Meeting Basics -

Herewith some simple tips and tricks to make your meeting or event a bit more professional and ...........  if you'll pardon the pun ........  eventful ....

Name Tags - Give Everybody A Name
Whenever you hold a meeting or an event, you want to have everyone wearing name tags - volunteers and guests.  

• People can talk one-on-one without having to go through the formality of asking for a person's name.  
• Some people are too shy to ask for a name.  
• There's a higher likelihood that names will be remembered.  
• It makes things look more professional.  
• You won't have to try and remember the name of a person you've been introduced to less than 5 minutes ago.  

"Peel-and-stick" name tags (Avery® 8164 Mailing Labels, 3-1/3" x 4", Pack of 150) can be readily "branded" with your campaign logo, name, and message so that labels are more than just your regular brand of blank name tag.  It also reminds the audience why they're here.  A simple tag line of "I'm supporting Cathy Candidate", the party logo and party colours will readily do the job.  

The objective of a name tag is to be able to READILY and EASILY see a person's name.  I don't want to be looking at your bellybutton or cleavage to find out what your name is. 

• Leave lots of white space to PRINT the name in LARGE BOLD type.  
• DON'T use a pen.  
• DON'T use a Sharpie marker.  
• Use a large CHISEL marker.  

Volunteer Sign-Up Sheets & Cards
An important objective of a campaign meeting is to collect names along with phone numbers and e-mail addresses.  Your guests are a potential source of voters, volunteers, and donors.  As a minimum, have sign-up sheets.  

Better yet, have sign-up cards.  They're easy to make from a package of 4"x 6" or 5"x 7" index cards. 

• Print them using MS Word
• Add your logo and branding.  
• Run them through your printer.  
• Total cost less than $10 for 250 cards.  
• When you print the cards, print on the blank side.
• The lined side can be used for comments by your guests or by your volunteers.  

Whenever you have an event, set up a table by the entrance manned by volunteers.  Make sure everyone signs in!  As a minimum, name, phone number, mobile phone number, and e-mail address is all that's needed.  Anything more than that will result in a line-up of people coming through the door.  And you don't want that.  Better yet, register your guests with your sign-up cards.  

And make sure you send them a "Thank you for attending" e-mail!  It not only thanks them for coming but it also confirms their e-mail address.  You're going to need those e-mail addresses when the campaign heats up as election day gets closer.  

Have The "Donation" Forms At Hand
It takes money to run an election campaign and yours is going to be dependent on donations.  There's nothing worse than having a guest offering to make a donation and you then scramble trying to find the official form.  Have them readily available on the table, along with a simple but large "Donation" sign.  Make it obvious that you are looking for donations.  

Typically there are two types of donations - the single donation and the regular monthly or bi-weekly donation that comes out of your guest's bank account or credit card.  It's those regular donations that you're looking for - the $20, $50, or $75 a month contributions.  

Make sure you have somebody on the table who is exclusively looking after donations.  Put a volunteer - an extroverted one - who's familiar with the election authority rules and isn't afraid to make "the ask".  

Pass The Hat!
In holding your event, there are costs - room rental, refreshments, audio visual, etc.  Passing the hat is a good way to recover some of those costs and add a bit to your campaign coffers.  Make sure you have a hat, bucket, basket, or collection jar handy.  

You'll also need some hat-holders - the people collecting the money - near the exits.  You don't want them at the front of the room when everyone is leaving by the back of the room.  These volunteers should be the extroverts on your team, not afraid to ask for the donation.  

At the beginning of their shift, bartenders "seed" the tip jar with money - quarters, loonies and toonies.  You don't see any pennies, nickels or dimes.  It's a hint to the patrons to tip the bartender.  And it works.  Do the same with the hat before you pass it around.  Seed it with $10's and $20's.  That gives a hint to your guests of what's appropriate to put in the hat.  Seed the hat with loonies and toonies and that's what you'll get.  

Collect The Volunteer Cards!
As your guests leave the room, make sure they've signed your registration form or volunteer card.  Have one of your people near the exits asking people and making sure that they've filled in the registration form/ volunteer card.  That same person can be handing out volunteer cards for your guests to sign, particularly if they've been inspired by your speech or presentation.  

Use The Mike
You may think you have the best voice in the world which you think will project to the back of the room.  I've seen too many times when orators have the option to use the sound system and don't.  Big mistake!  The amplification of the sound system gives you a presence in the room that you can't get just from your voice alone.  If a microphone is available, use it!

If you're going to make lots of presentations in small halls (meeting rooms, seniors residences, legion halls, community centres), invest in your own sound system.  It doesn't have to be expensive.  

Make sure you stay behind the speakers.  Otherwise you'll end up with that high-pitched squeal.  And when you've finished speaking, make sure you turn your microphone off!  Too many politicians have been caught making inappropriate comments when they thought the sound system was off.  

Do a "sound test" before your event.  During the event have one of your key volunteers stand at the back of the room to make sure the sound quality is good.  Before you start talking, ask if everyone can hear you.  Periodically keep an eye on that volunteer at the back.  Make sure they give you the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on your sound quality.  

Say "Thank You!"
In the 2008 election Barack Obama got 13 million e-mail addresses.  Three million of these people gave over $500 million to the campaign on-line through 6.5 million contributions.  That is, the average donor gave more than twice.  It just goes to show how valuable those e-mail addresses can be to the success of your campaign.  

Each one of those names you've collected represents a potential voter, volunteer, or donor  Make sure you thank them for attending your event.  Send them an e-mail.  Thank them for attending.  Ask them to volunteer for your campaign.  And don't hesitate to ask them for a donation.  Follow some of the principles we outlined in our post on e-mails.  Include a big red "call to action" button on the bottom of your e-mail.  

Ma belle femme attended a "meet the candidate" coffee party a couple of Sundays ago.  She wanted to learn more about the candidate.  However, the candidate was occupied with someone else and didn't get the chance to talk to my wife.  She returned home a bit miffed.  It was bothering her all the next day.  Later in the evening she received an e-mail from the candidate thanking her for attending and apologizing for not having had the chance to talk to her.  Needless to say, that e-mail confirmed her vote for the candidate.  

"Thank you" e-mails and phone calls are an excellent way to put volunteers to work.  Get them to input the information into spreadsheets or whatever system or database your campaign is using.  Prepare some text.  Make sure the e-mail is sent out within 24 hours of your event.  Sending it out 3-4 days later sends the wrong message.  

Those Important Follow-Up Conversations
You and your key volunteers are going to have conversations with some guests where there should be follow-up conversations.  Make sure your volunteers collect the names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses of those guests (remember those volunteer sign-up cards??)  The day after your event, make sure you have personal conversations with these guests.  A phone call or a meeting at the local coffee shop is all it takes to get another key volunteer organizer, fund-raiser, communications strategist, blog writer, issues researcher, or phone banking coordinator on your team.  

Celebrate Your Success - Build The Team!
By the end of your event, the adrenaline will really be pumping.  Everyone will be on a high.  Teams always celebrate successes.  Right now, immediately after the meeting is the time to do it. This is a good time to discuss what worked well, what didn't, what could be improved.  Make sure someone makes note of these issues.  And most important, use this as an opportunity to thank everyone for their help in making the event such a big success.  

Follow it up the next day with a personal e-mail to ALL your volunteer team (some of them may not have been able to attend the event).  It's an excellent way to generate momentum, to do some team building, to personally stay connected with your volunteers, to show them you care, to keep your team energized, and to make them feel they're an important part of your campaign.  

*****

I've been to a number of campaign events over the past 12 months both as a guest and as a volunteer.  I only received a couple of "thank you" e-mails.  Nothing kills enthusiasm or changes a vote like the voice of silence.  Opportunities are never missed.  If you don't take advantage of the opportunity, someone else will.   And it just might be your opposition.  Make sure you're "screaming" loudly so that everyone, especially your volunteers, can hear you loud and clear!

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Oops - Almost Forgot.  Clean Up Your Mess!!
How often have you visited an event, had some light refreshments, and then looked around for the garbage can or recycle bin?

Usually there's only one small garbage can, no recycle bins, with the result that, at the end of your event, the garbage cans look like this:

You don't want that happening to you.  Here's some tips to keep the place clean.  

• Bring along extra-large garbage bags with you.  This way you're assured they'll fit over whatever garbage bins are available. 
• Ask the custodial staff for extra garbage bags.
• Bring along blue and black recycle bins
• Periodically check to make sure the garbage and recycle bins aren't overflowing.  
• Bag up the garbage and put new bags in the containers.
• Find out where the garbage goes and put the bags there. 
• Make sure the recyclables get recycled.  DON'T put them in the garbage bin!  You'll lose lots of credibility.  

I know that nobody likes looking after garbage but somebody has to do it.  Leaving a mess leaves a very bad impression with the custodial staff who are charged with keeping the hall clean.  You can be sure they'll be complaining to their management.  It could jeopardize your future use of the hall.  It could also lose you votes.  Leave the place clean.  

Next up:  "Snail Mail"  and e-Mail - Examples of HOW NOT To Do It".