Thanks, Vinny. I have been thinking the same thing as I enjoy a chance to make progress on other things. I agree -- we need to work on these two documents. I believe Maggie is on this list now.

To: 'Mickaboo media advisor team'
Subject: [Media-advisors] Checking in . . . .

Hi,

I hope that you are all having a good Labor Day holiday. As we are all aware, the proposed SF legislation on pet sales and the ACWC’s discussions thereupon are on hold until next year. This has given many of us a chance to catch our breath and re-concentrate our focus on Mickaboo’s core operations of rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming companion birds. (I know, mentioning “catch our breath” and “Mickaboo’s core operations” in the same sentence could be considered an oxymoron.)

However, this Media Matters group had developed a few discussion and action topics which I think should continue to move forward as much as possible for the good of the organization. Specifically:

1.)  Jonathan has drafted a “Lies and Misstatements” document. We were discussing the possibility of trimming this document to keep the attention span of the youtube generation, and finding appropriate distribution media (both web and printed) that would make this document portable and accessible.

2.) Patricia Blau created a press release, I believe Mickaboo’s first, stating our support for the proposes SF legislation. We talked about creating more standardized press releases to document elements of our operations which our opponents tend to dismiss – for example, our strategic partnerships and activities with pet stores and shelters. It might even be a good idea, IMO, to publish high-level quarterly statistics about intakes, vet bills, etc. in press releases where they’d be readily available.

Both of these topics will require some writing, document formatting, technical infrastructure and web development. We discussed inviting Maggie Rufo to help us with the writing from a journalist’s perspective, and mentioned Walt Boeninger as a possible candidate to do some of the web design and setup.

I haven’t heard any discussion on these in weeks, since the on-hold announcement from ACWC. I know that we’ve all been busy and have reprioritized, but I wanted to ping the rest of you to see if we there’s been any activity on these and, if not, to see if we can pick them up where we left off. I know that we all want to be ready when the arrows begin flying again, on the pet sale ban or any other topic. Having a history of relevant press releases and a document to clear up “misunderstandings” will give us a stronger starting position going into such fracases and will help us in the interim.

Thanks.

Vincent J. Hrovat