Online Activity -> Offline Action

This is why I came to this conference.  How to we use virtual connections to connect people in real life?  An then the other way around?

Michael Silberman (http://www.echoditto.com) worked on the Dean for President campaign.

At some point an organizer benefits from understanding the nuts and bolts of how to do an event or activity.  Michael's talk addresses this, but its not what I am looking for in this session. 

I find that these types of tools are great for people that have personalities that already lend themselves to doing events or planning.  But what about the people that are over-whelmed?  Tired?  Busy?  Scared?  Or may not really care?

As a traditional activists we are given the ability to meet someone face-to-face, learn their perspective, test their motivations and support that person's personal growth.  You can't do that through a meet-up.com.  At some point its just a fancy calendar with reminder features.  How do we motivate people to participate that aren't already participating?

What do you think?