The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) launched the inaugural Advocacy Leaders Network today in the Washington offices of Bloomberg Government. About 80 advocacy leaders from associations, nonprofits, and corporations came together to learn about the best strategies for educating their supporters to enhance communications, understanding, and the relationship between citizens and Congress. The ALN series, part of CMF's Partnership for a More Perfect Union, is being produced by the Beekeeper Group.
The kickoff session was entitled, "Breaking Through on Capitol Hill: Making Noise versus Making a Difference." Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of CMF, kicked off the half-day session with a summary of CMF's recent Communicating with Congress research on communications operations and use of social media on Capitol Hill. "Citizens have more influence than they realize," said Fitch said. He provided the results of a survey of congressional staff taken in late 2010.
Panelists in the first session included: former Congressman Dan Mica (also Chairman of the CMF Board of Directors); Ed McDonald, Chief of Staff for Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC); and Chad Metzler, Legislative Director for Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI). Among other things, the panel discussed the value of engaging legislators and staff in districts and states, as opposed to Washington. "When you meet with a Member of Congress in Washington, the congressman is in charge," said Congressman Mica. "When you meet with a Member of Congress in the district, you're in charge," he said.
The second panel focused on creating successful fly-in's. Chris Kush, CEO of Soapbox Consulting, noted in his presentation the value of constituents focusing on emotional appeals and personal stories, rather than conveying facts and figures. Nikole Souder-Schale demonstrated how the American Heart Association Greater Southeast Affiliate set up video conferences between constituents and state legislators in Florida. And Jonathan Godfrey of the Association of Competitive Technology discussed how his group used best practices for his lobby days, including having members write oped pieces for local papers summarizing their meetings with legislators and staff.
Today's session is part of four Advocacy Leaders Network events CMF will host in the next 12 months. The next session will be March 9, 2012, "Mapping Your Political and Economic Footprint: Identifying Advocacy Assets and the Art of Modern Story Telling." The series is sponsored by Beekeeper Group, Bloomberg Government, and Verizon.
