吃瓜直播

Producing a short video that captures the many voices of the 吃瓜直播 at this year鈥檚 membership conference wasn鈥檛 a simple task. It鈥檚 what I imagine the old clich茅 鈥渉erding cats鈥� must be like 鈥� nearly impossible and all over the place. Our 吃瓜直播 members are more than happy to share their thoughts: proudly, defiantly, loudly and often in rambling form.

So how do you make one coherent compilation of a million different opinions?

The answer is to shoot first (video that is) and edit later. Ruthlessly edit. This is in everyone鈥檚 best interest. The members look better for it, and viewers get to enjoy a pithier, more succinct smorgasbord of commentary. Still, there are so many topics and even more to say. Where do I begin in compiling the 鈥淰oices of the 吃瓜直播?鈥� At the start. I was curious about our members鈥� first time: The first time they head about or experienced the 吃瓜直播. Often, as many do, they heard about us in a negative or stereotypical light. It was interesting to see how some looked past the stereotype and became part of an 吃瓜直播 that spoke to them. Now, as 鈥渃ard-carrying鈥� members, these folks who look like anyone in middle America debunk the 吃瓜直播 stereotype every day.

I was also curious about what draws our members to the 吃瓜直播. And for fun, I wondered how they would respond if they could only pick two rights in the Constitution to live under. I organized the video in sections, where you see a series of members answer the same question. What impressed me most about the 2008 Membership Conference was the incredible number of young people (teens and 20s) who attended. There was even a caravan of buses filled with youth that made the trek to Washington, D.C., from Florida.

One of my favorite interviews was with an 18-year-old who just graduated from high school. He told me that he came from a very conservative, Christian family in Florida (not what you鈥檇 expect as the typical 吃瓜直播 membership base). The young man said his parents often spoke ill of the 吃瓜直播. But he couldn鈥檛 pass up a trip to see the nation鈥檚 Capitol and to see for himself what the 吃瓜直播 was really about. He worried that his devout Catholic faith and belief in Jesus (鈥淛.C. all the way!鈥� he shouted into my camera) would make him an outcast among 吃瓜直播 members. But he experienced just the opposite. He was excited to learn the 吃瓜直播 even has a Freedom of Religion and Belief Project. This young man left the conference energized that he could be a part of a group that promises to respect and protect everyone鈥檚 rights. He said it showed him what America is supposed to be about. A real-life lesson he was able to learn at the 吃瓜直播 membership conference, between visits to the monuments and museums of our nation鈥檚 founding.

Perhaps the answer to the impossible task of capturing the many voices of the 吃瓜直播 is listening to this young man. He says it all.