WEEK OF MAY 14th

[familiesforobama]

Greetings, Families and Friends!

As the second quarter is underway and over 40,000 donors showed their support in April alone, your National Administrators at Families for Obama (FfO) would like to reinvigorate the initial excitement and activity we saw after Barack's announcement. We will be sending out weekly newsletters to let you all know what is going on both in the general Obama world as well as in the Families for Obama world. We will be promoting upcoming events and providing opportunities for you to get involved, as well as brainstorming on ways that we can collaborate to make our group more active and successful for the better of the campaign as a whole.

News from the DC Area
FfO Headquarters

The month of April was certainly exciting for the National Admin Team. On the heels of the first quarter excitement, we worked hard to get the official Families for Obama website configured for state chapters. It is still a work in progress, but we have finally put the invitation out to all of our 500 members to join the FfO website at www.familiesforobama.org We ask that each and every one of you head over to our 'official' website where you can access the information and details we are outlining for you in these newsletters. There we have an interactive community of FfO supporters who you can join to become more actively involved in the grassroots level of Barack's campaign. Find a forum for your area and start collaborating together on what you can do. We have welcomed several new chapter administrators into the fold this month, but are still seeking chapter administrators in many states. Let us know if you are interested in getting a chapter started in your region!

You may also be interested to know that Families for Obama was featured in a major news article that was published in mulitiple online news outlets in April. The article discussed the ways in which supporters are using the internet to engage "every day" people to become involved in the campaign, and talked about the concept of our "Coffee and Campaigning" playgroups.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2...

FfO was also featured on the main campaign blog where the whole idea behind our concept was showcased.

Our administrator in Arkansas, Paige, also saw much media coverage at her kickoff event and in her local press. Keep up the great work, everyone!

If your FfO chapter is featured in the media, please let us know so that we may share your story with the group.
Finally, on May 7th, Ruthi was in Richmond to photograph the Barack Obama/Tim Kaine fundraiser at Plant Zero. To view the photos of the event, visit our Flickr:

Obama/Kaine Richmond 5-8-07 - a photoset on Flickr

FfO Events Fun in the Field
Families for Obama has many events happening in states across the country. The best way to stay in touch with FfO events near you is by checking the Google calendar at www.familiesforobama.org and by checking "Events Near Me" on
the official Barack Obama campaign website at www.my.barackobama.com.

If you are a chapter administrator planning events in your area, please make sure to let us know so that we can make sure that your event is on our calendar!

Here is just a sampling of family-friendly events happening in our neck of the woods - check the calendar for events near you!

March for Obama - Parade

May 12, Saturday

12:45-3:45 PM

@ Murky Coffee in Arlington VA

3211 Wilson Boulevard

Hosted By: Arlingtonians for Obama

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/organizing/4jgdj

Jammin for Obama: Family Friendly Dinner and Music Night with Justin Trawick

May 14, Monday

6:00-8:00 PM

@ Jammin' Java in Vienna VA

227 Maple Ave E Vienna, VA 22180

*This event will be ongoing on a monthly basis check back at www.familiesforobama.org for our other upcoming shows!

Hosted By: Families for Obama www.familiesforobama.org

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/fundraising/4jtyj

Happy Birthday Barack - Our Gift of Community Service

August 4, Sunday

Organize a local community service activity wearing your Obama gear! Go to www.familiesforobama.com to collaborate and find groups organizing in your area!

Hosted By: Families for Obama www.familiesforobama.org

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/communityservice/wlp

Help Needed

GET INVOLVED!!!

Your National Administrators for FfO are in search of people to help in the following areas, both here in the DC suburban area, and around the country:

1. Online Friend Community Organizer - In search of someone to help maintain our MySpace, Friendster and other avenues for online friend community promotion. Requirements: recruit as many friends as possible, promote upcoming events, etc.

2. FfO Northern VA Street Team - In search of Northern Virginia/DC area people able to do FfO related promotion and visibility events.

Requirements: promote, recruit new members, attend visibility events e.g. summer festivals, etc. wearing obama gear. At present, we are actively seeking FfO volunteers to march in a parade in Arlington on May 9th.

We also encourage chapter leaders in other areas to advertise for Street Team volunteers in their communities!

3. Bands/Opening Acts - In search of Northern VA bands and opening acts for our ongoing music night at Jammin Java - are you, or is someone you know in a band? Want to support Obama's campaign by doing what you love? Contact us today to volunteer to perform at our ongoing Jammin Java band night!

4. Become a FfO Chapter Administrator - Currently we are in search of Administrators for many states across the country. If you are interested in becoming a chapter administrator or co-administrator, please email us at [e-mail]

We appreciate your involvement and support. We are all here because we are each individually ready for a change in the politics in this country and COLLECTIVELY we have the capacity to make that happen.

Official Campaign Events

Event Announcements from the official site

Please visit www.barackobama.com for more information on official campaign event announcements

May 7 | Michelle Obama in Windham, NH

May 7 | Michelle Obama in Bedford, NH

May 11 | St. Louis Kickoff

May 12 | Kansas City Kickoff

May 21 | Camp Obama Training Chicago, IL

We look forward to interacting with you on www.familiesforobama.org! Sincerely,

Ruthi, Kulia, Christine, and Lindsey Families for Obama National Admin Team