Campaigning at a Convention
Still recovering from Comic-Con, but here are some things we learned that I hope will help others run a successful convention campaign. :)
Acquiring volunteers:
- Send out e-mails, prepping volunteers with information.
- Get phone numbers. E-mail is completely useless once a convention starts; no one has time to check their e-mail.
- Ask the Racebending.com folks if they can set up a web-based volunteer form for you. And ask around the community. :)
- MAKE A SCHEDULE once you have volunteers. Track who will be around when and who's willing to do what. I didn't do this and it made things a little chaotic.
- Once you know how many volunteers you have, make sure you distribute campaign material (fliers, buttons, whatever) so that everyone gets what they need. The more people who can wear shirts, the better. If you don't have Racebending shirts specifically, at least try to coordinate color.
- Know where you're going to meet.
Attending panels:
- Try to have at least two people at every panel. One person can run the camera, the other person can participate in discussions.
- Focus on panels where you can either garner support (culture, race, etc. panels) or get visible controversy by your presence.
- Always be polite. Do not get angry. React carefully. The last thing we need are people making our campaign look bad on TV or media blogs.
Talking to people:
- Be quick and to the point.
- People attend conventions to have fun, they don't want a long speech.
- Have a simple script. Example:
"Have you heard about Paramount's casting of The Last Airbender? They replaced the originally Asian champions of the cartoon series with Caucasian actors. They also took the pale-skinned East Asian villains and decided to cast them with Middle Eastern and South Asian actors."
- Show them the comparison pictures of the cartoon characters and the actors. This is a strong visual that hits most people hard. (thanks to jedifreac for this suggestion)
- Have answers ready if people ask questions. They usually ask the same questions over and over; this is where a binder or other reference material comes in handy. (My version: Binder on Photobucket)
- Prep your volunteers so they know how to talk to people. Give the above advice and reference material if you can.
Getting petition signatures:
- Get a copy of the new petition, which doesn't ask Paramount to "change the casting" (an impossibility) and instead asks people to boycott.
- Don't beat around the bush, be to the point: "Would you be willing to sign our boycott?"
- If you have any pins available, offer it as a little reward. "We're giving our pins away to people who are willing to sign up!"
- Try and get pictures of folks who sign. If they're willing to sign, then they're usually okay with you snapping a photo. It helps to add a face to the protesters.
- It helps to have three or four people to petition. The tasks are as follows: (1) getting people's attention, (2) handing out pins or reference material, (3) handing people pens and clipboards to sign, (4) taking pictures.
Mike
Acquiring volunteers:
- Send out e-mails, prepping volunteers with information.
- Get phone numbers. E-mail is completely useless once a convention starts; no one has time to check their e-mail.
- Ask the Racebending.com folks if they can set up a web-based volunteer form for you. And ask around the community. :)
- MAKE A SCHEDULE once you have volunteers. Track who will be around when and who's willing to do what. I didn't do this and it made things a little chaotic.
- Once you know how many volunteers you have, make sure you distribute campaign material (fliers, buttons, whatever) so that everyone gets what they need. The more people who can wear shirts, the better. If you don't have Racebending shirts specifically, at least try to coordinate color.
- Know where you're going to meet.
Attending panels:
- Try to have at least two people at every panel. One person can run the camera, the other person can participate in discussions.
- Focus on panels where you can either garner support (culture, race, etc. panels) or get visible controversy by your presence.
- Always be polite. Do not get angry. React carefully. The last thing we need are people making our campaign look bad on TV or media blogs.
Talking to people:
- Be quick and to the point.
- People attend conventions to have fun, they don't want a long speech.
- Have a simple script. Example:
"Have you heard about Paramount's casting of The Last Airbender? They replaced the originally Asian champions of the cartoon series with Caucasian actors. They also took the pale-skinned East Asian villains and decided to cast them with Middle Eastern and South Asian actors."
- Show them the comparison pictures of the cartoon characters and the actors. This is a strong visual that hits most people hard. (thanks to jedifreac for this suggestion)
- Have answers ready if people ask questions. They usually ask the same questions over and over; this is where a binder or other reference material comes in handy. (My version: Binder on Photobucket)
- Prep your volunteers so they know how to talk to people. Give the above advice and reference material if you can.
Getting petition signatures:
- Get a copy of the new petition, which doesn't ask Paramount to "change the casting" (an impossibility) and instead asks people to boycott.
- Don't beat around the bush, be to the point: "Would you be willing to sign our boycott?"
- If you have any pins available, offer it as a little reward. "We're giving our pins away to people who are willing to sign up!"
- Try and get pictures of folks who sign. If they're willing to sign, then they're usually okay with you snapping a photo. It helps to add a face to the protesters.
- It helps to have three or four people to petition. The tasks are as follows: (1) getting people's attention, (2) handing out pins or reference material, (3) handing people pens and clipboards to sign, (4) taking pictures.
Mike