Vegas Changes Everything

 Las Vegas is a great town - beyond all the hype and that horrible cliche that everyone keeps repeating about what happens there... Vegas is a great place to visit, work and live.

That said it seems that anytime a conference comes to town, you see otherwise reasonable people act... well... unreasonably.

Nothing turns a group of  conventioneers into a group of... well whatever that is above... quite like Vegas.

It also has the debilitating ability to make the stack on the left seem insignificant by being the stack on the right.  Same money, different feeling.

Which serves as a point to consider.  Everything is about perspective.

How you do things affects your outlook. 

Same can be said about how others view what you are doing.  So looking at your government affairs efforts, what are other people seeing in what you are doing?

Are you reasonable, or unreasonable?

Is what you are doing making you look like you are spending significant amounts in your efforts, or insignificant?

What are you doing to be effective in new and different ways to make people keep coming back?
 

Some people just can't help themselves

Today I was reflecting on what went wrong with a client we had.

They needed help communicating the value of their PAC and government affairs efforts to their members.  More importantly, they needed help connecting the two.

They had been trying for years and kept running into the same stumbling blocks and wanted help getting around them.

We worked hard to get them there.  Providing more options at every turn.  However the same stumbling blocks they ran into, they refused to let us work around.

• No researching their membership
• No studying past analytics
• No support for messages going out
• No commitment to message issues
• When we built them a communication piece - they wouldn't use it
• No explanation of why

So what did we do wrong?  Hard to say honestly.  I am sure we could have worked harder to accomplish their goals for them, however at some point you have to ask yourself if it is possible to ever help someone who wont help themselves.

Take a look at your own plans.  Are you willing to try new things?  Or are you going to throw up your own road blocks?

Electing Champions … developing a successful political program

Public Policy decisions affect your ability to make a living. Almost every day, elected officials make decisions that affect your ability to conduct business. Who is elected determines the outcome of public policy. Electing the right policy-makers positions you for positive public policy. Organizations must have the ability to implement plans and utilize resources to impact elections.

 

·  Benchmark your current elected officials to determine who supports your issues and who does not (provide information about your issues, , develop relationships, monitor their actions, watch their voting records)

·  Track the campaign process (when is the election, when is filing for candidacy)

·  Identify which political offices are up for election and which elected officials support your interests and which ones do not

·  Determine which elected officials are running, which candidates will likely be vulnerable and which seats will be open

·  Recruit candidates for targeted races (focus on open seat opportunities and vulnerable candidates who do not support your interests), work with members and coalition partners to find potential champions

·  Conduct campaign training programs to educate potential candidates and activists how to conduct successful campaigns

·  Endorse candidates who support your interests (make sure you have an endorsement policy and procedures adopted to give your endorsement credibility)

·  Provide support to help ensure victory for your endorsed candidates (contribute funds, provide volunteers, conduct Independent Expenditures)

 

Ensure you have the ability to influence elections by having sufficient PAC funds available (if you do not have the ability to help all your endorsed candidates win, then you need more funds in your PAC).

Government Affairs Strategies LLC provides the experience and expertise needed to build effective government affairs programs.

Our team has the ideal mix of experience and understanding how associations operate, how they can be successful, how to develop effective government affairs programs, campaign strategies, issue advocacy campaigns, legislative tactics, message development, communications/media plans, grassroots member mobilization and PAC fundraising programs.

As always, let us know how we can help you achieve your goals.

Popularity Contests in Politics

So many of us remember or have tried to forget the days of high school popularity contests – the good, the bad and the ugly!  But what does popularity have to do with politics? In today’s world of politics data is a key piece for almost everything, from polling to branding yourself, your online presence in social media to regular news feeds.  So what does this have to do with popularity and why should politicians being paying attention? Well check out what this DC start-up company is doing.  As we’ve seen from recent news, the good, the bad and the ugly exists everywhere and yes we know this is a shock but in politics too.  Either way, both incumbents and challengers need to know where their popularity stands and who is saying what about them.  And having that in data form is invaluable information to help them mold and shape their agendas among voters!

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/trendpo-site-turns-buzz-into-branding-contest-95318.html

Mobilizing members in Government Affairs

Not getting the support you need from your members? Maybe you want to look at your committee structure and the role they play. Does your Government Affairs Committee primarily convene and struggle to find a reason to exist? Do they meet for the sake of meeting? Do they have an agenda? Do you have a chairman that is focused and stays on topic/track? Sometimes it may be necessary to reorganize your committee to ensure they accomplish what you need them to accomplish (adopt policy, provide oversight and guidance when necessary) and create task forces to address specific issues.

Before you look to mobilize your members, you will want to know what you want them to do. Do you need certain members to …

·         Serve on committees?

·         Attend public hearings?

·         Testify on certain issues?

·         Meet with their elected officials?

·         Respond to action alerts?

·         Volunteer on campaigns?

·         Contribute to the PAC?

The key to successful member mobilization is having a clear vision for what you want them to do.

 
Start by adopting a pro-active legislative agenda (no more than three issues) or a specific cause (stopping a specific piece of legislation, electing your endorsed candidates, etc.). Then, develop an effective communication plan to help your members understand the importance of the issue; address the challenges your industry faces, the solutions your organization has to offer, and your successes on past issues. Be sure to keep it simple and make sure you tell them how it affects their livelihood (don’t assume they know what the issue is or why it should be important to them). Access all communication vehicles available (don’t rely only on email). Tell them over and over. And then tell them again.

Now, only after your members are aware of what you’re trying to accomplish and have bought into your mission are you ready to ask them to take action (vote, call, email, invest, volunteer, etc.) on a specific cause.

Government Affairs Strategies LLC provides the experience and expertise needed to build effective government affairs programs.

Our team has the ideal mix of experience and understanding how associations operate, how they can be successful, how to develop effective government affairs programs, campaign strategies, issue advocacy campaigns, legislative tactics, message development, communications/media plans, grassroots member mobilization and PAC fundraising programs.

Let us know more about how you want to mobilize your members and how we can help you achieve your goals!