ECA Advocacy and Groups Update

[Hal Halpin]

Hi Guys. Just a quick note to bring you up to speed on some of the goings-on that you may not have heard about on GP, or elsewhere:

As you know, we publicly weighed-in on the Fair Use Act, as well as announced the hiring of our new Director of Government Affairs, Jennifer Mercurio. She's been quickly ramping up our government relations efforts at both the State and Federal levels, as well as coalition building. The list of new partners is impressive indeed, but we'll save the names for a full release.

What's news is that Jenn hired on long-time GP reader/commenter, Brett Schenker, as our Digital Advocacy Manager. Brett has precisely the real-world experience and expertise that ECA needs to make the Advocacy module that we've been working on impactful. Please join me in welcoming him.

If you're a member of various social networking sites, it's likely that we've established a beachhead there - so join up! Here are some direct links:

FaceBook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2542042110

MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/theeca

LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com
(group was approved today! link when provided, but you can search and find us through their search field in the interim)

[BlackIce, British Commie]

As you wish, Mr Preznit.

[kurisu7885]

Sending an add on Myspace since I am a member there (I joined against my better judgement) Still can't afford membership yet though ^^;

[Hal Halpin]

Great. Seth and Brett are moving cautiously with MySpace this week, as apparently an ad-based Trojan has compromised the security of the site. MySpace is working on it, so it shouldn't be too long, but just to that you're aware.

Also, we just set up the ECA Plaxo Group, which you can find here:
http://eca.plaxogroups.com


Enjoy!

[Hal Halpin]

Hi folks. Just a quick heads-up that the ECA's advocacy efforts are about to become much higher-profile.

To that end, we're introducing another staffer to the Forums who you likely know from the GP front-end, Brett Schenker. Like Seth, on the marketing front - or Thomas, on the Chapter Relations front - Brett will be the go-to person for all Digital Advocacy efforts. He'll jump in here to update you all on the latest and greatest and how you can get involved.

There is some new news to announce, which you'll find of-interest, but I'll leave it to Brett to break. :)

[Brett Schenker]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to stop by and say I’m very excited to join the ECA team. Having been a life long gamer and also a political junkie, being a part of this is a dream come true.

We’ve been working on a couple of things over the last weeks. First, as Hal has mentioned above we’ve expanded the ECA social network presence. You can now find the ECA on:

Facebook: We’ve launched a non-profit profile on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5941003566) in addition to the already existing ECA group. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2542042110) This new profile is more like a normal friends page, so you’ll see updates on your news feed, and we’re not help back by groups limitations. So show that you’re a fan and friend the profile (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5941003566).

Gather: Gather is a community who has more of a focus on connecting adults and encourages their interaction and commentary. Come join us there and become part of the discussion. (http://theeca.gather.com/)

Rethos: Rethos is a political social network based with the focus on action and participation. You’re able to list the issues you care about and connect with others that are interested in the same issues. Come check out the ECA on Rethos. (http://www.rethos.com/theeca)

Think MTV: MTV recently launched a social network focused on political activism and organizing. The ECA will be focused on highlighting the issues that matter to gamers here. Join the discussion and help spread the word (http://think.mtv.com/user/theeca).

MySpace: Focusing on the ability to meet friends of friends, here your able to keep up with the ECA and meet other supporters. Find the profile here. (http://www.myspace.com/theeca)

Vocal Nation: Sharing and discussion of diverse opinion is the focus of this site. Debate is encouraged and you better believe the ECA is there participating. Join the debate and the ECA. (http://vocalnation.net/user/theeca/)

That’s some of the sites we’re focusing on for the moment and others will be coming down the line, so if your favorite site isn’t present let us know and we’ll check it out as we expand on to other social networks.

Closer to home there’s been a lot of work done updating the legislative pages at the ECA website. You can find the new legislation page at, http://www.theeca.com/video_game_regulations.htm. There you can see all of the current legislation that’s put forward that impacts the gaming community.

You might have seen a widget posted on GamePolitics, GameCulture, and the ECA website that allows you to register to vote. It’s been provided by Rock the Vote and Working Assets. I encourage those who aren’t registered to please do so and make your voice heard at the voting booth.

That’s just some of the items we’ve been working on here at the ECA. We’ve got some other cool things coming down the pipe and I’ll make that announcement when we’re closer to unveiling them.

Again, looking forward to working with everyone on this very exciting venture.