Agenda for our organizational meeting February 4, 2012, Cocoa, Florida
Central Brevard Public Library,. 308 Forrest Ave. Cocoa, FL 32922

Listen to Progressive Radio on your drive to Cocoa:
Amy Tidd, 10-11 a.m., WMEL 1300 AM.

I. Registration 11:00 -11:20 AM
II. The Political Landscape Memo of the eight east central Florida Counties
• Take charge of your Neighborhood, represent every progressive voter and encourage them to register and vote for our candidate.
• What is Our Group About? – Staying on Message
• Change Congress with Progressive candidates to replace Tea-Party Republicans]
• Goals, Strategies, and Tactics
• Group Resources – People & Time Money by Congressional Candidate
• Group Structure:
• Goals Timelines, and Benchmarks
• Training Our Volunteers – Hands on Training

III. Break and reassemble into five (5) groups of 15-25 attendees, each with a discussion leader - 12:00 PM
IV. –Building an Activist Base 12:00 PM
• People: The Grassroots’ Greatest Strength – Why Do People Volunteer?
• Recruitment and Retention
• Working With Volunteers: Key Principles
• Coalitions and Constituency Groups
• Step by Step Relationship Building
• Planning – Time: Our Most Finite Resource

V. Electoral Field Plan 12:30 PM
• Calculating Our Vote Goal: electoral victory (goal)
• Goals, 15 more voters out of every 150 registered voters
• Targeting Our Voters (strategy)
• Contacting Voters: Each contact has an objective - ask to take action.
• Timelines and Benchmarks
• Using “The Ask” for getting voter to support candidate; to get ballot signatures; to vote by mail
• Leverage to spread our message – to increase activism.
• Expand Volunteer Network
• Persuade Voters
• Tactics – Walk – Phone – Update - Repeat
(Never argue with a voter – he’s entitled to his/her view regardless on how flawed!)

VI. Closing - Reassemble into one large group 1:40 PM
• Review action items and delegated roles
• Follow-up Plans – Does this Group want to sponsor a DFA training at UCF?
XI. Adjourn: 2:00 PM

• Late Lunch at Kay’s Bar-B-Que (45) or Red Lobster (75) 2:10 PM
We have reserved a large library meeting room that will seat 100. After opening remarks and an overview, we plan to divide into groups by geographic areas. This is in one large room, but if moderators are facing the walls and everyone keep their voices down, this has worked in the past.

All attendees are expected to be self starters and can learn from each other and determine the course this group wants to go to elect progressive Congresspersons. We need to recruit and train 15,000 neighborhood Team Leaders who are willing to take charge of their neighborhoods, door-bell and phone bank to get out the vote.

Following the August 14, 2012 Primary Election this group will divide into Congressional District groups.
Purpose: Every meeting should have an agenda to follow. Everyone attending should be there with something to say. At the end, each person leaves with a goal to perform before the next get together (to be determined or by e-mail or phone conference).
Attendees are limited to first 100 who sign up. 20 additional can be accommodated in the Lobby.