A daily series, Connect! Unite! Act! seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups regularly socialize but also get out the vote, support candidates and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers-that-be. Visit us at Daily Kos every morning at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time to see how you can get involved. The comment thread is fun and light-hearted, but we're serious about moving the progressive political agenda forward.
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The orange pinpoints are the location of each organized group of Daily Kos readers.
If you'd like to join a group, click on a point and a box will pop up showing contact links.
If you'd like to start a group, contact navajo for instructions.
View Interactive Map of Daily Kos Regional Communities in a full screen version.
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Do You Have a Hidden Talent?
Working for a small, non-profit organization is really conducive for multitasking and talent development. And sometimes for learning to do the impossible. I recently acquired a new skill: editing books in langauges I don't speak, read or write. Thanks to a very rushed project with a very limited budget, it became necessary for me to edit a set of guidebook on the ACA and the US Health Care System that had been written for Spanish speakers, Vietnamese speakers and Arabic speakers and had been translated into those languages.
Now, my Spanish language skills are okay. While I don't have professional level proficiency, I have enough training in Spanish to read translated and copy-edited documents and insert graphics and prepare them for final publication, especially since I'm the one who wrote the original document in the first place. The Vietnamese documents proved trickier, because I have no familiarity with the language at all, but at least I can recognize the alphabet.
The truly difficult task was completing the Arabic-language version, because not only is the alphabet unfamiliar, but the switch from a left-to-right script to a right-to-left one is truly headache inducing. Margins shift, tab stops are reversed, fonts have to be changed, spacing re-imagined and graphics completed rearranged because the spacing of scripts and paragraphs looks fundamentally different. And any paragraph with a URL in was just a nightmare to format symmetrically.
In addition, a set of images that mate well with a left-to-right script just plain sucks with a right-to-left one. And one thing I learned was that not only are we left or right handed and even footed (ask a soccer player or a football punter), but we are also left or right-eyed. Culture, language and typographical norms all conspire to want me to put photos in the center of the page or the top left corner, something that really doesn't look right when the script is going in the opposite direction. My first instinct, it seemed just always looked wrong.
This wasn't just an issue for me, however. I learned that twitter had some "unique technical challenges" when expanding to include right to left languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew and Urdu. Engineers had to build a new set of tools for hashtags and numerals as well as the scripts. And just imagine a tweet that contained both R-t-L script and L-t-R script. There must have been a lot of hidden talent in that team, too.
But in the end, the project got done, and I learned a lot, not only about formatting, editing and graphic design, but also about what you can teach yourself when you have to. Not a bad lesson for an old broad to learn.
And I still find Arabic Calligraphy to be beautiful.
Any recent typographical or other challenges that required the discovery of a hidden talent?
Latest Updates on Regional Meet-Up News Can Be Found Below the Orange Group Hug.
Let's Build Communities!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events.
We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in.
If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
List of All Existing Meatspace Groups
Where the Kogs Are: Index/Directory of the 130+ Localized Daily Kos Groups
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
Colorado: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Mountain
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Washington: Sundays, 3:30 PM Pacific
Event Organizers! Please contact wink from Netrootsradio.com by KosMail to schedule airtime with them to live broadcast the date of your Event. Wink & Justice will then promote it on The After Show radio program!
Wednesday, August 26th
Houston Kos Meet-up
TIME: 7:00 PM
LOCATION: Barry's Pizza
6003 Richmond Avenue • Houston
ORGANIZER: Send Chrislove a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. Chrislove
2. Blood
3. Delilah
4. suesue
5. jmbar2
6. cosette
7. htowngenie
8. JJR1971
9. scott5js
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Maybees:
suesue daughter
suesue son-in-law
Blood guest
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Latest diary: Houston Area Kossacks: Meetup Scheduled for Wednesday, August 26
Saturday, September 26th
Dallas Kos Meet-up
TIME: Noon
LOCATION: Ojeda's Mexican Restaurant
4617 Maple Avenue • Dallas
ORGANIZER: Send Andy T a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. Andy T
2. Catte Nappe
3.
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Maybees: |
Latest diary: Dallas Kossacks Round Up and Meet-Up!
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Daily Kos Connects Asheville
LOCATION: US Cellular Center in the Banquet Hall
87 Haywood Street • Asheville, North Carolina
Grow our network, unite our progressive communities, help win elections!
Join us for a day of progressive strategizing and camaraderie with Big Orange flavor. In a day-long seminar, learn how our Connect! Unite! Act! team used the Daily Kos forum to help affect change in North Carolina state politics. Participants will focus on organizing from the ground up. You'll also get a chance to meet the blog's founder, Markos Moulitsas and some Daily Kos writers, such as Joan McCarter, Meteor Blades, Denise Oliver-Velez and others.
8:00 AM - Registration and continental breakfast
9:00 AM - Presentations, panels and Q&A's begin
Noon - Free lunch provided
1:00 PM - More presentations, panels and Q&A's
5:00 PM - After party at nearby Lexington Avenue Brewery, 39 North Lexington Avenue. You'll need a wristband from the day event to get in.
$30 registration fee required for Saturday's events
Seating is limited to 200.
Parking at US Cellular
Pre-Events:
Friday, September 25, 2015
12:15 PM - 2:30 PM, Church opens at noon
St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church,
44 Hildebrand Street - 2.5 miles from Crowne Plaza; 0.6 miles walking distance from Crowne Plaza shuttle drop-off near US Cellular
Rev. William Barber II, president of the NC NAACP, will welcome Daily Kos to Asheville and speak about the Moral Monday Movement, blessing by Reverend Edwards, introduction by Denise Oliver-Velez, vocal performance by Yara Allen • No charge for this event but donations to the church are welcome
Friday, September 25, 2015
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Rev. William Barber II, president of the NC NAACP, was was inducted into the traveling exhibition of 52 inspiring portraits of courageous Americans titled Americans Who Tell the Truth on September 19, 2015. Please join us as we walk through this superb gallery of amazing Americans documented in portraiture by famed artist, Robert Shetterly. YMI Cultural Center, 39 S. Market Street
(0.5 mile walk from St. James AME Church)
$10 donation suggested for this labor of love
Friday, September 25, 2015
5:30 - 8:30 PM
No-Host Mixer, The Bywater, 796 Riverside Drive
(2.5 miles from hotel and US Cellular)
Post-Event:
Sunday, September 27, 2015
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
No-Host Brunch, Crowne Plaza, 1 Resort Drive,
Overlook Restaurant
Logistics:
Hotel providing the best rate:
Crowne Plaza, 1 Resort Drive
Double-bed rooms available:
Thursday, 09/24/15 - $129.00 plus 11% tax
Friday, 09/25/15 - $209.00 plus 11% tax
Saturday, 09/26/15 - $209.00 plus 11% tax
Reservations: 888-211-7755
Mention KOS as the group code.
Hotel Airport Shuttle cost:
14.5 miles from AVL Airport
Hotel Shuttle to/from AVL Airport $20 per person, each way.
Flight details must be provided to hotel 72 hours in advance notice for arrivals, 24-hour notice for departures.
Hotel Shuttle to US Cellular $5 per person, round-trip
Drop-off location is 0.2 mile walk from US Cellular
Questions? Need a scholarship? Send me a kosmail.
Saturday, October 3rd
Seattle & Puget Sound Kos Meet-up
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Columbia City Ale House
4914 Rainier Ave. S. • Seattle
ORGANIZER: Send John Crapper a kosmail to attend
RSVPs:
1. John Crapper
2. John Crapper's SO
3. bleeding blue
4. momomia
5. Penny GC
6. doingbusinessas
Max. Occupancy: 24
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Maybees:
Piren
EagleKeeper
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Latest diary: S&PS Kos - It's Time for a Meetup!
by smileycreek ♥ for Butte County kossacks of CA-01
12 Kossacks from California's large First Congressional District made the trek to downtown Chico for camaraderie! Lead by CUA Lady Co-Diva, smileycreek!
L-R: side pocket, smileycreek & paradise50
L-R: teresa, jesterman, Everett, Alice & Chico David RN
L-R: voracious, paradise50, side pocket & FoundingFatherDAR
Please visit smileycreek's diary for many MORE photos! Enjoy! You can still REC it. You can join Butte County kossacks of CA-01 by sending a Kosmail to smileycreek.
navajo's Last Minute Trip to DC
by navajo ♥ for Connect! Unite! Act!
Here are two photos of the readers who took up a last minute invitation to join navajo for dinner or drinks, many thanks, what a pleasure to meet them all in real life!
Reston, VA - Thursday, August 13, 2015
L-R: Diana in NoVa, JamieG in Md, Elizabeth Amy Miller, Edward Adams, NinthElegy and navajo
Washington, D.C. - Saturday, August 15, 2015
L-R: navajo, mollyd, Edward Adams and mimi
by navajo ♥ for Connect! Unite! Act!
Outstanding leadership in Colorado forced Daily Kos to make a personal appearance.
We had a terrific event in Denver on Sunday, July 26th with 50 readers of Daily Kos. Read the details about it
here.
A special thanks to Leftcandid and ColoTim for leading the Daily Kos Denver group! Leftcandid spent several hours after the event inputting all the email addresses collected. These two are determined and that's why we made this trip happen!
If you'd like to join Denver Kos, please kosmail Leftcandid.
The following evening, Monday, July 27th, we had 30 readers attend. Read the details about it
here.
Another very successful event, great food, drink and conversation! We both gots lots of hearty handshakes and thank yous.
If you'd like to join Pikes Peak Region Kos, please kosmail thanatokephaloides.
Durango, which is 314 miles from Colorado Springs, was our final destination. Our early evening venue was the beautiful home of
nzanne and her husband. It was very generous of them to host. We had 32 Durangotangs attend.
What a pleasure to visit beautiful Durango! A special thanks to Thinking Fella for setting such a great example of leadership by winning a seat with his local Democratic Party Executive Committee! Yes! Go Local!
Durango had the largest collection of readers with user names:
L-R: Thinking Fella, mnguitar, COMTNGRL, Meteor Blades, nzanne,
Gary Norton, navajo, Merry Light and Warkman
If you'd like to join Four Corners Kos, please kosmail Thinking Fella.
The entire state of Colorado has almost 50,000 subscribers to our Daily Kos emails. We can't wait to tap into that more. We've got a lot of organizing ahead of us for Colorado. Leaders, please step up!
We've declared this road trip a great success and look forward to doing some more around the country. It's important to unite entire states in addition to cities and towns. I hope you'll contribute in some way to this effort.
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries
about your event or if you have changes or additions.
EVERYONE is welcome, tell us what you're working on,
share your show and tell, vent, whatever you want.
This is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.