About James Waisbrot of the Democrats Are Better Blog, Web Designer and Blogger

About James Waisbrot

Seeking Position in Web Design, Customer Service, Sales, and/or Management as well as in government

Wausau, Wisconsin Area and Stevens Point, Wisconsin Area

·                                 Contact James Waisbrot

·                                 Add James Waisbrot to your network

Current

·   Wisconsin Potatoe Growers of Wisconsin Coop, Map and Acreage Assitant for GPS Mapping (current)

·  Telemarketer at Figi's Inc. (Last Job)

·  Current PCD Democrat member and past Executive Board Member-At-Large at Portage County Democratic Party of Wisconsin

·  May 2007 Graduate in Web Design and Digital Media from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

·  May 1989 Graduate in Business Management and German from Ripon College

Links:

James Waisbrot - LinkedIn James Waisbrot - LinkedIn

 

jimwaisbrot (jimwaisbrot) on Twitter

James (James Waisbrot) | MySpace

James T Waisbrot | Facebook

myYearbook | James Waisbrot

My Old Web Design Portfolio

Past

·  Portage County Democrat (PCD) member and Past Executive Board Member at Large at Democratic Party of Wiscosnin

·  Obama Campaign andf OFA for Healthcare Organizer and blogger at [MilwaukeeWIforObama2008] Re: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

Education

·  Democratic Leadership Institute (DLI) 2009

·  Democratic Meeting

·  University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Web and Digital Media Design, B.S. Degree

·  Ripon College, Business Management and German, B.A. Degree

 

James Waisbrot’s Governmental Experience

Executive Board Member-At-Large

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

(Non-Profit; Political Organization industry)

November 2008 — Present (1 year 7 months)

While helping with the Obama Campaign to get Obama Elected, I became a member of the Democratic Party, the Portage County Democrats and the Portage County Obama Volunteer Group.

I have been elected as a Member at Large for the executive Board of the Portage County Democrats. I will also be attending the the 7th CD Convention on April 18 in Wausau, Wisconsin, as well as the the Democratic Leadership Institute April 25th and 26th and will be going to th Democratic National COnvention June 12 and 13th.

 

Portage county Democrat member

Democratic Party of Wiscosnin

2008 — 2010 (2 years )

Obama Campaign and OFA for Healthcare Organizer and blogger

[MilwaukeeWIforObama2008] Re: Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2008 — 2010 (2 years)

 

Democratic Leadership Institute (DLI) 2009

Democratic Party of Wisconsin , Attendee for 2009 , 2009 — 2009

This Year's DLI was held again at Devil's Head Resort Convention Center in Merimac, Wisconsin.

Activities and Societies:

Attended Seminars:
-Tammy Baldwin Wisconsin and Pat Kreitlow of EauClaire, -Wisconsin as Speakers
-Workshop with Obama for America Wisconsin Head 
-Workshop on Using and getting the The VAN - Voter Activist 
- Main Workshop on of Wisconsin Fund Raising and 
  Engaging People

     

Democratic Meeting

District 7 Planning Committee Meeting 2009 — 2009

At the meeting we, as democrats came together with Resolutions from the area districts and chose resolutions and amended them to be forwarded for the the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in Green Bay JUNE 12 & 13, as coming from DISTRICT 7. 

I talked to people from Wood and Wisconsin Rapids areas there, as well as some up North areas. The Portage County Democrats are also invited to the Wood County Democratic and Wisconsin Rapids Democratic Party's get together/parties where there will be food and important issues discussed and maybe speakers, etc.

Location of Event : Wausau, WI at the Howard Johnson's

Activities and Societies:

     After this District & Planning Committee Meeting I attended, along with Gary Hawley, (the co-chair of the portage county democrats, a fundraiser and informational meeting event for/with DAVE OBEY where he spoke at length.

My Resume  

About Me:

Biography: A Reflection on Technology

     I was born on April 14, 1966 and I have grown up seeing the computer revolution. As a freshmen in High School, I saw computers, which were RadioShack "Tany Computers" and run by storing information on regular cassette tapes in serial fashion. I watched computers evolve and have kept current with the new storage mediums used for computers as it has evolved through the years. When doing research for papers in high school, I used periodical and card key catalogs from the public or school libraries. Today, card and periodical catalogs are accessible through computers and the internet allows you to quote internet resources as well as search for periodicals. Sites like Wiscat (Wisconsin's internet college catalog) , allow you to find electronic, as well as, hard copy articles or you can also find information through open source dictionaries and encyclopedias on the internet, like the website Wikipedia. The internet is now a great tool for information, but the challenge in such internet research has become more about knowing when information you locate is credible and reliable than when before the Information Age, the challenge of trying to locate the information itself. While at UW-Stevens Point as a student, I took a course for one credit which was about internet resources and learned how very important it is to make sure your sources are credible and contain accurate information.

     When I began attending Ripon College in 1984, the entire computer system was a mainframe computer system, which was backed up each night. I started out as a physics engineering student with a second major in German Literature, but switched to Business Management as a result of my interest in government and the economy. Before I left Ripon College, it had a network of Macintosh computers and I enjoyed their better interface with users a great deal. I also liked "Word", the Macintosh word-processing system, which I was able to use to do college papers and outlines more efficiently and with better typeface results when printing my final work.

     In 1989, I was a foreign exchange student in Germany, located at Bonn University. Bonn was then the capital of Germany, which is now Berlin. I visited East Germany when "The Wall" was still up and didn't look like it was going to come down, just like the barriers or "wall" to communication and information changed with the evolution of the internet. While abroad in Germany, I took with me an IBM Compatible computer. Comparing it to the computers of 2007 its most obvious differences were a monochrome CRT display with yellow text on black background screen, the computer's slow processing speed of 66 Megahertz per second, its use of five and one half floppy drives, and also it use of a dot matrix printer, which was the only type available I have returned to college at UW-Stevens Point, from having jobs in grocery retail and restaurant management, where the work and responsibilities never stop. I decided to come back to college to learn about web design, which didn't even exist as a major when I attended Ripon College. I selected UW-Stevens Point for a bachelor's of science degree in the Web and Digital Media Development Major because it was close to home and I liked that, as well as the fact that not many schools had majors nearby in web design back in the year 2003, when I started this major. I have enjoyed and have learned problem solving and thinking skills involved in the major of web design, as well as the artistic side of web design. I have learned the idea of concept driven design along with the need for proper planning and organization, especially in the area of user navigation when creating a website. I also enjoy the video work and the creative and research part of the planning process involved in order to create a good video project that can be published and seen on the world wide web in different video formats.

     I have always been a leader and from high school, to Ripon College, and now UW-Stevens Point I have always been involved in student government. I feel it is important to stay involved in our democracy and help educate and encourage others to me more participative. I feel the internet can help organizations in the dissemination of information to make and get people in society more politically active. I have also found that with the internet it is easier to stay informed about what is happening in the news, whether global, national, or locally because the information can be viewed and accessed twenty four hours per day. I have also made many good friends throughout my life as a result of my participation in student government, where the members work as a team for the caucus they represent and try to work as a team in writing and passing important legislation that affects students. In a similar way, I enjoy working in teams in web design projects, where I am often chosen or selected as the organizer and leader for the group. I like the team learning process for technology related projects because the team members learn and work with each other to develop a final good and viable product like a website.

     It has really impressed me how much better a computer program can play well at chess because of new program algorithms and the growth of the processing speed in computers. Especially, since when I was growing up I used to be able to beat the Atari chess player, but it took longer than regular allowed time limits, according to tournament rules, to be able to beat me. Now computers can actually beat grandmasters in chess on a regular basis. I also enjoy movies and cinema, especially foreign and film festival movies with riveting ideas and characters. I especially enjoyed the film Powaquatsi, which showed how much proper editing and the use of only sound can convey a message, since no words are spoken in this film produced by Philip Glass and George Lucas. I believe that when you make videos that the editing in programs like Video Vegas are very important because to have a great presentation errors made by both the interviewer and the interviewee can be edited and fixed. Also, sound can be kept and images put in place to hide awkward moments in interviews occurring during filming. Producing a small video or "vidlet" takes a lot of pre-planning and storyboarding, but the end product is worth it, especially when you can see your own work up on the internet.

      What is fun about a Web and Digital Media Development major at UW-Stevens Point is the variety of web-based tools and programs there are to use for creating a site. Because of this, there is always more to learn and more than one way to accomplish the same thing. I am a person that likes constant learning, and I consider a web design job fun and exciting because of the fact that the web design field has constant evolution of programming tools used, which are being revised and made better to do more than they could before, and results in making web design processes, whether involving a web page or a video creation, to be better and sometimes even easier to do.

Post from OFA Blog: "We have a big task ahead of us" By Christopher Hass - May 30, 2010 12:35:39 PM ET

Post from OFA Blog:

"We have a big task ahead of us"

By Christopher Hass - May 30, 2010 12:35:39 PM ET

Also listed in: 2010 HQ Blog

Comments |  Mail to a Friend  |  Report to Admin

From OFA Deputy Director Jeremy Bird:

The November elections are just over five months away, and we have a big task ahead of us.

Although it may be challenging, we have identified a clear path to success: get as many as possible of the 15 million folks who voted for the first time in 2008 back to the polls.

We know that engaging them early in the year is the best way to ensure their participation -- so on the weekend of June 5th, we're kicking off our Vote 2010 program on the ground.

Across the country, OFA volunteers will be knocking on doors and making calls in their communities, reconnecting with first-time 2008 voters and asking them to commit to vote again this November. Can you join in?

Since President Obama took office last January, we have enacted measures that will drastically improve the lives of millions of Americans -- from the Recovery Act to health reform -- and we're on the cusp of passing real Wall Street reform. As the New York Times put it, "Congress and the White House have completed 16 months of activity that rival any other since the New Deal in scope or ambition."

None of this would have been possible without your support, but we need to keep that momentum going into the fall.

We know that if we re-engage first-time voters from 2008 -- folks who historically are less likely to vote again, but who strongly support the work we're doing -- then we can be successful in November. Just a small swing in their turnout could represent a shift that is big enough to affect tight races across the country.

Your help reconnecting these voters to the political process will make the difference -- will you join us?

Thanks again,

Jeremy

Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America

Keith Oberman - Honoring The Fallen

From Keith Oberman, "Honoring The Fallen":

Home • Briefing Room • Your Weekly Address

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The White House Blog

Weekly Address: Honoring the Fallen

Posted by Jesse Lee on May 29, 2010 at 06:00 AM EDT

Ahead of Memorial Day, the President asks all Americans to join him in remembering and honoring our men and women in uniform who have died in service to the country. 

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog: The President in the Gulf Coast

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog:

The President in the Gulf Coast

By Erica Sagrans - May 28, 2010 1:18:48 PM ET

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President Obama is traveling to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana today to assess first-hand the latest efforts to stop and clean up the BP oil spill.

You can listen to the President speaking live from the Gulf at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time.

UPDATED: This event has ended. 

As the President made clear yesterday, he is continuing to do whatever is necessary to stop the leak and help those who live in the Gulf region. The administration has also suspended all offshore drilling plans until additional reviews are completed, and will suspend action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog: A Stronger and More Inclusive Military

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog:

A Stronger and More Inclusive Military

By Erica Sagrans - May 28, 2010 9:14:02 AM ET

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Last night the House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  policy that has prevented gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

Following the House vote, President Obama released the following statement:

I have long advocated that we repeal ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’, and I am pleased that both the House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee took important bipartisan steps toward repeal tonight.  Key to successful repeal will be the ongoing Defense Department review, and as such I am grateful that the amendments offered by Representative Patrick Murphy and Senators Joseph Lieberman and Carl Levin that passed today will ensure that the Department of Defense can complete that comprehensive review that will allow our military and their families the opportunity to inform and shape the implementation process.  Our military is made up of the best and bravest men and women in our nation, and my greatest honor is leading them as Commander-in-Chief. This legislation will help make our Armed Forces even stronger and more inclusive by allowing gay and lesbian soldiers to serve honestly and with integrity.

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog: Beaches, Barbecues, and Vote 2010

Post from Erica Sagrans's Blog:

Beaches, Barbecues, and Vote 2010

By Erica Sagrans - May 28, 2010 7:57:13 AM ET

Also listed in: 2010 HQ Blog

With the start of Memorial Day weekend, it's hard to not turn our thoughts to beaches, barbecues, and the beginning of summer. But OFA volunteers across the country are hard at work gearing up for the following weekend's Vote 2010 Kick-off canvass events.

From California to New York, folks will be hitting the doors to talk to first-time 2008 voters and ensure they get to the polls this year—click here to find an event near you.

Anne S. in Oakland, CA told us about her "Take the Lake" event:

Our “Take the Lake” 2010 Kick off canvass is almost exactly a year after I participated in my first Camp Obama as part of the OFA nationwide healthcare kick-off. And here I am—still organizing! Our congressional district has more first-time '08 Obama voters than any other district in the state, so we know we have our work cut out for us this summer. We wanted to have a fun event to re-energize and engage our volunteer base. We’ll gather near Lake Merritt on hopefully a very sunny, warm day. We'll have food, music, and speakers, and people can make phone calls or go out and canvass the neighborhood.

And Corey B. on one of the New York, NY canvasses:

I decided to host this 2010 Kick-off event because I believe in the power of voting. Something as simple as registering to vote has the potential to change the course of history. I look at the 2010 Kickoff as a chance to get a temperature of the political interests of our community and to refocus their attention on the local and national issues that affect people's lives. A successful event can help educate residents of Harlem about their civic responsibilities and empower them to take action in their community. I'm confident our efforts will build the foundation needed for success in the November!

By Elizabeth Chan: President Obama on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill: “We will continue to do whatever is necessary”

President Obama on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill: “We will continue to do whatever is necessary”

By Elizabeth Chan - May 27, 2010 7:26:01 PM ET

President Obama held a press conference this afternoon to address the Administration’s ongoing efforts to stop the oil leak and to clean up the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The President firmly stated that the federal government has been in control of the response efforts since day one.

The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort. As far as I’m concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster, and we will hold them fully accountable on behalf of the United States as well as the people and communities victimized by this tragedy. We will demand that they pay every dime they owe for the damage they’ve done and the painful losses that they’ve caused. And we will continue to take full advantage of the unique technology and expertise they have to help stop this leak.

The President spoke of the government’s efforts to help those living in the Gulf region whose livelihoods have been affected by the oil spill, noting that “we’re not going to abandon our fellow citizens. We’ll help them recover, and we will help them rebuild.” The Small Business Administration has already approved new loans for affected businesses and is allowing many small businesses to defer existing payments. Additionally, the Administration is making sure that BP is held responsible for paying economic injury claims.

President Obama then took the opportunity to announce new regulations for the oil industry, including a suspension of plans to drill in other offshore locations around the country pending additional reviews:

I also announced that no new permits for drilling new wells will go forward until a 30-day safety and environmental review was conducted. That review is now complete. Its initial recommendations include aggressive new operating standards and requirements for offshore energy companies, which we will put in place.

Additionally, after reading the report’s recommendations with Secretary Salazar and other members of my administration, we’re going to be ordering the following actions: First, we will suspend the planned exploration of two locations off the coast of Alaska. Second, we will cancel the pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and the proposed lease sale off the coast of Virginia. Third, we will continue the existing moratorium and suspend the issuance of new permits to drill new deepwater wells for six months. And four, we will suspend action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells currently being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, the President also noted that the disaster in the Gulf is a stark reminder that the United States needs to work toward a clean energy future—specifically by passing energy reform legislation.

If nothing else, this disaster should serve as a wake-up call that it’s time to move forward on this legislation. It’s time to accelerate the competition with countries like China, who have already realized the future lies in renewable energy. And it’s time to seize that future ourselves. So I call on Democrats and Republicans in Congress, working with my administration, to answer this challenge once and for all.