Not to mention your digital tools may be owned by someone who actively supports a candidate or cause that runs counter to your values… If your technology is failing short of your needs this election season, it’s important to figure out why so you don’t face the same problems in your next campaigns. Our tech survey helps you make a quick assessment of your digital tool usage, and your input helps us better serve progressive movements like yours. Take our short tech survey: https://lnkd.in/g3Ar_eMZ

Need some inspiration for your tech support horror story submission? Maybe you’ve had an experience with one of these common un-dead-icated tech support characters. As a reminder, we’re looking for your spookiest tech support horror experience through next Friday, October 25th, and we’ll post the best submissions the week of Halloween. In the meantime, does bad tech support make you feel like a zombie? Not to worry, our Organizers Helpdesk program is still alive and well. Our personalized support options include comms production and custom tool integrations that help bring your organizing goals to life. It’s time to lay inadequate tech support to rest. Submit your story: https://lnkd.in/g3xazS9v

Have you ever felt lost when using digital organizing tools? Did you reach out to tech support only to end up more confused? This October, tell us your spookiest tech support horror story - the scarier, the better! While your spine-chilling tale can be anything from unreportable system errors to complicated workarounds on everyday tasks, please don’t name anyone specific in your submission. That would be downright terrifying! Are you too frequently haunted by bad tech support? Our Organizers Helpdesk was created to provide the adequate help you need. With quick-response troubleshooting, customized training sessions, and regular drop-in office hours, we’ll make sure you aren’t left in the dark. We’ll be accepting submissions through Friday, October 25th. The best submissions will be posted to our accounts the week of Halloween, so channel your inner jack-o-lantern and keep your eyes out near the end of the month! Share your story here: https://buff.ly/4dAar62

We love this pep talk from President Slevin of the Utility Workers Union of America! Throughout our time working together, UWUA has always shown us what it means to be #unionstrong.

Labor Day is one of the most significant holidays for our movement, and it’s because of the amazing unions and nonprofits we work with that we are able to celebrate Labor Day with new accomplishments every year. This Labor Day, we want to highlight the University of Pittsburgh staff unionization effort, which is a campaign we are proud to have worked with throughout their fight. Currently, staff members are voting to form their union with the United Steelworkers. This vote comes several years after Pitt faculty successfully gained collective bargaining rights which led to their first contract ratification earlier this year. Both campaigns showcase the power and resilience of higher education workers, as well as the continued growth of the Steelworkers. The Staff Union of Pitt victory will mark an incredible achievement in higher education organizing for the entire labor movement. Concerted Action is proud of our decades of experience supporting crucial organizing campaigns. The organizations we have assisted are constantly promoting and securing greater justice, strength, and unity among workers, and we are looking forward to the victories to come!

Are you having trouble finding potential members and activists? At Concerted Action, our team of experts has years of experience in lead acquisitions, targeted digital ads, and organic social media to help you get on track. Identifying your potential supporters can be challenging. That’s why we’ll help your union or advocacy organization develop a robust lead acquisition program. We use innovative and proprietary methods to find the workers and community members that should be part of your campaign. Even if you already have partial lists, our approach will help append as much detail as possible — including additional contact information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and social media handles — to help you reach your audience through the digital channels that they use most. We’ll help your organization or union figure out if a digital ad strategy makes sense for your objectives. If needed, we’ll design ads with compelling messaging targeted directly to the people that you want to engage most. The ads will drive your potential audience towards custom actions (such as signup forms, surveys or petitions) that help build your movement and start organizing conversations that you can expand on. In addition to paid social media strategies, Concerted Action can also manage your organic social media program. We’ll help you communicate strategically across platforms — including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, LinkedIn and more — to take advantage of trends and reach a wider audience. Ready to find your crowd and stand out in it? Book a discovery call to discuss your digital organizing and advocacy needs: https://lnkd.in/gv7cR5XM