No Border Wall Coalition organizes grassroots resistance with English y Español bots

The No Border Wall Laredo Coalition organizes local residents, landowners, faith leaders, veterans and families to stop the border wall.

The Border Wall project calls for clearing a path as wide as half a football field along the riverfront to build a new militarized zone, 121 miles long. This “enforcement zone” would include a 30-foot prison style steel wall, government roads, surveillance towers, and high intensity flood lights. It would carve a path of destruction through our parks, historic landmarks, cemeteries, neighborhoods, homes, small businesses, ranches, community college, and even a children’s home run by nuns. - No Border Wall Coalition

How do you alert communities quickly and organize resistance? When they speak different language? May not have a computer or internet access? And do this quickly with little time, money and staff?

The Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC) uses chatbots to organize resistance in both English and Spanish.

How can chatbots help activists?

Chatbots are automatic programs that interact with people through text messages. Scanning the QR Code for instance or texting "nowall" to 202-858-0303 starts a conversation in English. Text "nomuro" to the same number to interact in Spanish.

The bots collects details such as the person's name, phone number, where they live and whether they have been contacted by the Texas government about buying their land. This information is saved automatically for the campaign organizers to follow up with. The bots work around the clock and can handle any volume of messages. Such chatbots can be set up in an hour for around $50 and cost about 10 cents for every record with contact details saved.

Flyers help build grassroots resistance

Flyers with the message and QR Code are a great way to reach people. Flyers and stickers are cheap to print and easily shared where your target audience is most likely to see them. Here’s a basic list of places that will probably let you hang flyers. Always get permission from the owner first.

Post offices	Coffee Shops	Laundromats	Libraries
Restaurants	Town halls	Barber shops	Beauty parlors
Supermarkets	Gas stations	Colleges	Hospitals
Dentist's Offices	Churches	Lunchroom bulletin boards	Fitness centers
Community Centers	Auto repair shops	Convenience stores	Day care centers

Grassroots geotargeting

Groups will spend a fortune buying ads on Facebook to target people with specific demographics. But many communities aren't online and congregate in different spots in their communities. Flyers printed with QR Code to collect responses are a very cost effective way to reach them. Learn more about using low cost chatbots for progressive campaigns here.

Rio Grande International Study Center

The Rio Grande International Study Center is a 501c3 nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Texas on January 25, 1994.

​RGISC partners with other groups to improve the environmental health of the community. It acts as a catalyst in promoting changes in community attitudes and behavior. RGISC is a volunteer powered group that operates on a modest budget provided by foundation grants, sponsorships, memberships and donations.

TakeAway: Use chatbots to organize better, faster and for less money.

Deepak
DemLabs

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