Reaching out to 50 speech organizations

Well, we did it.

Fifty states. One district. One hundred and fifty different contacts. I emailed every single state's (plus District of Columbia) speech and debate governing organization. It took dozens of hours to collect all the information into a master spreadsheet, then draft an email with the right balance of respectfulness and urgency for change, then send all the emails. Boy, am I glad it happened though.

The waiting might be the harder part. I wonder how many will respond. It could be none of them. It could be almost all of them. Will they be offended? Or willing to start a dialogue? I have no clue. I plan on sending multiple waves of emails, this was just an introduction, hi nice to meet you, would you like to start a conversation about accessibility, pretty please, type-of-a-thing.

I am going to hold off on national organizations for right now, maybe another week or so. I do not have the most coherent reason, it just feels like what I need to do.

I wanted to hold back until we had one hundred signatures on the petition, or at least wait one more day to see how many people we can get in on it. However, as a disabled person, I have to do what I can, when I can. My energy comes and goes. I had the energy to do it today, so it had to happen today because who knows what my mind and body will be up to tomorrow. I will keep you all update on what happens.

We are one step closer to making change. I can just feel it inch a little closer.

Best,

Alanna