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Event Guide

Thanks for organizing a "Speak Out" against the Republicans "Reverse Robin Hood" budget proposal.

The Basic Event

The radical right is trying to slide through a budget proposal that slashes funding for Medicaid,food stamps and student loansall to pay for tax breaks for the very wealthy. It's a "ReverseRobin Hood" budget, robbing the poor to pay back the rich.

Though the exact timing is still up in the air, Congress may schedule the final vote on the budget proposal (which is called a "reconciliation bill") as soon as mid-November. To make sure our voices are heard in time, were organizing Speak Outs against the Reverse Robin Hood budgeton Wednesday, November 16th.

The goal of the Speak Outs is to turn up the heat on Congress by highlighting the devastatingimpact the Republican budget would have on local communitiesand getting the media to

broadcast the story. Reporters are looking for local stories, and real faces, to connect with thelarge numbers and procedural complexity of the national budget process. These events will getthe real story out, and play a powerful role in preserving the programs regular Americans dependon.

Speak Outs will feature local citizens who will be affected by these cuts telling their personalstories. Well invite other MoveOn members to attend and to bring empty plates to demonstrateour messagethat Congress must not pass a budget that slashes services leaving the poor andmiddle-class with empty plates this Thanksgiving. We also suggest setting up a Thanksgiving

banquet table with all the plates empty except one (see below for details), to dramatize thethemethese kinds of visuals will increase your likelihood of getting coverage. Youll recruitsomeone to serve as the MC, introducing the speakers and providing local numbers, which well

provide, for how many people rely on Medicaid, food stamps, and student loans in your district.

Sounds complicated, but the guide below walks you through organizing a successful Speak Outstep-by-step.

Steps

1. Figure out who your target is. The Congressional Republican leadership is pushing hard toram through their "Reverse Robin Hood" plan for the federal budget, but their support iswaveringeven within their own party. Democrats are standing firm against the proposed cuts,so to win all we need is to push a handful of Republicans to vote the right wayand with your help those votes could even come from the most surprising legislator.

To be effective, your event should be very clear about who you are targeting, and what you wantthem to do. We don't need to know who your target is, but you'll need to know to finalize your location and for some of the materials we'll be providing. Your message will reach and impact

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all of your representatives, bothDemocrats and Republicans,

but it's important to have atarget to help pick a locationand focus your message.

LINKSThis guide refers throughout to several websites (outlined in thetext). Following are the addresses for these sites:

Event registration page: http://political.moveon.org/event/events/create.html?action_id=28 Coordinators page: http://political.moveon.org/event/SpeakOut/login Materials page: http://www.moveonpac.org/budgetaction/materials.html Operation Democracy Action Center: http://www.operationdemocracy.org/team/members/message.html

If you have a Republicanrepresentative, select him or her as your target.

If you don't have a Republicanrepresentative, but you do havea Republican senator, selecthim or her as your target.

For all members of Congress we are asking them to vote "No" on the "budget reconciliation bill"

if it includes cuts to vital programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and student loans.If your Republican legislator has been good on the budget so far, you'll thank him or her for

breaking ranks on previous votes, and urge him or her to continue to do the right thing by voting"No" on the final budget. The materials you'll get on Thursday 11/10, on the materials page, willspecify which legislators fall in this category.

If none of your congressional representatives are Republican, but you have a Republicangovernor, select him or her as your target and urge him or her to publicly oppose these budgetcuts. The cuts, particularly in Medicaid, will have a big impact on state budgets as the statesscramble to cover some of the difference. And if a Republican governor opposes the budget, itwill send a particularly powerful message to Congress.

2. Pick a location. The best location is your targets district office. If there isnt a district officein your community, pick a location that helps symbolize the impact the cuts will have locally. Besure its public property and it's ok to be there. A few possibilities: In front of a local college or high school, outside the food bank (confirm with them first), in front of the local Republican

party headquarters, or anywhere else that can visually dramatize who will be affected. Make sureit's not someplace where you can legally do it, where you have enough space, where a camerafilming you will be able to take in you and the backdrop you've chosen, and where noise fromtraffic won't drown out your speakers.

Also, because your top priority for your Speak Out is to get the message out through the localmedia, you need to select a location thats accessible and make sure you have a street addressand good directions.

3. Pick a time. Youre much, much more likely to get media coverage if you hold your eventduring the day, between 10 and noon. If you cant do it until after work, its still worth doing, butyou probably wont get as much coverage. So even though it's harder and some people won'tbe able to make it, we strongly encourage you to hold a mid-day event.

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4. Register your event online. If you havent already, please register your event on the eventregistration page.

5. Recruit some helpers. The more help you have, the more successful your event will be.

Wherever possible, well ask volunteers whove expressed interest in helping to sign up for your event and let you know theyre available. But dont waitask some friends to help you out. Itsnot hard and they can really make a difference! You can easily invite some friends from your coordinator page.

Also, if youre on an Operation Democracy team, ask your team to help. You can easily emailyour whole team from the Action Center, and, if you're a Team Leader, you can find their phonenumbers there as well (phone calls work far better than emails alone!!)

Be sure to check your event sign-ups every few days, on your coordinator pagemembers whocan help will indicate that on this page. Then you can email them and get them going.

6. Divide up the work and assign it out. Below we outline one way to divvy up the work, butfeel free to combine roles and assign tasks in the way that works best for you. Since most of youwill have a small team to work with the most important thing is just to make sure you cover the

priorities.

You should serve as the " Backstop " for the eventwhich means you are bottom line responsiblefor making the event happen. As backstop, you make sure that everyone knows what they needto do. You should also check back in with them, and reassign responsibilities as needed.

Logistics Coordinator : Usually the Backstop also fills this role, which involves scouting thelocation, changing it and updating the event online if needed. This person also coordinatesrecruitment by making sure that everyone is inviting their friends, and Operation Democracyteammates (don't forget to make these calls yourself as well). This person also is responsible for making sure all the necessary materials make it to the event the day-of.

Media Team : The media team is responsible for getting the press to the event. This involves building a press list, putting local details into the media advisory, emailing or faxing it toreporters, and then, most importantly, calling reporters. If there are multiple people on this team,they can each take a type of media to be responsible for (i.e. radio, TV, etc).

Speakers Coordinator : Whoever is responsible for the speakers should get started right awayrecruiting speakers from your community. They should be sure to ask others working on theevent if they have any good ideas or contacts. Other MoveOn members in your area may submittheir own personal stories. Youll need to make this person a co-host on your coordinator page sothey also receive these stories to review. This person will select the best from among the

possibilities you identify, confirm their attendance, and prep them.

7. Participate in a training call (and get your helpers to join you if they can). Wevescheduled two national conference calls. You can join either one. On these calls well walk

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through the plan and our message and review some tips on getting the media to your event. Just join in at whichever time works best for you.

Wednesday, November 9th, 9 pm Eastern TimeFor quick access, go to https://www.spiderphone.com/63188198

(This link will help connect both your browser and telephone to the call)

OR dial 1 (888) 550-5602 or +1 212-812-2800 and enter 6318 8198

Sunday, November 13th, 8 pm Eastern Time

For quick access, go to https://www.spiderphone.com/19308204(This link will help connect both your browser and telephone to the call)

OR dial 1 (888) 550-5602 or +1 212-812-2800 and enter 1930 8204

8. Find your speakers (Speakers Coordinator). You want to find speakers with compellingstories about the importance to themselves and your community of Medicaid, food stamps andstudent loans. Ideally youd have one speaker on each topic telling a 3-minute personal story.You also need to identify a good MC (this can be you). Minimally you need the MC and one

person telling their story.

The speakers will be most compelling if they are really telling a story of their life, versusoutlining all the reasons that these cuts are wrong. Remember, your goal is to personalize and puta local face on these specific programs. But you'll probably need to give them some basic infoabout how these programs will be cut by the Republican budget, so they can allude to that intheir remarks.

Well be asking MoveOn members in your area who've already taken action on this issue toemail you with personal stories on Wednesday, 11/9. They will be asked to indicate whether theycan attend and tell their story or whether someone else could read their story instead. We can'tguarantee how many speakers and stories this will yieldyou may have plenty, or you may needto find more on your own. Select the best of the stories submitted by MoveOn members (again,ideally one on each topic), then email those members back to let them know.

Since you may not get a lot of stories from members, its a good idea to make some calls rightaway to identify at least one good speaker. The director of a food pantry, someone you knowwho receives Medicaid or has in the past, someone from the local anti-poverty organization, arepresentative from a clinic that serves patients on Medicaid, the parent of a handicapped child,or a student who is depending on student loans would all be good candidates. Again, you need tomake sure they can tell a compelling story about the impact the cuts would have on ideally onthem personally, but it could also be on their clients.

Once youve found your speaker(s), its critical that you set up a time to talk to them, inperson or over the phone, to confirm their attendance and to listen to them practice their

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presentation. Its hard to stick to three minutes unless youve actually practiced first. Plussaying something out loud will help you both catch anything that isnt clear or sounds weird.

The MC should also practice their speech for you, or if it is you, you should practice it in front of someone else. It can feel silly, but youll be so much more comfortable presenting in front of

reporters if youve practiced your speech. A script for the MC will be posted on your materials page by Thursday 11/10.

Its much better for TV coverage, if the MC and speakers can speak without looking at a piece of paper (although if anyones nervous theyll forget, they should have it with them).

One easy way to get everyone to present their speeches is to schedule a dry run for the weekend before the event. It doesnt need to take more than 15 minutes (which is about how long thespeaking portion of your event should last). In any case, you need to have your speaker(s) andMC committed and prepped by Sunday 11/13.

9. Check in with the Backstops for other events near you (Backstop). There may be other events in your area. If there are events hear you, you'll have a link in the tool box on your coordinator page that says "Email nearby hosts."

By reaching out to other hosts in your area, you may be able to reduce both of your workloads especially by coordinating media outreach in your area. For example, if both of your events arein the same TV station or major newspaper's coverage area, you can divide up these calls so thatone of you takes responsibility for notifying some media outlets and the other takes the rest. Youcan could also coordinate creation of your advisory, so that both events are listed on the advisoryand you notify reporters of both events with each call.

Some considerations if you decide to coordinate like thisthe event that's likely to have the bestvisuals and the biggest crowd should invite the TV stations and the major newspaper. If after talking to any nearby hosts, you decide to consolidate your actions and work together as one bigteam, that's also fine. Just be sure to cancel the event that isn't going to happen from your coordinator page.

10. Build your media list (Media Team). Get started on this as soon as you can so its readywhen you need it. Theres a lot here, but just start at the top of the chart below and do what youhave time for. The local Associated Press office is your most important media contact.

You'll need to look up contact info for the media outlets in your area. Look up the phonenumbers and contact info, using your phonebook and/or the internet. The following websites area great place to start, but contact information for the press changes very often. Information foundonline should be verified by phone.

Working Assets, Act for Change media tool: http://capwiz.com/wa/dbq/media/ For local AP contact information: http://www.ap.org/pages/contact/contact.html

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As a last resort, use Google (or the phonebook) to research media outlets in your area, searching by town name and media or TV or newspapers or radio.

Keep track of the information you collect. You can use it again for future lists. And well ask youto email it back to us for a system were creating for tracking media contacts.

Outlet Info You Need Why You Want to Include Them

The AssociatedPress (AP)

General phone number & e-mail for the local office inyour state.

They are a syndicate, meaning other outlets often pick up their stories. Theyalso keep a "daybook" or list of events inthe area that other media outlets use todecide what to cover. You definitely wantthem post your event in their daybook!

Your local TVstation that coverslocal news daily.

Phone, e-mail, & fax of thenewsroom or assignmenteditor.

Because they are local, they are going to be interested in what is going on in thearea. Most people get their news from TV.

Your local dailynewspaper(s)

The general phone number & e-mail for the newsroom& of the news editor at themetro/city desk, becausehe/she will decide whether to cover your event.

Because they are local, they are going to be interested in what is going on in thearea.

Your local weeklynewspaper(s)

General phone number & e-mail for the newsroom. Same as above.

Your local radiostation if it does itsown local news

likely an all newsstation & probably a public radio station.

Phone, e-mail, & faxnumber of the newsroom or news director.

Same as above. If they cant make it toyour event, offer them an interview aboutyour event by phone.

Your local progressivecolumnist

Personal phone & e-mail atthe paper.

Interested in a local angle to a nationalstory. Needs to be given notice of your event separate from the notice you givethe publications newsroom.

Other relevantbeat reporters

Personal phone numbers &e-mail at the paper.

Newspapers use beat reporters, so youcan often figure out which reporters cover the courts, the environment, politics, etc.If you have time its good to invite these

people separately also.

11. Localize the advisory (Media Team). The advisory will be posted by Thursday, 11/10, onyour materials page. Youll need to watch for any sections surrounded by brackets, like this"[text to be replaced]," and replace them with local information, including time, location, andyour targets name. If multiple people are making press calls, one person should be responsiblefor entering this information and getting it out to everyone on Friday, 11/11.

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TIPS: Pitching a story Reporters are always looking for good storiesand you have one, but you have to make surethey know that in a brief conversation.

GET TO THE POINT. Youll have about 30

seconds to get the reporters attention. PRACTICE. Write out & practice your pitch onsomeone who isnt involved to see if theyunderstand and think its interesting. You willbasically be able to get in one sentence aboutwhy this is a good story. Make it a goodsentence!

MENTION VISUALS: For TV, & to a lesserextent newspaper, stories with good visuals arefar more likely to get coverage. Prepare visuals& mention them in your pitch. If you're talking toa newspaper editor, suggest sending aphotographer & a reporter. If you're talking to areporter, ask if it's worth giving a separate call tothe photo editor.

RESPECT DEADLINES. Try to call in themorning or early afternoon when most reportersare not on deadline. Ask if the reporter is ondeadline before you begin. If they are, ask whento call back.

BE RELEVANT. Tie the story to somethingtimely. Reference related pieces by thereporterI saw your story on the SupremeCourt, & thought youd be interested in a rallythat MoveOn is holding next week.

BE HONEST WHEN YOU DONT KNOW.Youre a regular person calling in with aninteresting story, not an expert on the issues, soif you do not know the answer to a reportersinquiry, offer to call back with the information. Donot make up facts. They may appear ontomorrows front page.

DONT TAKE IT PERSONALLY. If a reporteris on deadline and is brusque, don't let thatshake you. It is essential in this situation that yourespond courteously to their situation by offeringto call back, ask when would be the best time tocall back, find out if you can email or fax the

information, etc. Others may be brusque evenwhen not on deadline. Don't take it personally.

ASK WHY. If a reporter isnt interested incovering your event, politely ask why. Theanswer may help you strengthen your pitchbefore talking to the next reporter. Or you mayfind that its not in their areathen ask if theresanother reporter who might be interested.

FOLLOW UP. If the reporter wants moreinformation or would like to do an interview withyou after the event, be sure to follow up.

12. Email advisories & make your calls (MediaTeam). Set aside an hour or so on Monday, 11/14for this, and/or line up some people to help you.The most important thing when contacting the

media is to talk with a live person over the phone ateach outlet and make sure that they know what agreat story your event will make.

12. Email advisories & make your calls (MediaTeam). Set aside an hour or so on Monday, 11/14for this, and/or line up some people to help you.The most important thing when contacting the

media is to talk with a live person over the phone ateach outlet and make sure that they know what agreat story your event will make.

Before you start your calls review the press callsscript, posted by Thursday, 11/11 on your materialsBefore you start your calls review the press callsscript, posted by Thursday, 11/11 on your materials

page. Spend a minute thinking about what youllsay before starting your calls. Say it out loud.Youre trying to take the most interesting andtimely aspects of the story and condense them into30 seconds or less. Check out our tips on pitching a

story.Then fax or email your advisory to the list you built.Follow up, also on Monday 11/14, with a call tomake sure they know about your event. Ask them if they received your advisory. If they didnt get it,ask them where to send it. But whether or not theygot it, quickly tell them why this will be a greatevent to cover (your script will help with this).

The most important call is the one to your localAssociated Press (AP) office. Ask them to put your event on their day bookthe list of events in thearea that other media outlets use when decidingwhat to cover.

Tip: Here are the ideal times for calling the media: Call TV stations before 9am, which is when theyhave their morning assignment meeting. Call radio anytime, they get up early. Call papers between 9am and 10am, when editors& reporters choose stories for the day.

Note: If you can't call during these times, just callwhen you can. But be sure to ask if the reporter is'on deadline' before you start, in case they're rushingto finish something. They may ask you to call back in a bit.

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13. Localize news release (Media Team). The news release will be posted on your materials page on Thursday 11/10.

Fill in your local details and bring plenty of copies to your event. Youll be giving this toreporters at the event.

14. Get your visuals and materials together (Logistics Coordinator). By the day before your event, you should have all of the materials you'll need lined up. Here's an overview of whatyou'll need: Having good visuals can make all the difference in terms of media attendance (aslong as you describe them to the media during your pitch calls, so they know to come). Havinggood visuals often determines whether you get a photo and a caption or 30 seconds on TV to tellyour story, or no coverage at all. Here's what we recommend for visuals:

We encourage you to do something on the Thanksgiving theme. One option: Set up aThanksgiving table: a folding table w/ a tablecloth, place settings and the whole works. Set out

platters and plates, but leave them all empty, except one plate high to overflowing with fooda

pile of sliced turkey and some mashed potatoes from the deli will do. Put a big sign on the tablewhich says "Republicans Reverse Robin Hood Budget Plan" and smaller signs next to the full plate saying "rich cronies" and the other plates saying "average American." Or even havesomeone sit behind the full plate, dressed like a millionaire, with a cigar, and wear a placardaround their neck that says "Rich Crony", and sit at the head of the table. If you do this, you'llwant to be sure to reference the tableaux in your remarksthe MC script will include this.

If this is too much, you can do the simple version: Bring paper plates for everyone to hold.Someone with good clear writing can put messages on the plates in thick black marker. Someideas:

No empty plates. Oppose the budget cuts.Congress: Dont leave Americans with empty plates this Thanksgiving"Congress: Oppose the reverse Robin Hood budget"Oppose the budget cutsProtect student loansProtect health care for the poorProtect food stamps this Thanksgiving"Protect health care, nutrition and education for the poor and middle class"

Also, make sure you have nametags and a sign in sheet ready to bring with you.

Plan on getting to your event a little early to set everything up (and ask some friends to helpyou)!

15. Make reminder calls to your volunteers and speakers the day before the event(Logistics Coordinator, Speakers Coordinator). Everyone needs a reminder now and then!Just imagine how youll feel with reporters arriving if your speakers aren't there. It CAN happen.A quick call works better than email for making sure that people will be there.

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16. Make reminder calls the morning of your event (Media Team). Your call to AP is mostimportant for reminders as well.

Reminder calls are the best way to get reporters to your event, even if you've spoken to themrecently. Its your last chance to give a QUICK pitch about why your event is newsworthy

mention the visualsand to make sure they have the time, location and other details right. Often just reminding them of your event can be the deciding factor in whether they show up.

Again, spend a minute thinking about what youll say in advance. Remember, keep it brief.

17. Greet your volunteers and speakers (Logistics Coordinator & Speakers Coordinator).Be sure to greet your speakers as they arrive and ask them to fill out a nametag. Make sure theyfeel comfortable and are ready for their speech. Almost everyone gets nervous before doing a

presentation and you can help set them at ease (even if youre nervous yourself).

Its also good to assign someone (not you if youre the MC) to greet volunteers as they arrive.

18. Greet the press (Media Team). Its important that someone be assigned to this (and thiscould be you, the MC, the volunteer greeter, as long as someone is watching for reporters). This

person should greet reporters, give them a copy of the news release, ask them if they need anyhelp, and write their name and news outlet down on the sign-in sheet so you know who wasthere. If youre the greeter, spend some time in advance thinking about what youll say to anyreporters at the event. Be sure to review the materials, including the speaker script and Q&A, soyou know the message. All the materials can be found on your materials page starting Thursday,11/10.

Reporters will usually ask a few simple questions: What are you doing out here? What do youhope to accomplish? Do you think youll have an impact? Its important to practice answeringthese questions in advance so that you stick to your talking points, and stay "on message."

You want something short, honest and from the heart, that captures the message and that's simpleand memorable. It may sound silly to practice, but you'll have one chance to explain what thewhole thing is about, and some reporters will be looking for quotes they can use to marginalizewhat we're doing. So it's important to think about it in advance, and get it right in the moment.

At the event, watch for reporters, greet them, and if they ask you questions, use the statementyou practiced.

Tip: you can often recognize reporters because theyre the only ones at your event taking notes, just like in the movies.

19. Start on time (Logistics Coordinator). Dont wait more than 5 minutes for reporters or other volunteers to show up. Even if a reporter said he/she would come, something else mayhave come up.

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20. Take Photos (Logistics Coordinator). If possible, assign someone to take digital photos of your event. After the event, email your best photos to us at speakoutpics@moveon.org .

21. Watch for stories (Media Team). After your event, everyone should be on the look-out for newspaper articles or TV or radio stories. If a TV camera is at your event, be sure someone

agrees to record the news on that channel so you can report the coverage back to MoveOn andsee it afterwards. Watching your clips is fun, and it's the best way to learn from experience howyou can improve coverage of your events.

22. Report back. Tell us how the event went and about coverage you received here:http://www.political.moveon.org/budgetaction/aftersurvey.html.

Finally, send in the list you built of reporters to call with all their contact information to:medialists@moveon.org.

Additional Information on the Budget

The following are resources for finding out more about the federal budget process and thecurrent budget proposal. We'll also be posting a fact sheet about the budget proposal later thisweek.

Center on Budget Policies and Priorities: The Center has released a report that provides anoverview of who is hurt, who's spared, and who's helped by the House reconciliation proposalsadopted the last week of October by the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, andAgriculture committees.

http://www.cbpp.org/10-28-05bud.htm

Analysis of the budget reconciliation package by Representative Spratt (D-SC) of the HouseBudget Committee: Pages 1-3 summarize the package.

http://www.political.moveon.org/budgetaction/reconciliation.pdf

Articles on the budget:

Washington Post editorialhttp://www.moveon.org/r?r=1030

"Gunning for the poor" Harold Myerson Op-Ed Column in the Washington Post , 10/19/05http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1007

Timeline

There are a lot of steps for this event, so weve also included a timeline that you can use as aquick reference to make sure youre on track. Weve noted the top priorities in bold.

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Ongoing:

Check your coordinator tools every few days for new volunteersCheck your email regularlyMove on members interested in speaking will be emailing their stories to you and youll need to follow up with them

Monday 11/7 Select your location, target and time. Register your event.

Tuesday 11/8- Line up speakers.Friday 11/11 Build your media list.

Participate in a training conference call Wednesday at 9 PM EST.Recruit helpers and assign out roles

Saturday 11/12- Make sure youve heard each speakers presentation do a dry run if Sunday 11/13 you can

Localize your advisory

Participate in a training conference call Sunday at 8 PM EST, if you didn'ton Weds.

Monday, 11/14 Email or fax your advisory to your media list, then call them

Tuesday, 11/15 Localize the news release Reminder calls to volunteers and speakersGet your materials together

Wednesday, 11/16 Reminder calls to reporters the morning of your event Make sure you bring all your materials including the release

Take photosTrack your press coverageFill out your follow-up survey

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