Scheduling Events

Events – both in the district and in D.C. – represent a great opportunity for your boss to interact with constituents in interesting and meaningful ways. They can help your team gain momentum on legislative priorities or provide a great press hit as the Member tours a local facility. But pitfalls abound. With careful planning and the right tools, you can avoid the vast majority of those and host successful events.

Why You Should Do This

Jordan Wilson is the Scheduler for Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA). In this video, he discusses how he makes strategic decisions when processing events to ensure that his Member engages in activities that align with the offices' priorities.

"If the group is mad at me, and not my boss, I've done my job." – House Scheduler

What We Learned

Get more information than you think you need. No Scheduler wants to send the boss to an event ill-prepared. Constituent groups may not provide enough detail in advance or the Scheduler may be unwilling to press for details. To avoid this, CMF recommends that Schedulers utilize a standard meeting request form and adopt a journalist's approach – gather more information than necessary and edit out nonessential details. Beyond the scheduling form, it is your responsibility to continue to ask questions until you get all of the necessary information your office needs. It might be tough at first, but don't feel bad about asking questions.

Be creative about meeting your constituent's needs. Your scheduling operation can serve more constituents by proactively engaging in outreach. Consider the following:

  • Establish a mobile office to reach remote areas of the district
  • Host larger group events or piggy-back on other district events
  • Train "surrogates" to fill in for the boss when s/he is unavailable
  • Host telephone town hall meetings
  • Offer recorded greetings when Member is unable to attend events
  • Schedule site visits in and around the district (e.g., a business meeting request in the district can be converted to a site visit that enables the Member to meet with management and employees)