Have "Conversations" and "Townhall meetings" instead of Rallies

UPDATED: Earlier, I suggested na each individual opposition candidate should do separate townhall meetings during the campaign. I think it's a better idea if they campaign in groups of three, at mag switch sila ng makakasama nilang candidates during the long campaign. pero okey rin kung mag-campaign sila ng solo pa-minsan minsan.

Ito ang suggestion ko after attending the GO! Opposition's rally sa Plaza Miranda kahapon.

The opposition should be holding more townhall meetings with it's supporters instead of outdoor rallies.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about -- from Hillary's "Conversation with America" or "Let the Conversation Begin" townhall meeting inside a high school gymnasium in Des Moines, Iowa accompanied by local Congressman Boswell. Watch it--especially you Nikki and Loren. The New York Times has more details on the event.

I don't like outdoor rallies, kasi minsan mainit sa labas at walang upuan. Depende talaga sa weather kung magiging maganda ang takbo ng rally o hindi. tapos yung sound system sa outdoor rallies minsan hindi talaga maganda. and you can't see the candidates kapag nasa malayo ka.

The solution of course is to hold these events indoors, with a Q and A portion later. Tawag sa ganito ay "townhall meetings." Sa isang malaking gymnasium o auditorium nyo gawin ito. Sure, sometimes mas maliit ang seating capacity and it may hold only 2,000-3,000 people, but that's okay.

The advantages of holding it in an auditorium or a gymnasium is that may upuan sa loob, para comfortable ang mga supporters mo, lalo na kung may Aircon. May ilaw rin sa loob. Kahit na maiinit o umuulan sa labas, tuloy pa rin ang event/usapan. At mas maganda ang sound sa loob ng auditorium, or at least it is easier to put up a good sound system para marining ng tao ang bawat salita ng speaker.

Kung papanoorin nyo yung video ng "Let the Conversation Begin" townhall meeting ni Hillary, they held their event inside a school gymnasium. The video was twenty minutes long. First four minutes of the video was about announcing hillary's arrival into the gymnasium with rep. Boswell and the school principal. Dumerecho sila sa stage which was located in the middle of the gym, a perfect place because it puts her at the center surrounded by supporters holding Hillary signs. they sang the national anthem (she was off key). At the four minute mark, rep. boswell gave a 3-and-a-half minute speech welcoming the crowd and introducing hillary. After that, it was hillary's turn to talk. her style was very conversational. she introduced herself to the adoring crowd. she made some jokes. she skewered bush and the admin failures in iraq. she got a lot of applause. she addressed the issues facing America today. Hillary didn't bore anybody, unlike Nikki Coseteng and Loren Legarda. She wrapped up her talk in 12 minutes, before doing a Q and A with supporters.

Sana ganyan rin ang gawin ng mga opposition candidates. Kasi usually sa rallies, yung kandidato lang ang nagsasalita eh. Dito sa townhall style meeting, pwedeng mag-participate ang mga supporters mo at tanungin ka tungkol sa iba't ibang issues. instead of giving us boring hour long speeches na may halong STUPID entertainment in between (like singing and dancing, UGH!), i think most people would rather have a "conversation" or a Q and A with their favorite candidates.. Kahit na umabot ng isang oras, okey lang dahil mas interesting ang "townhall" style meeting, where you get to interact with supporters, at mas less scripted ang Q and A, kaysa makinig ka lang ng speech. And if you have a guy like ping lacson, Manny Villar or Koko Pimentel doing the townhall meeting, it's even going to be more fun than usual, because they're good speakers and people are interested in what they have to say.

Katulad na nakita natin sa video, mas maganda kung isang kandidato lang ang mag-hold ng event na ito. Or at least up to three candidates ang magkakasama sa townhall meeting. pangit kung lahat sila nandodoon.

(isa pa, the opposition doesn't need to campaign together regularly. mas maganda pa kung hiwa-hiwalay sila, each candidate holding separate townhall meetings, para ma-maximize nila ang oras nila to reach out to the voters. at habang nasa townhall meeting sila, aside from campaigning for himself, each candidate also needs to remind the voters to vote for the other opposition candidates. each candidate needs to stump for the other candidates. tulong tulongan. Sa mga political banners at streamers na isasabit nila sa mga meetings na ito, aside from having his/her name in big bold letters, dapat nakalagay rin ang mga pangalan ng ibang opposition candidates. para reminder.)

Maganda sana at ideal kung puro supporters mo at mga "undecideds" (hmmm, meron pa ba non?) ang dadalo sa townhall meeting, pero minsan talaga, hindi maiiwasan na may mga administration plants sa audience na manggugulo, and the candidates need to be prepared for that. But that's the risk of having a Q and A townhall meeting with the public, ano?

At kung may ganitong "townhall meeting", maganda sana kung i-tape ito event nato at ilagay sa youtube. Kung may media coverage, even better.

More: One way to notify the public na may "townhall meeting" is thru GO's official website (hmmm... meron na ba sila non?) or the candidates' individual websites. The Opposition should invite the public to go to their websites, where they can subscribe and be a part of the opposition's email list to get the latest announcements on the Opposition candidate's activities and appearances. Or they can get the same announcement via text messaging in their cellphones, which i think everybody in the country has access to. lol.

UPDATE: Aside from a townhall-style meeting, another way to hold these events is to have a "moderator" do an interview with the candidates live on stage sa mga schools at auditoriums. The moderator could be a member of the media or a faculty member of the school. Also have the moderator ask the audience to write down their questions to the senatorial candidates for the Q and A. Tapos the moderator can choose kung ano ang relevant na questions na itanong sa kandidato.