A Note from the Editor:
Dear NCIL Members,
Please enjoy this special edition WhAM! dedicated to NCIL's efforts during the Presidential transition, featuring communications from the Presidential Transition Team, NCIL's recent work to bring Independent Living and the rights of people with disabilities to the forefront of national debate, and ideas for brining change to your local communities and the nation at large. A regular edition of the WhAM! will also be released Monday, January 12.
Eleanor Canter
1) What’s Happening in the Nation’s Capital?
NCIL Joins the Transition Team in Call to Service
YouTube Video Competition
2) National News
NCIL and Grassroots Organizations Engage Obama Presidential Transition Team
NCIL and Other Grassroots Organizations Request Substantive Policy Change and Qualified Personnel with Disabilities
NCIL Outlines Policy Priorities for the Obama Administration
Take Action: Tell President Elect Obama Your Policy Priorities!
NCIL Recommendations to the Obama Transition Team
Obama's Justice Pick Draws Fire of Pro-lifers: Schiavo Connections Cited
Inauguration Organizers Concerned People with Disabilities May Have to Stay Home
3) Announcements and Additional Resources
Host a Disability Pride Inaugural Event in Your Area!
Instructions for Setting Up Your YouTube Video
NCIL Joins the Transition Team in Call to Service
Dear NCIL Members,
Every time our nation has faced crisis, our national experience has shown Americans rise to the challenge. While government has an important role to play in helping rekindle our economy and addressing the problems our country faces, President-elect Obama believes each of us, as Americans, has a responsibility to do what we can for our communities and fellow citizens. The United States is once again at a crossroads and that is why the President-elect hopes to use the occasion of his Inauguration to rally our nation to commit to service in our communities.
This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day NCIL is joining with President-elect Obama in making this call to service to our members and every American across the country to reignite the nation's spirit of volunteerism and community service. This new effort, Renew America Together, is not just about stepping up to serve for a single day, but rather to make a continued commitment to serving our communities throughout the year. Together, with our next President, we are asking that you and your family, friends and neighbors sign-up to volunteer on January, 19, 2009 right now.
To get active in your community, please visit: www.USAService.org. This new, interactive website enables Americans in every state in the nation to find a volunteer opportunity in their neighborhood, or to create and host an event on their own. Please click on the link above and sign-up to volunteer today. Together, we can begin to Renew America.
Cheers!
John A. Lancaster
YouTube Video Competition
As a part of the President Elect's Renew America Together campaign -- the nationwide effort to foster a new dedication to volunteerism and community service on MLK Day and throughout the year – the transition team is teaming up with YouTube to sponsor a video competition.
The goal: For individuals and organizations to create a three-minute or less YouTube video designed to tell the story of what they plan to do on MLK Day. The videos could be dramatic, heartfelt, comical, or narrative -- whatever best captures the spirit of the Renewing America Together campaign.
Individuals or organizations who want to submit a video should follow the step-by-step "how to post a YouTube video" instructions below. All submissions should be posted to the Renewing America Together channel no later than January 14th, 2009. Three winners will be selected. The winning videos will be posted on www.USAService.org, and the creator of the single best video will get a personal phone call from First Lady Michelle Obama.
NCIL and Grassroots Disability Groups Engage Obama Presidential Transition Team
Since the Presidential Election, NCIL Executive Director John Lancaster and NCIL Policy Analyst Deb Cotter have worked with a diverse group of national disability run disability organizations to engage President-Elect Barack Obama’s Presidential Transition Team (PTT). In conference calls and face-to-face meetings, NCIL and the disability coalition continues to hit home the critical issues Americans with disabilities face (see below), from enacting community choice and ending the institutional bias to creating accessible, affordable, and integrated housing and increasing the employment of Americans with disabilities.
As you know, President-Elect Obama announced his Cabinet Secretaries. Once sworn in as President, Mr. Obama will officially nominate and the Senate will conduct hearings to consider and confirm Mr. Obama’s cabinet members. These confirmation hearings will provide disability advocates with the opportunity to continue to press for the PTT, Congress, and the Administration to not only consider qualified persons with disabilities for key positions in the Obama Administration, but also advance the disability and Independent Living Movements’ agenda. We are urging the President-Elect to consider qualified persons with disabilities for all positions, with an eye toward having key positions filled with qualified candidates who understand the needs of people with disabilities and the contributions Americans with disabilities can make to our country.
NCIL and other disability advocates expressed our concerns about including qualified advocates with disabilities on Monday, December 29th, in a meeting with Matt Nugent of PTT Personnel and Kareem Dale, PTT Disability Outreach Coordinator. We all must continue to hold President-elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Joe Biden to the commitments outlined in the Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities. One of the easiest things you can do is Tell Your Story on the Obama Transition Team website.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact NCIL Policy Analyst Deb Cotter via email deb@ncil.org (please put “Obama Transition” in the subject line) or by phone: (202) 207-0334, ext 1008.
NCIL and Other Grassroots Organizations Request Substantive Policy Change and Qualified Personnel with Disabilities
December 23, 2008
Melody C. Barnes,
Designee – Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
Lisa Brown,
Designee – Staff Secretary
Presidential Transition Team
451 6th St., NW /
Washington, DC 20001
Sent via email: kareem.dale@ppt.gov
Dear Ms. Barnes and Ms. Brown:
We are writing on behalf of the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities to urge you to carry out the commitment President-elect Obama made to the disability community during the campaign. Specifically, the undersigned grassroots consumer controlled organizations are writing to urge you to include a qualified person with a disability, who is an expert in disability policy, to serve on the Domestic Policy Council (DPC). As a collective of organizations, we represent the full spectrum of disabilities.
We are concerned that there has been little outreach to disability-run organizations in the selection process for President-elect Obama’s Cabinet and political appointees and we are concerned that the appointments to date do not reflect a concerted effort to include qualified individuals with disabilities to serve in senior positions in the new Administration. Familiarity and experience with disability issues and the disability community is critical to implementing the inclusive vision for America that President-elect Obama campaigned on. In short, we strongly urge you to act promptly to identify a qualified candidate from our community to join the domestic policy team in the White House. As you are aware, there are a number of highly qualified individuals from the disability community with broad experience in a range of domestic policy issues who could contribute to policy development in the White House. It is absolutely critical to us that such an appointee is skilled and knowledgeable in the ways that policy decisions across the spectrum impact and affect the disability community.
Additionally, we are concerned that there has been little outreach to the disability community to seek our opinions on potential candidates throughout the new Administration. There are many individuals with disabilities that have the expertise and background not only to fill positions related to disability but other areas of government as well - from environment and energy to defense and foreign policy.
We stand ready to support the policy changes President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden outlined in their Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities. The participation of qualified people with disabilities in shaping policy is critical to the success of the programs and services that enhance our lives. We will continue to provide input and advice from our community leaders with disabilities. We look forward to implementing these initiatives that will enable people with disabilities to participate in and contribute to society.
Many other organizations in our loose coalition share our sentiments expressed in this letter, but do to the Holidays have not signed on. We are sure you will be hearing from them on this matter as well.
Thank you for your leadership. We look forward to working together to achieve these goals. Please do not hesitate to contact Deb Cotter of the NCIL Policy staff by phone: (202) 207-0334 or email: Deb@ncil.org if we can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Access Living,
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD),
National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations (MCMHC/SO),
National Council on Independent Living (NCIL),
National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA),
Northeast Independent Living Program (NILP),
Special Olympics, Shepherd Center
CC: Valerie Jarrett,
Pete Rouse,
Tina Chen,
Jim Massina,
Patrick Gaspard,
Michael Strautmanis
NCIL Outlines Policy Priorities for the Obama Administration
Dear President-elect Obama,
Congratulations on capturing the hearts, minds, and hopes of our nation! As grassroots, community-based, consumer-controlled disability organizations, which collectively represent over 50 million Americans with the full spectrum of disabilities, we look forward to working with you and your administration to make cost-effective policy changes to enhance the lives of and restore the civil liberties Americans with disabilities.
Attached you will find nine summaries of the top policy issues facing Americans with disabilities. Taking action on your commitment and these policy measures will not only benefit citizens with disabilities, our nation’s wounded warriors, and the ever-growing aging population, it will benefit all Americans and save our government millions of dollars as individuals with disabilities become full participants in society.
They include:
- Employment: Reversing the persistently high percentages of people with disabilities who are not working but are ready, willing and able to work;
- Education: Increasing access and opportunities for physical activity, and improving quality;
- Health Care: Improving access and decreasing disparities and inequities;
- Home and Community-based Services (HCBS): Promoting effective community-based services as alternatives to costly nursing homes and other institutions and increase the FMAP to states;
- Disability Research: Promoting a quality of life and participation-based research agenda;
- Civil Rights: Reinvigorating civil rights enforcement, extending access requirements to new technologies, and continuing to restore protections stripped away by hostile courts;
- Human Rights: Protecting human rights of individuals with disabilities at home and abroad;
- Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Needs: Planning, coordinating, and providing resources to support people with disabilities before, during, and after a crisis; and
- Genetic Science and Technology: Promoting ethical use of new technologies.
Like you, we stand and sit on the shoulders of so many who have come before us. As our nation approaches the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2010, we embrace the disability rights principle, “Nothing About Us, Without Us.” For too long others claimed the need to speak for us, but no other group - professionals or relatives - speak for us.
Additionally, we urge you to embrace the fundamental principles for sustainable change, which are essential elements to building healthy, resilient, empowered communities. As you move forward with deliberate speed and consideration, we urge your administration to:
- Provide oversight of federal agency public policy, regulatory, and enforcement actions, and collaborate with consumer and community-based disability organizations as partners to better serve the ever-expanding population of more than 50 million Americans with disabilities;
- Hire qualified professionals with disabilities, who have expertise in policy areas, throughout the administration, including a Special Assistant to the President on Disability Policy;
- Include individuals with disabilities in policy formation in all areas addressed by the administration, and integrate representatives of our community on all advisory boards of all major agencies;
- Provide services that serve people with disabilities across the life span, from cradle to grave, and all those with increased needs for health care, health promotion, and long-term services and community-based supports;
- Incorporate consumer-directed services and include consumers in policy development;
- Embrace the disability experience as part of culturally competent policy and diversity at all levels of planning, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation; and
- Focus on “universal design” as a cost-effective innovative way to enhance the quality of life and level of participation of all Americans in community life and incorporate it into infrastructure changes in the economic stimulus package so we upgrade the infrastructure for all to usel;
Thank you for your support of the need for the federal government to be “diligent about making sure the states enforce the rights affirmed by the Olmstead decision.” Enabling people with disabilities to live independently in their own homes and communities, rather than being forced into costly Medicaid-funded nursing homes and other institutions will ensure civil liberties, enhance the quality of life and full participation of all Americans by creating stronger, sustainable communities of inclusion and acceptance to honor the 10th Anniversary of the Olmstead decision.
As a community of individuals with disabilities, we ask for nothing more than what other Americans expect and already have. We seek inclusion. We seek a voice for the disability rights message in the change you create. As you create more jobs for Americans, include jobs for Americans with disabilities. As you improve education for America’s students, include students with disabilities. As you improve the healthcare system, include the healthcare needs of individuals with disabilities. As you restore civil rights to Americans, include the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. To paraphrase your now immortal words, - We are not a nation of disabled and non-disabled Americans. We are the United States of America.
We stand ready to work with you and look forward to an opportunity to discuss our priorities with you personally in the coming months.
Sincerely,
National Council on Independent Living
Take Action: Tell President Elect Obama Your Policy Priorities!
Over the past three months, NCIL staff has met with key policy staff of the Presidential Transition Team (PTT) to convey our members’ policy priorities for people with disabilities. The time has come for President-Elect Barack Obama and his PTT to hear directly from you: people with disabilities, Centers for Independent Living, and Statewide Independent Living Councils. Your input is critically needed to ensure that people with disabilities have a seat at the table and nothing is considered about us without us!
We urge you to use NCIL’s DRAFT letter to President-Elect Obama (below) as a model for you to send your own letter. Please send your letters via email to Kareem Dale (kdale@barackobama.com) or via the PTT’s Website.
Nothing About Us Without Us! There are only 13 days left before the Inauguration and we need to do more than stand on the sidelines and watch the parade:
- People with disabilities should tell their stories and connect life experiences to specific policy requests;
- Centers for Independent Living and Statewide Independent Living Councils should highlight their successes and priorities!
For more information, contact NCIL Policy Analysts Deb Cotter or Elizabeth Leef by phone (202.207.0334) or email deb@ncil.org, elizabeth@ncil.org. Please be sure to share you letters with us so we have your stories on record. When sending email, please put “Letter to Pres-Elect Obama” in the subject line.
NCIL Recommendations to the Obama Transition Team
December 15, 2008
President-Elect Barack Obama
Presidential Transition Team
451 6th St., NW /
Washington, DC 20001
Sent via email: kdale@barackobama.com
Dear President-Elect Obama:
Thank you for your leadership on disability policy issues during your campaign and throughout your career. The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) looks forward to working with you and your Administration to implement the policy changes you and Vice President-Elect Joseph Biden outlined in your Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities. We are thrilled that Senator Tom Harkin not only served as your disability policy advisor during the campaign, but also that you continue to seek the Senator’s input. However, the participation of people with disabilities in shaping policy is critical to the success of the programs and services that often define our lives. We are pleased that you have hired several key disability advocates as part of your team. NCIL will continue to provide input and advice from our community organizers with disabilities. We stand ready to assist you the mission to implement initiatives that will finally allow Americans with disabilities the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.
As you know, NCIL is the oldest cross-disability, national grassroots organization run by and for people with disabilities. NCIL's membership includes Centers for Independent Living (CILs), Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILCs), people with disabilities, and other disability rights organizations. Independent Living (IL) organizations are directed and staffed by individuals with disabilities themselves, making them uniquely qualified to address relevant issues with expertise and practical solutions. As a membership organization, NCIL advances Independent Living and the rights of people with disabilities through consumer-driven advocacy. NCIL envisions a world in which people with disabilities are valued equally and participate fully.
CILs provide peer support, independent living skills training, and individual advocacy for people with disabilities, giving people the tools they need to live independently in their communities and fully contribute to society. Most importantly, they provide systemic advocacy by working with local, state, and federal policy makers to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the systems on which they depend. To that end, NCIL urges you to implement the following policies to ensure that IL advocates can continue to provide these cost-effective services to the most disenfranchised Americans. Enhancing these services will enable Americans with disabilities to survive this economic crisis and help to revive the economy:
- Reauthorize the Independent Living Program, Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
NCIL has been working to reauthorize and reform the Rehabilitation Act for nearly a decade while people with disabilities have fallen through the cracks and continue to face unemployment at a rate of up to 70% (Source: Department of Labor).** Please find below recommendations for improving the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and its policies to ensure that all Americans can obtain employment and participate fully in society. NCIL’s priorities for the reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act are outlined in our position paper.
Consumer control of services should be the cornerstone of our economic recovery. People with disabilities are the best equipped to oversee programs that assist them. This concept of “consumer control,” has proven to be a highly effective way of managing programs that serve people with disabilities, such as Centers for Independent Living, Statewide Independent Living Councils, and state rehabilitation councils.* It should now be implemented at the federal level by giving people with disabilities a voice over the Rehabilitation Services Administration. Title IV of the Workforce Investment Act should be amended to include the establishment of Rehabilitation Services Administration Council to direct the activities and oversee the operations of the Rehabilitation Services Administration in order to hold the Commissioner and their agency accountable. The link above provides an outline of a consumer-controlled RSA Council that would not only promote self-determination, but also enhance services to people with disabilities across the agency.
- Enact the Harkin-Specter Community Choice Act
Hold firm to your commitment to enable people with disabilities to live in their homes rather than in costly Medicaid-funded nursing homes. The Community Choice Act is about individual CHOICE. It mandates that states and Medicaid to offer home- and community-based services as an alternative to an institutional setting. Research conducted at the University of California at San Francisco has found that the Congressional Budget Office’s score of the bill was severely overinflated and that community based services are affordable (LaPlante, 2007). Every American deserves the right to live independently and to choose how and where to live.
- Include persons with disabilities in the development of all housing policies, housing programs, and educational housing presentations.
NCIL believes that community living is a right. There is a wealth of data and information documenting that there is a critical lack of affordable, accessible, healthy/nontoxicand integratedhousing for persons with disabilities, as well as a high incidence of housing discrimination committed against persons with disabilities. The Federal government funds a great deal of affordable housing; yet federal housing policies are often developed without the participation of persons with disabilities. The NCIL Housing Position Paper focuses on, but is not necessarily limited to, federally funded housing. In this harsh economic climate, people with disabilities should be included in all aspects of the development of housing initiatives.
- Reform Social Security by providing employment support insurance to people with disabilities and wage replacement support for people whose condition prevents them from working.
National public policy on employment and benefits is stuck in a morass of confusing program rules and conflicting advocacy positions. Both the rule makers and the advocates are struggling with how to support employment while protecting health and income benefits for those who rely on them most.
Designs for a two-plan model, reinforced with tax reform, would feasibly address these issues. The rules and programs would continue to have a level of complexity, but the mind-bending process of proving an inability to work before getting work incentives would get resolved. There would be a health coverage program for those looking for work. Advocates for employment supports would no longer be at odds with those demanding a safety net for those who need one. Tweaking Social Security rules has not worked up to this point, and there is little reason to believe it will work in the future. NCIL urges you to adopt the World Institute on Disability-NCIL proposal Being American: The Way Out of Poverty as part of your reform.
- Make the Federal Government a model employer of people with disabilities: Comply with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as Amended.
The percentage of Federal employees with targeted disabilities hit a 20-year low in Fiscal Year 2006, when the participation rate fell to 0.94% of the federal government’s total work force. In addition to declining numbers, the average grade for people with targeted disabilities was 8.5 – a full grade and a half below the government wide average of 10. Year after year, the Federal Government fails to demonstrate that it is a model employer when it comes to the hiring, placement and advancement of people with targeted disabilities.
The Federal Government has never been a model employer of people with targeted disabilities, despite requirements under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to develop and maintain an affirmative action program with the goal of hiring and advancing people with disabilities – a requirement that has been in place for 34 years!
Yet, the Federal government is on the brink of experiencing the most significant exodus of experience and talent in history. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimates that the Federal government will lose 40 % of its total workforce by 2010 as the baby boomer generation begins to retire. People with targeted disabilities currently experience an unemployment rate of 70% and represent a significant untapped pool of talent. Now is the time for Federal agencies to be held accountable and required to satisfy their legal obligation to become a model employer of people with targeted disabilities.
As a grassroots driven organization, NCIL will conduct our biannual Legislative and Advocacy survey of our membership to determine our policy priorities. We encourage your Administration to consider our current policy priorities as we move forward.
Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with you and your new team in the coming weeks, months, and years to enhance the lives of people with disabilities through community integration and full participation in society. Please do not hesitate to contact NCIL Policy Analysts Deb Cotter or Elizabeth Leef by phone: (202) 207-0334 or email: Deb@ncil.org, Elizabeth@ncil.org if we can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Kelly Buckland, President
John A. Lancaster,
Executive Director
Obama's Justice Pick Draws Fire of Pro-lifers: Schiavo Connections Cited
Source: Washington Times, by Stephen Dinan and Jerry Seper
Social conservatives and pro-life activists are mobilizing against President-elect Barack Obama's pick Monday for the No. 3 Justice Department job, a lawyer who aided the effort to remove Terry Schiavo's feeding tube during the landmark right-to-die case four years ago.
It is unusual for special interest groups to wage a fight over a sub-Cabinet appointment, but conservatives eager to press the Republican Party to mount some form of opposition to the emerging Obama administration say Thomas J. Perrelli's resume as a private lawyer and his appointment Monday as the nation's associate attorney general may provide the rallying cry.
Mr. Perrelli, a former Justice Department official and Harvard Law School classmate of Mr. Obama's, helped raise $500,000 for the president-elect's campaign, has worked as an attorney for the recording industry, which has significant business before the Justice Department, and represented Democratic lawmakers and voters involved in politically charged redistricting cases, an issue certain to rise again with the 2010 census.
But his high-profile role in the Schiavo case in 2005 stirred instant vitriol among pro-life and socially conservative activists who ordinarily focus their energies on judicial nominees. Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, derided Mr. Perrelli's selection as "just another death-peddler Obama has added to his list of nominees." She said he's earned the nickname among pro-lifers of "Piranha Perrelli" for his work on the case.
Tom McClusky, vice president for government affairs at the Family Research Council, said several end-of-life issues could make their way to the federal level in the next four years and having Mr. Perrelli at the department means pro-life causes would have a tougher time winning those debates. "If the Justice Department isn't going to do anything about it, the states, what's to stop them from cases like Schiavo and even worse cases," Mr. McClusky said.
The Schiavo case is still raw for many pro-life activists, though Miss Lafferty said some senators "are skittish about the whole thing." Mr. Perrelli didn't return an e-mail to his law office. But in announcing his nomination and three others to the Justice Department, Mr. Obama said the four would help restore the Justice Department's mission of upholding the Constitution. Read More.
Inauguration Organizers Concerned People with Disabilities May Have to Stay Home
Source: Baltimore Examiner, by Leah Fabel, AAPD
Those with physical disabilities will find Barack Obama's inauguration all but inaccessible, and organizers are concerned that people with disabilities may be forced to stay home. According to a release from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies -- the group responsible for the details of Obama's swearing-in -- parking restrictions near the Capitol include cars with disability plates or tags. Drop-off points for the disabled will be located several blocks away, and "traffic conditions and restrictions may make reaching these drop-off locations extremely difficult," the release said.
Even for those who finally arrive, designated areas for people with disabilities in the coveted ticketed section of the festivities are "limited in size and available on a first-come, first-served basis."
"This is like a big, bold sign that says if you're a person with a disability, this is not your event," said Richard Simms, executive director of the D.C. Center for Independent Living, a nonprofit that promotes independent lifestyles for disabled residents. "Everyone is happy and gleeful and it's a time for hope and change," Simms added, saying he anticipates an Obama administration friendly to his cause. "But in the process of that hope and change, you cannot exclude." Read More.
To address these and other issues with Congress's management of the ticketed inauguration ceremony on the Capitol Grounds
contact:
Contact Obama's inaugural team's accessibility contact, Mazen Basrawi with issues regarding the opening ceremony, the inauguration viewing from the Mall, the parade, and inaugural balls.
Host a Disability Pride Inaugural Event in Your Area!
With a new presidential administration comes a new chance for CHANGE for people with disabilities!
- Affordable, accessible housing
- Jobs and training for people with disabilities
- Improved health care for all
- Quality education for students with disabilities
- An opportunity for our voices to be heard!
Take advantage of the opportunity to bring together people with all types of disabilities in your community! During the week of January 19-25, while Barack Obama is inaugurated as President in Washington, DC, disability organizations will be holding local events in communities around the country. Set up an event in your community! Town hall meetings, potlucks, rallies, community service projects, whatever event suits your area.
Obama’s disability team will invite people from their extensive list of contacts in your area – to connect new people with disabilities to your organization! Don’t miss this opportunity to build a nationwide disability rights movement!
To let us know what event you’re planning and get assistance with contacts, press release, flyers, and other materials, please contact disabilitymovement@gmail.com or call Jessica Lehman at (510) 427-7535 or Rebecca (Hare) Cokley at (202) 420-1847
Instructions for Setting Up Your YouTube Video
YouTube is an interactive worldwide community—there are a lot of ways to use the platform to inform people, get them to participate, and grow awareness.
The Basics
1. Do your research. YouTube is more than a video-sharing site; it's many communities of active and engaged users. Look for current trends on the site (or ask us for tips) and find people who you think would engage with your campaign. If you launched your campaign today, can you see individual users who might contribute? If so, you'll know that what you're asking for isn't out in left field.
2. Be you, be different. Your campaign should reflect your organization's sensibility, so think of a concept that's in keeping with who you are. YouTube users appreciate authenticity. Emphasize how your campaign is unique to your organization and its goals.
3. Keep it simple. A simple video with a low barrier to entry is essential if you want to get a large number of submissions that resonate with your call-to-action.
4. Partner up. There is power in numbers on YouTube; it may be helpful to partner up with other organizations on the site whose work closely mirrors your own so that you can cross-promote your campaign on YouTube and off.
Making and Optimizing Your Videos
YouTube is designed to make sharing your videos with friends and family as easy as possible. You probably have the tools to make a video already, even if you don't have a camcorder. Web cams, digital cameras, and even cell phones often have video recording features—many digital cameras even have a simple switch to choose between stills and video, like this:
So take a look at what you already have—you may be surprised! Most of these devices record in either the .AVI or .MPG formats, both of which YouTube supports, and the video shot with them can be uploaded directly from the device or after being copied to your computer.
Digital and Analog Camcorders
If you already have a digital camcorder (one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats), then you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece. Your camcorder will need some kind of direct connection to your computer, either to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the DVD you've recorded. Once you've downloaded the video from the camera, you can upload it to YouTube or bring it into an editing program to play with it some more.
If you have an analog camcorder (one that uses VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape), you can still get your videos onto YouTube. It will require an extra step and some additional equipment, though, since these camcorders are not usually equipped with computer connections. You will need to digitize the video with a converter box, which will convert the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital signal that the computer can understand. After the video has been digitized, you can manipulate it further or upload it.
Editing and Improving Your Videos
If you want to be a bit more hands-on with your video, most new computers come with basic video-editing software installed (like Apple's iMovie or Windows MovieMaker). Once you have copied the video from your phone, camera, or camcorder to your computer, you can bring the video into these programs. Most allow you to not only edit the video, but add effects, titles, and music to make your video look and sound more interesting.
Uploading Your Videos to YouTube
Once you're happy with your final result, you'll need to save the video in a format that YouTube can accept in order to upload. Unless you're a professional video producer, we recommend that you save your videos as either QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI, or .MPG files— these are the most common formats and they work well within our system. We specifically recommend the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format at 640x480 resolution with MP3 audio. Resizing your video to these specifications before uploading will help your clips look better on YouTube.
Uploading Directly with Mobile Devices
If you have video capabilities on your cell phone or PDA, you can now upload videos directly from the device to YouTube. So if you get a quick clip of something cool with your phone, you can put it up right away. Just set up your Mobile Upload Options in advance, and then send your videos to the email address you're assigned. All of your mobile videos will have the default tags, title, and description that you set, or you can overwrite them in the email message you send.
Making Your Video Easy to Find
When you upload your video, we require you to choose at least one category and enter at least one tag to describe the content in your video. Adding this information helps other YouTube members find your video, so if you want an audience, help them out! The more accurate the tags are on each video, the easier it is for everyone to find cool videos to watch.
Make your tags as descriptive as you can—if you took a video of your friends at the beach, you might want to tag it like this: party beach surfing. Each tag is separated from the others by a space.
Instructions courtesy of YouTube for more information or troubleshooting please go directly to the YouTube help site at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/bin/topic.py?topic=16560
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January 8 , 2009