Guide for Organizing a
Clean Energy Congressional Meeting

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	Materials You'll Need Host Tools Page for your Organizing Meeting Host Tools Page for your Congressional Meeting Webcast to play at your Organizing Meeting Congressional Meeting agenda Talking points for small-business leaders Media guide How to speak to the media about the clean energy jobs bill (includes talking points) Sample Press Advisory Signs

This is a step-by-step guide to organizing a Clean Energy Congressional Meeting with a representative sitting on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. If your Council does not have a representative on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, please click here for a guide to organizing your own event.

You should have already chosen a location and start time for your Organizing Meeting, and registered it in our online tool.  If you haven’t done so, click here.

1. Requesting a Congressional Meeting

If you don't already have an appointment at your representative's office, you need to act immediately to get on their calendar. Here are some tips:

• Start by requesting a meeting with the member of Congress during the week of May 4. You can use this script for the call, and here's a sample meeting request letter if they ask for one.
• Start by asking for a meeting with the representative. Don't settle too easily for a "no" answer—be persistent and keep following up!
• Be polite. Whether or not you agree with your representative's politics, treating the staff you talk to with courtesy is the best way to get a meeting.
• Say that you're asking on behalf of local small-business owners, clean energy business owners, and MoveOn members who want a meeting. It's important to be clear that you represent local constituents.
• Explain that this is a timely meeting. Your representative is a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and as such he or she has an important role in expanding opportunities for local clean energy businesses by voting on the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act in the next few weeks. You should explain that you want the meeting to discuss the ACES Act, and how it could benefit small businesses and clean energy businesses in your community.
• Be persistent, and follow up. You may not get a firm answer right away, so don't give up. Call back every few days to check on the status of your request.
• If it's clear that the representative is truly unavailable to meet with you, you should ask for a meeting with a staffer. Ask to meet with the District Director. If he or she is unavailable, ask for whoever is responsible for energy and climate policy.
• You may be asked to submit a written meeting request. If so, click here for a sample letter you can work from: http://pol.moveon.org/districtmeeting/meetingrequest.doc
• Not sure how to find your local congressional office? Check www.house.gov for contact information.

2. Getting ready for your Organizing Meeting

When meeting with members of Congress—or their staff—it's critically important that everyone participating is well-prepared and knows his or her role. So to get ready, you'll need to hold an Organizing Meeting before your meeting. You'll want to schedule this meeting for no later than May 3, so you'll be ready to meet with your representative's office the week of May 4.

To make sure you're ready for this Organizing Meeting, you'll need to do a few things:

A. Recruit & prepare small-business leaders for your Congressional Meeting

Our representatives are hearing constantly in Washington from corporate lobbyists who say America can't afford to make the switch to clean energy. In the past few weeks, MoveOn Councils have been busy reaching out to small-business owners to show Congress that a new energy economy could create millions of jobs and revitalize our communities.

So our Congressional Meetings will showcase small-business leaders—especially those in the clean energy sector—who support a clean energy jobs bill. If you haven't already, your Council should immediately identify 2-5 small-business leaders to come to your Congressional Meeting. You'll also want to make sure that they can join the Organizing Meeting to get ready.

I. Finding small-business leaders

To find small-business leaders, and especially people who are involved in clean energy small businesses, you'll want to talk to your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator, who can provide you with a list of MoveOn members in the area who recently signed our online petition for a new energy economy. (If you don't know how to contact your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator, you can email councilorganizer@moveon.org.)

For more detailed instructions on recruiting clean energy business leaders, please click here: http://moveon.org/powerupamerica/organizing/cleanbusinessoutreach_districtmeetings.html

II. Preparing small-business leaders to speak

Because we're relying on these small-business leaders to communicate our message to congressional offices and the media, it's important that they're prepared to speak clearly and confidently about the opportunity for a new energy economy.

So once a small-business leader has agreed to participate, you should share our talking points with him or her and describe what we're looking for: "We'd like you to speak for 3-5 mins about how investing in clean energy would benefit your business." Ask if he or she has any questions, and schedule a time to practice what he or she is going to say (on the phone or in person).

B. Decide on roles for the Congressional Meeting

Before the Organizing Meeting, you'll need three volunteers selected in advance to help run the Congressional Meeting:

• Meeting Leader—facilitates the meeting and makes sure things stay on track
• Pitcher—makes direct asks of the representative (or his/her staff)
• Recorder—takes notes

It's great if your small-business leaders are willing to also fill one or more of these roles. If not, use trusted members of your Council. (If you're having trouble finding someone, talk to your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator for help.)

For this meeting, it's important that we do not have more than three people in the room who are not small-business leaders, because we don't want to distract from their uniquely important message—and besides, we need everyone else outside to build a crowd and show their support!

C. Join the host conference call

On Tuesday, April 28 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT, we'll hold a national conference call to go over what you need to know to make your event a success. To join, dial 212-812-2800 and enter 6031 9796. And if you can be online during the call (this is optional), go to https://www.spiderphone.com/60319796.

D. Print out the materials you'll need

Be sure to print out extra copies of:

• The Congressional Meeting agenda (one for each participant who'll be going inside the congressional office)
• Talking points for small-business leaders (one for each small-business leader)
• "How to speak to the media about the clean energy jobs bill" (for yourself, to answer any questions about our public message)

E. Test listening to the national webcast

To make sure people can hear the special briefing we've recorded about green-economy issues, you’ll need a fairly loud speaker attached to your computer. Before the gathering:

• Check your sound: Sit across the room from the computer to make sure everyone at your event will be able to hear sound from your speakers.
• Check your software: You'll need to have Flash and RealPlayer to connect to the webcast.
• Bookmark the webcast page: http://pol.moveon.org/jobsday/webcast.html

F. Watch the meeting training video

MoveOn has produced a special 20-minute training video on how to hold effective meetings with members of Congress, which MoveOn Councils showed in January at Congressional Action Trainings. Before your Organizing Meeting, be sure to share this video with the small-business leaders and MoveOn Council leader(s) who are participating in the Congressional Meeting: http://vimeo.com/2750507

G. Recruit and remind

It's up to you to make sure you have enough people on hand to pitch in and pull together a great Congressional Meeting. Reach out to everyone on your Council, and to people who have already joined the Power Up America campaign locally. And make sure everyone who's committed to coming gets a reminder call before the Organizing Meeting.

Talk to your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator if you need more help with recruitment.

H. Register your Clean Energy Congressional Meeting online

We'll be emailing other MoveOn members in your area to invite them to join you in gathering outside the congressional office -- to send a public message that the community wants your representative to support a strong clean energy jobs bill. So even if you're already registered your Organizing Meeting, it's important that you register your Congressional Meeting online as well.

Click here: http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/create.html?action_id=171

(If you haven't heard back from the congressional office by Sunday, May 10, you should go ahead and pick a date and time to stop by without an appointment.)

3. Agenda for your Organizing Meeting

A. Welcome guests (5 min)

As people come in, welcome them, ask them to sign the sign-in sheet, and encourage them to introduce themselves to someone they’ve never met. Even though people will trickle in late, make sure to start promptly out of respect for those who get there on time.

Introduce yourself to the group. Ask everyone to go around and introduce themselves by giving their name and the town they live in. Then, get started:

B. Listen to a national webcast (10 min)

We're producing a special national webcast offering important updates on the Power Up America campaign. Link coming soon.

C. Introduce the Congressional Meetings (2 min)

You'll want to briefly explain to everyone the purpose of the Congressional Meetings, emphasizing the unique role your Council has to play in communicating with a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee—and the importance of our small-business strategy. You can say something like:

"Now, here in TOWN we have a really important role to play, because Rep. NAME sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee—which is going to begin voting on the clean energy jobs bill in a matter of days. We know he/she is hearing a lot from big-business lobbyists in Washington who say we can't afford to make the switch to clean energy, so we've scheduled a face-to-face meeting at his office with local business leaders who see the opportunity to revitalize the economy in our community.

"But it's not enough just to meet with Rep. NAME's office privately—we've got to get the word out in the community to make sure he/she sees that his/her constituents are demanding a huge new investment in clean energy and green jobs. So before the meeting, we'll hold a gathering outside—and invite the media to cover the story.

"This is a really exciting event, but it's going to take all of us working together to be successful—and we've got to get started tonight."

D. Hear from Small-Business Leaders (less than 10 minutes)

At this point, you'll want to introduce the small-business leaders who will be taking our message into your representative's office. Each should speak briefly about why he or she supports investing in clean energy and how his or her business could benefit from a new energy economy. You can introduce them by saying something like:

"Now, I'd like to invite our local business leaders to share a little of what they'll be saying at Rep. NAME's office"

E. Get to work! (20-30 minutes)

At this point, you'll want to break into two groups. Excuse the small-business leaders and 1-3 MoveOn members who will be joining them inside the congressional office to practice running through the meeting (be sure to also include someone who can pretend to be the representative or his/her staffer).

Say something like: "Next, we need to get to work on the gathering outside the office. We need a media and recruitment plan, and we need to prepare signs and visuals. So while we work on that, I'm going to excuse our business leaders to do some final preparation for the meeting inside the office."

I. Practicing the face-to-face meeting

Those who are participating in the meeting inside the congressional office should briefly review the meeting agenda and spend a few minutes brainstorming about what to expect from your representative. Your meeting will be much more effective if you spend some time in advance thinking about what response you might get. Consider: "What do we know about Rep./Sen. [NAME]? What is his or her record on energy issues?" (Talk to your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator in advance for help in assessing what position your representative is likely to take on the clean energy jobs bill in committee.)

In the remaining time, practice what to say in the meeting. The best way to do this is to do a run-through, using the agenda as your guide. You shouldn't read straight from the agenda text—just use it as a reference. Pick someone who won't be speaking at the meeting to play the member of Congress or staff person you'll be meeting with, based on the results of the brainstorm.

After you've finished a practice meeting, pause and take some time for discussion. Go around the room and ask each person to share one thing they thought went well in the practice and one thing that could be improved in the actual meeting.

II. Preparing for the gathering outside

The gathering outside the congressional office is just as important as the meeting happening inside—because it's your best opportunity to apply public pressure on your representative, and show that members of the community strongly support a clean energy jobs bill.

To make sure this part of the event goes well, you'll want to do three things at the Organizing Meeting:

• Make a media plan. Spend a few minutes brainstorming local news outlets who might be interested in covering your event. Identify a media coordinator, if your Council doesn't already have one—this person should fax the press release to your media list. Ask for volunteers who can help him/her make follow-up calls to reporters the morning of the event.
• Make a recruitment plan. You'll need a decent-sized crowd to show your strength to your representative and members of the media. So don't just rely on email. Identify a recruitment coordinator, if your Council doesn't already have one. Ask each person present to commit to bringing two friends to the event. And talk to your Field Organizer or Regional Coordinator about getting a list of local MoveOn members to phonebank before the event.
• Make signs! Providing colorful visuals is a great way to get good media coverage. Ask people to bring signs and markers and make signs to bring with you to the event.
• Another great way to reinforce our jobs message is to have people wear green hard hats. Here's one source to order them online: http://www.utilitysafeguard.com/Safety/Hard-Hats/AllSafe-Jackson/BC100-Bump-Cap-Green/

F. Wrap up and have a potluck (5 min)

Thank everyone for coming and remind them of the date, time, and location for the Congressional Meeting. Make sure you have the name, phone number, and email address for every person who agreed to come.

If people brought food or drinks to share, this is a great time to put them out for a potluck.

4. Final preparations for your Congressional Meeting

A. Let the office know that you'll be gathering outside

To avoid any misunderstanding or confusion, you should make a courtesy call to the congressional office in advance, to let them know that you'll be inviting reporters and local MoveOn members to gather outside the office before the meeting. Be polite, but firm—you have the same rights to gather in a public place as any other group. If the office would prefer you gather with reporters inside, that's fine too!

B. Make reminder calls to your meeting participants

The night before your Congressional Meeting, make sure you call everyone from the Organizing Meeting who agreed to come to the Congressional Meeting. Make sure everyone knows their roles and has practiced what they're going to say. Encourage them to arrive at least 10 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to begin.

C. Invite the press

Your event will reach thousands more people if you are able to get media coverage, so it's important that your media coordinator works to get reporters to the event in advance.

If you haven't done media outreach before you should watch this video that our friends at the Center for Progressive Leadership put together for a MoveOn Council media training in January 2008: http://www.cplaction.org/media/hosts/videos.htm

Check out our media guide for step-by-step instructions on attracting local media to your event. We’ll also put together a sample advisory and talking points to make the entire process as easy as possible.

One important note: It’s critical that you contact media before the day of your event, and that you make reminder calls to reporters. We recommend sending a news advisory a few days before the Congressional Meeting, and then following up with a phone call. You should also call again on the day of the event (or the afternoon before, if your event is early in the morning).

D. Print out the materials you'll need at the event

• Talking points and sample remarks for the gathering outside
• Talking points for small-business leader
• Meeting agendas (one for each participant, in case anyone forgets to bring a copy)
• Press advisories (extra copies to hand to reporters -- be sure to customize this sample version for your event)
• Printable "Clean Energy Jobs Now' signs for attendees who don't have their own
  • Letter-sized, color
  • Letter-sized, black and white
  • 11x17, color
  • 11x17, black and white

• Another great way to reinforce our jobs message is to have people wear green hard hats. Here's one source to order them online: http://www.utilitysafeguard.com/Safety/Hard-Hats/AllSafe-Jackson/BC100-Bump-Cap-Green

5. At the congressional office

A. Gathering outside

1. You should greet everyone as they arrive and give them signs if they don't have their own. The media coordinator (or team) should keep an eye out for reporters and hand them copies of the press advisory.
2. After waiting a few minutes for everyone to gather, the MC should then offer brief remarks introducing the purpose of the event. (See the sample remarks for an example of what you can say.)
3. The MC then introduces each small-business leader to speak about how his or her business would benefit from a new energy economy. (Try to keep each one to 3-5 minutes, going for no longer than 15 minutes total.)
4. After answering any questions from reporters, the small-business leaders and other meeting participants should head inside the office. (If you don't have an appointment, just ask to sit down with whomever is available.)
5. Optional: If the congressional office is in an area with significant car or foot traffic, some people may want to remain outside for a "honk and wave."

B. During the meeting

As the Meeting Leader, it's up to you to make sure everything goes smoothly—your fellow MoveOn members will be counting on you to step in if there's a problem. Below are a few tips—and for more, be sure to watch the Congressional Action Training video.

• Use the agenda. You want to make sure you follow the agenda we provide—this is your handy guide to what you should cover during the meeting, and it's what other members are expecting you to cover.
• Control the conversation. Our elected officials work for us, and we request meetings with them to communicate our priorities. Be polite, but don't allow your member of Congress, or his or her staff, to redirect the conversation to another purpose.
• Keep your team focused. If someone in your group starts to veer off-subject, it's your job to politely step in and get things back on track. If necessary, saying something like, "Thank you for offering your thoughts, but I'd like to give someone else a chance to talk now"—and then call on whoever's next on the agenda.
• Make sure you get an answer. Elected officials often hedge when asked directly about concrete legislation. You may not be able to get a firm yes or no answer, but follow up until you're satisfied that the official you're meeting with understands the request and commits to getting back to you about it.
• Remember that you're building a relationship. No matter what you think of your member of Congress's politics, it pays to have a good relationship with them and their office. So be cordial and express your interest in working together in the future.

6. After the meeting

A. Send a thank-you note

No matter the outcome of your meeting, it's important to send a short thank-you note to the person you met with—and one to anyone in the office who was helpful in getting your meeting scheduled.

B. Send in photos

Make sure someone at the event takes photos with a digital camera. Send your best photos to districtmeetingphoto@moveon.org. (Please try to send the photos from the same email address you used to host or sign-up for an action. Please also be sure to send the photos as attachments, not pasted into the body of the email.)

C. Fill out a short survey.

Also, please take a minute to fill out a short survey. The surveys are really important—they help us understand what works and what doesn't. We want to make future events better and easier for you. This is the best way to let us know how to do that. We'll email you the survey just after the event—keep an eye out for that.