I will put fingers to keyboard in the next few days for a longer outline of my recent campaign in Las Vegas. I read over your dialogue with Pearson and proclaim your cyber-tustling time well spent; thanks. I have a few thoughts to share, though, about the smaller things in cyberspace:

Being out here in the Wild West reminds me there was a time when a man on a horse carrying mail in his saddlebags was the hottest new communicative 'link' our world had ever seen. That venture didn't last long but it was oh-so-grand while it lasted.

I've been a union organizer for nearly three decades and can remember when rubbing Letraset letters onto a master leaflet in my hotel room was my evening entertainment. The leaflet was copied the next morning and distributed to committee who got it out to working guys and gals in straight-forward Norma Rae fashion. It worked; it took time; and along with phone banks and home visits some union elections were won in some industry circles.

Two years back, when I was called into the local union secretary-treasurer's office and told, "You will be responsible for organizing these eight thousand workers and you will get more than four thousand cards from 350 county worksites in five months," I felt a little challenged. (The real truth is I went to the bathroom, sat down, broke out in a cold sweat and said "Lordy-Lordy.") I had no horse, no committee, and one fairly new computer with which to get the job done in less than 25 weeks.

One of the things I learned in those weeks was it is just about as hard to organize eight thousand stray cats as it is to organize two hundred stray cats. But since eight thousand looked a lot harder, I knew I could ask for 'stuff.' As we all know, a union representation election is the epitomy of a communications game. So 'stuff' meant things my boss had never heard of but approved because the moment was right and the stakes were high -- just like a Pony Express rider got good pay for risky riding. The lesson learned here is that timing and opportunity will buy lots of things you want and need. We got some new computers and software to start with; you know -- stuff.

I learned to work cheaply in other areas though; like when I worked with the press. Now, the press isn't really your friend; but then they're not your enemy either. I will say they were a marvelous tool. I made friends with beat reporters and gave them tantilizing information and then taught them to dance the 'off the record' tango. One columnist with a passionate dislike for the employer became a very special friend indeed. The press was free and our tips made the the reporters look good. Often our tips looked like someone else's tips; and the inside tips from the reporters were WONDERFUL. The only tools I needed for this work was a phone and any man's email; saving money for more other stuff.

There are times when I had to fight fire with free too. The employer hosted a tremendous internal e-system which, at first glance, seemed to be there for democratic thought. Not. A few 'union meeting alert' messages closed that puppy up in less than 24 hours,dang it. There was also a 'workers lounge' message board with its own facilitator. When messages got politically incorrect (and the word 'Teamster' was definitely incorrect for a boss-board) the facilitator was asked to resign. We went to Yahoo and opened up our own free 'ground lounge.' After all our press, this board membership jumped to over a thousand members in three weeks. Our facilitator was a savvy, diplomatic organizer who kept cyber-bears calm and democratic thought welcome.

Finally, and most importantly, there was a 'personal' rule that guided all our worksteps. Over the years, I have faced many a worker and learned it is my own honesty and candor that brings that person on board with our cause. It is a moment all organizers know, and it is not a moment that will happen with cold internet communication, and I'll tell you why. This campaign had major meetings of 500 and more in the beginning; a classic hot shop campaign. At these meetings, I would get thrown up on the stage with this sea of faces looking back at me. I would give my pitch and within two days I would receive (honest) over two hundred new contacts by email. (I felt like it was Christmas when I opened my email each morning.) The connection I used to make twenty years ago to one worker in one home visit could now be multipied by 200 -- fabulous!

I began to assign one hour a day to personally respond to each email; answering questions, explaining I would put them on general server lists, and telling them to keep in touch if they heard any hot news in the field. Nearly all those people became firm supporters thanks to their connection with a real person they felt they could trust.

When one meeting and such a small thing as an email transmission can create such a bond and connection with two hundred people, that is my 'listen to me mister' response to those who scoff at what computers can do for labor unions. We just have to learn to bottle it more effectively.

I believe deeply in my work, but I agree with Brother Pearson there's a lot of dead wood resting in high places of labor-biz-world. But I also believe the smallest things in cyberwork can be the most powerful -- and fairly easy to 'splain to dead wood bosses. And -- if the wood don't bend, won't these guys go the way of express riders???