Sunday, June 07, 2009

Choosing New Leaders, Learning New Skills ...





Yesterday was a big day for the Florence County GOP, and for all Republicans in South Carolina, as many of us caught up to the technology that we lacked in recent elections at the first GOP Tech Summit in the state yesterday.






It was a nice mix of some tech savvy members helping out, a chance for a few of us to brush up on our skills, and many more senior members who had never even seen Facebook or Twitter before. But before we entered the 21st Century, we had business to take care of....



When Ken Ard had to resign his job as Chair, we had been without once since. That ended yesterday morning, when Dr. Joe Griffin moved up from First Vice-Chair to Chairman by unanimous vote. Honestly, I had no idea who was going to be chosen as the new First Vice-Chair, but I was pleasantly suprised to hear that Glynn Willis decided to accept the job. And all is right with the world...




Now, onto the fun. It was a long day of learning - about seven hours worth, and it wasn't without it's glitches. It was a bit ironic when the Tech Summit got delayed due to router problems, but Ron McGill and Jamie Rogers eventually worked the bugs out. First Reliance Bank also blocked MySpace from it's training facility, but that's OK - MySpace sucks compared to Facebook with regards to networking anyway. Try finding anyone when they use nicknames there sometime....





The group learned all about Facebook from Dana Moody Shriver, who admitted that she is an SC6 addict - and who we later found out was the first NASCAR ZMAX Girl, before she retired to raise a family. Yeah, chicks dig bloggers !!!! She even helped some of the group register themselves and start their own facebook pages. Dum-Dums were given out for questions, and Mal Weatherly won a $100 gift card from her, which was justified, because Mal and his wife Beth made an AWESOME lunch ..... Chicken Salad, Cornbread Salad, Pasta Salad and Cappucino Brownies - which put me into outer space for a minute...




Celia Urquhart did a presentation on Twitter, and she also entertained the group between segments by showing some of the pics from previous events, and her Day Lily collection ! Lastly, Earl Capps and I did a segment on Blogging. I mostly just told them how I got into it, answered some questions (like "Who is Ms. X?" - answer: she doesn't exist, i made her up - not!), and gave soem pointers on how to make your blog interesting and respected. Then, I gave way to Earl. Only a few of them knew who Earl was before, but he dazzled them all with his seminar on the New Media. I might be fun, but Earl knows his stuff about Politics and Blogging. My advice is to have him at your local Tech Seminar - and to pay him well for his time !! Here's some pics....


Ron and Jamie, Bug Zapping....










New Chairman Joe Griffin, flanked by Dana Moody Shriver and Celia Urquhart, who is not married to a plumber !!!!








SCGOP 3rd Vice-Chair Adam Piper stops in between visits to Berkeley and Spartanburg. That's one busy guy....








Ron McGill, Mal Weatherly, Stephanie Rawlinson, Celia Urquhart, Me, Jamie Rogers, Dana Moody Shriver and Earl Capps..








This was a crucial first step in organizing the GOP, and to be well prepared for future elections. If you are not on Facebook, and are a Republican, you are doing your party a disservice. And if your local party hasn't made plans to have a Tech Seminar yet, they are doing you a disservice as well. Get Tech Savvy, and Get Organized, People !!! Not like these guys ......



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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,

Thanks for attending the Tech Summit, as you provided lots of great information. Now there will be more "Super Cool Successful Bloggers" like yourself in the world. We did forget to do the Mike Reino autograph session, but there's always next time!!!! Since I'm the first to comment on this posting I think it's confirmed I am a SC6 addict. You keep us all updated and for that I'm greatful. Have a good week and thanks again.

Dana Shriver
Confirmed SC6 Addict
Supporter of Ken Ard for Lt. Gov!!!

bobby said...

does Ron McGill have a brother named Ricky?

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Dana, I was a bit PO'd. I brought all those pics of myself, ready to be signed and everything !!!!

Since you are now a confirmed addict, there are 12 Step programs available to cope with it. My suggestion is to skip the program, and just call my ex-wife or any former girlfriends, and that should set you straight immediately.....

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Bobby,
Not that I know of, but his nephew is named Rick, and I work next to him everyday...

pluvlaw said...

Your local party is lucky to have Glynn Willis as an officer. Glynn is good people and will be an asset. Even as a Dem, I have no problem admitting Glynn got beat by Obama. You look at the numbers for that race as opposed to the others and it is obvious how hard that fella worked. Any other year and he's sitting on council.

Wyboo Moye said...

If I had not been having my Clarendon EB meeting and we did have Ken Ard there I certainly would had joined you guys. Glad Dana is a fan. She probably is more well known at Goat Island and Taw Caw than I am. At least more respected. Next time out on the boat we will run that way.

earlcapps said...

If chicks dig bloggers, then where are my groupies already?

Anonymous said...

Mike--I just wanted to add that it was great to see such a good turn out so early on a Saturday morning. Congratulations to Dr. Joe Griffin and Glynn Willis,they will make great additions to the SC GOP leadership.
Florence is very lucky to have such a great group of people who are willing to invest their time and take an interest in improving the lives of the folks not just in Florence county but in the Pee Dee as a whole.
I look forward to working with them as we work for better hometowns for everyone in SC...teg

earlcapps said...

For the record, I was not compensated for my appearance Saturday. Mike promised me the Triple B package of Beer, BBQ and Bimbos, but the cheapskate didn't deliver.

mg said...

Look Earl we had The BBQ, The beer and I got a message from you earlier in the week or was that an Imposter that said no Stippers. Because well minors on the slough. Glad she came she is funny.

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Yeah, how many 10 years olds quote Cartman ?? RESPECT MY AUTHORITIE !!!!

Ranger said...

Well I just had 1 ten year old tell me my head was shinny. Thanks for that photo but more importantly thanks for your input to the event.

Ranger said...

Bobby, Yes I do.

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Sorry about not knowing about Ricky, Rick's never mentioned him...

You're head's not that shinny, Buzz.