From an Austin Meetup Group Organizer
I've recently come around to the logical conclusion that Ron Paul is the best candidate for president... but I've been turned off from getting with the other supporters here in Austin, as all the meetup's take place at the 9/11 truther head quarters here.... like Brave New Books on the Drag.
Should I start my own Ron Paul meetup here?
Does anyone know of a meetup group that is disassociated with the 9/11 truth movement? I find 9/11 conspiracies to be preposterous, just as my candidate does. But these people seem to be obsessed with a conspiracy to EXPOSE the conspiracy, and other crazy nonsense that I Don't think is going to bode well for the campaign here.
Anyway... i'd really like to know who else there is here in Austin promoting Ron Paul who doesn't believe 9/11 was an inside job.
I'm sorry that you feel you cannot work with the Austin group.
As the organizer who has been scheduling a lot of events, I try to accommodate the group and requests as much as possible. We started to meet at Brave New Books for a few reasons. One, it was centrally located, as requested by several people. Two, it was close enough the UT students without cars would be able to be active with the group. Three, the owners of Brave New Books are extremely supportive and accommodating to us and our schedule. They are big supporters of Ron Paul and individual liberty.
Whether you agree with 9/11 truthers or not, Ron Paul supporters come from every walk of life, faith, and believe in all kinds of things.
If you would care to find someplace that would allow us to meet that does not charge an extortionist rate for us to meet there, I would be MORE than happy to schedule events there. The venues we have used so far have been supportive of the meetup group and have not charged us any fee to have events.
I find it very interesting that I get a lot of email with all kinds of ideas to implement and yet very few people are actually willing to step up and organize anything. I have stated on numerous occasions that you do not need the permission of anyone in this group to organize an event. If you talk to anyone who has, I am sure they will tell you that I post EVERYTHING that I am asked to do. I like a lot of ideas I see out there, but there is no way that I can do everything.
I'm sure you understand that the organizers are people just like you who have very busy lives and try to fit in as much as they can. I would hate for you to leave the group because of a perceived bias or slight that may not be true. I encourage you, and ASK you, to please help us organize events, find venues and be more involved. The meetup group is a malleable thing - we can make it what we want.
As far as being too involved in 9/11 truth - I cannot think of ONE event that we did that had ANYTHING to do with 9/11 truthers. Are there people who believe that not everything we were told was the truth? Sure there are, but I believe most of them keep it separate when working for Dr. Paul. Does this mean as a group you can't work with them? Of course not!
So - in closing - form your own meetup group if you feel you must. I would rather have you help make the 14 group better and bring in fresh ideas. We can accomplish more by working together than fighting against each other. Which do you think the establishment would rather we do? Do you think it's better to fracture the group because everyone doesn't believe exactly the same thing? You don't have to endorse 9/11 truthers and still support Dr. Paul. Isn't the saying "United we stand, divided we fall?"
I am available to answer questions and offer advice based on what I've learned so far with events and scheduling. Please feel free to contact me any time about event ideas and questions.
If you would like to become more active and organize more than one event, we can even talk to Paul about having you added as an assistant organizer.
Nancy ncr1974 @gmail.com
Austin Meetup Group Organizer
