As many know I served as chair of the Vermont Libertarian Party. Much of what I did is behind the scenes. When thinking about my time as chair I jotted down some achievements over time and here is what I came up with…
- Bought vtlp.org domain with my own money that the party had accidently lost to a cyber-squatter
- Joined Vermont Libertarian Party in 2004
- Developed website and transferred domain over to the party
- Helped Hardy Macia’s campaign for governor (sign waves, events, managed website, created ads)
- Took over full management of the website in 2004
- Formed the Burlington Libertarian Party in 2004
- Created the Burlington Libertarian Party website in 2005
- Helped form, create website and served as treasurer for the National Youth Right Association – Vermont Chapter in 2005
- Worked with and created website for Students for Sensible Drug Policy – UVM chapter in 2005
- Created LibertarianGuide.com to help organize Libertarian resources mostly nationwide in 2005
- Created podcast Ethan Allen Radio to discuss various local issues with a Libertarian perspective
- Ran for city council in Burlington in 2006, putting in 4-5 hours a day for about a month and a half.
- Converted campaign website to an ongoing blog to continue to discuss various local issues with a Libertarian perspective
- Elected to the Burlington Ward 4 & 7 NPA Steering Committee from 2006 to 2007
- Developed and maintained campaign websites for 6 websites for house candidates in 2006
- Oversaw Re-organizing the Vermont Libertarian Party 7 times (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
- Organized Vermont Libertarian Party conventions 6 times (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 (started))
- Elected Treasurer of Safe Water Advocates of Burlington in 2008
- Have developed and given free hosting for campaign websites to candidates each election cycle
- Have actively help managed various campaigns over the election cycles chairing the party
- Moved state party to Mautic system to manage membership/emails
- Spent many hours each year answering emails, responding to messages online from current and new members, organizing/attending meetings and keeping the membership database updated
- Spent many hours each election cycle interviewing candidates
- Helped organize various tabling events and parades
- Filed regular financial reports for the state party and various campaigns
- Filed campaign filings to put candidates on the ballot (presidential and local candidates)
- Successfully re-organized Burlington town committee on time every time since forming in 2004
- Developed multiple versions of the website since 2004
- Published various articles from members and organized advertising campaigns to spread the word
- Published press releases and distributed to various Vermont news agencies
- Met and held discussions with various national party leaders regarding party business
- Proposed and got passed bylaws change to allow all town committee officers to vote on party business from just town chairs.
- Setup payments accounts for the state party, Burlington committee and various campaigns (checking accounts, Paypal and Bitcoin acceptance)
- Been a member of the Vermont Libertarian party since 2004 (15 years)
- Served as chair of the Burlington Libertarian Party since 2004 (15 years)
- Served as chair of the Vermont Libertarian Party since 2007 (12 years) – longest serving chair in state history.
- Became lifetime member of the national Libertarian Party.
Stats through 1/27/2020:
- Members: 472
- Facebook Page: from 0 to 1329
- Facebook Group: from 0 to 232
- Facebook State Committee Group: 27
- Twitter: from 0 to 1365
- Instagram: from 0 to 274
- Published around 277 blog posts in all (positions, press releases, events, news, etc)
Grew all social media accounts from scratch.
OTHER NON-POLITICAL ROLES:
- Became a member of Burlington Business Association in 2006
- Elected Treasurer of North Avenue Cooperative in 2015
BRIEF BIO:
Born here in Vermont and lived here most of my life except for college. Married to Heavenly Ryan. Started by selling products online in 1997 to pay for college and been doing it ever since. After college in 2003 I started another business of building websites and marketing for others and been doing that ever since as well. I’ve been self-employed most of my career therefore I have the ability to plan and get things done without a boss.
