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DFA Campaign Academy Agenda

Boynton Beach, FL       January 23-24, 2009

Saturday

Time	Session	Trainer
8:00 – 9:00	Setup	Volunteers
8:30 – 9:00	Registration	Volunteers
9:00 – 9:30	Training Overview & Homework Assignments	Bryan Hageny
9:30 – 11:30	Your Field Plan: Vote Goals, Targeting, and Field Strategy	Matt Blizek & Helen Strain
11:30 – 11:40	Break
11:40 – 12:30	Building Your Activist Base	Matt Blizek
12:30 – 1:25	Lunch
1:30 – 5:45pm Rotating Sessions 1:30 – 2:25pm 2:30 – 3:25pm      Break 3:50 – 4:45pm 4:50 – 5:45pm	Rotating Sessions: Trainees divide into 3 groups and go to assigned rooms. Trainers rotate and do small sessions with each group.  Room assignments on back - Developing a Campaign’s Message - Fundraising Strategy & Making the Ask - Voter Contact: Tactical overview - Campaign & Event Planning	John Rowley Anastasia Apa Helen Strain Bryan Hageny
5:45 - 6:00	Wrap up	Matt Blizek

Sunday      

Time	Session	Trainer
9am - 10:05am	Sunday Kickoff & Homework Review	Matt Blizek
10:05am - 11:05am 11:10am – 12:10pm	Sunday Morning Elective Sessions: Trainees choose which sessions to attend. Room assignments on back - Fundraising Tactics - Citizen Lobbying - Direct Mail Do’s and Don’ts - Online Organizing - Working with the Media	Anastasia Apa Helen Strain Helen Strain Matt Blizek John Rowley
12:10pm– 1:05pm	Lunch
1:10pm – 2:05pm	Get Out the Vote (GOTV)	Helen Strain
2:05pm – 2:15pm	Break
2:15pm - 3:10pm 3:15pm - 4:10pm 4:15pm – 5:10pm	Sunday Afternoon Elective Sessions: Trainees choose which sessions to attend. Room assignments on back - Neighbor to Neighbor Precinct Organizing - Careers in Politics – Getting a Campaign Job - Volunteer Management and Leadership Development - Running Canvasses & Phonebanks - Direct Mail Do’s and Don’ts - Advanced Campaign Communications - Budgeting & Finance - Using the Florida Voter File	Matt Blizek Matt Blizek Bryan Hageny Helen Strain Helen Strain John Rowley Anastasia Apa Mike Biggs
5:15pm – 5:30pm	Evaluations and Wrap up.	Matt Blizek
5:30 onward	Change Your Country	Trained Activists

 

DFA Campaign Academy Trainers

Anastasia Apa - Finance

Anastasia Apa is a political management and fundraising consultant who has traveled the country for the past eight years to help Democrats build the strongest campaigns possible.  She has worked at the local, state and federal level in the Southern, Midwestern and Eastern part of the country. Apa focuses on fundraising and planning because she believes a solid plan and the money to implement it is the way to a win.  She is based in Miami, Florida and runs a campaign staffing network which trains, retains and places experienced campaign operatives on races.

Matt Blizek – Field, Planning and Online Organizing

Matt was born and raised in rural Iowa and first got involved in politics at the University of Iowa.  In 2001 he managed my first campaign in an attempt to elect a UI student to the Iowa City Council.  Not long after he was elected Vice-President of the student body where he fought against radical tuition hikes, corrupt apartment management companies and police harassment on campus.

After graduation Matt spent the 2004 election cycle fundraising for the DNC and doing GOTV for MoveOn.org.  In 2006 he was selected to join Russ Feingold’s Patriot Corps program and was deployed to Montana where he did Field Organizing for Senator Jon Tester.

For the last two years Matt have managed a national training program for Democratic activists and candidates at Democracy for America.  Since joining DFA he has organized over 56 campaign trainings in 31 states, training over 3,000 people to become better activists, campaign staff or candidates.

Bryan Hageny- Deputy Training Director

Bryan grew up in the fiercely contested swing state of Wisconsin, and is proud of its progressive tradition. While attending the University of Wisconsin he worked for Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Tammy Baldwin. Following Graduation he served in a number of political and activist roles. To this end Bryan worked as an Assistant Director of a large canvassing office in Boston, next as an Organizer of Power Shift 2007 (first ever student global warming conference held at the University of Maryland), and then as a Community Organizer in Pennsylvania. In 2008 Bryan was hired as DFA's Deputy Training Director. Most recently Bryan worked as a Field Organizer on Darcy Burner's 2008 bid for Congress.

John Rowley- Communications

John first worked as a TV and radio reporter in Iowa. He has produced TV and radion commercials for over 200 campaigns and was the youngest principal in a Democratic media firm (26) in the Democratic party when he and Bill Fletcher formed Fletcher and Rowley Consulting, Inc. Rowley is now president of Fletcher Rowley Riddle (FRR, Inc.) FRCR, Inc. has worked in over 35 states and won races from governor to city council. The firm has won more legislative races for Democrats that any other Democratic media firm. the firm has an 85% win record for women candidates and an 87% win record for African-American candidates. Rowley's commercials have won Pollie awards, Silver Microphone Awards and Vision Awards. His work has been featured on CNN and in Campaigns and Elections Magazine, the New York Times and the Washington Post. His firm has never worked for a Republican candidate. In 2006, his firm helped Democrats take three Republican seats (Foley, Ney, Pombo).


Helen Strain- Field Organizing & GOTV

Florida native who has worked in hundreds of campaigns from City Hall to Congress across the United States for over 20 years. She worked for the Clinton Group, a political telephone firm as a Program Manager, House Victory 2000 for the Florida Democratic Caucus as a Regional Organizer; she has served as Vice-Chair of the Florida Democratic Party and a member of the DNC. Some highlights of her career were Advance for Election Day – Clinton/Gore 1996 in Little Rock, Ark,  Field Director for Janet Reno for Governor, Campaign Manager for Dave Aronberg for Florida State Senate and Lois Frankel for West Palm Beach Mayor as well as Field Director for Angela Alioto for San Francisco Mayor, and as the Field Director for the Florida Association of Planned Parenthoos Affiliates. Her specialty is in "foot, phone, and mail." developing field plans and implementing the tactical door to door, phone, and direct mail campaigns. She currently serves as the Vice President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood of North Central Florida.