The Challenges of Explosive Growth

There has been some chatter on the blogs, forums and Twitter about our balloting process. I would like to take this opportunity to share the inside scoop.

Our constitution calls for individuals to be members 14 days prior to the Leadership vote to be eligible to cast a ballot. This avoids the situation that other parties have experienced with what is often referred to as “two-minute” members. Also we currently have a “one-member, one-vote” system; this too avoids issues we see in other parties with a delegate system, where they can be strong-armed by the powers that be. I favour both of these democratic practices we have in place, but they are not without their own challenges.

Early September we had 4000 some members that we knew of. The candidates also had their own lists on the go and were not required to share their numbers with us, though we did ask. Based on our projections, we ordered 10,000 ballots. The ballots went out in three batches to members as soon as we had their information.

The first was sent out directly from the printer in Edmonton, on September 24. These went to roughly one third (of what we now know are eligible) of the membership.

The second went out on October 1, again directly from the printers. This accounted for the second third of the membership.

It was not until September 28th that we knew for certain we would need more ballot packages, we ordered 5000 more; and normally they take 10 days to produce. We asked the printer to expedite the printing and compiling of the packages. We also asked the printer to send them to us as they were compiled so we could expedite getting them out. Thus we got some within 7 days of order.

The third mailing went out to everyone whose information we received between September 25 and October 2. It was sent out by our office as it was faster for us to affix labels than to have the printer do the additional task of tailoring envelops. With them coming to us from the printer in this fashion we were able to prioritize the order they were sent out.

Rural went first because those had the greatest distance to travel.
Edmonton next as city to city is a bit faster.
And lastly to Calgary as mail within the city is fastest.

All were taken directly to Canada Post’s main sorting depot and were quickly in distribution, they did not sit in a mail box for any length of time. The mail is being turned around very quickly. By Friday the 9th we already had ballots back that we mailed out on Monday and Tuesday.

The ones that were sent out the latest (to Calgary) represent about 10% of our grand total and from what we can tell nearly 80% of those were already delivered by Friday to the members. The bulk of the remainder will in all likelihood be received by members on Tuesday, still allowing the time to get them back to us.

I anticipate voter turn out to be just over 70% or roughly 8100+ votes. With the member cutoff date being October 2nd, we knew we would not be getting most of late members ballots back until the week leading up to the convention.

We are at the midpoint of the voting timeframe and as of Friday the 9th we have received back nearly 3000 ballot envelops. We know from speaking to members, many of these contain 2 or more ballots. It is my estimation that we already have more than 50% of the ballots that will be cast.

I want to assure members that my staff and I have done everything within our power to accomplish this task. We have been working long hours and next week the office will be open late, to the public on Tuesday and Thursday. I am confident the majority of our members who desire to vote, will be able to do so.

The Leadership Committee is fully apprised of the situation and they will be updated daily; should they deem any other provisions need to be made the membership will be advised accordingly.

If you have a specific inquiry please email me, be sure to include your full name and address.

Wildrose Alliance Membership Zooms Past 11,000 as Leadership Vote Nears

I think this is a first; posting a press release that I am quoted in. Sort of like speaking of ones' self in the third person.

For Immediate Release

Calgary – October 4, 2009 – The Wildrose Alliance Party announced today its final membership numbers heading into the highly anticipated leadership convention in Edmonton later this month.

Wildrose Alliance Party Executive Director Jane Morgan says the party now has 11,670 paid memberships, a huge increase over the approximately 1,800 members at the time of the party’s annual general meeting in June of this year. For further comparison, the Wildrose Alliance Party membership at this time a year ago stood at approximately 1000.

"I am incredibly pleased with the influx of members, especially the number who want to become active and help us continue to grow," says Morgan. "If we can accomplish this amount of growth in just four months, imagine what we can do with 83 active constituencies and a full time leader touring the province."

Interest in the party has grown spectacularly since its formation in early 2008, not only because of the exciting leadership race between Mark Dyrholm and Danielle Smith, but also because of the party’s by-election victory in Calgary-Glenmore last month. In that race, interim Wildrose Alliance Party leader Paul Hinman defeated a longtime PC activist and Calgary Alderman to earn the party its first seat in the legislature, a seat held for four decades by the PC’s, who finished a distant third this time.

“It appears that Albertans by the thousands are hearing our message of common sense conservatism,” said Calgary-Glenmore MLA-elect Hinman, “And are lining up not only to help build our party but to send Ed Stelmach a message that it’s past time to rebuild the Alberta Advantage.” Hinman says he looks forward to working in partnership with our new leader to grow the party and continue to expand our membership across the province.

The Leadership Convention will be held on Saturday, October 17 at the Holiday Inn Convention Centre, 4520 - 76 Ave., Edmonton.

All Wildrose Alliance Party members in good standing by October 2, 2009 are eligible to vote in the leadership election, either at the convention itself or by mail-in ballots which are now being received by members all across Alberta.

-30-

For more information contact:
Jane Morgan,
Executive Director,
Wildrose Alliance Party
403.680.8683

Do you want to VOTE? - You must be a member.

The last few weeks have been insanely busy and it is all good....no, it's FANTASTIC !!!

With everyone getting caught up in the excitement I hope no one forgets to purchase their membership in order to be able to vote on October 17 for the next leader of our party. The deadline is just 14 days away.

Here is a great (funny) video to help you to remember do just that by October 2 nd.

Come the 17th Heather and I don't want to be having this conversation with you.



Thanks to CalgaryRants for the video idea. He and I don't see eye-to-eye politically on everything, but we both share a great sense of humor.

“How are things going with the Wildrose?”

I get this question or a variation of it several times a week and I never know where to begin.

Things are going well on so many fronts.

Our leadership candidates are out there promoting us; Paul Hinman is pounding the pavement in Calgary – Glenmore, constituency associations are being formed almost weekly now, our membership has quadrupled since the beginning of the year, we are getting very positive press, our bank account is healthy and so on.

Last weekend we successfully and smoothly moved our website to a new server. This was done as we needed increased capacity. Earlier this week we added a new phone number to accommodate the increase in calls. The new number is 403-769-0999; the old one will still work too. The toll free line remains the same 1-888-262-1888. Later this month we will be welcoming an Office Administrator (this is a new position).

The growth pains have been minimal, despite our President Jeff Callaway, saying I gripe about it; the reality is I absolutely love the increased activity and attention we are receiving.

So, yes, thing are going VERY well.

Wildrose Alliance Party Leadership Race 2009

At this very moment the following letter is being stuffed and mailed out to members.

On April 21 of this year, our leader Paul Hinman announced his intention to step down as party leader at our upcoming AGM on June 5th and 6th. A leadership convention and vote has been scheduled for October 17, 2009 in Edmonton. The venue will be announced at a later date.

Our party has a one member one vote system for selecting our leader. To be a member you must be a resident of Alberta, be at least 16 years of age and pay the appropriate fee.

In order to vote in the leadership race, you must be a member in good standing by October 2nd, 2009. Mail-in ballots will be sent to all members. You may return your ballot via mail or attend the convention in person to vote.

The following is from Paul Hinmans’ announcement of April 21st: "I am accountable to Albertans and our party members and I believe this is the best decision for our party and ultimately for our Province. I extend the greatest appreciation to those who have supported our party and myself in the past. Be assured I will continue to work with the Wildrose Alliance and Albertans in whatever capacity I can to make the greatest possible contribution to restore the Alberta Advantage and prosperity to the people of Alberta."

This is an exciting time of growth and change for our party. We look forward to a competitive leadership race with some dynamic candidates vying for the role of leading our party into the next general election. Watch our website for future leadership events as the campaign unfolds.

Sincerely,
Leadership Committee

AGM Registration

Online registration for the June AGM is now available. Just go to the home screen and it is in the lower left panel. It is just $60.00 to attend if you register before May 22 nd.

After that date a $ 40.00 late surcharge will apply bringing the cost to $100.00.

If you would like to vote on any of the proposed policies you will need to be a member by May 22nd. (14 days prior to AGM)

If you prefer to register over the phone or have any questions you can reach me at 1-888-262-1888; or 403-769-0992 in Calgary.

Where does the time go?

Seems like it was just yesterday that I last posted; but alas so much has happened since then.

Our town hall in Calgary (April 9) at the Blackfoot Inn drew approximately 75 people. The speeches were followed by a great question and answer session. We registered a good batch of new members, got a couple more constituencies on the go and some nice contributions. CBC also covered it on their late news broadcast.

All round another success, especially considering it was a Thursday evening before a long weekend.

On Tuesday (Apr. 14) we held an invite only event at the Calgary Petroleum Club. The well over 200 people who attended heard great speeches by Paul Hinman, David Yager and closing remarks from Jeff Callaway. Everyone enjoyed some free drink and food; then most stayed on to meet and mingle with speakers and other board members.

Again we were honored with many new members, generous contributions and new friends who share a common goal; the betterment of our province for ALL Albertans.

I would like to thank my official volunteers for the evening; Travis Chase, Chris Maitland and Cory Morgan; and my unofficial one recruited that night as the need arose, Derrick Jacobson. Your help is greatly appreciated and certainly made my tasks for the evening go much smoother. THANK YOU!!

This event was recorded by the Daily Oil Bulletin and covered by the Calgary Herald, their article is here.

Meetings, meetings and more meetings....

We have many exciting things on the go and I want to share with you some of the upcoming events.

April 9, 2009 we have a public Town Hall meeting planned in Calgary. It will be at 7:00 PM at the Blackfoot Inn (5940 Blackfoot Trail). Come out to meet our leader Paul Hinman and other members of the executive. Feel free to bring a friend or even pass this along to others. Listen for our advertising on both 660 News and QR77 this week.

On April 14th we are hosting an event at the Calgary Petroleum Club which is nearly filled. If you would like more information on attending this, send me an email.

Since our last meeting in Edmonton was successful we will be there again on April 22nd at the Four Points Sheraton (7230 Argyll Rd.)

May 14th we will be in Lethbridge and May 21st in Medicine Hat. Both of these are at the planning stage and we will let you know once we have the venues confirmed.

We are also planning Town Halls in Red Deer and Grande Prairie, details will be available soon. If you are interested in assisting with planning or would like one in your area, please get in touch with us.

All town halls have a 7:00 PM start time.

The weekend of June 5th and 6th will be our AGM and Policy Assembly in Calgary at the Bearspaw Lifestyle Centre (253220 Bearspaw Road NW). The package for the AGM was mailed this past Saturday to all current members.

Remember in order to vote at the AGM you must be a member by May 22, 2009. If you are not sure when yours expires, give us a call and we will check for you.

AGM registration opens on Monday April 6th. Both the agenda and registration will be available online. If you have any questions or prefer to register over the phone, by all means call us at the office.

Registration prior up to May 21st is only $60.00; from May 22nd on the late registration fee of $100.00 will apply.

Successful Edmonton Town Hall

I've just returned to Calgary from a very productive and enjoyable trip to our capital. I would like to thank Todd Loewen for organizing and hosting the town hall meeting in Edmonton last night. He managed to pull together this meeting on rather short notice. Despite the limited notice the event was attended by roughly 50+ people, with many new faces in the group, including a Federal MP.

Paul Hinman, leader of the Wildrose Alliance, covered a range of topics and those who were seeing him speak for the first time were very impressed and took the time to express this to us after the meeting. Those of us who have seen Paul speak numerous times in the past were also suitably impressed. We have witnessed him become a confident, animated and competent public speaker.



The speeches were followed by a Q & A session that lasted quite some time as interest in learning more about us was high. Global TV Edmonton also popped in to take some footage and had a brief interview with yours truly, as Paul was busy at the moment. I have learned today, that the piece was aired pretty much province wide.

I thought I would be the first to blog about this, but alas one of the attendees beat me to it.
Read his thoughts here at Buck75

Edmonton Town Hall Meeting

A prairie fire has been burning in southern Alberta for a few weeks now and it's time to heat up Edmonton.

Listen for our radio ads running on 630 CHED today and tomorrow.

Whether you are a member of the Wildrose Alliance Party, a supporter of the party, or simply interested in learning more about what the party stands for, then you are cordially invited to attend this event.

Come to meet leader Paul Hinman, fellow party members and conservatives in the Edmonton area.
The theme of this meeting will be the state of Alberta's economy.
Questions about the party or the upcoming AGM in Calgary this June will be answered.
Drinks and light refreshments will also be served.
We hope to see you there!

Host: Wildrose Alliance Party of Northern Alberta
Date: Wednesday, March 25th at 7PM
Location: West Harvest Inn, Henday Room
Street: 17803 Stony Plain Road
City/Town: Edmonton, AB


For more information contact:
Todd Loewen
780-524-4574

Completing your online membership application.

The following will act as a reference to aid online registration.

If you are renewing and there ae no changes to your contact information, you can skip down to the fifth screenshot. ***

You can click on any of the screen shots to get an enlarged version for easier viewing.

The registration of members is comprised of two components.

1) Gathering of the pertinent contact information.
2) Processing the payment.

From our home screen click on "Join" on the left hand side of screen.




This will take you to a screen that describes the various ways you can obtain a membership. To proceed with online registration click on the sentence; "Click here to sign up online."



You will then be at the screen that captures your name, address, etc. You will select the term of your membership; 1, 3 or 5 years. You will also select how you will pay; online, mail in or by phone.
Hit submit when all fields are complete.

This will take you to this screen, which confirms your application has been recieved and outlines your options for submitting payment.
If you would like to complete your payment online, return to our home screen.

*** Renewing with no changes to contact info start here.

Enter the appropriate amount of your payment in the box. (1 year = $ 10.00, 3 year = $ 25.00, 5 year = $ 40.00) on the right hand side of page. Click: "Continue".

If you use PayPal and have your computer set to remember this; the following screen will appear. If not you will get the screen below.

Sign into your PayPal account to process a payment this way.

Alternatively you can click on "continue" under the "Don't have a PayPal Account".

For all credit card payments you will complete the following screen.

I hope this has been of assistance and if you are still having issues by all means, please call me at the office. 1-888-262-1888 or 403-769-0992 in Calgary.