[Relics Tour] Offering of Service: Publicizing

Dear Ones,

Last Updated: 10/18/2009

First and foremost, thank you for your kind offering of service to this wonderful event! What we're looking for is to reach out to as many groups and individuals as possible - to spread the word and raise awareness in the area.

If you can spread the word, please take a look at our on-line spreadsheet where we will be tracking who we have contacted. We want to reach to out to all Buddhist groups (of all traditions) as well as any non-Buddhist groups whom you think would be interested in attending.

Thanks to the kindness of our Dharma brothers and sisters at http://buddhist-directory.org and http://www.buddhanet.net, I was able to update the list with 202 groups in MA/NH/RI/VT/ME/CT - note that the list is sorted by status order, state and venue name. If you have already contacted (or can commit to contact) any of them, please let me know or update the spreadsheet directly. This is huge and much needed help at this time - please focus on anything that shows an empty status first!

Note: To help you publicize the event, I have published a new blog entry detailing how to publicize the event with eMail or calls . Please let me know if you need any additional information or if I can help you in any way!

You can also download the event flyer and post it at suitable venues. Please make sure that zoning laws allow posting flyers (e.g., Cambridge does not allow flyers to be posted, and we have gotten calls from the police to have them removed).

If you find spreadsheets scary, don't worry about it! Send me an e-mail at RelicsTour@Kurukulla.org, and I'll update the spreadsheet for you. But if you're comfortable updating the spreadsheet directly, thank you - it will save me some time! Either way, please do check the spreadsheet by clicking the link above. That way you'll know who we have already contacted and will avoid duplicating efforts.

For those of you comfortable updating the spreadsheet directly...

If you plan to contact someone or a group, please write down the details in the spreadsheet; and update the entry once you've contacted them. Record as much information as possible:

• Volunteers Avail. (Yes/No) - Please ask and record if the group can secure volunteers to help us leading up to or during the event.
  
• Sangha Avail. (Yes/N0) - For Buddhist organizations, please ask if any of their Sangha might be willing to give blessings during the event.
• Contacting Volunteer - Your name, in case we have any questions or would like to ask you to follow up with your contacts with additional information.
• Contact Name - The name of the individual to contact, if applicable, or "N/A" if not applicable.
• Last Contact Date - The date when you last spoke to your contact.
  
• Status - I think best to use this field for things like "Planned" (in case you're planning to contact them but haven't done so yet), "In Progress" (where you may already be in conversations with the contact) or "Confirmed" (where you have received acknowledgment from the contact).
• Venue - This is the name of the group, organization or company that you plan to contact.
• Tradition - The Buddhist tradition of the group. (optional)
  
• Address - The venue address. (optional)
• City / State / Zip - The venue City, State & Zip Code. (optional)
• State - The venue state (used for sorting). (optional)
  
• Telephone - A phone number where we can reach the group, organization or company if we need to follow up with them directly.
• eMail - Please be sure to include an eMail address if one is available. That will make any follow up communications much easier and faster to do.
• Website - The venue website. (optional)
  
• Notes - It would be useful to know things like, "They said they plan to have 50 people come on Saturday morning." or "They've expressed their regrets as they won't be able to attend." or "Someone should call them to help them make travel arrangements." As much information as possible to give us an idea of the contact status for the event.

I ask that you do NOT delete any of the existing columns. If you want to add a column to help you manage your contacts, please feel free to do so after the right-most column.

Many thanks for all that you do! Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

Much love,

Sean González,
Assistant Director,
Kurukulla Center